In addition, even Siegfried would not offend a Magus of the same ranking over an acolyte.
“I’m afraid in Grandpa Siegfried’s heart even if my uncles or even father were to offend a lord Magus, he would send them over to the Magus as an apology!”
The girl looked at Rhodes who seemed to have lost his spine and had no intentions of taking revenge, and instead took pity on him.
Siegfried was a very distant relative of theirs. His family tree had probably branched away seven to eight generations ago.
Whether it was Jenny’s father, her uncles, or anybody in the family who would take control of the Argus Family, it didn’t matter who it was as long as they had the blood of the Argus Family!
Losing one of the families, who was a hindrance, would not really be a large issue for Siegfried.
“Only after gaining enough strength is it possible for Magi to make connections with each other!”
Jenny clenched her fists tightly, her desire for power intensifying.
“One day, I will advance to become an official Magus!”
In that moment, Baelin seemed to see boundless starlight shining from Jenny’s eyes.
“How about him? What should we do?” Baelin scratched his head. Seeing James who seemed to want to say something, he was getting a headache.
“Let him go!” Leylin suddenly exclaimed.
“My lord!” James was evidently pleasantly surprised and half-knelt, “I thank my lord for his benevolence on behalf of my useless brother!”
It was obvious that he still thought highly of his biological younger brother. However, the one calling the shots here was Leylin. Without fully understanding Leylin’s intentions, he did not dare say a word for fear it would cause Miss Jenny trouble.
Now that Leylin was letting Rhodes go, gratefulness could be seen in his eyes.
“Since Lord Leylin has spoken, I have no objections,” Jenny spoke up, though James smiled wryly in his heart.
This tone meant she was furious with him. However, for his brother, he persevered.
*Xiu Xiu!*
An invisible rope was pulled on by Leylin, and Rhodes was made to stand up.
“Leave. Don’t let me see you again!”
Baelin pushed Rhodes and pretended to be threatening him by gesturing with his sword.
Rhodes totally ignored Baelin’s threats and glanced at his brother James, a complication expression on his face, and quickly left.
All this time, he did not dare to take a glance in Leylin’s direction.
Leylin laughed. This was just a level 3 acolyte who was basically like an ant in his eyes. It didn’t matter to him whether Rhodes was killed or released.
However, since this could earn him a good impression, why not?
He believed that he needed to return to the side of people who abide the law and were kind. Even if he didn’t feel this way at all in his heart, it was necessary to display that image on the outside.
When associating with a Magus who was a stranger to them, a good reputation would lower many people’s guards.
For instance, right now, James and Jenny’s eyes no longer showed the prudence and cautiousness they originally had. Now, there was more admiration and respect towards him.
……
Rhodes was extremely intelligent. After knowing Leylin’s status as an official Magus, he wisely chose not to bother them with their journey any longer.
Just like this, the undisturbed journey went past many towns, allowing Leylin and Baelin to learn more about this place.
Twilight Zone was not a peaceful area, and places, where the sun stone and light were not able to reach, were filled with many darkness type creatures. Moreover, apart from humans, there were many other intelligent species which inhabited such areas.
Along the way, Leylin met several handsome looking mice-men the size of human kids that rode large spiders as their steeds. They seemed to be a type of elf. According to Jenny, these were dark elves that even had a kingdom in the areas where light did not reach. The might of their species was about the same as humans.
Of course, the creatures which were the greatest threat to Leylin and their party were those lurking in the shadows.
Without flames or the sun stone to dispel the darkness, these creatures would swarm forward like mosquitoes, devouring unaware travellers to bits.
Hence, to travel in Twilight Zone, apart from having enough fire starter items or sunstones, power was a necessity. Otherwise, the only outcome was having regrets after becoming feces in the desolate field.
Of course, all of these proved no threat in front of Leylin, an official Magus.
Even if it was a horde of the most brutal creatures, they were just cute little pets in front of him, which could be broken apart easily.
Reverence filled Jenny and James’ eyes as they looked as Leylin, who had closed his eyes for meditation.
Leylin had lent a hand several times along the journey. But just this power was the corner of the iceberg that Leylin possessed, it was enough to leave Jenny and James in utter shock and reverence.
All those times when he struck had might exceed the guardian of the Argus Family—Siegfried!
However, just at this moment, the horse carriage which had been moving stopped.
“Lord Leylin! Jenny and Sir James! In front of us is the Weeping Ghost Grounds, should we make a detour?”
Baelin opened the door and in one of his hand, he held a broken piece of the map.
On the map, the area that they were about to reach was the Weeping Ghost Grounds. It was circled in red, with several splatters of red ink that made it seem like spilled blood.
“We’re going to the eastern capital, and the fastest way is through the Weeping Ghost Grounds! This will save us a good half of the total time. If we’re making a detour, we must head north to the Geri Basin, and then through the Sicily Valley. This will cost us a lot of time…”
James explained to Leylin.
“So then, what special dangers are there in the Weeping Ghost Grounds?” Leylin asked as his interest was piqued.
From James speech, it seemed like he had also approved of this route. Of course, all this was only possible if Leylin was with them.
“The Weeping Ghost Grounds is a very famous forbidden area in the whole of the Twilight Zone. It is said that two powerful Magi had a battle here, hence causing many mysterious types of phenomenon and power lurking within, which are still present up till now…”
James was extremely solemn. “History has it that the Weeping Ghost Grounds has gobbled up many adventurers who doubted the myth. Mercenaries, Knights, acolytes and once even an army of ten thousand!”
“According to myths, one official Magus had once managed to pass through the Weeping Ghost Grounds. According to his description, there seemed to be many spirit bodies within the area. These spirit bodies were filled with malicious intents. Once someone were to enter the area, they would be relentlessly chased after.
Spirit bodies huh? That really brings back memories!
Leylin grinned. He had dived deeper into his research of spirit bodies. There were not many Magi who were more competent than him in this field. It could be said that the least of his fears was a spirit body.
Furthermore, since a Magus had already successfully passed through this area, then it would most likely not be very dangerous.
“We’ll head through the Weeping Ghost Grounds then! I wish to see the traces of previous generation Magi!’
Leylin laughed as he spoke.
As for James and Jenny, glee was written all over their faces.
Lost
The Argus Family’s Marquis illness demanded immediate attention, and time was running short. If they were unable to send the Dragon-Blooded Flower Bud back to the Marquis on time, he would very likely be poisoned to death.
By then, Jenny’s two uncles would have most likely seized control of the internal powers within the Argus Family.
This was a scene that J
enny was not willing to witness.
However, to let her and James pass through the Weeping Ghost Grounds? That would only be courting death!
Hence, after hearing that Leylin agreed to it, Jenny and James were exhilarated.
“Oh, I got this! So, we’ll pass through the Weeping Ghost Grounds, right? This name is really distasteful!” Baelin spoke casually and returned to the driver’s seat, before cracking his whip.
As a local, the only knowledge he knew of his world was Potter Town and the nearby Woody Wastelands. Due to the limited traffic and deficiency of information that Potter Town received, he had no knowledge of other places.
In fact, this was his first time travelling!
Along with the horse neighing and the creaking made from the spokes of the wheels of the horse carriage, they gradually entered the area of the Weeping Ghost Grounds.
As the Weeping Ghost Grounds was labelled a forbidden area, very few travellers dared to tread through it. The roads had long since been abandoned, with many weeds and shrubs growing on the sides. Baelin could barely recognise the tracks that were once used as they travelled on uneven ground.
As the horse carriage went deeper into the Weeping Ghost Grounds, a layer of thin mist veiled the area, slowly engulfing their surroundings.
At first the mist was rather mild, but as it got denser, their vision was reduced to only a distance of five metres from the horse carriage.
“Lor… Lord Leylin! The mist is too dense now…” Baelin slowed the pace of the horse carriage. To be going quickly under such poor conditions was simply seeking death.
“I got this!”
Leylin waved his right arm, and a thread of grey mist swirled in his palm. It was dispersed in one moment yet they converged immediately after.
“There’s a bit of chilliness in this aura. Also, it’s not purely made from water vapours…”
He then ordered, “A.I. Chip, analyse components!”
[Beep! Mission establishing, gathering source material, analysis beginning…] The A.I. Chip’s voice intoned.
Very soon, a composition image appeared in front of Leylin’s eyes.
[The main component of this mist is water at 98.2%. There are also mixed amounts of salt, protein and other digestive enzymes…] [Through comparison with the database, it is determined to be the tears of a human! Accuracy: 99.99%]
The A.I. Chip’s reply shocked Leylin a bit. After a moment had passed, the corners of his lips curled upwards.
“Using tears as mist? Interesting! I have even caught a whiff of some spirit bodies in this…”
“Lord Leylin, is there anything wrong?”
Jenny and James looked at Leylin, their eyes filled with worry. During the A.I. Chip’s analysis, outsiders could only perceive Leylin staring blankly for a second before grinning to himself.
Weeping Ghost Grounds was a forbidden area established atop countless skeletons. If not for this official Magus, Leylin, standing guard this time, Jenny and James would not have dared to approach this area.
Furthermore, even with Leylin around, Jenny and James were still wary after entering the Weeping Ghost Grounds and did not let their guard down for a single moment.
“Lord Leylin! The mist is too much; I’ve lost my way…”
At this moment, Baelin stopped the horse carriage and turned back with an apologetic expression.
“This… How can this happen?” Jenny and James looked at each other before stepping out of the horse carriage. Very soon, they were stupefied by the amount of mist there was.
In front of the horse carriage were three forked paths, they seemed to be like branches of an ancient tree, winding and crooked, heading towards different directions.
There stood a badly damaged, rotten wooden signpost with countless vines creeping on it.
On the sign, the black words which had almost faded away were the names of the different paths and even had arrowheads pointing to their locations.
“Hut of the Weeping Woman, Paradise of Wailing Creatures, Jones’ Pastry Shop…What strange names are these?” Jenny was bewildered. “I haven’t been here before, but according to the map there should only be one path, nothing like forked paths of any sort…”
“It seems like we’ve met with some trouble!” James sighed exasperatedly, but deep down he felt a little more relieved.
Previously, he did not know what terrors were hidden inside the Weeping Ghost Grounds, which made him be on guard all the time. However, now that trouble had presented itself, he felt a little better.
At the very least, now that some troubles had appeared, their party had to solve them.
“Hng! Petty tricks!”
At this moment, Leylin walked out too. As he saw the sign, his expression showed distaste.
Very soon, a layer of red light flashed past Leylin’s pupils, and the surroundings underwent a tremendous change.
The grey mist immediately thinned, revealing many bizarrely shaped trees. As for the signpost, many tiny three-headed snakes and toads now covered the words which were previously there.
“These are only the effects of poltergeists, affecting the mental soundness of regular humans and even acolytes. If it’s only up to this extent, it would be such a disappointment.”
“Now I will lead the way, and you will just follow my movements.” Leylin let Jenny and James sat in the horse carriage as he took up the role of assistant driver.
“Yes, my Lord!”
After Leylin sat beside him, Baelin inhaled a deep breath, feeling much more relieved than before, “Which way do we go?”
“None of those paths, head to the extreme right!”
Leylin sneered at the originally pitched forks. At this moment, in Leylin’s vision, the three paths had all disappeared, turning into three huge caves that were covered by trees.
If the horse carriage entered those areas, they would definitely meet with a dead end. Once they had deviated from the main path, they would be trapped in there.
“But, those are granite rocks! How are we going to travel through that?” Baelin scratched his head.
The direction that Leylin had pointed in was where a large granite rock sturdily stood, with algae growing on it.
*Pak!* Before Baelin could finish talking, he was smacked on the head by Leylin, “Just go where I tell you to, why do you have so much rubbish to say?”
Baelin wailed, but his experiences and training with Leylin allowed him to quickly follow the instructions given.
The horse carriage moved forward, charging towards the ten meter tall granite rock.
“Hey Hey! There’re only five more metres, should we stop now?”
Baelin questioned Leylin as he rode forward. However, as no reply was given, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and urge the horses forward.
“Three metres! One metre now!” Baelin cried in alarm but at the very end he gave up and shut his eyes.
*Pop!*
As the head of the horses crashed into the granite rock, the expected impact and cries did not happen.
Baelin widened his eyes in shocked, and very soon a strange sight occurred!
The heads of the two horses had already extended into the huge granite rock. Looking at this scene, it seemed like the huge rock had swallowed them.
The huge rock continuously engulfed the horses from their head to their necks, to their back and tails, and finally towards Baelin.
“Yikes!” Baelin unconsciously extended his right hand to block the impact, but very soon a flash appeared in his vision.
*Pop!* A feeling like walking past a wall of water came onto him, as Baelin looked at the surroundings in awe.
After passing through the granite rock, the mist thinned by a considerable amount. With the torches carried by the horses and the frightening physical abilities as a Grand Knight, Baelin’s vision had already extended to over a dozen metres.
On both sides of the road were black birch trees, growing in an orderly fashion. In the middle was a small
path, which was where the horse carriage was travelling on. As for the original three forked pitches, they had completely vanished by now.
“Did we stumble upon some strange illusory spell earlier?” As a level 3 acolyte, James was the quickest to understand what had happened.
However, Leylin did not answer his question. On the contrary, he turned even more solemn, much more than when he looked at the pitched forks.
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