“This fruit is one of the best in these lands. You are lucky you even get a piece of it. It’s rare—after the dragon appeared and rained down its havoc, we weren’t able to farm it anymore in large numbers anymore.”Jordan blinked as he listened. Richard, after chewing on the fruit, let the slimy pink contents engulf his fingers, and without a second choice, he began licking his hands.Gross! That’s disgusting.Jordan looked down at the one he was holding, and when he stared back at Richard, he saw him watching closely, as though waiting for him to take a bite.“Try it, boy… it’s delicious.”Over the years in the land of Akabian, only the royals were able to afford food of this calibre, so Richard had thought that Jordan must have found it too expensive to eat.Secondly, Jordan noticed that if he didn’t take a bite, he would end up blowing his cover, and his plan to take down the magical beast would be ruined.With a smile, Jordan nodded at Richard, then looked down at the fruit he was

Though unknown to Jordan, the leopard was something he had never seen before. This land harboured unexpected things, because from the very roots of any living creature that roamed these lands, they lived by magic—which meant they were made of magic.“Since you don’t have a wand—or let me say, since you’ve misplaced your wand—why not use this instead?” Richard smiled at Jordan, then used his wand to materialize a spear in midair. “Take this. It’s better than having none. You need something to defend yourself against what we’re about to face.”Jordan collected the spear and nodded calmly. “I’ll try my best to be useful.”Not long after Jordan collected the spear from Richard, a rumbling sound echoed deep within the forest. The tall, towering trees began to bend and break as though something enormous was charging toward them.“Sir, it’s the leopard—it’s coming our way. What should we do?”One of the ten guards beside Richard asked, and Richard immediately gave his instructions:“Ready yo

The worst part was that Jordan couldn’t even see the leopard. The creature wasn’t ready to reveal itself—every one of its attacks was being orchestrated from the shadows.Jordan stood close to Richard. “I want you to stay close to me. Don’t move unless I say so.”Richard regretted ever stepping into the forest after making sure he had reached safer ground. But he couldn’t just let Jordan die—besides, he was the one who had asked Jordan for help.Additionally, what Jordan had said earlier was what pushed Richard to make the decision to enter the forest. The guilt of letting his comrades die was a burden that drove him mad enough to choose this path.Damn it… he shouldn’t have come. Now I have to protect him and fight this thing at the same time—something that seems smarter than a human.Jordan thought inwardly. In those same seconds, another cluster of sharpened branches was hurled toward them, but Jordan reacted in time, slashing them apart.After struggling to pinpoint the leopard’s

Holding the blade tightly in his hands, Jordan noticed its color change. Within seconds, he heard a voice emanating from the blade—something he had never experienced before:"Feed me… feed me with blood. Demon blood. More demon blood."Jordan froze at the voice. This was the first time his blade had communicated with him. The voice sounded feminine, yet echoed as if multiple females were speaking at once.“Heh… I guess because of the last upgrade, you acquired this skill,” Jordan sneered. “More demon blood, you say? Then your wish is granted.”As he spoke, the blade glowed even more intensely. But Jordan noticed something alarming: the clouds were darkening. If he didn’t leave the forest soon, night would fall—and the demons from the mountain would feast on them.“I have less than an hour to get this done,” Jordan muttered, gazing down at the demon wolf blade.Looking up, he saw barrages of sharp, carved tree branches hurtling toward him with devastating speed.If he tried only defens

After everything, Jordan returned to his chamber. Soon after, he was called by King Hudson. Following the meeting and congratulations, he returned to his room.Jordan lay on the bed, his fingers twitching against each other. He was still trying to figure out how the Dark Conjurer had been able to blend so perfectly, even mimicking Fiona. At times, Jordan felt like he might lose his sanity—until the voice from his blade snapped him back, reminding him that he had been able to plunge it into the Dark Conjurer with its help.Wow… that was close. What if I had gotten carried away and it had possessed me? That wouldn’t have been funny.Jordan thought inwardly, staring at his fingers. The memory of his father being possessed reminded him that being overtaken by another being was not something to take lightly.He flipped his fingers, and the Demon Wolf Blade materialized in his grip with a sharp spark of crimson lightning.He stared deeply at the blade and noticed something: the level was ca