2025-09-15 10:00:44A raw, indignant shout cut through the oppressive air on the main deck, a futile protest against the new, brutal arithmetic governing their lives. “This is an outrage! A dozen of them? Just a dozen filthy sailors, and they demand we kill five of our own each day?”
The speaker, a sorcerer’s apprentice with more passion than sense, slammed his steel blade into the weathered deck planks with a loud thud. The wood splintered under the force, a testament to his strength, but the display earned him mostly scornful glances. The sailors who had delivered the ultimatum were long gone; this was a performance for an audience of his terrified peers, a show of bravado when the real threat had departed.
Despite their disdain, the nearly four hundred apprentices instinctively clustered together, a fractured and panicked mass united only by a common enemy. In their hearts, each one clung to a deep-seated sense of superiority. They were apprentices of the arcane, touc
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Chapter 149 : Ruptured Accord
Harnessing the dual-force cross formula, Grimm soared through the sky with unrelenting speed. The wind tore past his face, and the Hydra Greatsword rested effortlessly on his back as he cut across the clouds.Seven days later.Emerging from the shadowed edges of Bramblethorn Forest, Grimm was suddenly encircled by dozens of three-eyed Razorfish crows, their wings slicing through the air, leaving trails of turbulent wind. Arcane wind blades and petrifying rays danced chaotically in the sky around him.The third eye of these aberrant crows possessed a rare petrification ability—a trait highly coveted for research. Under ordinary circumstances, Grimm would have indulged in a fierce skirmish to harvest a few of these eyes. Yet now, he disregarded them completely. With several quick spatial displacements, he blinked hundreds of meters away, leaving the crows behind, and continued his relentless flight toward the mission site.
Chapter 148 : Unconventional Orders
Grimm strode along the wide stone avenue that led from Blackstone Spire Academy toward the looming gates of Bramblethorn Forest, yet his mind was far from the forested horizon. He was turning over the details of the biennial mandatory assignments that Peranos had recently issued to the Academy.Beneath his pale mask, his eyes held a depth of calculation. The pupils seemed to drift without focus as he delved into thought.“The assignment site is located on the boundary between Blackstone Spire Academy and Labyrinth Academy,” he mused internally. “It’s a low-grade magic stone mine with an annual yield of a million units. While a million units sounds substantial, when converted into high-grade stones, it’s merely a hundred—an insignificant amount for the Academy’s broader interests. Thus, this task is designated as apprentice-level work, and Peranos, seeing the travel distance involved, conveniently assigned it to me.”The
Chapter 147 : The Crimson Doll
Seven days later, Grimm found himself once again within the familiar confines of Peranos’ laboratory.“Crimson Doll?” Grimm muttered, the name of the spell and its ominous description stirring memories he had long buried—the puppet king aboard the sea vessel. In hindsight, that puppet king’s bizarre demise during the newcomer trials now seemed far less mysterious. Perhaps some senior apprentice sorcerer, coveting the puppet king’s uncanny artifact capable of summoning sinister dolls, had seized the opportunity to claim it. After all, that woman aboard the vessel had been no stranger to ruthless patience.Peranos chuckled lightly. “Exactly. This is a set of tools I’ve prepared for you: a short-range teleportation scroll, a Radiant Stone, and materials for crafting a Crimson Doll. Once you master the spell using the toxic blood produced through your alchemical body cultivation, the Crimson Doll will become virtually indestructible to ordinary
Chapter 146 : Natural Forces Unleashed
The Face of Truth project was a lifelong endeavor for Grimm, a sprawling undertaking that stretched far beyond the immediate horizon of the Sanctum Trials. Naturally, he would not squander precious time in the months leading up to the critical qualification battles, delving into such a protracted experiment. Yet, the knowledge of the Undying Eye was non-negotiable.After mastering the fundamental structure of the human eye and familiarizing himself with other human-derived methods of external perception, more than four months had quietly passed. During this time, Grimm’s daily life had settled into a disciplined rhythm. Mornings were reserved for lessons under Mentor Peranos on the seventy-ninth floor of Blackstone Spire. Afternoons and evenings were dedicated to studying Undying Flame Sorcery in his modest quarters. Occasionally, he allowed himself the luxury of gathering with Binson, Lafey, and other companions—a rare indulgence in laughter and light conversat
Chapter 145 : The Face of Truth Project
On the seventy-ninth floor of Blackstone Spire, Peranos’ laboratory exuded a chill that shimmered in the frost-laden air. Grimm stood before the central workbench, where two exceptional specimens were displayed: a preserved Foam Frog and a phosphorescent Serpent, both meticulously maintained in an icy containment field powered by advanced magical stones. The surrounding mist wavered, ethereal and cold, like frozen breath.Next to the specimens lay a massive scroll, its center dominated by a pair of human eyes rendered with exquisite precision. Nerve pathways, life-sign reactions, and intricate structures were labeled in staggering detail—elemental storage points, neural electrolytic paths, crystalline lenses, pupils, retinas, and light refraction patterns. Flanking the human ocular diagram were detailed schematics of the Foam Frog’s eyes on one side, and the phosphorescent Serpent’s on the other.The Foam Frog’s pupils were horizontal slits,
Chapter 144 : Foresight and Alchemical Wisdom
Grimm’s small cabin glowed with the soft radiance of suspended magical lamps, forming a shadowless sanctuary around the central workbench. On the bench, three vials contained dark green elixirs, their surfaces swirling faintly with latent arcane energy. Grimm uncorked each one, inhaling cautiously. A trace of disappointment flickered across his face as he muttered, “Even at this concentration, they barely qualify as weak sorcerous poisons. At most, one could perform a single mixed-toxin refinement before the body becomes fully immune to this toxicity.”A sigh escaped him. He glanced at the severed branches and the mottled insects, green and crimson, that lay beside the vials. With a shake of his head, he swept them all into the bin designated for waste.“Well, 108 Constitution. Even a single mixed-toxin refinement counts as a gain,” he reasoned. Grimm carefully gathered the dark green elixirs into a small collection for future use. For a sor
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