Chapter 22: Shadows Under the Light

  The castle district of Vandom has a magnificent wizard tower with a grey-blue pointed top, built from white giant stones. It belongs to the famous wizard Disentas of the continent.

  As a great master, Disentas Bo is famous for his strong will and almost all the questions can be answered by him, which earns him a nickname called 'the living encyclopedia'.

  His disciples are all over the world. Many accomplished magicians on the mainland have been instructed by him, and when they see him, they will respectfully shout: Master.

  Such a wise, tolerant and generous Grandmaster is naturally widely loved. In terms of power, he is not as good as Green Dragon Avatar Vianne, but in terms of prestige, the always low-key Vianne is far less than Disentas.

  In the wizarding world, although it is not explicitly stated, wizards all tacitly acknowledge that Disentas is the spiritual leader of wizards.

  But today, in the dark underground chamber of the Wizard's Tower, the great wizard Disentas shed his radiant outer garment and transformed into darkness.

  He wore a pitch-black hooded cloak with black mist swirling around it, making him look like a shadow.

  In front of him was a strange statue, which was a race that did not exist on the Starlight Continent. It was roughly humanoid in shape, but had horse-like legs and hooves, with a sharp horn protruding from the center of its forehead. The face below the horn was ferocious and terrifying, as if it were in a state of furious bellowing. A blood-red glow emanated from its eyes, giving one the feeling of being stared at directly no matter what angle one looked at it.

  This statue is simply alive.

  "Disentas bowed his head before the statue, a respectful voice emerging from the bottom of his hood: 'Aroulus, Lord of Wrath, I have tidings.'"

  As he spoke, the light in the statue's eyes grew more piercing, and a voice with no source echoed through the chamber.

  "Speak up, mortal, but the master doesn't like bad news."

  "......" Disentas's body trembled slightly, and finally said: "Because of an accident, our plan was detected by the great magician Vianna..."

  "Fool!" The voice suddenly grew louder, filled with furious anger, like thunder exploding: "Disentas, you have failed your master's expectations."

  "I know, I know, I am guilty." Disentas' body was bent and almost kneeling on the ground. He had been avoiding provoking Vianna, but his subordinates, those followers, could not fully understand his intentions and actually thought they were right in snatching Vianna's magic crystal. Heaven knows, when he learned of this news, he wished to burn the soul of that self-righteous fool with fierce flames for a thousand years!

  "Make amends for your mistakes before they become unforgivable. There's less than a year left, and the master's plan cannot afford any errors." Alouus' voice dropped to a low tone, seeming calm but Dysentas could hear the hidden storm within.

  "I will, I'll do my best this time and absolutely won't make any mistakes again."

  "No, it must be successful."

  "Yes, I'm sure of success!" Distentas hastily assured.

  The glow in the eyes of the Alorus statue faded away, silent and still. Disentas stood there for a long time before regaining his strength, standing up, and stumbling out of the secret room.

  Out of the secret room, he took off his black cloak. By the time he reached the grand hall on the first floor, Disentas had returned to normal. He went back to his own room and stood by the window, thinking for a moment before a white glow appeared in his hand. The light transformed into an ordinary bird that flapped its wings and flew out.

  This is the messenger bird, a means of communication for intermediate and above mages, secretive and effective.

  ………..

  Because the matter of the earth spirit camp had passed, and the black hand behind the scenes had also retreated. Judging from her cautious personality, Davie shouldn't be assassinated. So after the plan was set, Rolen followed Davie back to her seaside villa.

  Of course, in case of emergency, Vianna gave Davie a burst protection scroll. Once in danger, activate the scroll and immediately get a powerful shield to protect her life safety.

  Of course, Vianna didn't forget about Rolen and gave him a small gift - a crystal pendant, which was a magical instrument. The crystal in the pendant was filled with life energy, wearing it could nourish the body, accelerate wound recovery, and at critical moments, the crystal would shatter, releasing energy once to help him resist a fatal injury.

  In short, it's a good thing.

  The horse carriage sped along, and Roland was fortunate enough to sit in the same compartment as Davie. After leaving the castle district, Davie let out a sigh and gazed at Roland with a mixture of emotions: "My little tiger, I know your abilities far exceed that of just a guardian warrior. You're growing up so fast, it makes me happy yet also a bit sad. Before long, you'll be leaving me."

  Perhaps because they had faced life and death together before, Davy no longer treated Roland with courtesy as she used to, but instead spoke her mind freely, without hiding her thoughts.

  Luolin felt this change, which was a manifestation of closeness. The young monk no longer spoke to him in the same condescending tone as before.

  "He sincerely said: 'No matter what I will be in the future, I will always remember your help to me.'"

  "With your words, I feel a lot better." Davie smiled slightly, but it was clear that her mood was still not high.

  No words all the way.

  When they arrived at the villa, Luo Lin naturally became the new captain of the guard and personally protected Davie.

  Naturally, he also received better treatment and got a new room on the third floor of the villa. Davi even instructed the kitchen to prepare sumptuous food for him separately, which made the other three guards in the villa envy him, but they couldn't be jealous because this young man named Rolen was too powerful, able to take down two assassins at once and defeat Harin, his martial arts skills were truly terrifying!

  Next, Luo Lin began to cultivate his body and mind, practicing martial arts in the backyard.

  She shouldn't be here, as the noise would disturb Davy studying in the alchemy lab, but Davy didn't mind. She liked the sounds that often came from outside the window and could often feel the presence of this guard, which not only wouldn't distract her, but also made her feel very safe.

  In just five days, Luo Lin's body had fully recovered and reached a new peak.

  In the martial arts arena, Luo Lin felt his energy surging throughout his body, the steel sword in his hand became as light as a feather, and the shield moved nimbly as if it were an extension of his arm.

  Through these days of practice, his basic sword skills and shield techniques have greatly improved, reaching a proficient level. His combat skill 'Thrust' has even exceeded the threshold of proficiency, reaching an 'Elite' standard, making it faster and more lethal when activated.

  "Zhi Brain, how has my physical quality improved?" Luo Lin felt that his body was better than ever before. These past few days of eating big fish and meat, combined with the nourishment from the Life Pendant and Zhi Brain's assistance, had increased his weight by at least ten kilograms.

  He is now greatly changed in appearance and no longer looks weak, even giving off a sense of sturdiness.

  To put it in Davy's words, he inflated like a balloon and now his former acquaintances absolutely can't recognize him, the mentor's disguise technique is directly unnecessary.

  "IntelliBrain, how's the progress on my body quality upgrade?" Luo Lin asked, his concerned inquiry indicating that body quality was crucial to him, affecting the extent of each upgrade and outweighing other enhancements.

  "Current progress: 55/100, estimated completion time: one week."

  "How can it be so much slower than last time?" Luo Lin was puzzled.

  "Reason one: Repairing the body's hidden injuries, consuming extra energy. Reason two: The current host level is 6th grade, starting point upgrade, requiring more energy to strengthen."

  "I see." Luo Lin suddenly realized that the principle was simple. A mouse and an elephant were of the same quality, but it was obvious that strengthening an elephant required much more energy.

  On the fifth day in the afternoon, Luo Lin was practicing his martial arts as usual. A bird with a body full of emerald green feathers flew over and landed on the arm of the wooden dummy in front of Luo Lin. Its pea-sized eyes stared at Luo Lin, chirped twice, and then began to speak human language.

  "It seems you've been recovering well these past few days." It was Viana's voice, but coming from the bird's mouth, it sounded even more crisp.

  "Thanks to you, I feel stronger than ever before." Roland said with a smile. This bird was Vianna's magical messenger, and this was done for the secrecy of the plan.

  "This is indeed good news. Davy was right, you do look a lot more robust, and your appearance has changed greatly, just need some minor adjustments, no one will recognize you." The bird chuckled, this bird's claws moved down, grabbed a small scroll from its wrist.

  "This is a transforming scroll, it's very effective and can last for a month, take it with you and use it at the right time."

  "I understand." Luo Lin took over the scroll.

  "Alright. Let's get started according to our plan. I'm looking forward to your good news."

  "I won't let you down, Your Excellency." Luo Lin bowed.

  His memories of his past life were not comprehensive, and most of them could only serve as some reference. The longer the time went on, the more history was altered, and the smaller its value became. However, now these memories helped Roland quickly find the entry point to pursue the destruction of the Cult, which was his greatest advantage at present.

  The birds chirped a few more times, flew around Luo Lin in several circles, and then soared into the sky.