176 Unlucky Mage Part 1 (1/2)

”Let’s continue forward. If we cross the two hundred mile mountain ranges ahead, we can walk one less day.” Lex held the map and looked for the coordinates they were at, magnifying the image.

”There’s a village here?”

”Perhaps. They might be gone. This is definitely the territory of the Guogan people.”

”Or we could pass around them.” Saleen did not want to cause any trouble. The Guogan people were a courageous mountainous tribe, and although the Qin Empire had conquered this piece of land, they had not managed to exterminate the Guogan people. No wealthy people were willing to come here. No matter how large of an area they would be conferred, they would need to be alive to enjoy it.

”It’s alright. I can speak Guogan language and the people here treat mages decently. Moreover, in comparison, they hate the people from Cloudflow even more.”

Saleen kept quiet. Prior to the Cloudflow Empire had been the Fourth Dynasty, and they had once slaughtered the people in the Guogan region. He had seen this before, and even though this hatred spanned a thousand years back, the Guogan people had not forgotten.

Lex marked the detailed path they would be taking and had Saleen memorize it.

Next was a check over their equipment. At Dragon Tooth Town, Saleen had depleted a large number of his low-level magic scrolls and the level-8 magic nuclei used to power the puppets were half gone. They would not be able to sustain a battle like the earlier one again.

The spells stored within Saleen’s bronze magic book had been wiped clean as well, and he did not have time to replenish them now. Most of his mid-level and high-level magic scrolls were blank and Saleen could no longer write on them.

If they had possessed the time, Saleen could have still been able to write on the low-level empty magic scrolls, but now, he could only equip new magic nuclei into the witcher spider and hope that they would not run into any battles for the next few days.

Lex had experienced even greater losses. Now that she had used the god’s ring, she could not use it for another year. She had also used the two magic spells within her magic staff and had no way of storing similar magic. Luckily, she had not used her silver magic book. The eighteen mid-level spells inside were the strongest powers she had remaining.

Storing magic within a combat magic book was easier than keeping it in a magic scroll. However, the time taken to seal it was substantial. The only advantage was that there was no need to worry that it would fail.

The flaws of a magic book were more obvious. The spells stored within it had to be stored by the user themselves, or else there was a high chance that the spells released would experience elemental dispersal, rendering the magic ineffective. Saleen still did not know the technique for writing into a silver magic book, and the six mid-level spells within the demon magic book had become his lifeline.

At least Sika and Nailisi were both unharmed. Saleen had no idea that Nailisi’s entire body had been strengthened, removing some of the hidden problems that had been caused by the chalcedony.

Sika picked up Lex again and the four of them made their way downhill towards the cluster of mountains. Without the lack of roads and the slippery mud, if it had been any other team, their speed would have decreased tremendously. Saleen’s team continued moving forward at twenty miles an hour, and after crossing a few mountains, a large village appeared before their eyes.

Saleen stopped. There were no noises coming from the village and there was a tower made from wood at the entrance. The tower was empty. Looking inside the village from the entrance, Saleen could only see shabbily built wood houses and an uneven road.

There was no one at all!

”Nailisi, go in and take a look.” Saleen did not dare enter without caution. The size of this village seemed to have been able to house a hundred families, and yet at the moment it was completely quiet. Not even the breathing of animals could be heard.

Lex’s injuries were not too severe and at the very least, she could still release magic. She had merely hurt her ribs and did not want to speak much. It was up to Saleen to command the team now.

Nailisi nodded. Even without entering, she knew that there was no one here. More accurately, there was not a single living being in the entire village. Now that Nailisi was an adult, she was much braver than before. Even if they met with a black mage, the consequences would not be too grave.

She entered the village and made a trip around before coming out.

The village of the Guogan people was simple. The wood houses above ground were meant to keep away snakes and insects. They did not engage in large scale agriculture and they stored their food together.

”Master, there is nothing.”

”Nothing at all?” Saleen asked. ”What does this mean?”

”It means nothing. No people, no food, no weapons, no magic beasts, no animals…” Nailisi was getting better at speaking the Qin language and as she continued, Saleen had to stop her.

”Is there any danger?”

”No, it’s just an empty village.”

Saleen nodded. He was being overcautious. This was not the Cascausus region and even though the Guogan people were courageous, they did not have the priests of the Cascausus people and the warriors among them rarely reached the standards of a swordmaster. The priests of the Guogan people had been wiped out long ago, during the Fourth Dynasty. The only thing they needed to worry about was the poison of the Guogan people. Even so, he was a mage and could detect poison.

”Let’s rest a while.” Saleen was incredibly tired and his nerves had constantly been strung up the past few days, always ready for incoming danger. One of his arms was broken as well, and it would take five to seven days for it to recover even with the help of the magic liquid. Normally, someone with a bone injury would need at least three months to heal.

With no need to rush, Sika set Lex down and said, ”You all go inside. I’ll go up the tower.”