Chapter 0057: Return

When Grim and Mary returned to the spot where the group had parted ways, four people were already waiting there. The moment the weakest team appeared unharmed, Marcus, Leander, Isaac, and Bruce all unconsciously relaxed, letting smiles of relief bloom across their faces. If something had happened to Grim and Mary, one of them would have been forced to patrol the underworld alone next time.

But before those smiles could fade, they were struck dumb by the corpse Mary had brought back. The black sorcerer’s robe, the decorations so different from their own, all made it clear: this was an apprentice from the Fallen Sorcerers’ faction.

The three senior apprentices took it in stride, but the pre-sorcerer Marcus looked uneasy.

“Was it a senior apprentice or a pre-sorcerer?” Marcus asked in a low voice.

“A senior apprentice, of course. If it had been a pre-sorcerer, we probably wouldn’t have made it back!” Mary replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Hearing her answer, the shock on Marcus’s face relaxed slightly, though uncertainty lingered in his eyes. Had he not just experienced the perils of the underworld himself, he might have dismissed this result. But the recent journey below had taught him one thing with brutal clarity: it was a disaster to use elemental sorcery underground.

Elemental sorcery had always been renowned for its overwhelming power and vast area of effect, making those who wielded it akin to terrifying artillery, flooding the battlefield with a barrage of raging spells. What limited a sorcerer’s power was not the number of enemies but the meager amount of sorcerous energy they could muster.

But underground, all that experience became useless.

Battling unexpected enemies in a cramped tunnel, the use of overly fierce elemental sorcery would only collapse the very space they relied on for survival. What awaited them then would be tons of earth and stone pouring down. Even a pre-sorcerer, if buried, would have little chance of escape.

In the world below, battles between apprentices were not contests of devastating power, but of precision and control. Only those who could restrain their spells and deliver them with accuracy were considered truly adept.

When faced with swarms of ratfolk in the darkness, the real disaster might not be the enemy, but the fireball you casually unleashed. After enduring waves of underground beasts and the stealthy attacks of strange monsters, every apprentice would, through this painful ordeal, shed their arrogance and impulsiveness, growing cunning, steady, and sharp.

Because they had all been through this, everyone present understood just how grim and frustrating a fight with a peer underground could be. So when Mary returned with the corpse of a senior apprentice, shock was inevitable.

None of the apprentices assigned to the dark caverns had chosen the path of a body-forging sorcerer. Why? The narrow, winding tunnels were simply unsuited to those who fought by brute force. Down here, swift, moderate spells were king. Both sides had to keep shifting ground, winning small victories to gradually wear the other down. If one side decided to flee, only special means could ensure their capture.

Mary’s ability to accomplish this clearly meant she possessed a sorcery peculiarly suited to the underworld. But what could it be?

The group fell into thoughtful silence.

It had been thirty-four hours since they’d last parted. By their estimates, even Sabrina’s team—who had the most difficult task—should have returned by now. Recalling the violent “earthquake” they’d recently felt, worry crept into everyone’s hearts.

Fortunately, the worst did not occur. Three hours later, Sabrina and Sheila returned, battered and filthy. Their objective had been nearly ten miles underground, so the upheaval had affected them most. If Sabrina hadn’t specialized in mechanical sorcery—her major organs already replaced by powerful magical constructs—they might never have carved a path to the surface through the collapsed earth.

Now that four of the five teams had returned, it was obvious who’d been ambushed.

Just as they braced themselves for the bitter truth—that two members had been lost on their first patrol—a blood-drenched Leo staggered into camp.

His gray apprentice’s robe was shredded, his thin body crisscrossed with wounds, each one wreathed in stubborn black smoke that gnawed the flesh beneath. Acid arrows had struck his face, where caustic venom still sizzled and ate away at half his features. If not for the clear mental signature marking his identity, the others might have mistaken him for an enemy.

Despite his horrific injuries, Leo refused his teammates’ help. Until real trust was established, he had no intention of letting others probe the secrets within his body.

After treating his wounds hurriedly in a corner, Leo at last submitted to questioning, his expression dark as a thundercloud.

Upon hearing that he and Matthew had been ambushed by three black-robed pre-sorcerers and a senior apprentice, even Sabrina fell silent. With such strength, even she would have struggled to escape. Leo’s survival was proof of his own formidable abilities.

“What about your group—how strong were your enemies?” After questioning Leo, Sabrina turned to Mary.

“Two enemies: one pre-sorcerer, one senior apprentice. We lured the pre-sorcerer away and ambushed the apprentice. Grim and I killed her together,” Mary recounted casually.

Though she spoke of a joint effort, out of habit, everyone more or less ignored Grim’s part. After all, a junior apprentice with less than ten points of mental strength, capable of only a spell or two—how could someone like that take part in a senior apprentice’s battle? No one could picture it.

It was only now that Leo noticed the female corpse at Mary’s feet, and he let out a loud cry.

“That’s her! She was one of the four who attacked me. After Matthew and I split up, two pre-sorcerers chased me, while the other pre-sorcerer and this woman hunted Matthew. I barely managed to escape after a desperate fight.”

Leo’s account was somewhat ambiguous, but nobody minded.

Split up to flee? Hmph. At such a critical moment, would a senior apprentice like Matthew really dare go off alone? It was clear Leo had abandoned Matthew to save himself, hoping to draw away some of their pursuers.

No one blamed Leo for his actions. In their place, most would have done the same. Matthew’s failure to escape was his own fault; without the means to save his life, he never should have taken on a red-level mission underground.

With the information exchanged, Sabrina pieced together a basic profile of their enemies: three pre-sorcerers—one a bloodline sorcerer with the fearsome lineage of a mutant serpent; one an arcane sorcerer able to summon powerful corpse puppets; one a rules sorcerer, attuned to wind elements.

Armed with this intelligence and the corpse of a senior apprentice, the team returned to the Sorcerer’s Tower and claimed their rewards from Sorcerer Angus. Since Leo had only been ambushed after completing his task, he too received his due.

As for Mary, who had single-handedly slain a peer, she received a special reward from Sorcerer Angus. The secrecy surrounding the process, however, left everyone in the dark as to what she had been given.

As they were about to leave, Sorcerer Angus addressed them in a chilly tone: “Don’t think that surviving one trip below makes you veterans. In the missions to come, attacks will only grow more frequent and more dangerous. Only those who are fully prepared will live longer. Make the most of these days of rest—next time, you may not be so lucky.”

“Also, the information you brought back is excellent. I’ll pass it on to the local hunting teams. I doubt those who ambushed you will have a smooth journey back. Hehehe…”

From Angus’s words, the team finally understood the purpose behind the other, more experienced teams of apprentices. If their own group was bait, then Kevin Blackhand’s group was the spear. They served as prey, luring out the enemy’s best, while the others, as hunters, would stalk and kill the exposed black-robed pre-sorcerers.

The ones who had left Leo and Mary battered but alive had, by doing so, revealed their whereabouts. With the information relayed, the teams patrolling the depths would soon be on their trail.

The thought of those who had driven him to such desperate straits facing their own doom now brought a twisted smile to Leo’s half-rotted face.