Another Master

The clock wound back to the dead of night. A black motorcar pulled up before a villa. The man who had been keeping watch slipped inside to see his teacher, Joey Dobbin. "Why are you the only one back? Where are the others?" "They slipped in a long time ago and never came out. The address is... I feared something went wrong, so I came back first to report to you." "You weren't followed, were you?" "No. I circled several blocks and made certain no one was behind me—not even an owl." "Good. Leave the city and lay low for a few days. Do not contact me unless I give the word." The black motorcar departed, driving straight out of Londan. Joey waited at home for several hours until the morning light broke. Only when he was sure his three students would not be returning did he pick up the telephone and dial a number. "Teacher, the plan failed. We didn't catch him." "Why did it fail? How do you handle things?" Sidney's reprimand came through the receiver: "How many times must I tell you? Do not let your guard down just because your opponent is an apprentice! Mages are not invincible—guns and bullets can end our lives at any moment!" "Teacher, you misunderstand. I didn't underestimate him. On the contrary, I sent four of my finest students..." Seeing Sidney's wrath, Joey hurriedly explained, "Out of the four, only the lookout returned. The other three haven't made a peep all night. The target is merely a mage apprentice with no capacity to fight back. I suspect someone is backing him." "Speak. Where did your students go missing?" "The address was No. 13 Manor Long Street, West District." "The people living there are hardly ordinary folk! Why didn't you inform me before moving?" Sidney snapped, displeased. "Teacher, I only just found out myself..." "Enough. Leave the city and lay low for a few days. Do not contact me unless I give the word." "I am terribly sorry to have disappointed you." Joey waited respectfully for Sidney to hang up first, then packed a bag with a few changes of clothes, preparing to retreat to his rural hometown for a few days. As his car drove out of Londan, two police cruisers cut him off and forced him to a stop. Before Joey could make sense of what was happening, an officer slapped a pair of silver handcuffs onto his wrists. "Damn you! Do you know who I am? How dare you!" Joey flew into a rage. He was a Silver mage, after all—did they think they could push him around as they pleased? "Joey Dobbin, we know you are a disciple of the Church of Nature, and we know you are a mage. You have the right to remain silent. Trust me, if you dare resist, the next arrest team won't be nearly as polite as we are." Joey fell silent. Evidently, the officers arresting him were no ordinary mortals either. He had no idea what was happening. He even suspected that Sidney had sold him out, tossing him to the wolves as a scapegoat to save his own skin. *** "Useless trash!" On the other end, Sidney slammed the telephone down, passing a career death sentence upon his student. If the man couldn't handle such a trivial matter, how could he serve him in the future? An incompetent student like that was better discarded. The trouble was that Joey was already one of his most dependable pupils; the rest were even more pathetic, rotting in ever more uniform mediocrity. Sidney was not yet aware that his student had already been apprehended. He telephoned an old acquaintance to check on the address, 'No. 13 Manor Long Street, West District,' wanting to see who the master of the house was. The result was not good: the grand manor belonged to the Landau family. *Bang!* Sidney slammed his hand on the desk and stood up, his complexion horribly dark. The Landau family was one of the fourteen Tulip Families of the Kingdom of Windsor, as well as one of the royal family's most relied-upon knightly swords. Others might not know, but he knew full well: the fourteen Tulip Families had established a renowned organization in Windsor—the Free Mages Alliance. And the Free Mages Alliance held sway over Windsor's entire magical world. Outwardly, they kept a low profile, allowing any church to step on them, but in truth, they concealed their immense depths. What floated on the surface was merely the tip of the iceberg. His men had barged into the Landau family's residence to abduct someone; the consequences were all too predictable. *Auston Landau: Your Majesty, Sidney dares storm into my home to snatch someone today, and tomorrow he will dare storm into the palace to take you! His treachery deserves death—better to kill the wrong man than let him go!* What was terrifying was not just the Landau family, but also the mistress of the house: Xifei Landau was the current High Priest of the Windsor Branch. Sidney knew all too well that Xifei considered him a thorn in her side. She wanted nothing more than to uproot his faction in Londan, having only stayed her hand for now due to limited resources. He had maintained a low profile these past few days precisely to avoid giving her any leverage. He never would have imagined that going after a mere mage apprentice would end with him practically handing the leverage right into her hands. Just who on earth was this mage apprentice? How did he run in such wild circles? Was his name Wayne Landau? Sidney was beside himself with fury. Days of patient forbearance had gone down the drain, and tracing it back to the source, it was entirely the fault of the Lord of the Void. Had that entity not pleaded for "one last time" over and over, how could Sidney have ended up in such a passive predicament? Sidney strode swiftly into his study, pushed open a secret door, and stepped into the black void. Marshalling his mental will, he slammed it violently against the golden idol. *Wake up, you old bastard! Stop sleeping, dammit!* A wisp of mental will drifted from the golden idol, carrying the voice of the Lord of the Void: "Sidney, my beloved pupil, have you brought the person?" "Who, that mage apprentice named Wayne?!" Sidney ground his teeth. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused me? He's an ordinary mortal, yes, but he has backing! Because of this matter, I've likely been targeted!" "What sort of person could cause a Golden mage to lose his composure so thoroughly? My student, you underestimate yourself too much." The Lord of the Void was entirely unbothered. "You have allowed phantom authority and hollow honors to bind your hands and feet. Only by breaking free of these shackles can you perceive your whole self. Perhaps this is an opportunity, one that could lead you down the path to legend..." "Shut up! Do not spout your nonsensical ravings before me! You may have gone mad, but I have not!" Sidney raged, "I have no way of helping you. Find someone else, and do not ever come looking for me again!" "Heheheh, my student, it seems you truly are furious. Tell me, who stands behind Wayne? What umbrella of protection has he found?" "A Tulip Family!" "Tulip..." The Lord of the Void muttered to himself, rambling under his breath for quite some time before speaking again: "Such a familiar name. It seems I have heard it somewhere before." Sidney was nearly driven mad with fury. He knew this old lunatic was utterly unreliable. A legendary mage who had risen to fame in Windsor, yet he had forgotten the Tulip Families—so why couldn't he forget his own student?! Just what about him was so unforgettable? Tell him, and he would change it! "Forget it. A name that cannot remain in my memory must hold no value worth remembering." The Lord of the Void changed his tone, his voice turning cold. "Sidney, bring Wayne to see me. Right away. Now. I do not wish to wait any longer." "Marshall, is that any way to ask someone for a favor?!" Sidney's tone was equally icy. "This is an order!" The idol blazed with radiant light as the projected will of the Lord of the Void descended. Specks of white, minced flesh materialized out of thin air, connecting into strands and expanding into planes until the dark void turned into a breeding ground for white froth. Tentacles and veins crept across the ground, their pale, translucent skin secreting mucus while vessel-like channels pulsed within. Every chunk of nauseating rotten meat brimmed with an abnormal, sinister vitality. The dark void was flooded and filled by the spreading white froth, surrounding Sidney from all sides. In the blink of an eye, the exits were sealed off, cutting off Sidney's retreat. A fierce glint flashed in Sidney's eyes. Without any visible movement from him, a golden triangle pattern spread beneath his feet, and a life barrier rose abruptly from the ground, blocking the encroaching frothy tentacles and shielding his mind from corruption. "Sidney, my finest student..." The words echoed from dozens of mouths. Pressing tight against the life barrier, the frothy tentacles squirmed and twisted, tearing open abyss-like maws. With every snap and gnash, sharp teeth within the inner lining of the mouths flashed with cold gleams, screeching as they scraped against the life barrier. Dozens of voices echoed in rapid succession. A bone-chilling, arctic gale swept past, clawing at Sidney's mind and tearing at his sanity. Darkness fell across Sidney's vision, his expression turning ghastly. If it were merely the truths of the void, he could barely hold them back using his life barrier; as long as he did not step through the Gate of Truth, the Lord of the Void could never shake his mind and faith. Or so Sidney had believed in the past. Only now did he realize that the Lord of the Void had tampered with him long ago—perhaps before descending into madness, or perhaps during those few transactions. In short, his mind was under the Lord of the Void's control. The entity could drag his consciousness into the Astral Realm at any moment, or freeze and wither his thoughts at will. "Damn you, what have you done to me?!" "Guiding you to learn true life magic, my student. That is what a teacher ought to do." The abyssal maws opened and closed in succession, pumping endless clamor into Sidney's ears until his heart turned to cold ash and tears of bitter regret slipped down his cheeks. If he were given another chance, he would never have struck a deal with this old madman. "Look at these tears of joy, my student. Hurry and bring Wayne to offer him to me. Otherwise..." Hallucinations appeared before Sidney's eyes: a white tentacle pierced through the life barrier, grazing his cheek to pick up a tear. "You love vanity. You crave worldly power. You wouldn't want to lose all of that, would you?" As the words fell, a colossal white maw tore open across the darkened world before Sidney's eyes. Its ghastly white teeth loomed like mountains, exuding a suffocating stench as it swallowed him whole in a single gulp! Sidney gasped and jolted awake. Opening his eyes, he found himself standing in the black void. There was no terrifying white froth, no life barrier under relentless gnawing, nothing at all—even the golden idol had vanished. "An illusion?" Staring into the empty black void, Sidney felt a chill seep into his very bones. He rushed back to his study and personally unmade the secret chamber formed of mental will. The Lord of the Void seemed to have departed, yet Sidney could still hear the entity's hushed whispers in his ears: *Go find Wayne. Right away. Now. Offer him to your teacher.* Sidney shook his head violently to dispel the voice. Picking up the mirror on his desk, it reflected a deathly pale face. Deep within his pupils, something seemed to be squirming, on the verge of wriggling out of his eyes. Sidney hurled the mirror aside, cold sweat drenching his body. He stood up, intending to go to the asylum for psychological counseling. The instant he rose, he froze in place. Going there now, with the asylum director's brutal treatment methods, the Lord of the Void might emerge unharmed, but he would certainly be cured to death. "I can't go to the asylum... I can't let anyone know..." Sidney let out a sharp cry and pulled open a drawer, rummaging frantically until he slipped a pair of dark sunglasses onto his face. Only then did his emotions settle. Trembling, he uncorked a bottle of red wine and took a long gulp. Crimson wine trickled down through his beard as he rasped out a curse-like muttering: "Wayne, don't blame me. I still have a long road ahead of me; the church needs me. You're different—you've been targeted by an old lunatic. Even without me, other mages would come for you..." *** Night fell once more. Xifei had left the manor around midday. Her constitution was formidable to an unfathomable degree: after going several days and nights without shutting her eyes, she had crashed for four hours, only to wake up fully energized and head straight back to her office to grind away. Upon waking, Xifei had demonstrated an appetite that rivaled Isabella's ravenous dining, the only difference being that no matter how much Xifei ate, she never gained an ounce. Wayne finally understood why she got to sit in an office while he was relegated to sleeping in a cellar. Moreover, her husband couldn't really be blamed for being inadequate; facing a stamina freak like her, even the sweetest vows of eternal love couldn't hold up for long. Before departing, Xifei had assured Wayne that she had placed a barrier around the perimeter of the manor, guaranteeing that no one would disturb him tonight. If anyone did, she instructed Wayne to duck into the sewers immediately and run as far as he could. Seeing how furiously Xifei had stormed out, Wayne could already guess Joey Dobbin's fate. *Dumbass, I have a powerful patron to lean on. You dared try to kidnap the direct student of your supreme boss—you're in for a world of hurt today.* Wayne didn't understand how he had offended Joey; it was the first time he had ever heard the name. Thinking it through, it had to be that Xifei's side had been exposed, dragging him into the internal political struggles of the Church of Nature. The exact details would have to wait for his teacher's investigation. Wayne was glad for the peace and quiet, lying in the fallout shelter reading tales of his tearful fellow transmigrators. Around the small hours of the morning, Wayne suddenly sensed something amiss. His supernatural intuition sounded frantic alarms: a source of extreme danger was closing in rapidly. It was so close that it was right at the cellar door. Recalling Xifei's warning, Wayne groaned inwardly. It turned out the magical world also loved the trope where beating the small fry brought out the old master. Tossing his book aside, he dashed straight toward the sewers. This time, he didn't wait around. Plunging into the sewers, he ran seven or eight kilometers without looking back. The warnings from his supernatural intuition sputtered intermittently—warning him whenever he stopped, and falling silent whenever he sprinted. After another ten kilometers, Wayne couldn't take it anymore. Even after losing his own way, he couldn't shake his pursuer; the person clearly had his movements mapped out to perfection. No more running. Screw it! If he couldn't get away, his only choice was to draw his sword! "Done running?" Footsteps sounded from around the sewer bend. Sidney looked at Wayne and said flatly, "I must admit, your ability to repeatedly evade capture is quite impressive. At the very least, your instincts are sharp. Regrettably, you are far too weak, and that is the greatest mistake you could make." "Who are you?" Wayne skipped the pleasantries. Wearing sunglasses in a sewer in the dead of night—the man screamed supervillain. Seizing the pause in conversation, Wayne raised his hand across the ten-odd meters between them and fired a shot. *Bang!* The bullet struck Sidney dead in the chest... or rather, just in front of it, deflected by the shimmering life barrier. Reaching out, Sidney caught the scalding bullet in his hand. "Who I am does not matter. What matters is the one looking for you. He calls himself the Lord of the Void, and he has commissioned me to bring you to meet him." Wayne's heart skipped a beat. The chief supplier had come knocking in person. "The gun in your hand is utterly useless against me. Surrender peacefully and spare me the trouble." "..." Wayne said nothing. True, the gun in his hand might not be able to do anything to this man, but the sword at his hip was another story entirely. Wayne narrowed his eyes, preparing to transform into a Death Knight right on the spot. Just then, a voice laden with regret drifted from behind him. "Sidney, you ended up taking this step after all." *There's another master?!* Wayne turned to look. The newcomer was an unkempt old man with a white beard, looking thoroughly slovenly and greasy. His white beard, in particular, looked as though it had been polished with a layer of grime.