牛奶色隔壁有夫之妇

Not a good place to be, but it was the best way of getting information. When Arthur and Elena went inside the city wearing their black cloaks with hoods, no one gave them any attention.

It was something so normal that no one glanced at it, and most of the people inside that town had similar clothing, all wearing cloaks and hoods to hide their identity.

Arthur knew just by looking that almost everyone in that town was criminals, fugitives, or practitioners of the dark arts.

Speaking of practitioners of the dark arts, Arthur saw a group of youths who were in front of an old inn. It was as if they were waiting for someone.

“Come on, let’s hide for now.”

They both hide near the place where those youths were, and after some time waiting, two more figures appeared. These two were also wearing cloaks, but there was a token in their chest, and Arthur recognized it in an instant.

“These two are from the Dark Hand Academy! Are these youths the new students?”

The Dark Hand Academy was one school that taught the dark arts, such as curses, necromancy, blood magic, and anything related to that.

Not that surprising to see someone from that school around the area, as the school was located right after the Land of the Damned.

Arthur thought it was a great opportunity! The Dark Hand Academy often used the Land of the Damned as a testing ground, which meant they all had a deep understanding of it.

“Elena, we will pretend to be the new recruited students!”

“What?”

~~~~

“You two are late! But I will forgive you this time.” The man said.

Arthur and Elena already looked like new students at the Dark Hand Academy. Their clothes and their age were equal to everyone else, and no one believed anyone would have other reasons to be in that area.

“We shall go now. Just follow us and you will be okay.”

The two people in charge of getting the students back to the school did not even check Arthur’s and Elena’s identity, which was weird.

Those schools did not mind people infiltrating in it, as long as they are talented and seek to work for the greater good of the school. Anyone, be it a normal student or an infiltrated one, will die if going against the school.

It was the harsh reality of those youths who wished to walk through a different path, one that was highly overlooked by the society.

They left the town right after Arthur and Elena arrived, not wanting to waste more time. After two hours passed since they left, two youths appeared at the location where they were supposed to meet with the high ups of the Dark Hand Academy.

“Where is everyone? I know we are late, but they are supposed to only leave after all students arrive!”

“Fuck. What will we do?”

Arthur did not know he and Elena had stolen the spot of two students. What he was more concerned with was how to pass through the Land of the Damned!

Even though these two from the school said they would be okay, Arthur knew in dangerous places like that one bad thing could happen, and usually in unpredictable ways!

“But these two are Official Mages, so we have three Official Mages here. We should be okay, right?” Arthur thought.

These two from the school were also Official Mages, but they did not notice Arthur was hiding his power, and saw him as a first circle mage, just like all the rest.

The reason for it was the gap between them! Arthur might be in the same rank, but he has two bloodlines, three completed essences, and a system!

When they arrived in the Land of the Damned, everyone felt the difference in the air. It was as if the air had the scent of death, entering their nostrils, sending a chilling sensation.

It reminded Arthur of a battlefield, as that was a place where lots of people died.

“This place is filled with the undead!”

During their trip there, all the students remained silent, not sharing a single word among them. They were all selfish individuals and were not looking to mingle before reaching the school.

Arthur and Elena talked neither, looking similar to them to avoid suspicions.

After their first five minutes of walking into the Land of the Damned, the two from the school shared their knowledge, and that was exactly what Arthur was looking for.

“This place looks dead, but don’t touch the dead trees. These things aren’t dead, but ready to eat you if you touch them. Also, be careful to not stomp in any grave, or else the undead beneath it will pull you to death!”

Just like Arthur imagined, everything in that place was dangerous, but that should not be all of it. The Land of the Damned was a place known to everyone on the central continent, and even those rank 2 Official Mages had a hard time while traversing through these places.

What did it mean? It meant the real danger of that place was something they had to find, or hope to not find it.

The first few skeletons showed up to attack the students, but the two Official Mages moved, killing them in an instant. All of them were just one circle mages, so they could not go against these skeletons even if they wanted to!

Four days passed. They all kept going forward, following the road as it was considered the safest place for them to be.

They had all stopped to camp and rest for a while, but Arthur had a frown, not knowing what to do.

Two days prior to that, meaning two days after they entered the Land of the Damned, Arthur felt something strange, as if someone was following them.

He tried to check if the two Official Mages felt something similar, but they both looked normal, which meant their senses weren’t as accurate as Arthur’s.

Whenever Arthur had that strange feeling, he would try to look behind without catching the attention of the follower. It did not work for the first times, but eventually Arthur got a glimpse of whatever was following them.

It was a shadow! A tall figure with long arms and legs, having at least three meters of height. Completely dark like a shadow, and the only thing different was its eyes, which were a deep red.

Arthur had noticed it from the corner of his eyes, but he could not understand how no one had to find it yet. He tried to move his head toward the shadow, trying to act as normal as possible, but when his head moved, the shadow simply disappeared.

“What the hell is this thing?” Arthur thought.

He had a feeling it was just the start of their nightmare!