 
Meeting the Hero

(Book one of In Love with the Protagonist series)

By Clarice Lauv

Copyright © 2017 Clarice Lauv

Smashwords Edition
Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

# Chapter 1

When Amber first opened the book The Sword of Wrath, she didn't sense anything weird.

She picked it from a stall at the second-hand goods market held on campus. The book was not thick; it did not indicate who the author was; bound by a string, it had a cover like a dusty antique. The story was set on a fictional continent called Acadia. According to the mythology of the book, Acadia was filled with common humans, talking animals, mythical creatures, immortals and demons.

Like most hero-legend stories, it described how a poor boy climbed to the top of the pyramid of power, while women went wild for his romantic and inspiring image, competing for his attention. The summary read:

The main character is a half-demon, half-human youngster called Karl Jenkins. Accepted neither by humans nor demons, he suffered a bitter childhood. Abandoned by his father, he and his mother, a human woman named Estee, became homeless from trying to escape the villagers' persecution. He was adopted by a poor lady named Nerissa after Estee died of a disease due to poverty. But his foster mother was accidentally killed in an exorcism rite held by a Guardian family, the Gallaghers. Later Karl had a chance to study under one of the seven famous Guardian families as an exorcist apprentice. However, his Master, Constance Henning, who knew no sympathy nor pity, showed no tenderness and abused him over the years before discovering his real identity as a half-demon on Karl's 18th birthday. In order to escape his master, he was forced to jump off the Infinite Abyss, where he transformed into a pure demon and discovered the Sword of Wrath.

Karl suffered various difficulties and finally managed to escape from the Infinite Abyss with the Sword of Wrath. His personality changed drastically after being betrayed and oppressed cruelly by the humans. He obtained incredible power from the Sword of Wrath and successfully took over the thrones from various demon dukes and unified the entire demonic realm. With the help of demon armies, he became a cold tyrant. He took revenge on those who had been cruel to him during his early days, and ultimately ruled the mainland of Acadia.

"Buy the book if you want to read the whole thing. We don't provide books for free reading."

A voice interrupted Amber, and she lifted her eyes. She saw Gina glaring at her. Unconsciously, she had been really concentrating on reading the book and had almost finished two chapters.

"This is Jeremy's book," said Amber, looking at Jeremy sitting beside Gina. "This is his stall."

"We're partners," said Gina.

The students were asked to organize a market fair, and Gina had borrowed Jeremy's stall to sell her unwanted stuff. Amber and Gina had been at odds with each since the first day they met. In Amber's eyes, Gina was the typical "mean girl," and she was sometimes angry that Jeremy, her friend since childhood, liked Gina.

Whatever she did, Gina would find faults or make things difficult for her.

"OK, I will buy it."

"If you want to buy this book, you've got to buy my hat. These items are sold in a set," said Gina.

Amber frowned and looked at Jeremy, and then back at Gina. "I don't want your hat, it's ugly."

"It has to be sold in a set, right, Jeremy?" Gina stood up and looked at Jeremy.

"Um..." Jeremy looked rather vexed and scratched his head.

"Are we friends? I will say it once more: I want to buy this book alone, not with any other garbage." Amber raised her voice.

"My hat is not garbage!" said Gina. "Just look at what you're wearing!"

"What's wrong with my dress?" snapped Amber, as she glared at Jeremy. "I don't care, I'm taking the book alone. If you listen to her, our friendship is over."

Amber snatched the book and dropped a few coins on the desk. As she turned to leave, the pages of the book suddenly came loose and several of them dropped to the ground. Amber squatted down to pick up the pages and found one was under the wheelchair of a teenager.

Amber lifted her face, and to her surprise, the teenager in the wheelchair was Gore.

With a pale and solemn face, the boy had the same hazel eyes as Amber's, meeting her eyes in a languid manner.

"Gore..." Amber glanced at his legs. She hadn't seen him since she'd last heard of his injury in a car accident. He refused all calls from her and her mother Janice, didn't even give them a chance to care for him.

"How's your leg..."

"Hop it," said Gore while turning the wheels on his chair.

Amber wanted to grab him, but Gore glared at her and snarled, "Go away!"

People on the campus were staring, so Amber let go of his arm. Without saying anything, Gore left Amber behind.

Jeremy gave Gina an embarrassed smile. Gina stuck out her tongue at him and showed him a broken string in her hand with a sly smile.

"You tore my book?" asked Jeremy, surprised to see Gina had actually cut the binding string of the book.

"Just let her read an incomplete book." Gina winked. Jeremy noticed there was a missing page under the desk. He picked it up, but Gina snatched it away.

"Don't give her this." She randomly folded the page and dropped it in her bag.

"Don't be like this—she's a nice girl," said Jeremy as he started packing up things to go home.

"Nice girl? Then why does she have such an awkward relationship with her brother?" sneered Gina. "You saw how Gore responded to her. It seems not much better than my relationship with her."

"It's quite complicated," sighed Jeremy, "and I know it troubles her. Their relationship has been this cold for years. I never saw them talking to each other on campus."

Gore turned his head after he went a few meters, to ensure that Amber didn't follow him. He noticed there was a piece of paper stuck in between his wheels. He picked it up and realized that it was a page from a book.

It looked like it was from the book Amber bought just now. He was brushing the dust from the page when three teenagers walked toward him.

"Hey, Gore!" one of them shouted at him with a malicious smile. Gore grew nervous and stuffed the page into his pocket.

"Hey, how's your day, lame duck?" said one of the boys.

Gore tried to turn his wheelchair and go away, but was stopped by the other boy.

"Trying to run away, huh? How about telling the teacher again about how we were bullying you?"

"Too bad, he always wakes up on the wrong side of the bed."

"How about getting out of your chair? Going for a walk will help you to shake off the lethargy." Another boy giggled and punched Gore, and he fell off the wheelchair. A boy stepped onto his palm and ground his boot into it.

Gore, lying beside his wheelchair, just stayed silent and took it, as if he was too spiritless even to resist. After pushing Gore around and torturing him for almost half an hour, Gore's attitude somehow infuriated the boys further.

"I have a suggestion," said one of the boys, raising an eyebrow. "To make him beg for forgiveness."

They put Gore back into the wheelchair and pushed it into the depth of the woods behind the school.

After walking for around ten minutes, Gore realized that the boys were bringing him toward the lake behind the school. They stopped and stood on a rise overlooking the lake.

"This will be interesting, what do you think?" asked a boy behind Gore, his hand holding the wheelchair handles.

Gore gave a snort of contempt without turning his head.

"You don't believe I will let go of the handle?"

With a sudden jerk, the boy shoved Gore's wheelchair hard and sent him down the slope, toward the lake below.

They heckled and jeered behind him. Gore tried to stop his wheelchair several times, but it failed and kept sliding. Suddenly, he gave up trying and relaxed.

Why bother? Wasn't he absolutely frustrated with his own life?

Instead of stopping, he rotated his wheelchair toward the lake.

"Hey, you can't stop your wheelchair?" shouted one of the boys behind him. They were no longer laughing.

"Should we go and pull him back?" asked another boy. "Is he going to drown himself?"

"Just wait and see first—that loser doesn't have the guts."

It was getting darker as the sun began to set. Gore stared at the black water of the lake, wondering if all the torture could end if he continued to rotate the wheels of his chair toward it.

The feeling of being betrayed, and an outcast... The only way he could still have control over his own life was to end it.

To break free.

"Hey!"

Before the cold lake water actually passed over the top of his head, Gore heard the boys yelling on shore, but then he was seized by a sudden and tremendous fright as something seemed to drag at his legs, hauling him down.

He was out of his depth.

The sudden shock, maybe partly from the chill of the water, caused him to involuntarily breach the water surface to gasp. However, the same process repeated itself until he was battered and winded.

Intense pain bloomed at the top of his chest, spreading downwards and inwards. Ears ringing, Gore felt as if he saw something glowing in the darkness under the water—something coming from his pocket?

A sense of loneliness and isolation overwhelmed him, and somehow he felt as if he was gently sinking to rest on the softest bed. As colorful light shot into his eyes, he thought maybe death had come to take him faster, right here, alone and forgotten.

* * *

"Hi, Mom, I'm back."

Amber decided not to tell Janice that she met Gore and he ignored her at school today.

This would be Amber's last year in high school, and she'd reunited with Gore when he transferred to her school six months ago. She was delighted, but soon disappointed as she found Gore held a deep grudge against her. Since she got his cell phone number from his ninth-grade classmates, he'd only picked up Janice's call once. Gradually, she told Janice less and less about the various encounters with Gore at school, partly because they never talked, and also because she believed it would only upset Janice.

Based on the campus gossip, Amber learned that Gore injured his legs a month ago when he tried to run away from his home. Janice visited him once in the hospital, but it seemed to be an unpleasant experience. Since then, they never talked about Gore at home.

"How was your day at school?" Janice poked her head out of the small kitchen.

"I bought an old book from Jeremy at the fair at school," said Amber. "You won't believe how sheepish he becomes around Gina."

In fact, Amber bought this book partly because she couldn't bear the sight of Jeremy being so obedient to Gina. The book just looked like any ordinary revenge story, nothing special.

She spotted the fresh flowers in the bottle on the table.

"Nice flowers," said Amber.

"Mr. Hauser brought them." Janice smiled.

Amber grinned. "He's still contacting you?"

Mr. Hauser was Amber's math teacher from primary school. He had been single since his wife's death.

"He invited me for dinner several times," said Janice.

"He's a nice guy," said Amber. "Why don't you try him out?"

Janice shook her head, said, "Maybe later, I'm just not ready for a new relationship yet."

"Come on," said Amber. "You have been divorced long enough. I really think you should hang out more with different guys."

"No worries, I know what I'm doing." Janice smiled and waved at Amber to get her to drop this topic.

Janice was still attractive and graceful despite her age. Amber believed she could start a new relationship very soon.

Amber went upstairs to her room and lay on the bed.

She thought about her early days when she still lived under one roof with Janice, Gore and her stepfather, Raymond Walter.

She, in fact, missed the days she'd spent with Gore. They had once been really close.

Amber lay in the bed but had a hard time falling asleep. She got up and took out the book.

She had read a portion of it before she went to bed. Now she continued reading from a scene after the hero jumped down the Infinite Abyss.

After Karl's foster mother died, in order to get a shelter for himself, he joined the Hennings, one of the major Guardian families of Acadia, to study magic. Becoming an apprentice of the Hennings, at least he would have free shelter and food.

To be a Guardian of Acadia was a special occupation in the book. They were sorcerers who turned into half-immortals as their magic power enhanced to a certain level, and were granted supernatural power by the Patrons, who were the godlike immortals from Sanctuary. The Guardians had special status in Acadia and were under the management of the Guardians' Council. They worked as the agents between humans and Patrons, protected the folks of the local communities, and taught their human followers magic and exorcism to fight against the demons.

In Acadia, the Guardians' powers were inherited in familial lines, and the selection of Guardians relied solely on family origin. This showed that they were indeed the gods' choice.

The selection of apprentices was strict. However, Karl still managed to enter the Hennings, founded by the Master Guardian Abner Henning, and apprenticed under Abner's daughter Constance. Constance Henning had been jealous of her sister, Carolina Henning, and the two competed for the Hennings' inheritance.

Constance Henning's character and personality could be seen clearly:

Abner sat on the chair, looking at Constance with fury.

"Constance, do you know what you have done wrong?" asked Abner with anger. "You are responsible for the areas under your jurisdiction, but you didn't help out during the recent chaos created by the demons. The Hennings' reputation will be greatly damaged if the Guardians' Council finds out. If you do not want to guard these areas, I will hand them over to Carolina!"

"I have been busy," said Constance indifferently. "I arrived there a bit late."

"You didn't arrive late, you simply didn't bother with them! Constance, I don't mind you sometimes taking treasures from the folks as a form of remuneration, but the Hennings don't only work for riches. You can't ignore the poor because they don't pay you!" said Abner.

Constance's face darkened. She wondered who told her father about all these things.

"And there's another thing that I want to ask you," said Abner. "Did you put the poison in Carolina's magical instrument? Do you know she almost got injured because of that?"

"There's nothing I can do if you think it's me. Moreover, she's so excellent in her magic skills, with Elroy as her follower, she can handle all kinds of situations without the magical instrument."

"Foolish!" Abner was furious. "She's your sister! How can you do such an evil thing?"

"Father, how about you? Haven't you been biased? I'm the elder daughter of the Hennings, but the Echo was given to Carolina! I can be in danger too! Why do you never worry that I may get killed during missions?" yelled Constance, and turned to leave angrily.

Abner sighed in his seat.

"Constance didn't necessarily do that," said Carolina. "You don't have to blame her for this now."

"You don't need to defend her," said Abner. "The reputation of our family has been negatively affected over these years because of her. The other families have complained to the Guardians' Council many times that we have weak management over our areas, and suggested that they take over more areas from us." Abner's face was livid. "Her personality just never changes as she grows up—she's selfish and aggressive."

Carolina kept silent.

Amber wouldn't say this book was well-written because most supporting characters seemed to easily lose their IQ in front of the hero. Most of them lacked depth and complexity, especially the hero's mentor, Constance Henning. She was a shallow villain, narrow-minded and greedy. Highly irritable, she constantly abused her apprentices, and especially directed her cruelty against Karl after a few incidents. Years of studying with the Hennings had become a nightmare for Karl.

Constance abused the hero over every trivial matter, and the development of her plotline took up a quarter of the book. Her personality played a key part in the hero's pathetic childhood, and his finding of the crucial weapon that changed his life ever after: the Sword of Wrath.

After being severely reprimanded by Abner, Constance immediately approached all her apprentices, asking them who told Carolina and her father about her accepting bribes from the people. The book read:

"Who's the informant? Who is fabricating rumors about my taking bribes?" asked Constance coldly, her face pale from fury, scanning the array of apprentices standing in front of her on the square. "That's a bold move. Who's the daring one? Step out now."

All the apprentices stayed silent.

Whoever the informant was, he or she was not fabricating rumors, but Constance insisted this was a false accusation and demanded the informant be punished.

"Who approached my father and told him that I have been remiss in my duty? And even worse, he learned this from Carolina's mouth! Now that she spoke ill of me in front of my father, how will my father think of me!?" Constance strode about in front of them. "If the informant doesn't confess, all of you will be punished! You will kneel down here until the next morning, and no meals for next day! Chad, you don't need to be punished, but you need to supervise the others being punished. Ask someone to do it with you in turns."

"Yes, Master!" answered Chad.

Karl stepped out alone. "My apologies...Master, the situation was urgent, the demons were raging in the village. We were no challenge for them, so we let out the fireworks signal and waited for a long time, but the support team never came. It was then Master Carolina passed by, so I sought her help in a hurry."

"So you think that's my fault? Not coming to your rescue in time?" Constance looked down at Karl.

"No! I didn't mean that! And I never said anything about you taking the bribes..."

Constance suddenly placed her palm on Karl's chest. Accompanied by a dazzling flash, a magic blast of light released from her hand, throwing Karl to the ground.

......

Constance was no doubt a typical character detested by everyone in the book, and she led directly to the gradual changes in Karl's personality.

Growing up in a mentally unhealthy environment, the hardships and sufferings at the Hennings had planted the seeds of hate in Karl long ago. Foreshadowing the changes in Karl's personality, his dark side was fully brought out after the Trevor Event. He became a revengeful, distorted and double-faced fiend.

As the plot developed, all Karl's enemies suffered tragic deaths, and he tortured them before killing them. As he improved at camouflage and manipulating people's minds, Karl killed other demon inheritors of the throne and took over the demonic realm. Still not satisfied, he started slaughtering the guardians to silence all the voices that opposed him. He ruled all of Acadia, and even the immortals could do nothing about him.

Unconsciously, Amber had almost flipped through the entire book, but she found a few pages missing as the page number jumped from 100 to 124. However, these missing pages didn't affect the overall story, and Amber could see it ended badly. Except for the hero, most of the characters didn't have a good ending, especially Karl's mentor—Constance Henning, whom Karl burnt alive.

The next moment, Constance felt a scorching, sharp pain engulfing her.

The fire soon spread to her whole body. The unbearable pain was killing her.

She staggered backward and tripped after a few steps, rolling to the ground. Her skin and hair were burning, and a foul smell filled her nostrils. She heard herself screaming, but was soon unable to make a sound as the mucous membranes of her throat were sticking to each other.

This might be the worst possible way to die. In pain and dehydrated, she felt her muscles unable to move due to the great damage—she was no different from a desiccated corpse now.

This man in front of her refused to grant her a quick and easy death.

All this while, Karl stood there watching her coldly as she wriggled on the ground in pain. He was going to burn her alive.

Constance couldn't breathe.

......

The day was breaking. Amber had finally distracted herself from the negative emotions of meeting Gore. Feeling a little sleepy, she put down the book.

The story ended with many clues and mysteries unsolved. The murderer of several tragic figures was still unknown, and the girls who were supposed to have some relationship with the hero were never heard of again as the plot developed. Many intriguing characters were never described in further detail. Amber somehow regretted reading such a novel, for it was not a pleasant reading experience with so many holes in a story.

Suddenly she felt very sleepy and closed her eyes.

With the window of her bedroom opened, the night breeze flipped the pages of the book lying in Amber's bed. The words in the book started to shimmer.

# Chapter 2

In the endless darkness, a mechanical voice echoed in Amber's ears.

[Automatic triggering, system activated.]

That voice was everywhere inside her head, and its tone was the same as that of Google translation. Amber looked around and saw she was floating in an imaginary space; she reached out her hand but caught nothing.

"Who are you?" asked Amber.

[Dear participant, welcome to Acadia.]

"Acadia? Isn't that the fictitious continent in the book The Sword of Wrath?"

[The role of "Constance Henning" bonding successfully. Enjoy your adventure in Acadia and all the best with your missions. Good luck.]

Within a strong dizziness, a gentle female voice was asking, "Miss Constance, can you hear me?"

Amber shivered. A headache struck her as she slowly opened her eyes, and her vision took a while to become clear.She looked up to see a white veil hanging overhead like a snow flurry.

She was lying in bed. Not her bed.

An old lady sitting by her bed looked at her with concern. Who is this?

"You finally woke up; how are you feeling now? Your fever was so sudden and weird." Seeing her awake, the lady's face glowed with joy and she said in a warm voice, "Master Abner has been worried about you and came to visit you twice."

Was she dreaming? Not only did she wake up in a stranger's room, but this lady's words sounded somehow familiar to her.

Amber didn't answer the lady but looked at her dubiously.

The lady glanced at her and sighed, "Still angry with your father? Children should not contradict their parents. You should apologize to Master Abner later—he cares for you. Constance, are you listening?"

Constance.

This name struck Amber like lightning and confirmed Amber's suspicion about the lady's identity—Sophie White, Constance's nanny since her childhood.

Amber looked at her hands. These fingers were pale and slender, and the new polish she'd applied yesterday was all gone. On her right hand, she wore a bracelet with a pearl pendant.

This was not the style of something she would wear.

Amber laughed lightly to herself. She must be dreaming herself as a character in the book, for she had been reading that story before she went to sleep. That was it.

It was then the Google translation-like mechanical voice appeared again, this time with a tinkling note, speaking directly in Amber's head:

[Account of "Constance Henning" activated: Karl Jenkins's mentor. Role Definition: Villain; Age: Unknown; Weapon: Aura; Power Level: Master; Default scores in your account: 500 points.]

"Wait...," Amber tried to talk to that weird voice, "what's going on here? Is this some kind of game?"

The cold voice continued:

[You can take it that way. You're now inside the book The Sword of Wrath. I'm the system in charge of the overall running of the story; you can call me "System." You can enquire to me any time you have questions regarding your role. As the plot develops, various indicators will be activated. To return to reality, you need to hit a score of 30000 points.]

This is the AI customer service?

"Returning to the real world? So you mean if I cannot complete the tasks assigned to this character, and fail to achieve certain points, then I will be trapped in this world forever?"

[Correct.]

"Wait, how did this happen—who brought me here? Or who creates this world?" Amber fired questions at System.

[These questions go beyond the scope of my duty. Is there anything else I can help you with?]

Amber didn't understand why her soul had inexplicably entered the book she had been reading. To get back to her own body in the real world, she had to follow the instructions of a weird "system" that ruled this world.

And there was a problem. The role assigned to her was "Constance Henning," who would eventually die a miserable death. This was not like picking a role to play in a movie—she would bear the actual sufferings of that specific role.

This is not good.

Creepy passages from the book came to her mind:

Her skin and hair were burning and a foul smell filled her nostrils as she heard herself screaming...

Oh, no. Amber held her forehead in desperation.

Sophie watched Amber looking as if she was about to cry; she frowned in confusion.

"Can you assign me another role, just anyone, let's say...Sophie White?" Amber was feeling hopeless.

[The allocation of roles is random, and cannot be changed.]

Amber then heard Sophie breathe a deep sigh. "And Karl....the kid, can you let him go this once? He was not being intentionally rude, he was just inconsiderate."

Amber, now Constance, knew that Sophie was one of the few persons at Hennings who cared for Karl, and survived the slaughter during Karl's revenge on the Hennings in the later part of the story.

Constance looked around. She needed to know the exact time phase now, so she asked a probing question: "How's he now?"

"You asked him to kneel before the hall for five days, now it has been three days, and he's already having a fever. .So I think if...."

Kneeling for three days....so she entered the story where Constance just quarreled with her father over Carolina's instrument, and punished Karl for being the informant.

Constance recalled the plot so far: Karl had gone through a series of events and received a variety of "punishments," such as punishments for contradicting the mentor, secretly keeping a magical beast, fights with the apprentices from the Byrnes, and so on....

Constance closed her eyes in desperation. Was it still possible for her to become a friend with the hero? She had to change before it got too late. She should try to be nicer to the hero when possible, from now on.

However, as soon as she came up with this idea, a series of warning beeps bombarded her head like the alarming of a police car. Constance's whole body startled, and she pressed her temples painfully.

"Miss Constance?" asked Sophie with concern.

Constance did not answer and bit her lip.

System promptly reminded:

[Any attempts to change the persona of the character, inconsistency in character's actions, thoughts and talks will be considered as OOC, and scores will be deducted accordingly.]

Constance knew about OOC. It was an acronym for "Out of Character," a term used in roleplay when a person wanted to step outside of their character for a minute and speak as themselves.

"So...my behaviors have to follow the role set, and cannot go beyond the scope of the role definition?"

[Correct.]

"What if I do nothing and ignore the protagonist?" asked Constance. "That won't get my scores deducted, right?"

[That will be counted as OOC too, for "Constance" will find every chance to torture the hero. The scores will be deducted based on your character deviation degree correspondingly. When your score reaches zero, you can no longer play your role, but your soul will be locked up in the virtual space, not able to return the real world.]

The virtual space must be the darkness she had been floating in when she first entered the book.

"That means I can neither return to the real world nor continue to stay in Acadia."

[Correct.]

If her scores became zero, the outcome waiting for her was not death, but being forever imprisoned in this book, in darkness.

Constance shivered. She wanted to yell, "Why is this happening to me!" This was rather strict. In a roleplay, at least there would be NGs, not scores deducted for every wrong move.

Seeing Constance safe and sound, Sophie got up to leave. "Regarding Karl, please think about it again."

If only she could, thought Constance.

Constance sat up in her bed as soon as Sophie left. She dashed to a mirror at the corner of her room.

A girl in her eighteenth year appeared in the mirror, staring at her with surprised baby blue eyes. Long bleached blonde hair gently hung over her oval face; her alluringly soft ivory skin was something that could only come from a good background and superior living environment.

Constance pursed her lips to make sure the girl in mirror was herself. She turned around, and found herself slender and with a very narrow waist.

According to the description in the book, Constance obtained her "core" at the age of eighteen and became a half-immortal, thus maintaining her looks of an eighteen-year-old girl since then. She had that kind of icy and unearthly beauty and elegance. If she didn't learn about Constance's character from the book, she might have thought she was a gorgeous goddess from legend.

So in fact "Constance" was probably sixty-years-old by now..... She frowned to herself. When she was still Amber, her appearance could be classified as "charming;" however, Constance's look was a level up. Though attractive, Constance had an arrogant and unapproachable air.

The day was breaking.

Constance's room had a huge balcony. She was attracted to the sound of far-off waves breaking on the shore and walked through the floor-to-ceiling window onto the vast balcony. In the distance lay a completely strange world to her.

"Acadia."

She was momentarily paralyzed by the view. She was now on an island in the middle of the ocean—the Whispering Isle.

In the distance, a castle dwarfed everything below it, and it was connected to a square by floating rocks in the air. The ornamental statue of Sea Patron was the biggest eyecatcher.

And the tower by the sea she lived in, made of chunky walls of gray stone, must be the Tranquility Tower.

She walked down the tower, trying to walk around the island to get familiar with the environment.

The morning was fresh and the smell of the tide pools was strong. A sweet aroma from the wild grasses in the ravines filled the moist air. Constance went down the trail along the coast; the white sand on both sides of the trail sparkled in the sunlight like glitter on diamonds.

There came the occasional squawks of the birds, and the quiet and calm ocean was sparkling and shimmering like a giant sapphire. The picturesque scene somehow soothed her disturbance in coming to this strange world.

Constance studied the database of the mysterious system as she walked about on the island. Large amounts of data flashed in her brain, and she finally found the score criteria of the roles:

In summary, to get more scores, she had to:

1. stick to her role set when on the same scene with the protagonist

2. complete the compulsory mission of taking part in the crucial plots

3. enhance the protagonist's satisfaction indicators

4. unveil various hidden clues and subplots in the story to make it complete

That was to say that she had to deal with the troubles created by the original "Constance," such as the various bad relationships with other characters, and ensure the protagonist's limelight, not tamper with the necessary plots, and solve those unsolved puzzles.

System notification would be issued based on specific circumstances, and missions for extra points would automatically released during different stages Constance could choose to accept or not to accept.

In fact, "Constance" was not the most notorious among the many villains in the story, but she might be the villain who worried about survival the most. For she was different from others as she was "real," while the others were just fictional.

The character of "Constance" possessed looks, magic skills, qualifications, status and reputation, and never needed to worry about money spent. She had a hand of good cards to make herself one of the greatest Guardians of her time, if she hadn't enraged her father and most importantly, tortured her apprentice.

If she had known how powerful the protagonist would become in future, would she change her attitude toward Karl ...?

Slowly, a training square appeared in her sight.

With the system's help, it was not difficult to identity everyone's face in this world. Names would automatically show above each character's head that Constance encountered.

In fact, she had not met the hero so far.

Apprentices entered the square in parades.

Constance took a deep breath before walking into the square as everyone stared; she tried her best to behave perfectly. She met several apprentices along the way, and they greeted her respectfully. She recalled the passages describing "Constance," tried her best to look icy by not responding to the greetings, and walked in long strides, with her chin held high, back straight and shoulders back.

Constance looked around and found no one who matched the image of Karl among the apprentices.

At least she needed to recognize the hero's face, so she could flee faster when being chased by him.

Yes, all she wanted was to flee faster.

Constance spotted a tall and fat teenage boy, around sixteen years old, in uniform.

Constance could not help glancing at him. She sighed inwardly—this boy was fat and had the face of an insignificant character.

This was Constance's chief apprentice, Karl's senior. Chad Nelson. A supposed villain of the lowest level, often called the cannon fodder.

Most protagonists would encounter a school bully during their childhood, and Chad was the one. Constance remembered that this stocky chief apprentice had created many troubles for Karl during his studies at the Hennings, such as secretly putting Karl's magical beast into Constance's room, burning Karl's blanket during the winter night, deliberately giving him the wrong schedule of exams...all these owing to his participation and planning, and various speaking to the mentor regarding Karl's "undisciplined" behaviors. Whenever Constance felt like using someone as a punching bag, Chad would be the first to respond, and an efficient accomplice.

When torturing Karl, Constance and Chad were the best partners.

To a certain extent, Constance thought that she had implicated this kid. Her cold and sarcastic attitude toward Karl had encouraged Chad into bullying Karl, and indirectly resulted in Chad's miserable ending---being revenged by Karl, thrown into the fire pit and eaten up by giant demonic ants.

Based on Chad's ending, Constance looked at the kid with sympathy, as she felt they were in the same boat now.

"Chad, where's Karl?"

The well-built boy immediately stood straight and answered, "Karl? He's over there!"

Karl was at the end of the parade, walking slowly and unsteadily, his knees wrapped with bandages.

Constance felt bad, as Karl's injury probably had something to do with her. She sat, watching the apprentices lining up before her. He walked down toward the apprentices, and Constance's smiling lips suddenly became stiff.

Oh god. She had beaten the protagonist until his face was black and blue. She was doomed.

So that was her punishment for Karl for "spreading rumors."

However, despite his bruised face, the hero was unique. His light brown hair shone in the sunlight, and he had these blue eyes that looked as if you were staring straight into clear blue-green water from Bali. Constance could understand how these eyes would make most girls' hearts melt when they saw him. He still had some baby fat on his cheek with two dimples. What a fresh little handsome boy. The role set for the protagonist was too strong; even when he was tortured and abused, he looked remarkably handsome.

A girl stepped out to hold Karl. "How's your knee?"

Apprentices around Karl laughed.

The System kindly introduced to Constance:

[New character enters: Anna Wood, the youngest female apprentice.]

The young girl had her hair tied up behind her head, with cute freckles on her cheeks. A standard must-have heroine in every novel.

Constance knew this girl. Anna was one of those girls who frequently got Karl into trouble, because she was cute and easily aroused other male students' jealousy toward Karl.

Old-fashioned reason.

"Master, you see...I don't think he could still train today...,"Anna tried to help Karl.

Though looking at Karl without expression, Constance was not sure if she could do this....to abuse a child. She searched in Constance's memories for solutions.

"You should try to mingle with every one of us, not just hiding behind Anna," said Chad. The boys laughed again.

Constance was clear what was on Chad's mind. In the story, Chad's inexplicable hatred toward Karl had always been a mystery to her. He found Karl annoying from time to time and looked for his troubles.

Constance wanted to exempt Karl from the daily training, but this very thought aroused a series of alarming again.

System reminder:

[Constance will not exempt Karl from daily training.]

"No, the training is compulsory," said Constance coldly. "Your knees shall not be an excuse to escape the daily training. Come forward."

"Yes, Master," said Karl, his face expressionless. Anna looked disappointed while the other apprentices giggled secretly, as they thought Constance asked Karl to come forward to receive further punishments.

Karl tried to walk to Constance and stood in front of her, his head lowered.

As Karl stepped out of the line, his steps were unstable. Constance instinctively let out her hand to hold him when the reminder came again:

[Constance will not hold Karl.]

Constance immediately withdraw her hand, and Karl fell to the ground with one knee.

All the apprentices looked at her reaction with strange expressions on their faces.

Karl struggled to stand straight and said, "Master."

Constance stretched out her hand in front of Karl's knees. From Constance's palm emitted a blue light. The light surrounded the wound and abrasions on Karl. Glowing pneumatic energy flew to Karl's knees, and Karl felt a soothing feeling at his knees, slowly healing on their own.

Karl looked at this incredible phenomenon with surprise.

"Can you walk now?" asked Constance.

Karl's knees had recovered.

"Now you can go for training," said Constance. "I don't want to hear rumors again, I don't want my other family members to think that I'm abusing my apprentice."

Constance was into the play very fast. She took the risk to heal the wound for Karl, and yet did it with a relatively sarcastic attitude, still matching the image of the original Constance, displaying her hypocritical side.

To her expectation, the system did not issue OOC reminders. Constance was relieved.

Karl had thought that his mentor was going to further harangue him; he never expected that Constance would actually heal the wound for him. He was first surprised a moment, then thanked Constance with respect and sincerity.

Karl's face still possessed the innocence of a child, his smile filled with sincere warmth like the rising sun. Constance stared at his face for a moment before looking away.

During the first part of the story, when Karl still hadn't turn dark, he was a lily-white good boy, and always responded to every kindness with gratitude.

"This incident passed, I hope you remember that I am your mentor, not Carolina."

Karl reverently apologized, "Sorry for my inconsideration, I wasn't being thoughtful, and got Master into trouble...I will not disappoint Master in future."

If Constance had never read the entire The Sword of Wrath, she might sympathize with Karl now. However, she had witnessed Karl's various psychological activities from the god's-eye view, she had seen how Karl naturally thought one way but behaved another; how he appeared to be a gentleman on the surface while his brain was full of revenge and slaughtering.

She still remembered his classic quotations: "Those who humiliated me today, will regret being born."

So he retaliated against Constance the way he promised: he manipulated her dream, and Constance had nightmares of being eaten by giant demonic ants every night, making her life a living death.

Although Karl looked really vulnerable at the moment, Constance was thinking more about her survival, for she knew how Karl would laugh ferociously and wantonly when he had a chance to step his foot onto another's head one day.

Constance nodded mindlessly and turned to other apprentices for their training.

"Stop malingering and get to your feet!" sneered Chad as he passed by Karl.

The training lasted toward evening, and all the apprentices left for their residence except Karl. He still needed to help in the kitchen after the training.

Karl entered the kitchen, and saw Sophie and Joseph, a kitchen elf who had been working on the Whispering Isle for two years. Both were busy working.

"Let me handle tonight's dinner," said Sophie. "How's your fever? You should go back to rest."

"It was just a small cold," said Karl, "and it's gone now."

"Your master has really been harsh on you," said Joseph. "You can't even be exempted from training when you've got injured knees and a fever. How about we spit into her food?"

"Hey, Joseph! How dare you!" warned Sophie.

"Please don't!" said Karl. "It was my fault, I wasn't considerate enough. And she has healed my knees for me now."

"I was just kidding," said Joseph, sticking his tongue out. "You're not the same as other students. I heard that Master Constance only takes in those who gave her bribes."

Karl had always thought that Constance was not happy with him because he was slow in his studies, though his results were considered as medium.

He smiled, and said nothing.

# Chapter 3

In order to get familiar with the magic system of this world, Constance shut herself in the library for three days to study the magic books piling up in it.

If she had remembered the book correctly, before Karl finally turned evil or cruel, she would still have to go through several major events, such as the invasion of demons during the grand annual occasion—the Trevor Event. According to the storyline, she would have a part to play on that occasion. Now in the shell of an archmage, with no powers, she wouldn't be able to survive for the first round even before the protagonist grew up and killed her—any demons could wipe her out.

In the shell of a talented guardian, Constance found she had few problems memorizing the incantations and instructions on spells. However, a spell named "Glorious" with mysterious instructions caught her attention.

It was a gifted magic power inherited by blood. The description of the spell called it "deadly" and "formidable," and had a warning sign below it. However, when Constance turned the page over to read its incantations, she found they were crossed out, and it was as if someone had torn half the page from the book out of fury. Failing to figure out the incantation from the remains of the page, Constance gave up on it and left her room.

She decided to find a place to try out those magic spells she read in the books as she walked alone to the hills, where the sight of the sea was picturesque, like a giant sapphire with shadows cast by the clouds above it. After she confirmed that there was no one around, she took out a wand from her sleeve.

The sleeves of her clothes had special functions, and could contain numerous huge objects. She could place most of her weapons inside them as she traveled about.

The wand she removed from her sleeve was small and light. It just looked like any other common stick. It was the "Aura"—the weapon Constance used ever since she first gained her reputation in the circle of guardians.

Based on the last words of Constance's deceased mother Gloria Henning, Constance's younger sister Carolina received the extremely powerful weapon "Echo," passed down from Gloria on her coming-of-age ceremony when she turned sixteen. Meanwhile Constance obtained her own weapon, the staff called "Aura," during the weapon electoral conference.

When at a younger age, Constance was a more gifted girl than Carolina; however, different weapons resulted in the two girls obtaining different powers as they grew up. Ironically, "Aura's" attacking power was weaker than that of "Echo," but its healing power was remarkable. As a villain of the story, Constance had a weaker attacking ability but strong healing power, which she didn't bother to use most of the time.

As time went by, the personalities of the two sisters varied greatly. Carolina was still warm and kind as she used to be, but Constance had become a narrow, jealous spirit, and Carolina's growing power had triggered Constance's worries about her right of inheritance. Constance had once insisted that Gloria decided to pass her the "Echo" in her last words, but Abner, probably knowing his own daughters too well, was disappointed in Constance's persistence in getting "Echo."

Constance's relationship with her father and sister deteriorated, as her strong jealousy made Constance gradually hate her father for not granting her mother's effects, and she even tried to murder Carolina. However, her scheme failed and she lost her reputation and status due to this scandal.

In fact, Carolina had no intention of competing with Constance for the primogeniture; it was Abner's disappointment in Constance that eventually led to Carolina's succession.

Knowing her own bad ending, Constance naturally would not make the same choice again. She only cared about how to get back to the real world. The various conflicts and disputes of this world did not interest her at all, nor would she attempt to murder her sister Carolina.

According to the system, intervening in other characters' plots and relationships with other characters did not need to stick to the role set. That meant at least she could improve her relationships with the characters other than the hero to some degree.

To improve her relationship with her father and sister would be a good start.

From now on, she needed to behave well in front of her father, to perform her duties well for the areas under her jurisdiction, to better serve the people and the society, and not to anger Abner so she would not lose her primogeniture.

Only the setting of the hero killing the villain would not be changed. Before she obtained enough scores and went back to the real world, she should befriend all characters other than the hero, and ally herself with as many characters as possible.

As Constance wondered how to pass her spiritual power to the wand as described in the book, she saw the wand glowed in her hand and transformed into a straight and snowy staff, almost her own height.

There was an aquamarine globe at the top of it, wrapped tightly by its branches, which shone in the sunlight.

Based on the setting of this world, the power of all the magical weapons was maintained by its owner's vitality, and controlled by his/her pneuma—a term used in the story to describe the vital energy which existed in almost all things. It was one of the most-practiced magic powers in Acadia.

When a sorcerer's magic power was strong to a certain extent, he/she would be able to generate a "core" inside his/her body. The "core" controlled the overall circulation of the pneuma, and he/she would stop aging and become half-immortal. His/her appearance would stay how he/she looked like when first obtaining the "core." And that was when he/she became the "guardian" and could advance to the next level.

"Huh, it has a portable form for easy carrying." Constance talked to herself. It seemed that she automatically possessed the powers and skills of the body she was in. Without deliberately recollecting the magic theories, she naturally knew how to manipulate her pneuma and cast spells.

Constance wanted to try out her power, hence she casually knocked the end of the staff on the ground.

The outcome was out of her expectation. Accompanied by dazzling flashes, lightning released from the gem of her staff, forming a ring below her feet and forcing her to close her eyes. Then her feet sank so that she almost fell to the ground. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in a dent centered around her staff, deep grooves in the ground extending into the distance, as if the area had been struck by lightning.

"Oh my god," admired Constance. "I'm powerful."

She was more domineering than she had thought, one of the masterminds of sorcery. With such magic power, during the confrontation with the future rise of Karl, she might be able to flee successfully.

Yes, to flee successfully was all she wanted. To survive before she finally found a way to escape from this goddamn book.

It was then she heard some faint noises in the bushes. A baby Animari peeked out of a wreath of fern.

When it spotted Constance looking at it, its hair bristled and it showed its teeth.

This must be the rare Animari—"Terrance." An Animari was a kind of magical beast in the world of Acadia, which could be tamed for riding. It had an eagle's face but with a horn at its nose similar to that of a rhinoceros, while its body looked like that of a lion.

"Constance" had forbidden Karl from raising Terrance on the island because the Animari had once sneaked into her room and destroyed her treasures. In fact, Terrance was secretly put into Constance's treasure room by Chad. Karl thus took Terrance off the island, and with Anna's help, kept Terrance in Anna's home in town. However, Terrance slipped on the Whispering Isle to see Karl on its own from time to time.

Constance reached out her hand to the baby Animari. "What a lovely little thing."

Terrance must be wondering if this woman in front of him had split personalities.

"Come on, don't be scared. I won't throw you out again," said Constance.

Suddenly Terrance bit her fingers.

"Ouch!" Constance grimaced. "You really hate me, don't you?"

However, the Animari was weak, and its bite didn't hurt much. Constance took it up and put her palm over it.

Her pneuma infused the beast's body, and its wound healed like a miracle.

"Good, the effect is not bad."

Terrance looked at her in confusion. It seemed hard to believe this was the same person who had just ordered the apprentices to throw it off the island days ago.

It was then she heard the subtle noise of someone stepping on dried leaves. Someone was coming in her direction.

In fact, the sound was far away, but as a guardian, her every sense was extremely sensitive now—it was hard for her not to notice anything around. Quickly she climbed out of the deep pit, put her wand back into her sleeve, and hid in the shadow of the trees.

The footsteps were getting closer—there was more than one person. After a while, Karl's handsome face showed up, and a girl's tender voice was heard.

"Look, here is a deep pit in the ground," said Anna, pointing on the ground.

Karl did not seem to be interested in the dent Constance created and smiled gently. However, Anna was eager to start a topic with him, so she went on talking, "Who do you think has such power?"

With an ax in his hand, without lifting up his face, Karl said, "Only Master Constance is able to do this on this island."

Ignoring her, Karl continued to cut down the trees.

These trees were thick, the ax was rusty and slow, and at the age of only fourteen, the teenage Karl had a hard time cutting down the trees. Shortly after, his forehead became sweaty.

"Let's relax a little bit," said Anna. "Come and accompany me."

Not even bothering to wipe the sweat off his face, Karl continued with the chores and said, "No, Chad asked me to fill the buckets after gathering today's firewood. If I can do it fast I can still have some time for practice. "

Anna pouted. "The seniors are really mean, always ordering you to do all kinds of work. I think they are deliberately bullying you. I should go to Master Constance and tell her about this, so they won't dare to treat you so mean."

Constance was astonished. She secretly prayed for Anna not to come to her, for her duties were to make the protagonist's life difficult. What would she do if she was asked to help Karl? She wanted no more warnings from the System.

Fortunately, during this period, despite the suffering from a young age and all the ill-treatment received, Karl still thought kindly of others.

He said to Anna sincerely, "Don't, I think they just want to make fun of me. However, I do not want the seniors to get punished because of this."

He was really a sensible and considerate boy, thought Constance.

While Anna talked, Karl finished chopping sufficient wood, then he put away the ax and began practicing magic.

Constance sighed.

In fact, the protagonist's sufferings described in the early part of the book had already hinted at his future rise. Karl was not outstanding in his studies because he had two kinds of power inside him, and they constantly contradicted each other. However, Karl relied on his own talents and the demon lineage lurking in his body. Unintentionally, he scored a lucky hit and worked out his own way, finally becoming a powerful sorcerer.

There might be bugs in the plot, but this was how it went.

It was then a burst of messy footsteps came in the distance.

Constance knew something was going to happen next.

Chad appeared with several junior apprentices. Seeing Anna, his eyes crinkled around the edges and he came up to pull her hand. "Anna, I have been searching for you for a while. You better not come here alone as there might be beasts and snakes lurking around. Come on, I have something interesting to show you."

He certainly saw Karl practicing magic skills, it was just that he ignored him directly as if he was transparent. However, Karl was polite and gently nodded at Chad.

Anna giggled and laughed. "I was not afraid of poisonous snakes and beasts. Besides, I have Karl's company."

Chad squinted at Karl and grunted. Anna's intimacy with Karl had no doubt aroused his jealousy again.

Anna, unaware of the situation, tilted her head and asked, "What did you want to show me just now?"

All the while peeping, Constance finally remember the plot. Here!

However, she was not supposed to be here—she didn't have a part to play at this scene. And she almost skipped this part because she thought it was boring.

Chad showed her a little animal on his hand, which looked like an ordinary chirping bird with a dog nose. However, in a blink of an eye, a huge Animari enlarged from the little animal. Chad watched it with pride.

Anna wrinkled her nose and said, "I don't like its nose. I prefer Karl's...it's such a pity that Terrance was evicted."

Anna looked sad as she said this, simply judging whether a Animari was good or bad based on its appearance, and Chad's smile stiffened.

This time, not only Chad's face darkened, but even Karl, who had pretended to be absent, startled and opened his eyes.

Chad spit out his words through his teeth, "...Does he have an Animari? I only remembered that he had one...that Master asked him to throw out of the island."

Karl had tried to be calm all the while, but his expression changed, and he subconsciously grasped his first under his sleeve.

"You know why that happened." Karl stared back at Chad.

"Are you blaming our Master?" Chad squinted. "Or me?"

Karl was hesitant to answer and before he spoke, Anna replied for him, "Never mind, it's kept in my home in town now. Maybe after a while, when Master Constance is no longer angry, she will allow Terrance to come back to the island."

Constance didn't want to comment on the IQ of the female characters in this book.

Obviously, Anna never took into account the consequences of what she said. She never realized that it was Chad who secretly put the baby Animari into Constance's treasure room and caused Terrance to leave the island, hence she kept mentioning it.

Chad was angry and jealous; ultimately Anna's words provoked him and his anger prevailed. He took a step forward and snapped, "Really? It's already classified by Master as a dangerous species, I don't think it can ever come back."

Karl suddenly stopped talking as now he heard Terrance tweeting nearby. He'd just seen Terrance today, and because it was wounded, he planned to keep it on the island for tonight. He had not told anyone about Terrance's arrival, not even Anna.

"What's that sound?" Unfortunately, Anna noticed the tweeting and walked over to the bushes where the noises seemed to come from.

Anna was frightened when Terrance suddenly jumping out of the bushes onto her body, and she fell to the ground.

"What's this?" asked one of the apprentices.

Chad immediately recognized it was the Animari evicted by Constance.

Karl helped Anna to get up and held Terrance in his arms, looking at Chad nervously. Chad understood the situation quickly.

"The beast scared Anna just now, it should be punished," said Chad. "Hand it over to me."

Anna did not expect this, and she stomped with anxiety. "I don't mind!"

But Karl was no match for Chad, as he was soon surrounded by a group of junior apprentices, and soon Terrance was in Chad's hands. Seeming unintentional, he wandered with Terrance near the cliff of the Whistle Slope, lifted the creature up and observed it for a while before he suddenly held it on the edge of the cliff.

Terrance cried out in fear. It was too young to fly properly now. If it was thrown off the cliff, it would probably die.

"How come it's still here?" said Chad, satisfied. "What will happen to it if Master Constance finds out?"

He held out Terrance on the cliff, trying to throw it off.

Terrance had been Karl's friend ever since his childhood; it was a rare and fierce species. Terrance accompanied Karl during his darkest days and gave him a little warmth, which reminded him of his last human nature left.

Karl 's fists slowly clenched as he said word by word, "Give it back to me."

Constance's fingers slightly bent.

She remembered this scene, where Terrance's death had been one of Karl's deepest pains and directly triggered Karl's revenge on Chad in the future.

As a bystander, Constance really felt like beating Chad up and throwing Terrance back to Karl. She could be saving Chad's life. Chad would not offend Karl entirely, and could probably retrieve his life in the future. After all, his ending was similar to hers in this book, or maybe he died slightly less miserable than she.

Misery loves company; Constance sympathized with him.

Chad said with disgust, "Even if I drop it now, Master Constance will say nothing about it."

Chad didn't show the slightest intention to return Terrance to Karl. Karl's face was taut, and he suddenly hit several apprentices with his fists.

He was furious, and the apprentices were first stunned by his strikes, but they soon found that Karl was rather weak and his attack was not organized but out of fury. Chad then demanded, "What are you looking at? He dares to attack the seniors, you guys know how to teach him to be humble?" The apprentices immediately regained their courage, surrounded Karl and started to beat him up.

Anna was startled, screaming, "Chad! Stop it! Ask them to stop, or else...or else I will never speak to you again!"

Chad was panicked. "Anna, don't get angry, I will tell them to stop..." Before he could finish his words, Karl broke free of the apprentices' grasps and kicks and pounced up, caught Chad off guard and gave him a punch in the face.

"Oh, my nose!" Chad yelled, blood immediately dripping from his nose.

Anna had been tearful all the while, but upon seeing Chad's face being punched, she could not help but laugh.

Constance held her forehead in desperation. She wondered whether Anna loved Karl or hated him, as her reaction always tended to make things worse.

Chad had planned to let go of Karl, but now he was embarrassed in front of all the junior apprentices, he wouldn't let this end easily.

The apprentices were soon wrestling together with Karl, and Chad joined them as well. Despite Karl's talent, he was too young after all, and never struck in the correct ways. He was obviously in an unfair fight but did not moan during the beating. Terrance fell off the cliff during the fight.

It cried in sharp screams.

"Terrance!" cried Karl and tried to leave, but he was stopped by the other apprentices.

"Don't let him go, this is not over!" said Chad.

Constance subconsciously wanted to interfere.

The System immediately burst out: [Serious OOC! In this case, "Constance" should choose to stand by and watch!]

Constance had no idea of the consequences of the violation; she could not risk herself. As she was thinking anxiously, suddenly she came up with a compromised solution.

Constance could play a kind of small spell named "Roots" with "Aura." It had no practical function, but was rather a spell for mischief.

It was a spell invented by the Byrnes—one of the most famous guardian families. The Byrnes were good at manipulating magic related to earth, and the young guardians from various families exchanged their experiences in magic casting frequently at a young age.

It was described in the book once, where Constance used it to prank Carolina when she was still young. Connor Byrne, a master guardian, the eldest son of the Byrnes, taught Constance when both of them were still young.

She knocked the ground with the end of her staff, and whispered, "Roots!"

The roots of trees popped out of the earth and tripped the apprentices' feet. After a series of dull thuds, Constance heard Chad's scream.

She giggled inwardly. Being a "Master" was really convenient as everything around her could be turned into a weapon against her enemy. This simple trick would be perfect to warn Chad a bit.

Karl suffered several fists and a few kicks, and suddenly Chad stumbled and backed away from him. Karl looked up and saw the apprentices climbing up from the ground. Then he saw Chad looking around himself with disbelief: the roots had already sunk back into the earth, and nothing seemed wrong.

Chad abruptly turned back, his eyes widening. "What did you do?"

Anna had been standing by and watching them, not daring to approach during their fight. Now she tried to set herself between the two. "No, no, Karl didn't do anything!"

Karl was confused too; his lips tightened, and he wiped the blood off his forehead. Chad's nose was bleeding more fiercely. He questioned the other apprentices, "You guys see anything? How did you guys fall down?"

The young apprentices looked at each other, not sure what was going on. Some shook their heads, some nodded; it was a mess.

Chad was a spoiled son from a rich family. He'd never suffered such "injury," and he became panicked watching his bloody palm. He was baffled as the "weapons" were nowhere to be seen either on the ground nor on Karl's body.

How could it be missing right before everyone's eyes?

Constance held her breath.

Suddenly a prompt box popped up before her eyes, a line of suspended text, in shocking red and capital letters: [Violation: OOC. Score deducted:-10. Current score left: 490.]

Constance was relieved. Her original estimate was a deduction of 50 points or so. There were still chances for her to regain the points in future.

But she was not glad for long, as she heard Chad shout, "Don't let him go! Beat him up!"

Several apprentices rushed forward as they were commanded. Before she could think of anything, Constance swiftly whispered, "Roots."

She regretted it as soon as she knocked "Aura" on the ground again.

Why was she doing this? Karl was the main protagonist; as the hero of the story, Karl never got killed despite the various fights he had gone through throughout his childhood and adolescence. He always turned out fine and would only become stronger after every torture.

The hero needed no help at all.

It was impossible for everyone not to notice something wrong now.

Several apprentices were bruised due to repeated falling, some dared not to stand up and remained lying on the ground, while the others were reluctant to rush forward, surprised and uncertain about the sudden attack. They backed away and gathered around Chad.

"What happened just now?"

"There's something pulling on my feet!"

Chad's face turned green and then white. After a long pause, he commanded, "Let's leave!"

The apprentices, covering their buttocks and wiping their injured faces, quickly withdrew with Chad, and were soon nowhere in sight.

Bewildered, Anna stayed where she was for a while and turned around.

"Did you defeat them just now?" she asked.

Karl shook his head gloomily, barely standing straight, but revealing a tense look.

Quickly he ran down the trail to the sea bank, bowed his head and bent over, looking for Terrance in the sea, and searched through the bushes and spring mud along the sea bank over and over again.

Constance knew he was looking for Terrance, who he'd lost in the melee.

The voice of the System sounded in her head again: [Violation: OOC. Score deducted: - 10 × 6. Current score: 430.]

Constance was stunned. Ten points for each root spell? That was beyond her expectation.

Anna was silent. After all, she was the one talking too much—she'd provoked Chad and gotten Karl into trouble. She looked for Terrance with Karl.

However, until the sky got dark, they failed to find anything.

Karl was standing on the sea bank and looked at the dark seawater in a daze.

Terrance was lost. He wasn't sure if he was already dead.

Anna was a bit worried to see Karl looking so lost, and a little scared too. She pulled his hand. "Karl, I'm sorry, can I get you another Animari pup?"

Karl did not respond to her; he slowly took his hand back, and with his head down, he headed back to the kitchen. Anna quickly caught up with him.

Constance sat on a tree, watching the two kids searching for Terrance. On her knees, Terrance was sleeping. She had saved it from the seawater while the kids were still quarreling, and now its fur had already dried up.

Waiting until they were far away, she jumped off the tree in the hidden place with Terrance.

Constance would like to secretly return Terrance to Karl, if only the system wouldn't say anything about it. She had no extra points to squander anymore.

Constance thought for a while, and put Terrance down and let it go back into the bushes.

It wouldn't be considered her OOC if Terrance approached Karl itself, right?

Luckily the system didn't issue any alarms. Constance's mood brightened, and she walked slowly toward her Tranquility Tower.

# Chapter 4

Constance had been thinking hard about how to get out of the book. For the past week, the System had only issued some small tasks such as punishing the protagonist occasionally. These tasks generated few points, and she wondered when she could score enough points to leave Acadia.

Such a regular and boring life finally got a little change, as one day Chad came to ask Constance about the trip to Bleakvault.

"Bleakvault?"

"Master, you forgot about that? Last time...before your fever, you said you will handle the matters of Bleakvault City, saying that will be a good training opportunity for your apprentices."

It should be a mission promised by the original Constance.

"What is it about?"

"The villagers were afflicted by a weird spell," said Chad. "The spell had their hair growing crazily until all their nutrients were used up by the hair growing, then they died."

Constance took a deep breath upon hearing this.

Sounds scary. What a trouble.

Constance was trying to find an excuse to turn the mission down. She was still not skillful with the manipulation of her own spiritual power and magic techniques, and could not control the pneuma freely. How could she take the risk and bring her apprentices to Bleakvault?

"Well, actually, I'm not feeling very well..." While she was still pondering, the alarming tone of the System rang coldly in her ear:

[Task released: Apprentice training. Score value: 400. Difficulty Level: Low. Location: Bleakvault City. Please answer to accept.]

Wait, this is actually a chance to retrieve the points I lost.

Her memories about this episode were vague—this training experience was roughly described with a few sentences. There were no details about the whole process, so she had no idea how this event was actually solved.

Is this an extra episode or hidden plot? Is it dangerous? Can I deal with it?

Constance wondered how many such hidden lines were in the story. It seemed like the spoilers couldn't help her in all circumstances.

However, due to the large number of points she had lost previously, she had to do something to get them back. And Constance knew "her father" Master Abner had always been displeased with "her" attitude of not helping the folks as frequently as her sister Carolina. This would be a good chance to improve her father's impression of her, so he might change his mind and pass her the inheritance in future.

There was nothing to lose in becoming more powerful. She remembered her ending from time to time, and was willing to do anything to improve it in the allowed criteria: not influencing the protagonist's main plotline.

She inquired the System about the details of this task, and the System answered: [It's common for a story to omit some unimportant information.]

Constance answered "accept" to start the mission. Then she heard a tinkling sound and a voice prompted: [Task accepted, please follow instructions along the trip, good luck.]

Constance smiled at Chad. "Of course I remember, it's just it took some days for me to recover. We can set off as soon as possible."

Constance went to greet Abner and say goodbye before setting off for Bleakvault.

Abner nodded and said, "Are you feeling well now? If there is any inconvenience, don't push yourself too hard. In fact, you don't have to do it personally—don't rush for the moment."

"Thank you, Father."

As the elder daughter of the Hennings, one of the major guardian families, Constance had always thought highly of herself in front of ordinary humans and neglected those sorcerers without guardianship. She had been relatively inattentive toward the management of the regions when compared to Carolina. Bleakvault was previously under Carolina's management, and after Constance took it over, the evil spirits and demons' power over it had been more and more influential. The living environment deteriorated, and the folks complained. And rumors had long been spread among other guardian families and the Guardian Council.

Constance peeked at the girl standing beside Abner, Carolina Henning.

Constance experienced psychological turmoil when seeing Carolina's face. The murder victim was standing right before her eyes and smiling at her gently; she felt a constriction in her chest and avoided her eyes..

She had to do something before it was too late.

To prepare for the trip, Constance handed over various chores to Chad to deal with. Chad was a good helper—when not involved with the protagonist, this kid was efficient, and had both a high IQ and EQ.

The next day, Constance's team was ready to set off.

Before leaving the Whispering Isle, Constance checked on her costume. She dressed in a plain long white robe, outlining her slender figure, romantic and elegant. If she was still in her own world, she would probably spend some time admiring this cosplay costume.

As for the bracelet she had been wearing ever since she came to Acadia, she wasn't sure how to unlock it from her wrist. It appeared to be something really precious to "Constance," since it didn't offer a buckle to unlink it.

Whatever, thought Constance as she winked at herself in the mirror.

Absolutely not OOC, perfect!

At the end of the long white stony stairs, Chad had prepared her Animari for her: Namir, a white fox which could grow larger. There were also a number of Animaris for other accompanying apprentices.

The Animaris were never easy to tame; in fact, they picked their owner according to the rider's talents and power, and formed a magical bond with the rider by sharing their pnuema.

Once an Animari acknowledged its rider, it would only be loyal to him/her.

Constance got on Namir, and it was domineering. She noticed the atmosphere was not right and looked down.

Just now, she didn't notice that the one busy preparing her Animari was Karl.

It was then Karl finished fixing and tying up the saddle belts on Namiri's body, and looked up just in time to see Constance staring at him with a complex expression. He was slightly at a loss for a second before greeting respectfully, "Master."

The bruises and marks from "Constance's" abuse were almost gone. Though still young and not fully grown, his facial features foretold his future eminent looks. Despite the various abuse and suppression Karl suffered, he appeared to have a bright and positive personality, and the way he talked and moved reminded Constance of the common descriptions of a prince in a fairy tale.

It wouldn't be easy for someone to stay positive after all these sufferings.

She had to admit the protagonist had his advantages. As an orphan without a prominent background, Karl was able to attract numerous female characters in the book. His looks were vital. This might also explain why he easily became the pain in the ass for so many other male supporting roles in this book... Though in vulgar clothing, doing the roughest tasks, his attitude was meticulous, his expression was focused and serious, and it was hard for anyone not to have a favorable impression of him.

Especially Constance, who had neither resentment nor enmity against the protagonist.

Constance stared at him for a while, said nothing and turned her eyes away.

Karl pondered whether he did anything to annoy Constance again as he walked away.

It was then Constance heard laughter in the distance. She recognized that voice even without turning her head.

Sure enough, among the snickers, Chad triumphantly said, "Karl has not tamed any Animaris, I think that's because your foundation is too poor. I do suggest you join us the next time. What a pity."

This obviously reminded Karl of Terrance falling into the sea. His lips tightened but he didn't say anything.

But Chad wouldn't let him go this easily. He asked, "What's that face? Angry?"

Karl said plainly, "No such thing."

"If you really want to go, you can walk there. Take this as a challenge." As soon as Chad finished his words, laughter broke out around Karl.

It was then Anna arrived and asked curiously, "What are you guys talking about?"

She really came at the right time.

Constance was a little worried. Anna had been the catalyst for the deterioration of Chad's relationship with Karl, and whenever she showed up, Karl would have something to suffer.

Just as expected, Anna excitedly waved at Karl. "Karl, you don't have your own Animari, right? You can come and ride with me!"

She was really good at provoking Chad.

Without turning her head, Constance could picture Chad's jaw falling to the ground. Once Karl accepted Anna's suggestion, he would have a hard time through the trip.

Seeing Karl was hesitant, Constance, sitting on the Animari, said, "Chad, do not dawdle. Let's set off now."

Although Chad was unhappy about the solution, upon hearing the master's command, he didn't refute and led the team to set off.

The team flew in the direction of Bleakvault City. Shortly after they took off, Constance heard a burst of laughter from behind her. Constance glanced back and saw Karl and Anna sitting together, but the apprentices around them drove their beasts really close to Karl from time to time, trying to scare him and cast small magic tricks toward him. They made him unstable so he almost fell off Anna's Animari, looking really awkward.

Before Constance came to this world, the characters were all two-dimensional to her—after all, they were fictional. Torturing the protagonist was a common technique in story writing. However, when the role appeared in front of her in real life, seeing a kid being ill-treated like this, she felt uncomfortable.

Anna tried to stop and persuade others not to bully Karl, but her efforts were in vain. She was angry and thus called to Constance for help. "Master! Look at them!"

Constance had been waiting for her to speak for Karl, but did not show it and said, "What's going on?"

Anna complained, "They're so mean!"

Chad had no problem continuing to act the bully. Because all similar pranks gained Constance's acquiescence in the past, the more they bullied Karl ruthlessly, the more Master would be pleased. How would they restrain themselves?

Chad was the happiest one. He believed that day on the hill, Karl had played some tricks to get them injured. He took this excellent opportunity to exact revenge on Karl, who wouldn't dare to fight back in Master's presence and could only bear it.

Constance turned back and glared at Karl, saying, "I think you need someone to teach you how to ride an Animari properly?"

Karl blushed and lowered his head; the apprentices around him started to laugh out loud.

"You have been wasting everyone's time."

Karl tried to explain, looking helpless and embarrassed.

"Come over to ride with me," said Constance. "We have to accelerate."

System: [warning]

"Why the warning? I didn't OOC." Constance secretly talked to the system.

System: ["Constance" will not make this move for Karl's benefit. This act is determined as 100% OOC.]

"Of course I'm not solving problems for Karl. In this case, I'm just trying to shorten the flying trip and I have embarrassed him in front of everyone. Isn't this consistent with Constance's behavior?"

The system was silent.

"So my behavior is in full compliance with the role of 'Constance.' You cannot deduct my points."

Having communicated with the System for days, Constance had gradually figured out some tactics to keep her scores.

The System had its rules, but they could be flexible sometimes, allowing room for bargaining.

Sure enough, the System gave up deducting her points this time, and Constance could not help but laugh.

Karl sat behind Constance, body stiff and holding on to the belts on Namir, waiting quietly for further chiding from Constance. Based on his past experiences, Master Constance had been cold to him and taken every opportunity to lecture him in a really embarrassing and discomforting way. Though he respected Constance as his master, it was clear that she never thought highly of him.

But Constance talked to him no more along the way. Both of them rode on the beast in silence.

Karl was never so close to her like right now. The tip of one of the escaped tendrils of her hair was blown by the wind and touched his face, and a faint fragrance from her robe joined the breeze as they flew, pleasant but distant.

Chad and the other apprentices were disappointed and finally gave up making fun of Karl.

Constance put up a cold face all the way, and finally, her team arrived at the Bleakvault City.

This was a bustling city, a few miles away from Whispering Isle. There had been more than forty residents with the strange disease of out-of-control hair growth.

The mayor came up with no solution to this, and the inhabitants of the city were panicked, with rumors spreading that these residents were cursed.

Several prominent families gathered together and came to a decision: they sent a representative to the Whispering Isle, to seek the Archmage's help. The mayor had sent people to Master Abner in the hope that he could help solve the mysterious incidences at Bleakvault. The recent turmoil in the city made the mayor even more eager for Constance's arrival.

After Constance's team settled into the place arranged by the officials of Bleakvault City, the mayor of the city and his wife arrived to greet them. A man dressed in rich velvets and silks, accompanied by officials and servants in splendid livery, sighed deeply while a young girl stood by his side, her eyes tearful.

"That's the mayor's daughter? She looks so beautiful," said Constance to one of the officials accompanying the mayor.

The official gave an embarrassed smile and said, "That's his wife."

"Wife?" asked Constance, a little surprised as the mayor looked above fifty, but his wife looked like a teenage girl.

"Yah, she's already forty years old, looks really young, doesn't she?" said the official.

The mayor's wife looked exceptionally young—her skin was pale and smooth, her long and silky blonde hair in a braid.

Other than the guardians, it's quite rare for humans to stay so young-looking, thought Constance.

"We need to ask the victims a few questions," said Constance to the official, putting up a serious face as she tried to look mysterious. "Please ask a few families to cooperate with us regarding the investigation."

"Sure," said the official.

Again, Constance left all the details to Chad to take care of and went out of the house. This was the only privilege of being a master.

Constance took some time to wander around in the city. She still didn't have a full picture of Acadia. The life on Whispering Isle was boring, and Constance had been longing to see more of this world since the first day she came to Acadia. However, due to the System's setting for the character—"Constance" was "an introvert and prefers to stay alone in her room"—she was trapped in the room of her tower most of the time when she was not playing her scenes. In the name of collecting more information on the victims she strolled along the streets, and bought a juice from a street peddler as she wandered.

This large city was prosperous. It stood on a major trade route, well-known for its series of elaborate fountains, and most of its revenue comes from leather goods.

Suddenly, there came the system reminder: [New character enters: Deurom Hoskins, a demon boy, player: Gore Walter.]

Gore? Constance immediately turned around, but she wasn't sure which character Gore was playing.

"How could this be? He's in the book as well?" muttered Constance to herself. Then she noticed among the crowd, a boy with black hair stood with his back facing her.

"Gore? Is that you?" shouted Constance as she tried to squeeze through the crowd to that boy.

That boy didn't turn around, nor did he answer her, but started walking as Constance called Gore's name. The louder Constance called to him, the quicker he walked, and finally disappeared into the crowd.

The thought that Gore was also sucked into the book, and his role in the book, worried her.

If she got a chance to talk to him...

It was then she saw the young man appear around a corner on the street again.

"Hey! Wait!" shouted Constance. "Stop there!"

His reaction was odd as he immediately tried to avoid her, but the street was crowded, and he had no choice but to meet her face-to-face.

The young man turned around, his face helpless. Constance stared at him as she walked toward him. "You're here too...?"

Unexpectedly, someone answered the boy for her: "Such a coincidence."

Only then did Constance notice there was a young man standing next to the boy.

Constance looked at him with a bemused expression, and he coughed lightly.

He was a handsome young man with a rectangular face, a defined, slightly pointed chin and a sturdy jawline; his naturally blond hair was neatly tied and worn back to reveal a wide forehead. The robe he wore over his broad shoulders had neatly polished buttons at the front with a leather belt around his waist.

Constance tried hard to recall the episode in the book. She saw the family crest on his scabbard; the decorative patterns of the Byrnes were an obvious sign of wealth and fame.

She remembered this guy, who was from one of the seven guardian families, the elder son of Archmage Byrne—Connor. Constance had tried to engage with him, but he'd turned her down.

In the story, Connor was deeply attracted to the younger daughter of the Lancasters—Lilith Lancaster. However, his family was more fond of Constance, the elder daughter of the Hennings, who as the first in line to the heir, obviously could get both families a brighter future than Lilith.

Another reason behind Connor's affection for Lilith might be his unique role set—as the main male supporting role of the story, his role function was to fall for the hero's girlfriend and create disputes in the plot.

He was the "handsome, good family background, high talent, popular among girls, high-spirited, famous at an early age" kind of guy. In the story, Connor was upset about his engagement with Constance, and he didn't have a good impression of Constance. He was cold toward her, and thus aroused Constance's jealousy of Lilith.

Connor frowned at the boy standing beside him—obviously, he assumed that Constance had been chasing after him.

Rolling her eyes secretly, Constance still put on a smiling face and said, "Hi."

"It's rare that you'd personally take a hand in the mission."

Most of the time, Constance would only send out her apprentices to missions. Looks like the remuneration this time was rather generous, thought Connor.

Constance put on a perfect image of an expert, sipping the juice in her hand, and said with sincerity, "I appear whenever the folks have difficulties—that's my duty as a guardian."

As if he'd heard something funny, Connor silently sneered.

"So why are you guys here? For the mission as well?" asked Constance.

"We had an apprentice missing for four days in this city...," answered the boy, but he was stopped by Connor with a glance. Connor had heard that Constance Henning only took tasks from the rich, so he just wanted to end any discussion with her as soon as possible. As he was still pondering how to find an excuse to leave the spot, Constance spoke up: "It's time for the mission, see you next time."

He was a little surprised, as he thought Constance would try to invite him to join her trip as she used to.

"See you!" Smiling, Constance waved at Connor and left quickly. She wouldn't waste time on the plot that wouldn't contribute to her scores after realizing that she had mistaken the wrong person for Gore.

"Who is she?" asked the young apprentice beside Connor after Constance left. "Constance from the famous Hennings? She's beautiful; why is Master avoiding her?"

"Beauty without a character is a waste. She doesn't usually take care of such small cases. I wonder why she's here this time."

Constance continued wandering on the street until sunset, and came back to where she was staying. Chad came into the room to report to Constance about his investigation.

"Have you checked on the bodies?" asked Constance.

"Yes, I have carefully examined the bodies and questioned several victims' family members. Here are the details."

He solemnly handed over the evidence to Constance with both hands.

There were ashes on a handkerchief.

Constance did not take over, but took a closer look at the ashes, her face becoming serious.

"I noticed that every victim has a unique hair on their scalp," said Chad. "That very hair is different from the rest of their hair—it seems to belong to some other creature. And when I pulled it out of the victim's scalp, it became ashes."

"Um, very observant." Constance nodded. When not bullying Karl, Chad could be quite outstanding too.

"So it's quite sure now," concluded Chad. "They were afflicted by the 'long hair' spell."

Chad looked at Constance as if waiting for her next instruction.

So....now the type of spell was clear, but how to solve it? Because this part was only vaguely mentioned in the book, Constance lost her advantage of spoilers this time.

Constance maintained her calm expression while hastily searching for an answer in her memories.

The system abruptly asked: [Do you want to activate the "Dummy mode"?]

Dummy mode? Absolutely!

[Are you willing to get points deducted for the "Dummy mode"?]

Constance selected "yes," and soon 100 marks were deducted from her account.

Never mind; she needed to invest first before getting a reward. At least she could know what she was facing.

[Solution: Peril's whiskers needed.]

"We need the Peril's whiskers. To tie up the hair of the villagers, so their hair would stop growing," said Constance. "There's no other way to disperse the spell completely, but at least we can stop it from getting worse."

"Master, you're so wise!" said Chad, his eyes sparkling. "It's such a blessing for the villagers to have a great guardian like you."

Constance snorted. "How dare these evil things to haunt the folk within the Hennings' precinct. I won't allow this to last for long."

She really didn't want to recite these lines. They just came out of her mouth automatically.

"As long as Master is here, the monsters won't be able to get away!" Chad watched her with admiration. "And we'll help the people to get rid of the scourge!"

It seemed their master and apprentice relationship had always been in the "dominate and worship" mode. In fact, Constance was rather satisfied with Chad as her apprentice.

From Constance's point of view, though he was from a rich family, Chad never showed his arrogance in front of his master. He was extremely obedient and respectful toward Constance. Constance enjoyed the feeling of being worshiped. Chad also did a good job of arranging the accommodation and meals during the trip, as well as the investigation of the mysterious deaths in the town.

Due to the force majeure, Chad would only change whenever he encountered Karl—he would experience a sudden fall in IQ and turn into an unreasonable school bully. Other than that, he was a really capable and nice kid...

Constance talked to the system again: "So who is this Peril?"

[It is a black draconian monster.]

What...what?

[Location of the Peril: "The Moaning Hole." Do you need a map for location reference?]

"Sure, very thoughtful." Knowing there was no turning back now, Constance shook her head to herself while Chad looked at her in confusion.

A digital map showed in Constance's brain and she quickly located the Moaning Hole.

"Let's go now," said Constance as she stood up. "Summon the rest of the apprentices; we now head for the Moaning Hole."

# Chapter 5

When Constance stood in front of the entrance of the Moaning Hole in the remote mountainous area, she became hesitant.

Constance turned her stiff neck toward Chad and said, "This mission is meant to train you. So I will be an onlooker most of the time, if possible. Try to solve the problems on your own. And you, as the senior, should lead the other junior apprentices and try not to get yourselves harmed."

"Yes, Master!"

Chad never suspected the fear in his Master and walked in front of Constance with the rest of the apprentices.

Following Chad, Constance walked cautiously into the cave. She wasn't disoriented as she had expected, as her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness.

Being a master guardian was really different.

As she walked warily forward, her feet felt like two suction cups attaching to the wet mud on the ground. A faint dripping sound echoed away from them for miles.

"Do you have a plan for how to deal with the Peril?" Constance asked Chad carefully.

"Yes, Master—I have already drawn the magic circles on the ground. As long as the monster comes here, I have the confidence to capture it," said Chad.

Chad used peacock's tears to draw the magic circle on the ground. Constance had read about the tears in the book. It was a dark purple fluid that could be used as an ink to draw magic symbols and signs, thus creating a protective shield against evil creatures.

Constance nodded.

Suddenly, she heard squeaks in the darkness, but the echo made it hard to tell which direction they were coming from. The noises of flapping wings were getting closer. Despite the utter darkness, she could see the movement of maybe a hundred small animals coming in their direction.

Bats.

There are so many of them flying toward them that the apprentices screamed and some braced themselves.

Constance had been expecting the bats to hit her, but they all flew above her toward the entrance of the cave. It was only then that she realized the bats weren't trying to attack them, but rather, escaping from something.

There was something in this cave. A cold shiver ran up and down Constance's spine.

Suddenly, a daunting figure sneaked out from behind a rock, its two seething eyes glaring at Constance, and a bellow rushed from its abysmal mouth in unfathomable agony. The creature moved quickly toward Constance and her apprentices; though its body was bulky, its agile movement was reminiscent of that of a cat. However, as soon as it stepped into the magic circle drawn by Chad, it was tied up by magical light ropes shot out from the magic circle.

The Peril screamed and struggled, hissing angrily at the apprentices around it.

That's it?

This mission is easy.

Constance ordered the apprentices to cut its whiskers.

Chad and Rubin walked toward the creature, and when they were about to cut its whiskers, it screamed and the magic ropes on its body ruptured.

"Ah!!" shouted Chad as the Peril opened its mouth and bit toward him and Rubin.

"Explosia!" Constance pointed "Aura" at the mouth of the dragon, and a light blasted in the Peril's mouth like fireworks.

The Peril roared and slammed its head onto the ground. Its jagged tail swung behind it and swept onto the walls of the cave, causing rocks and debris to fall. The entire cave became dusty.

"Depriulsis!" Constance formed a barrier around the dragon, and the barrier kept shrinking until the dragon could no longer move about within that enchantment.

Constance wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Chad redrew the magic circle to freeze the dragon.

"Sorry, but we have to save the villagers. Your whiskers can regrow," said Constance to the dragon. "Cut its whiskers."

Chad carried the whiskers in his hand as they walked toward the exit of the cave. Suddenly they heard Rubin's scream in the darkness.

"What's that again?" Impatient, Chad turned around.

"The...the..." stammered Rubin, flinging his arm. "Something climbed on my hand!"

"It's just a spider," sneered Chad. "Don't be fussy."

"Wait! Master!" Karl's voice echoed in the cave.

"What's up?"

"Anna is missing!"

"What?" asked Constance, annoyed. "Why don't you watch out for her?"

Though blaming Karl, she knew it was not his fault. It was because Anna had always been a troublemaker for Karl throughout the chapters. She would go missing from time to time or get herself into danger at a crucial point, thus inducing numerous twists and turns in the book. While reading the book, Constance was sometimes impressed with Karl, who could endure and accept Anna as one of his many girlfriends. In the same situation, most characters wouldn't survive long.

Karl looked guilty over Anna's going missing. With his head bowed, he showed Constance the way to where Anna was found. She'd tripped over a stone on the ground and bruised her knee.

"Anna, how are you feeling?" Chad reached out his hand, but Anna took Karl's arm and supported herself.

"Master, what's this?" asked Anna, pointing at a stone with a weird carving on it. "I was tripped by this thing." Upon hearing Anna asking, Constance bent down to check on the ground. The carving was destroyed during the dragon's struggle, and a green light was coming from it.

Looks like a flat tombstone, thought Constance. She squatted down and tried to wipe the thick dust from the surface of the stony plate to see it clearly. Suddenly the carvings on the "tombstone" started to shimmer, and light beamed from it.

The earth quaked; Constance backed away from the plate with her apprentices, and she noticed many spiders were spilling out from under the "tombstone" and flooding toward them at full speed.

"Oh my god!" screamed Rubin.

"Wait, spiders? Just now when we came in, we didn't see these...," said Constance, then she suddenly shouted, "Run!"

"The...the...," yelled Rubin, pointing at something on the ceiling of the cave. Constance turned around and saw a giant spider was resting on it, its eyes glowing in the darkness.

The spider shot cobwebs from its mouth toward Karl.

"Stay out of my way!" Constance pushed Karl aside. Her tone had a deterrent effect and would prevent her from OOC while trying to save Karl in time.

Constance shot an ice blade that pierced through the giant spider's leg. The spider's scream echoed in the cave and caused everyone to hold their heads.

"Don't be a drag!" She tried to look angry and glared at Karl, who quickly backed away without a word. Suddenly his pupils shrunk as Constance saw him staring straight at something behind her. She turned around and saw another huge spider looking at her. It had a human face, with long hair hanging from its head. It was then a loud crash boomed, and the entrance of the cave collapsed.

Before everything disappeared in the total darkness, Constance felt thick cobwebs wrapping around her body and saw the giant spider smiling maliciously.

"Master, Master, wake up!"

Constance groaned, and slowly opened her eyes. But she saw nothing. Still, she could hear someone calling her name, but she was in total darkness.

Was she blind?

Constance felt dizzy.

Isn't this hidden plotline finished? She was only expanding this line for the sake of points. She didn't want to die because of this small task.

Her legs felt chilly without the coverage of a dress. Then she realized that her face was actually covered by her own skirt hemline—that was why she couldn't see anything. She immediately lifted the skirt off her face like a curtain, and then she saw Karl's anxious face opposite her.

But his face was upside down.

WTF!

She was the one being hung upside down from the roof! Both her ankles were tied by cobwebs, and the layers of her skirt were all over her face and upper body, exposing her bare legs and undergarment.

This is the worst way of being caught.

[Points deducted for total image breakdown:-100.]

She hardly looked like a "Master" now and was in a really awkward situation. Hanging from the roof, her hands tied behind her with ropes made of cobwebs. No wonder she lost so many points for that.

"Shit...no...," cursed Constance, twisting her body in the air, but still she couldn't break free.

Though she didn't expose herself, for the pantaloons she was wearing were made of light stockinet in a flesh-toned color and reached to just below the knee, she didn't want to imagine her apprentices watching this funny scene across the room.

No wonder Karl looked a little embarrassed. He must be thinking that he would probably get severely punished later for catching his Master in such an awkward state.

"What are you looking at?" asked Constance in a fierce tone, this time partly due to her own embarrassment. But her voice sounded dull behind the curtain of her own dress.

I'm the dumbest villain ever.

Constance blushed for a while; then she noticed her "Aura" was missing.

Karl, who had his hands tied behind his back with cobwebs, seemed relieved to see Constance waking up. His eyes sparkled but avoided her, looking somewhere else while talking to Constance. "Master, what should we do now?"

Her reaction fell in Karl's eyes and had an impact on him.

In the past, Karl had mostly seen Constance's cynical and sarcastic attitudes. He'd hardly had any chances to see Constance's "indecent" looks: blushing, eyes avoiding him, with her upper body tied up with unbreakable cobwebs, her soft blonde hair scattered all over her face.

Karl's heart was filled with an indescribable wavering.

It was just like you had been watching adult videos online, and one day you found out the actress was the teacher who had been teaching you every day in class and punished you from time to time when you failed to answer her questions.

Chad, Anna, and Rubin were with her too, their hands also tied behind them by cobwebs.

Anna wept. "Master...I'm so scared..."

Why was she the only one hanging upside down? If she found out who did this to her, she was going to give him a good punch. In such a state, it was so hard for to maintain her icy look.

The system abruptly reminded again: [New character enters: Goldie Byrne, a female apprentice from the Byrnes, player: Gina Harris.]

The name "Gina Harris" struck Constance's head like striking a bell.

"Gina?"

There was a girl sitting across from the three of them, in the Byrne uniform. She seemed very surprised hearing someone call her this name.

"Amber?"

"What is going on? You, you are in this book too?"

"Here is inside the book? Damn it! I have been wondering where I am, and there's a stupid voice that keeps telling me what to do next. If I don't follow its instructions, I won't be able to go back to the real world."

"Why are you caught here?"

"I don't know! When I woke up I was already here."

So Gina had been captured for four days, ever since she came into the book.

Constance could not help laughing secretly.

She noticed the family crest on her chest—so she was the missing apprentice the Byrnes had been talking about.

"Just do something!You look kind of powerful—aren't you a master? I want to go home! Now!"

"Let's find a way to leave here first," said Constance. "So you know who's behind all this?"

There came a burst of strange laughter from behind them.

A shadow emerged from the darkness.

The System prompted out an introduction: [Arachnientus: a monster formed from a human possessed by miasma.]

Constance winked at Goldie, hinting that they needed to work with each other. When she saw clearly what the "Arachnientus" looked like, she was speechless.

The mayor's wife!

"Didn't expect to see me here?" asked the mayor's wife, grinning as she walked slowly toward Karl and Anna.

Constance squinted. "The hair monster....is you?"

"Surprised?" Smiling, the Arachnientus said, "I absorb the souls by planting my hair on the folks. Their hair will grow until the last soul power is lost."

No wonder she looks so young for her age.

"Master Constance, I'm afraid that you're not able to leave this time. As one of the most famous guardian families, I presume a Master from the Hennings is powerful. However, I can see it won't take long for the demons to conquer Acadia." Having said that, she let out another burst of laughter. Her voice was rough and husky, like someone who had been smoking opium.

"Your staff is with me now. The famous 'Aura.'"

"I'm so scared," Anna whined and continued weeping.

Karl had been silently listening to their conversation, flames of anger in his eyes. The demon's vicious act had frenzied the boy's sense of justice. Anna did not understand what were they talking about but did not dare to intervene.

Arachnientus walked toward Karl and Anna. Karl could still stay calm, but Anna cried out, "You monster, don't come near! Help me, Master!"

Constance had been secretly generating her pneuma, which didn't come to her palm automatically like it used to, as she failed to form a mudra with her fingers with her hands tied up.

Arachnientus giggled. "I have drawn the symbols on your master's arms with the peacock's tears—she can barely generate her pneuma now. How can she rescue you?"

Constance was surprised. This demon-like creature knows how to draw the symbols with peacock's tears?

As if answering Constance's doubts, Arachnientus sighed, "I was once a sorcerer too. If I hadn't tried to become an immortal...."

It sounded like she was a sorcerer who fell into the wrong path because she tried to become an immortal.

"I need your pneuma. After I absorb yours, I will get your master's; a master guardian's pneuma must be enormous. This will greatly shorten my time of becoming an immortal. And this staff will be my trophy," said Arachnientus.

Everyone fell silent. Anna's face turned chalky, and she turned to look at Constance for help.

Constance talked to the System.

"If I get killed in this mission, can I get reset and revived?"

System: [Only the hero has the privilege to come back to life.]

Well, there is no guarantee for the safety of characters other than the protagonist. Somehow she regretted accepting this task.

What tools could she use now?

Constance wanted to use her score again, but her points were at a low value. She searched in the data library of the System. Numerous data points flashed in her brain, and suddenly a unique line named the "Protagonist undying law" caught her eye.

It was an unbreakable rule that existed in most type of stories: the protagonist never got killed. According to this law, no matter what crisis the protagonist encountered, he/she could always survive, even in incredible or illogical ways, for developmental needs of the story.

System: [This is the supreme rule of this universe and can never be broken in any circumstances.]

Constance sighed loudly. "Fortunately you didn't pick the boy next to her...."

Arachnientus immediately stopped wrapping her hair around Anna's head. "Why?"

Karl's face changed as he heard this. He instinctively sensed something wrong. He never expected Constance would inexplicably bring him into the conversation.

"Oops! I misspoke myself!" said Constance in an exaggerated way.

Arachnientus looked up and down at Karl, who tried to look calm, while his mind was turbulent. He really did not understand why the focus was suddenly brought on him.

Arachnientus was immediately moved. Well, this villain trusts people easily.

Constance struck while the iron was hot. "Monster! I warn you not to touch him!"

Karl turned pale on the spot.

No matter how precocious he appeared to be, he was only a kid after all. When facing death, even adults could rarely stay fearless, not to mention Karl was a fourteen-year-old boy.

Constance tried not to look into his eyes; she kept apologizing secretly, You will be all right. I promise I will make this up to you in the future.

All the disciples, including those from the Byrnes, were looking at Constance in terror.

Constance felt her nerves were like a tight string in her brain. Her words and tone were very provocative. Hair started to grow furiously from Arachnientus's scalp and tangled around Karl's neck and face, trying to suffocating him.

Karl tried desperately to break free from the cobwebs, but the cobwebs only tightened as he struggled more.

Just as Arachnientus tightened the grip of her hair on Karl, with her back facing Constance, the ceiling of the cave where Constance was tied suddenly collapsed. She fell on Arachnientus along with the debris.

If Constance was a reader right now, she would probably throw the book across the room and gave the book a one-star review based solely on this episode.

Just as the System stated, do not try to break the rules of the story: the protagonist never dies. In other words, any threats to the protagonist will trigger a dead-end flag, and the attackers will come to no good end.

Constance took advantage of this powerful tool and deliberately instigated Arachnientus to attack Karl. Just as expected, a challenge to this rule would always fail, and Arachnientus was almost killed. Although this could be cruel, Karl's life wouldn't be threatened at all. She admitted that she did this for personal selfishness; otherwise all of them except Karl would probably die here.

Constance was buried in the fallen debris; however, the cobwebs tying her hands loosened and her hands were finally freed. She wiped the drawn symbols off her arms, quickly generated her pneuma and shot an ice blade toward Arachnientus.

The debris of the collapsed cave almost flattened Arachnientus, and she could not climb up. Constance's ice blade further injured her.

Anna had already passed out. Karl struggled with his cobweb ropes, which inexplicably loosened on him. He turned back and found they were cut by Constance's ice blade. Arachnientus was struggling in the heap of debris next to him.

Constance pointed her staff at Gina, whose bundle loosened.

So that's it?

This predicament could be resolved in a far more logical and natural way. She just couldn't believe without displaying how brave and capable the protagonist was, he was saved by a sudden cave-in.

This turn was really awkward and stiff.

Constance took the time to exchange her experiences with the System: "Just wondering if all the villains are this type?"

System: [This is to ensure that you successfully accomplish this simple task. When dummy mode is on, the villains' IQ will be set below average level.]

Constance strongly praised, "Excellent design. This dummy mode really helps."

Arachnientus overturned the rocks and jumped off the ground with anger.

"Constance! What tricks did you play behind me?" She was furious. "The Hennings are really despicable!"

Constance was innocent. The biggest culprit should be Karl. Honestly, she was not the one who'd triggered this flag.

"The coincidence is so dubious! You deliberately distracted me by lying to me and attacked me by surprise; how do you explain why this cave would suddenly collapse and hit only me? You must have done something to make that happen!"

See? Even the monster noted the unreasonableness here.

It was then the roar of the Peril was heard. The peacock's tear marks were losing their effectiveness after twelve hours, and Peril finally broke free, which probably caused the collapse of the cave.

Arachnientus's teeth clenching, her body changed into a giant spider, ripping her clothes. Still maintaining a woman's face, her eyes became sunken and mouth so wide it stretched from ear to ear. She crawled toward Constance, looking hideous in the dim light.

Karl blew out the door from inside. Constance and other apprentices rushed out, Arachnientus chasing after them.

Their paths diverged at the fork in the tunnel. Constance secretly put a light spell on Karl's back, and the light attracted Arachnientus in the darkness. Constance pushed Karl into one of the paths, while she ran in the other.

"Master?" Karl's voice echoed in terror. Furious, Arachnientus chased Karl the other way into the darkness.

Constance didn't stop running, for she thought Karl would be okay even without her turning back to save him. Soon Constance saw the faint light ahead and found the end of the tunnel they were in opened to a cliff.

She walked carefully to the end of the tunnel and found they were inside a huge sinkhole. When looking down, the sinkhole was hollow and dark, with occasional echoes of falling rocks. Constance looked up and saw a small crack above—it must be the surface of the ground. It was hard to imagine there was such a deep sinkhole below that small crack.

How were they going to escape?

The system reminder came in: [Trail to the exit of the sinkhole detected.]

Constance looked carefully around the sinkhole and found that right beside the edge of the tunnel where she was standing, a narrow trail spiraled up the sinkhole along its rocky walls.

Though the trail was extremely narrow, it was enough for a person to pass at a time.

"Roots!" whispered Constance, but only a few of them stretched out as most of the wall was made of rock instead of earth.

The roots helped them to grip the trail firmly, and led by Constance, the apprentices followed her to move slowly along the trail up the sinkhole, their backs clinging tightly to the rocky wall, and trying not to look down.

Without Karl present, Anna somehow whined less. It seemed the function of her role only targeted the protagonist: creating troubles for the hero.

Distant roars of the Peril echoed from time to time.

Finally, they made it to the crack. Constance threw a blast to widen the crack. She was first to climb out by pulling onto a tree root. When she saw the sunlight of the outside world, she almost wanted to throw her arms in the air in front of her apprentices.

Thank god she didn't die in this small mission!

After all the apprentices were out of the sinkhole, Constance was ready to leave. It was then she heard a boy calling for help from the bottom of the sinkhole.

It was Karl!

She had completely forgotten about the hero!

She craned forward to see what was happening and saw the path Karl had been running through happened to join the sinkhole as well, and he was about to reach the crack by climbing the same trail. He was now waving his arm at her.

Behind him, Arachnientus was chasing him closely, on the rocky wall across the sinkhole. Eager to stop Karl from escaping, she jumped across the sinkhole and landed in front of Karl.

The system reminder came: [Danger notification: 5 minutes later, Peril will appear and flames will rise from the bottom of the sinkhole.]

The opportunity comes! Constance's pupils rolled within seconds.

"Roots!" shouted Constance as roots extended from the earth, into the depth of the sinkhole.

Karl's eyes glittered and he jumped onto the long roots. The roots pulled him toward the exit of the sinkhole.

"Come over here!" shouted Constance.

Arachnientus, eager to catch Karl, freaked out when she saw the roots pulling Karl up the sinkhole, and she jumped toward him. She caught Karl's ankle and wouldn't let go.

Peril's roars were getting nearer, and flames flashed inside the sinkhole.

"The Peril is coming!" yelled Chad.

Karl kicked Arachnientus in her face, and at the same time, was surprised to find the roots had stopped pulling him upwards.

He abruptly lifted his face, as if waiting for something. Constance was watching him, something strange in her eyes.

"Master?" asked Karl, confused. His lower body hanging in the air, swinging with Arachnientus on his ankle, his weight was solely on his arm holding the dried roots. "What's wrong?"

"Master, pull him up!" cried out Anna. The other apprentices were in terror and rushed forward.

"There's no time," said Constance. "I've got to save you all—I can't pull Arachnientus out together with Karl."

Anna was frightened. "Master... You...you can't be serious, can you?"

"Master, please pull me up!" shouted Karl.

Constance ignored Anna's questioning.

In the eyes of those unaware of the truth, Constance was undoubtedly pushing Karl to his death.

What Constance did was unbelievable to Karl. He wondered if his master really hated him to this extent?

Suddenly, a giant fire beam rose upward from the depth of the sinkhole and soon engulfed the darkness in a sea of fire.

"No!!!!!" Arachnientus cried as Peril's flames swept her from her feet, turning her into a fireball. She let go of Karl and dropped into the sinkhole like a broken kite, her screaming lost in the fire.

The roots started to move swiftly as soon as Arachnientus let go of Karl, and Constance stretched out her hand to pull Karl out of the exit just before Peril's flames erupted from it and shot into the sky.

"Retreat!" shouted Constance as the opening started to cave in, eventually revealing the real size of the sinkhole below it.

This was the first time Constance was "killing" someone. But she had not relented at Arachnientus's horrific death.

Constance turned her face away, trying to comfort herself by coming up with various excuses, and brainwashing herself: Firstly, she was in the book now, and Arachnientus was just fictional; secondly, Arachnientus was a demon; thirdly, if she didn't kill the demon, Constance would die in her hands.

Karl's young face was still slightly pale.

Just as expected, any dangers that threatened the hero could be perfectly solved.

Constance forced herself to be calm, and slowly stood straight and turned to Karl. "Scared?"

Karl bit his lips and blurted out, "Just now...."

"Do you want to ask me if Arachnientus didn't let go of you, what was I going to do?"

Constance really wanted to assure him that she knew the fire would 100% kill Arachnientus without harming him, but could she?

So she could only try to sound ambiguous. "Are you blaming your master?"

Constance looked serious. Karl shook his head and answered sincerely, "No, it would be an honor for me to sacrifice my life for Master."

Constance was shocked by his loftiness.

She went on, "Everything is under my control. You have to have faith that I will ensure all of you are safe."

As if lightened up by Constance's words, vitality returned to Karl's face, like a sunflower meeting the sunlight. He held Constance's wand with both hands and presented it to Constance. "Master, here is your wand!"

Constance took it over.

This boy was really kindhearted and honest; he must be frightened just now. And in just a blink of an eye, he was back to life again. It would be great if he could stay that way forever...

The next moment, she heard a series of reminders from the System.

[Image enhancement, +50]

[Villain strength +30]

[Task completed +200. The current score of "Constance's" account is 510. Congratulations! Keep it up, fighting!]

Yay~~~!

Constance almost wanted to cheer in front of Karl. She felt as if she was in love with such big ups and downs of the game now.

Bloated with ecstasy, Constance laughed out, "And the demons are not hard to get rid of at all, all in my calculation! Haha!"

She was so highly conceited and did not pay attention to the problem of OCC. Karl was apparently surprised at her enthusiastic reaction.

Constance turned just in time to see Karl watching her. Seeing Karl caught her laughing before she could think of how to react, she had already smiled at him sheepishly.

Somehow her smile was like a tiny thorn stinging his heart; he looked away instantly and could not identify his own feelings. He seldom saw Constance smiling, not to mention laughing. Though he had always respected her as his direct mentor, it was clear that Constance didn't think highly of him.

And he actually never got a chance to look at her carefully.

Honestly, Constance's appearance was impressive: when she was not angry, one couldn't take his eyes off her. The contours of her profile were as if polished by running spring water; people would easily feel well disposed toward her. Just like the gemstone on her staff, she appeared warm and elegant.

Constance's smile disappeared in a blink of an eye, and when she looked over again, her eyes became icy. Karl quickly turned away.

The truth was Constance immediately received a prompt from the System.

[Violation: OOC.]

"Even a smile?"

System's righteous voice insisted: [Points deducted for smiling -5. Current score 505.]

Having learned the lesson, Constance became cautious and stayed alert for the next few hours, wearing a serious expression. Fortunately, the System finally left her in peace.

# Chapter 6

Constance brought the Peril's Whiskers back to Bleakvault. Though the curse couldn't be completely lifted from the afflicted victims, by tying their hair with the whiskers, their hair finally stopped growing and they were thus saved.

As for the mayor's wife, she was missing since that day. When Constance left the city with her apprentices, the people were still searching for her. She didn't tell the mayor about the Arachnientus' death, for she thought that might be too hard for him to take.

As soon as Constance went back to the Whispering Isle, the first thing she did was to report the outcome to her father Abner.

As Constance entered the lobby, Carolina welcomed her with the apprentices following her. She caught Constance's wrist with her hand. Constance was firstly surprised, then she realized Carolina was passing some of her pneuma into her body, helping her to recover.

The warm flow of pneuma ran in her body, and she gradually calmed down.

Carolina saw the pneuma flow functioned well inside Constance, indicating that her body was not injured. She then let go of her hand, smiled and asked, "How was the trip?"

Her care for her as a family member warmed Constance's heart, so much that she skipped the embarrassing details of the task. "Unsatisfactory."

Except for Karl and Chad, the other apprentices never got a chance to practice their magic and skills on the combat with demon. Constance played the main part, and from the view of the apprentices, the training could only be described as "unsatisfactory."

"Take it easy," said Carolina, and she walked with Constance into the hall.

Now that she thought about it, Constance was still a little scared—this experience made her realize the importance of practicing magic.

In this world, only power and strength could ensure her a future.

Moreover, plots unrelated to Karl were possible to change. Carolina was really nice to her, and she was determined to change the plot of her killing her sister. Constance had to plan her future days in the book.

"Constance, you have done well," said Master Abner. "I'm so glad that you finally realized your responsibilities and are actively fulfilling them."

In the book, Abner had been very disappointed in Constance in the latter part of the story. She hoped she could improve the father and daughter relationship in the future, and control the plot in a more proactive way.

After Constance left, Abner turned to Carolina and asked her, "Do you feel that Constance has been behaving strangely these days? "

Abner looked a bit worried.

Ever since Carolina was granted the weapon of "Echo," Constance and Abner could seldom talk to each other without ending up quarreling.

"Isn't that good?" Carolina smiled. "I saw the two of you quarrel less just now. It seems a lot changed after her fever months ago?"

"She seemed completely changed to another person," muttered Elroy. "She is nicer to everyone now, except her apprentice called Karl."

"She's more willing to take my advice, such as carrying out minor missions," said Abner.

"I think she's just in a better mood," said Elroy.

"And she actually helped me during a mission," said Carolina.

Everyone continued to comment on Constance's unusual behaviors in the recent period, such as helping Carolina in her missions, punishing her apprentices less...

After Constance walked out of the main hall, along her way back to the Tranquility Tower, she saw the young apprentices working in the field, picking the flower seeds. She stopped and watched them with interest.

A fruity fragrance mixed with the salty scent in the air, and the lustrous shine of the fields and dazzling color of emeralds extended into the distance, with the sea horizon as the backdrop forming the unique view which would only exist in this fairy-tale world.

Something glowing rose from the blooming flowers. Constance caught it with her hand.

The seed was glowing. Constance opened her palm, and the seed rose to the sky like a firefly.

Some apprentices were holding a net, hovering above the flowers to keep the glowing seeds from flying into the sky, while the others collected the seeds with a glass jar.

"Wow....this is amazing," complimented Constance.

Seeing Constance stopped by the field, the apprentices stood up straight and greeted her. Karl also lifted his head to look in her direction.

"Master."

Constance turned around to see Chad walking toward her with a bag in his hand.

"Hey, Chad," said Constance cheerfully. "What are you guys doing?"

"We are collecting the seeds of Lantern Blossoms," said Chad. "Isn't this what we do during the harvest time every year?"

"Oh, really...," said Constance, smiling a little. "I didn't really notice. What are these seeds for?"

"The Lantern Blossoms are the special plant of the Whispering Isle," said Chad. Though he thought Constance should have known this flower better than him, he continued to explain—as Constance had been behaving strangely, it wasn't entirely weird for her to ask this question. "We sell the seeds to the folks in town for lighting at night. "

"Really?" exclaimed Constance. "That's quite environmental, and safe too! It's not even combustible. Do they put it in a glass or something?"

"Something like that." Chad smiled, though he wasn't quite sure what she meant by "environmental." "The folks put the seed in a glassy lamp to keep it from rising to the sky. Every single seed can be used for a year."

"I see. So you guys are collecting it, otherwise, they will fly away?" asked Constance.

"Yah, once it flies away, it will be difficult to catch," said Chad.

In addition to Abner and Carolina, Karl had also noticed that Constance's attitude toward others was changing these days. But the change was in her attitude toward people other than him. She would smile to most people she encountered, but her face would immediately change whenever she saw Karl.

The contrast was rather obvious.

She was nice to Chad, to Anna, other apprentices, and the door elf, sometimes even to a bird temporarily resting on her fingers; she smiled and her facial features became gentle.

He failed to figure out what he had done to irritate her so much.

Previously because Constance was serious and icy to most people, only occasionally smiling at Chad, Karl did not feel too awkward. Now he was more uncertain whether the rumors were true, that Constance had such a distinctive attitude toward him because he did not give her gifts when he first joined the Hennings.

Are the rumors true?

He was putting the ripened seeds of the Lantern Blossoms into a glass jar when Sophie came to his side.

"Karl," said Sophie, "you have already helped out in the kitchen. Take a rest and leave these to other apprentices."

"Never mind," said Karl. "I'm not tired."

"Chad asks you to help out here, does he? Just ignore him," said Sophie, looking at Constance and Chad talking by the field. "He does know how to please Miss Constance though."

Karl didn't speak, but concentrated on his work in the field.

"You look like you have something on your mind. What's troubling you? Why?" whispered Sophie.

"I feel that Master Constance is especially cold to me," said Karl, looking upset. "In fact, only me."

"How could that be?" said Sophie. Sophie thought it was not a big deal to cheer Karl up a bit, so she said, "It's possible that you are thinking too much—there's no reason for her to complain about you."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely true," said Sophie. "You're such a nice boy."

Chad put on a smile, handing over the bag he had been holding in his hand to Constance. "My relatives brought me some rare fruits. I brought them especially for you."

Constance took the bag over and looked at the blue fruits inside the bag. Chad eagerly asked, "How do you like it?"

Constance smiled at Chad. "Looks delicious, thank you so much." Then she turned to the other apprentices in the field. "Let's try some."

Anna and the rest of the apprentices giggled and rushed toward Constance, picking the blue fruits from the bag and eating, while Chad's face looking gloomy.

After distributing most of the fruits, Constance noticed Karl didn't come forward like other apprentices but stood where he was, at a certain distance from her, still collecting the seeds quietly.

"Hey!" Constance called to Karl, and threw a fruit at him. "Catch it!"

Slightly surprised, Karl caught it with a hand and was about to thank Constance. Anna had already shouted with joy, "Thank you, Master! These fruits seem expensive!"

Karl held the fruit in his hand, smiling. The blue fruit was like a gemstone; Karl looked at it through the sunlight, rubbed it on his clothes and bit it.

"See, I told you you're thinking too much," said Sophie, and winked at him.

System reminder: [Marks deducted for being nice to the hero:-5.]

Constance stuck out her tongue secretly. She'd acted based on instinct and forgot about her role set again.

After Constance left, Chad immediately looked angrily at Karl, who grinned and took another bite of the fruit in his face.

Rubin handed over the fruit in his hand to Chad. "Do you want one more?"

Chad pushed Rubin's hand away angrily. "Too full now!"

"Full of anger," chuckled Sophie, who turned to Karl. "Have you done your packing for the trip tomorrow?"

"Oh, yes," said Karl; he almost forgot about this thing. He and a few other apprentices would set out for the sword electoral conference, which was held by the Guardian Council every three years. He put down the jar and said, "I'm going off now—I haven't done the packing yet."

He needed to attend the weapon selection convention organized by the Guardian Council. The weapon electoral conference was located in the Windy Vales. It was one of the most sparsely populated areas in Acadia, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, including the highest mountain in west Acadia.

This year, the four candidates nominated by the Hennings were Karl, Chad, Violet, and Rubin.

Sophie smiled and took over his jar.

The next day, they set off for the Windy Vales.

"There it is!" cheered Anna with joy as she pointed in the distance.

There was a stony square with a huge logo of the Guardian Council on one of the mountain summits. It was a symbol of power and honor for all the sorcerers of Acadia. The mountain towered into the clouds, while the guardians' Animaris roamed in the mountains. Sorcerers without guardianship would not even have a chance to peek in here.

Today, the square in front of the main hall was bustling with apprentices and guardians in various uniforms, all here to witness the weapon selection. A grand gathering was underway, and excitement was in the air.

The weapon selection convention was like a coming-of-age ceremony for all apprentices, as it would be a test of their powers. Their strength would determine whether the powerful weapon would obey them.

The disciples of all the guardians' families assembled on the square, waiting for the one in charge to announce the opening ceremony.

Shortly afterward, a man in a black cloak came slowly onstage in the center of the square, scanning the audience, his face expressionless.

Only the guardians with the highest status had the right to stand on the stage.

Ernest Foster.

He had gray hair and a mustache, and was dressed in a dark gray robe.

The president of the Guardian Council was selected from among the guardians, and Ernest's position was jointly decided by the king of Acadia and the Patrons. Ernest shared the last name of the current king and was said to be the king's half-brother. Thus he was thrust with the job of managing all the guardians, to ensure they worked for the welfare of the king.

The apprentices saw Ernest walking onto the stage and quieted down.

"Today you will pick your own weapons," said Ernest. "In fact, the weapon picks you based on the types and strength of energy inside you."

Apprentices whispered to each other.

In the circle of guardians, a more powerful weapon meant reputation and status. This was not just a simple ceremony.

"As a member of the guardians, you have the duty to protect Acadia against the invasion of the demons, and the weapon you receive is granted with the immortals' power, to assist you in fighting back the demons. This is a test that every apprentice must take. After the completion of the task, only when you obtain your own weapon are you qualified to pursue your guardianship." Ernest's words echoed in the ears of the apprentices and represented the authority of the council.

All the disciples swore their loyalty to the humans and Guardian Council with authentic sincerity.

Ernest sat, looked at the apprentices and said, "Later the four patriarchs will open the door of the soul realm for the candidates, and the candidates will enter the soul realm to obtain their own weapons. Be strong and courageous, and the weapon will choose its own master.

"Remember, you have one day's time inside the soul realm, and the entrance of the realm will be opened again before the sun sets—you need to leave the realm before the sun sets. If you fail to get your weapon this time, the next chance will be three years later."

Realizing if they missed this time, they had to wait for another three years, some apprentices became nervous. Those who had weapons would have a great leap in their magic practice; thus three years was long enough for apprentices of the same level to develop a vast difference in skills.

Ernest looked up at the sky and said, "It's almost time to start."

According to the setting of the story, only two kinds of beings were immortal, the Demons and the immortals, while humans and other creatures(animals and plants, etc.) were mortal. After a living creature died, their souls would go to a place called "the Sanctuary," where the immortals lived and ruled.

The soul realm was part of Sanctuary, and the only entrance to it must be opened by the four key keepers selected by the Guardian Council. The Patrons from the Sanctuary had authorized the Guardian Council to hold the keys in custody, and selected the key keepers every three years from among the patriarchs of the main guardian families.

The candidates for weapon selection were recommended by the head of each faction; however, the qualifications and eligibilities were assessed by the members of the Guardian Council based on the assessment criteria provided by the immortals.

Constance noticed a middle-aged man in the distance. Gerald Gallagher.

He was a tall and sturdy man, with his long silver hair slightly pulled back, his handsome, sparkling blue eyes holding a steady gaze. He stood graciously among others, his head held high, with a palpable air of authority.

This year, Gerald Gallagher was one of the key keepers, while Lancaster, Wallace, and Arrington kept the other keys.

When the four key keepers uttered the incantation at the same time, and the four keys met each other, they merged into one single key and a black swirl formed in the air.

The gate of the soul realm was opened. The black swirl gradually enlarged into a rotating black hole in the air.

"Be careful," said Constance to Chad and the other apprentices. She nodded slightly, without turning to Karl.

Noticing this, Anna turned to Karl and encouraged him, "Good luck, Karl! I have faith in you!"

Anna wasn't a candidate for the weapon selection convention this year, but since Karl didn't have a matured Animari to ride for the trip, she lent him hers and insisted that she come along to cheer for him.

Chad immediately turned and sneered at Karl. "You? Karl, don't get above yourself—just wait and see when you enter the soul realm." Then he turned to Anna, who was standing beside him, and smiled. "I will try my best to get the Calibur."

"Well," responded Anna mindlessly.

The disciples entered the soul realm in lines. Lucas Graham, a disciple from the Ghallaghters, took the lead, followed by Samuel Byrnes.

Lucas had very good looks, and his magical power was very domineering too. However, he was not much different from Constance herself...in terms of his role function.

Constance knew Lucas's goal was to get the "Calibur" like everyone; however, bright as Lucas was, in the protagonist's presence, she wondered if he could succeed. In the original plot, Constance stopped her father from nominating Karl as a candidate for the weapon selection convention, thus Karl didn't have his own weapon until he finally got the Sword of Wrath.

However, she didn't stop Abner from selecting Karl this time because the system didn't issue stopping Karl from attending the convention as a compulsory mission. She acquiesced in this arrangement.

"Lucas is so strong, no wonder the head liked him so much," the candidates standing behind Constance admired him.

Samuel frowned upon seeing Lucas receiving so many praises. He was handsome and tall, with blond hair similar to Connor's, but he had a scar on his face, and his expression was impatient most of the time. As he waited in line to enter, Karl and the other Hennings apprentices passed by him. When he saw Karl, he looked surprised but didn't say anything.

Karl and the rest of the apprentices stepped inside the realm. Everyone was wondering who would get the most powerful swords. A few famous weapons stayed in the realm for years and were never picked by anyone.

Watching her apprentices enter the realm, Constance heard a discussion somewhere behind her. "However, though the weapons from the realm can be powerful, they are not comparable to those inherited weapons within the big families."

"Yah. Such as Megan Gallagher—she never needs to take part in such a conference, for her father will surely pass down the most powerful weapons to her," said another guardian. Suddenly lowering his volume, he added, "I heard that Master Constance got her 'Aura' from one of these conventions too?"

"It was said 'Aura' was the best weapon of that year," said the first guardian. "There have been rumors that only Carolina inherited the weapon from her mother, so Constance could only pick her own weapon via the convention."

When the guardian said this, Constance sensed something weird in his attitude—what he said didn't sound like a compliment.

Constance secretly moved a little closer to the two guardians and listened attentively.

"So Master Abner seems to favor Carolina more."

"Obviously. There's a limitation to the Hennings' power," said the guardian. "It's said there's a particular spell created by the Hennings that is really powerful—it can purify everything evil it meets. But when launching it, the price is the caster's own life."

"Really? Sounds kind of scary."

"And the 'Echo,' the weapon Carolina is carrying now, can prevent the caster from losing her life when launching this powerful spell."

"That's amazing...but there's only one such weapon?"

"Yah...from Master Abner's deceased wife."

"So that means Constance would never surpass Carolina," said another guardian. "Her parents have already chosen the one."

Constance suddenly got all hung up upon hearing this details about her own weapon and Carolina's. This was an aspect of the "deadly" spell never mentioned in the book, and she somehow sensed this had something to do with the tense relationship between the original "Constance" and Carolina.

As the elder daughter, she would never surpass her sister due to a choice made by her parents a few decades ago. Being proud and competitive, Constance could not easily be reconciled over this.

So the mysterious spell instructions with a warning below them....were probably the powerful spell the other guardians were talking about.

If Abner and his wife had to choose one of the daughters to die in a spellcasting, they had chosen Constance.

Constance wondered how the original "Constance" felt when she first learned this fact. Even though she was not the real one, her heart ached slightly for the character she was playing.

Inside the realm, Karl saw dark clouds hovering above an endless desolate wasteland with some strange standing rocks.

Karl's magic skills had enhanced greatly now; if he failed to pick any weapons during this convention, it would be an embarrassment for the Hennings. He had to prove his ability in front of so many Masters.

The other apprentices had scattered around; the clouds were getting darker, and the air was more oppressive. Karl felt there was something ahead summoning him, something exciting and dangerous. As he walked on, he saw a bright light, and he could feel a strong energy field surrounding it.

Suddenly the earth began to tremble, clouds gathered above his head, folds and cracks formed in the ground, and finally, a huge fire phoenix broke through the ground and flew toward Karl.

Karl dodged the phoenix's attack; the phoenix stared at him silently, its eyes like two red diamonds.

Suddenly, overwhelming pneuma spewed out from the phoenix, which startled Karl.

What's this strong pneuma?

"Be careful!" Karl pushed Chad aside.

"Ouch!" yelled Chad. "What's wrong with you?"

"The phoenix..." Karl was surprised at Chad's reaction.

"Phoenix? What phoenix? I saw no phoenix," said Chad. "I only saw a deer."

Karl understood instantly: sorcerers with a high level could see the lower-level mana beasts, but the low-level sorcerers couldn't see the high-level mana beasts.

Karl left Chad where he was and ran after the phoenix.

"Where is it leading me to?" Karl realized that the light was probably the source of the weapon.

In the distance, a golden light beam shot from the earth into the sky, distorting the surrounding environment. As Karl walked closer to the light source, he noticed someone was already waiting there.

"Samuel?" Karl raced with Samuel toward the light source.

The moment Karl arrived at the light source, the phoenix transformed into a strong golden light that suddenly disappeared into the earth. The surrounding earth began to quiver, and a strong energy broke out from the ground.

A glowing sword rose from the earth, with its lower part still submerged.

"You're late—the 'Calibur' chose me as its master," said Samuel to Karl proudly.

The "Calibur"? One of the most famous weapons of the soul realm.

"This is not up to you to decide," reminded Karl. "It's up to this sword. We came here to be selected by the sword; we do not have the right to choose."

"You think you can have this famous sword?" sneered Samuel. "Dirty little beggar, I did not expect to see you here. I regret not killing you together with that old woman last time. Get out of my way or I will give you a good smacking."

Karl's face darkened. He had known that he would one day meet the boy called Samuel again if he chose to pursue the career of a guardian, but he didn't want to have direct disputes with him in front of other guardians.

He never forgot about this personal grudge. When Samuel took the initiative to mention the past, fury surged inside him again.

The death of Nerissa, who was like a foster mother to Karl, was undoubtedly a lifelong pain for Karl. He could never forgive!

Samuel tried to touch the sword, but he failed to draw it out from the earth.

When Karl tried to touch the sword, Samuel attempted to stop him. "If I can't draw that sword, nor should you."

"Are you insane?"

"I just don't like you getting any weapons. You should go home empty-handed," said Samuel, his expression evil.

As Samuel said this, he rushed forward and tried to hit Karl's head with his fist. Karl immediately dodged and at the same time he uttered a spell. A force of pneuma blew and met one of Samuel's in the air, causing a tremor around them.

Samuel was blown and thrown onto the ground a few meters away from the sword. Karl took the opportunity to get hold of the hilt of the "Calibur."

Strong turbulences of pneuma surrounded Karl. Karl felt the warm energy flow surge inside his veins, spreading to all over his body.

The "Calibur" was entirely pulled out from the earth. The sword was graceful and awe-inspiring. The surroundings had fallen silent, and the earth stopped quaking.

Speechless, holding the sword, Karl was still in awe of how the phoenix had turned into the sword in his hand.

"You ..." Samuel seemed to want to say something, then Karl looked at the sky as if remembering something. He said, "It's time to leave here now; I can't play with you here any longer. I will suggest you look for your own weapon, for going back empty-handed is quite embarrassing, isn't it?"

Karl ran toward the exit.

Samuel trembled with anger; it wouldn't be easy to find another sword that was comparable to "Calibur." A random search in the soul realm was pointless, and he was running out of time.

The apprentices came out of the realm one by one, holding their own weapons. The guardians waiting outside looked at them with compliments in their eyes.

When Karl appeared with "Calibur" in his hand, there was an uproar among the crowd.

"It's the Calibur!"

"God, Calibur, it's really Calibur!" exclaimed an apprentice. "The Calibur was there since my father first gained his weapon! I used to think no one would ever be able to draw it out!"

"Which family's apprentice took the Calibur? I heard the one who can control the Calibur will become the most powerful guardian of his generation. Hennings really got the treasure."

Abner looked at Karl with a compliment. "Well done, Constance has taught you well. This is the honor of the Hennings."

Anna patted Karl's shoulder, and the other family's guardians looked at Karl with admiring smiles on their faces.

"Thanks for Master Abner's praise." Karl bowed. He looked up to see Constance; he had wanted to report the good news to her, but Constance went on to congratulate Chad, leaving him behind. The smile froze on Karl's face, and he slowly turned away.

"President, it's almost time, but a kid from the Byrnes has not come out yet," reported an envoy. "Samuel Byrnes."

"How much time is left?" asked Ernest.

The time was running out, and most candidates had left the soul realm, but Samuel was still nowhere to be seen. Connor stood at the entrance, frowning.

"President, we are running out of time," the envoy reminded Ernest.

Ernest looked up at the sky; it was then that Samuel rushed out of the soul realm.

As soon as he came out, the four patriarchs began to read the incantation, displaying different hand gestures during the spell. The entrance became a whirlpool again, and shrunk until it slowly, gradually disappeared.

Out of everyone's expectation, Samuel came out with a short dagger. He was not satisfied with this weapon, but coming out empty-handed was more shameful than getting a poor weapon.

"Can't believe he did not get anything better. Samuel Byrnes, he's Gerald Gallagher's nephew—it seems his talent is very common. I heard that he wanted to join the Gallaghers, but his uncle didn't take him."

"He appeared to be quite arrogant most of the time, "said another disciple. "So what? The result says everything."

"Why come out so late if you already got a weapon?" asked Connor, frowning slightly.

"Of course he didn't want to come out—look what a piece of iron scrap he got." People around him began to laugh.

Connor looked at Samuel's dagger, saw him looking fiercely at Karl, and seemed to understand what was going on. He patted Samuel's shoulder. "Well, since the dagger has chosen you to be its master, you have no choice."

Ernest started announcing the closing of the weapon selection.

Suddenly Samuel shouted, "I want to report someone cheating!"

# Chapter 7

"Cheating?" asked Connor. "What do you mean?"

"'Calibur' is supposed to be mine!" said Samuel. "Karl cheated!"

"What makes you think so?" asked Anna, angry. "The weapons choose their masters based on the strength of energy!"

Though Chad picked a sword that was not as good as Karl's, when concerning the reputation of the Hennings, he tried to speak for Karl at this time: "A disciple of the Hennings never cheats! You should blame yourself for not being powerful enough."

"Of course the sword picks the stronger one. The problem is....its master's energy is obtained through improper means!" said Samuel and took a step forward, pointing at Karl. "I saw it very clearly: his energy field was unusual, he must have eaten the energy fruit beforehand!"

"Energy fruit?" murmured Karl.

"Any energy fruits are strictly forbidden in a weapon selection convention," said Samuel. "Don't say you have no idea of it."

Energy fruits were explicitly prohibited. Once the candidates taking part in the convention were found eating the fruits, it would be a shame to the factions they belonged to, thus no one dared to do it.

Karl suddenly glanced at Constance, who happened to look at him with confusion at the same time. But she didn't seem to have the intention to speak for her apprentice.

Chad looked at Karl and then at his master, understood what was going on, but wasn't sure what to say this time.

Those energy fruits were given to his master, but he had no idea that his master would give them to Karl. Abner's face was gloomy; he decided it was better not to say anything.

"Let's examine his body. If our disciple did violate the rules, cancel the results according to the provisions, and return the sword back to the realm," said Abner, walking toward Karl.

A guardian from the council put his hand over Karl's head, but nothing appeared in his palm.

This guardian exchanged a look with the other guardian, who came forward to reexamine Karl.

The guardians took turns examining Karl, but nothing wrong was detected.

"The result is clear," Constance tried to argue. "There's no cheating..."

But she was interrupted by Ernest.

"Wait," said Ernest as he walked toward Karl, whose hand holding the sword trembled. He could already sense what the result would be.

Ernest put his hand over Karl's back, and a blue glow appeared in his palm.

"Blue Glass, high-level energy fruit," said Ernest coldly. "Your result becomes void. Please hand over your sword now."

"The blue energy fruit was a rare one, and can't be detected by a usual spell. It was, in fact, a fruit from the Sanctuary, though it was not classified as forbidden but," said an envoy, "it does influence the candidate's performance. To be fair, his result should be canceled."

It was a plot reversal—the praises for Karl had turned into a schadenfreude all of a sudden.

"It's strange that the 'Calibur' has been in the soul realm for so many years, and has now been drawn out easily by such a young boy," people discussed among themselves.

"If the cheating is proved true, 'Calibur' will be put back to the soul realm, for the qualified apprentices to choose," said Ernest sternly. "And the cheater will be forbidden from the next three consecutive conferences."

A few of Hennings' apprentices took a deep breath. Three consecutive conferences, almost ten years without a weapon, was a harsh punishment for every guardian disciple.

"I did not cheat! I didn't!" Tears welled up in Karl's eyes.

The facts were conclusive. But compared to being deprived of the right of choosing his own weapon, the stain of cheating and betrayal left Karl hopeless.

Damon ignored Karl and went straight to him and took "Calibur" from his hand.

Before Ernest announced the closing of the convention, Karl left the crowd angrily. Constance, who had been watching all the while, felt her heart race quickly.

Blue Glass, energy fruit....would it be that bag of fruits Chad gave her?

Constance had no idea about energy fruits and didn't think too much when she handed one to Karl. It seemed the original "Constance" would never share these precious fruits with any apprentices.

And most importantly, she was never aware of the rules of the weapon selection convention about the energy fruit, and now she had put Karl and the entire Hennings to shame.

This was a long story. Constance wondered whether she should go to comfort Karl first or to explain to Abner. She peeked at Abner, finally stepped forward and said sheepishly, "Father, I failed in my duty of supervising my apprentices, but there was some misunderstanding in this..."

"Enough said. The Hennings will not keep a cheater as the apprentice. Ask Karl to leave when we're back to the Whispering Isle! And you, as his mentor, also committed a serious dereliction of duty! You're supposed to teach him what's right or wrong when being a guardian apprentice!" said Abner. "I'm so disappointed in you."

Yes. She'd really screwed it all up.

There is no excuse.

"How could this be..." Anna's tears flowed down.

"Father!" Constance kept up with Abner. "I can explain..."

System reminder slipped in.

[Constance won't make an explanation to Karl's advantage.]

Constance stopped talking, and the system continued:

[Plot shifts. Constance successfully expelled Karl from the Hennings. Scores awarded:+200]

Constance felt frustrated by the System's congratulation.

Samuel played a role similar to Chad in the book; however, his character was more selfish and brutal than Chad's. If Chad was just a school bully, Samuel was more like a gangster with a good family background. He was someone who easily lost his head and killed someone out of anger.

What was originally Samuel's play here, a dispute between the two boys, had now become Constance's responsibility. The grudge between her and the hero would reach a new level.

Her score had leaped, but Constance was not happy at all.

What should she do to give Karl one more chance?

Carolina came to comfort Constance. "Go back to the Whispering Isle first, and try to persuade Father when he's less angry..."

In an extremely oppressive atmosphere, the Hennings troop made their way back. With an Animari on a leash, Anna accompanied Karl, walking at the end of the troop.

Sure enough, Master was malicious with me, thought Karl.

It was not his illusion. He never wanted to think pessimistically of people, but he was not stupid.

On their way back, they stopped by the only restaurant within miles for a short break. As soon as Karl stepped in, he saw the Byrnes were sitting there for lunch.

Samuel turned his head to see the Hennings.

"I'll wait for you guys outside," said Karl, turning to leave.

"Why?" asked Anna.

"Hey, stop there." Samuel's voice sounded behind Karl's back, attracting everyone's attention.

Two Byrnes apprentices stood in Karl's way as Karl turned back to look at Samuel.

"Hi, cheater," said Samuel. "We meet again."

Laughter broke out among the Byrnes apprentices.

"It's all your fault!" said Chad by Karl's side. "What a shame to have you as my junior!"

"Other than the 'Calibur' thing, my personal animosity with him is still not over," said Samuel, walking over and pointing to the scars on his own face." Thanks to you, my left eye is much weaker than the other."

"You should blame yourself for taking others' lives as worthless trash," said Karl, fury in his eyes. "You should be glad that I didn't take both of your eyes at that time. "

Karl's face was scary when he said it, as if he was going to rip Samuel into pieces at any moment.

"Say that again!" Samuel was easily provoked; he immediately drew out his dagger, and the other Byrnes apprentices took out their weapons and aimed at Karl. "Little demon bastard! Do your master and other apprentices know about your identity?"

Karl's fist abruptly tightened.

"Hey!" yelled Chad at Samuel. He put his hand on his weapon and whispered to Karl, "What's going on here? How much more trouble are you going to create for us?"

Constance walked into the restaurant. "What do you want?"

"Very simple: I ask for one eye for an eye," said Samuel, looking at Karl. "You can do it yourself."

"This's ridiculous!" cried out Anna.

"What would you do if Karl doesn't do as you said? If you want to fight, you're no match for my apprentices," said Constance. "Stay out of our way."

Seeing Constance speak for Karl, some of the Hennings apprentices stepped forward with their swords drawn and blocked Karl behind them.

"Please, please talk outside, don't fight here...," said the owner of the restaurant in a trembling voice. Though the guardians protected humans, they did damage things when they fought.

Connor walked to Samuel's side. "Samuel, what's the dispute again?"

With Connor here, Samuel became more confident and barbaric, as he expected Constance's attitude to soften in the presence of Connor. After all, it had become common knowledge that the Hennings' eldest daughter was fond of the Byrnes' only son—Connor.

"Master Constance, if I didn't hear wrong, Karl is no longer a disciple of the Hennings now. Why bother to protect him? The Byrnes have always cherished our good relationship with the Hennings."

"He has not been expelled from the Hennings," said Constance. "If he's being beaten up, other guardians will think I'm an incapable mentor."

Samuel grew more unscrupulous when he learned that Karl was about to be expelled by the Hennings—he couldn't wait to take his revenge. Usually, Constance would be unlikely to risk damaging her relationship with Connor by protecting an expelled apprentice.

"Why are you picking on this boy?" asked Connor. He was familiar with his cousin's hot temper.

"My eye!" yelled Samuel, pointing at his own face.

It was then a Gallagher apprentice walked into the restaurant, with Gerald Gallagher entering behind him.

Gerald seemed to be a bit surprised at the scene. He looked at Samuel, then at Karl.

Well, everyone is here. Hatred of the past and new wrongs, thought Constance.

"What's so tense here?" asked Gerald in a relaxed tone.

"Uncle!" said Samuel, his eyes sparkling. "This is the demon bastard that left the scar on my face!"

"Oh?" Gerald's eyes darkened, as he glanced up and down at Karl.

The word "demon" sounded harsh, and everyone looked at Karl in shock. He had been nervous about Samuel revealing his half-demon identity in front of everyone.

"I think you mistook him for the wrong person," interrupted Constance abruptly, which surprised Karl and Samuel at the same time.

System: [OOC alert! Constance would not cover up Karl's identity as a demon.]

"I recognize him!" said Samuel. Though at that time Karl was beaten until his blood was all over his face, he remembered his eyes even after six years.

"I can't let others humiliate the Hennings by accusing us of having a demon apprentice!" said Constance inwardly to the System. "It's about the Hennings' prestige!"

"May I know what was the reason...that Karl injured your eye?" asked Constance. She knew Samuel would never openly discuss the reason, and neither would Gerald.

Samuel was at a loss for words. He looked at Gerald, whose expression was unclear.

"Karl joined our faction a long time ago," said Constance. "He's from a decent human family, not a demon bastard. To say the Hennings actually accepted a demon as an apprentice is a degeneration of the Hennings' reputation. I hope you can provide solid evidence."

"Samuel, let it go at that," said Gerald, shaking his head lightly. "Accusing a guardian apprentice of being a demon is a big disgrace."

"But..." Samuel looked angry, but he was obviously reluctant to say more about what happened in the past.

Gerald and Samuel had directly caused Nerissa's death. That year Gerald had hunted the demons with young Samuel and made several civilians the bait, which was strictly forbidden by the Guardian Guilds, and caused Nerissa's death. Other than Gerald and Samuel, no one else knew about this incident within the Gallaghers, while the other servants who witnessed the horrific scene stayed in silence. Gerald and Samuel thus received no punishment and this incident was hidden from the Guardian's Council.

The night when Nerissa died, Samuel was attacked by a kid on his way back to his settlement. The kid scratched his face with a knife and two Gallaghers apprentices had tried to catch him, but he managed to escape. Two years later, Samuel found out that this boy was the dead woman's foster son and joined the Hennings; however, he couldn't look for Karl's trouble openly, as he was afraid that Karl would disclose what happened two years ago.

Gerald hadn't really seen Karl before; he'd almost forgotten about that little boy who tried to get revenge for his foster mother by scratching Samuel's face with a knife.

Connor nodded at Gerald and placed his hand on Samuel's dagger. "Samuel, drop this."

"Master Connor, please teach your cousin about the disciplines of a guardian," said Constance. "To know what's strictly forbidden by the Guardian Guilds, and keep a low profile."

"You!" Samuel's face reddened—Constance's words were disturbing. That event was absolutely confidential, so how did she learn about it?

I have the God's-eye view, thought Constance secretly.

"Who do you think you are?" Samuel suddenly gave a strange smile. "Going after my cousin, you think you will have a chance?"

"Samuel! Don't be rude!" chided Connor.

"Byrnes' manners are quite disappointing....and as for the engagement...I don't really care," said Constance coldly.

The disciples of both sides were surprised. Karl looked at Constance, perplexed. Samuel was startled by Constance's stern attitude and realized that his provocation had a bigger effect than he'd intended this time. Samuel felt incredible—knowing that Connor had been cold toward Constance, he'd just tried to humiliate her.

"I guess I lost my desire to eat here," said Constance. "Let's leave."

"I agree," whispered Chad beside Constance. "Don't worry, I have already packed some bread just now."

"Samuel, you're satisfied now?" said Connor coldly, turning to Constance. "I apologize for his rudeness."

Constance nodded. "Please make way for us."

Samuel timidly stood aside; as Karl passed by him, he glared fiercely at him.

Abner and Carolina had gone to their next destination to carry out a mission, so some of Carolina's apprentices went back to the Whispering Isle together with Constance. "Karl, just a hint," said an apprentice called Norris, studying under Carolina. "All apprentices studying under Master Constance paid her when they first joined the Hennings."

Karl looked at this apprentice in confusion.

"You don't look like you have a good family background," smiled Norris. "That may explain her different attitude toward you."

"Every year, there are countless talented children fighting to be apprentices; other than those extraordinary ones, the common ones paid to enter," said the other apprentice called Wally. "You know what I mean."

Karl didn't answer. He stared at the back of Constance, who was riding on the Animari Namir at the front of the parade.

Her behaviors have been contradictory lately. He was getting more confused by her. Like just now, Constance covered up his demon identity for him and didn't even mind breaking the engagement with Master Connor.

Maybe she spoke for him because she didn't want the Hennings' reputation to be ruined. But did she actually believe Samuel's words?

Karl was too familiar with the humans' reaction once they learned about his true identity. No matter how harmonious they looked on the surface, they would shun him as if he was a plague, or point their weapons at him.

And those few humans who tried to help him would be regarded as demon's accomplices and killed ruthlessly by other humans. His mother Estee, as well as Nerissa, were both humans but hated by the human community.

Though he'd lived with the Hennings for years, he didn't really know if he belonged to the family; he simply joined it for a shelter. In fact, he never doubted that they would turn their weapons on him just like those villagers when they find out about his demon blood.

Constance, Abner, Chad or even Anna....everyone, no exception.

Walking at the end of the long parade, he didn't know where he was going. Everyone had a home to head for, but he didn't.

# Chapter 8

Suddenly, the Animaris of a few apprentices were shot by arrows. The Animaris screamed and fell to the ground with the apprentices, bleeding, and soon died.

Rubin almost fell off the cliff with his Animari; fortunately, Karl rushed to the edge of the cliff and pulled him up.

"My Animari!" Seeing his Animari falling down the cliff, Rubin cried, "What's going on?"

Constance tensed as she saw crowds of demons were already gathering at the spot.

She didn't expect to meet the demons along her way back. If she had known about this plot, she would have asked Abner and Carolina to go back with her.

A black fog appeared in front of the demons, then condensed and transformed into a figure. As the fog faded away, it revealed a beautiful teenage girl. The leader was actually a fifteen-year-old girl.

Constance's heart secretly skipped a beat.

System reminder: [Main female role enters. Dionara Benalius. The demon princess. Title: Saint.]

The name struck Constance like a hammer.

Suddenly she realized that she probably knew about this plot. Dionara Benalius's appearance was a strong hint.

But she was not totally ready for this upcoming storm.

Yes, a storm.

In the original plot, Dionara first appeared at the Trevor Event—an annual contest for ordinary sorcerers and young guardian apprentices. The demons came to challenge the guardians during the Trevor Event, triggering a series of chaos and commotion.

Constance wasn't sure whether she met the demons now because she'd altered the storyline slightly.

So the demons actually looked for their trouble now instead of during the Trevor Event.

During that event, the demons tried to humiliate the winners of the contest. Karl revealed his real identity as a half-demon during the contest, was then expelled by the Hennings, and aroused the attention of the rest of the demons.

"Master Abner and Carolina aren't here! What should we do?" cried Norris.

Wally agreed angrily, "Nasty despicables!"

"Easy." Constance tried to calm the apprentices down. The crowd of disciples made way for Constance as she walked. The celestial and dignified aura about her shone, making her appear like a goddess.

In fact, with her skills and magic power, Constance was confident with this plot, for this episode only served as a showcase for Karl. She knew about this plot: there was a very important scene, and it could be considered a climax of the first part of The Sword of Wrath.

Two very important female leading roles would make a formal appearance in this disturbance. And both of them would notice Karl during the game.

She was sure that none of them would have risks to their lives, but they'd need to go through some hardships.

"No need to panic," said Constance calmly.

The apprentices became somewhat confident and calmed down upon hearing Constance's encouragement. They followed Constance and faced the armored demons slowly surrounding them.

There were about a hundred demons. They wore rounded helms with pointed, V-shaped openings leaving the eyes and mouth exposed, and breastplates made from metal sheets.

Karl caught Constance's eyes, his expression solemn. Handsome, tall and slender, he easily stood out in the crowd.

Being assured that the protagonist was present, Constance then turned her attention to the intruders.

Even among the demons, who preferred bizarre and fancy costumes, Dionara's style was outstanding. Dressed in a low-cut black dress which revealed her cleavage, she had thick brunette hair which was combed into a number of small pigtails, an extremely pale complexion, and rich and shiny eyeshadow, while her full lips were bright red as blood. Although at a young age, it was foreseeable that she would grow into a glamorous and compelling young lady. There was something seductive about her; perhaps it was her curvy figure, or perhaps the way she raised her chin while glancing around the crowd, and finally fixed her eyes on Constance.

So this was one of the most popular female leading characters in The Sword of Wrath. She'd impressed Constance a lot in various episodes.

Dionara was a pureblood demon, ruthless, tricky and hot-tempered, in love with Karl; she was not only willing to slaughter others, but also to betray her father for him.

Constance's attention was caught by Dionara's long nails. They reminded her of the description further along in the book:

Karl's back was scratched in bloody marks as Dionara moaned under his muscular body.

........

Though quite criticized, most stories had this kind of sexy female stereotype who was extremely loyal to the hero, and they were usually highly popular. Constance thought, It might be among male readers?

Karl was lucky that he'd one day have such a hot girlfriend. Constance involuntarily glanced at Karl, who happened to look in her direction at the same time. Their eyes met and it took both of them by surprise. Karl seemed hesitant and nervous. Constance then nodded at him.

More and more demons gathered, trapping Constance and the apprentices in the center. However, when several demons tried to break through the encirclement, Constance cast a spell and made them float in the air, then threw them back to the ground in front of Dionara's feet.

The apprentices tightened the ring of encirclement.

As the only master present, Constance's presence set everyone's mind at ease. Chad was the first to call, "Demons! Our master is here now; do you have any explanation to give?"

Dionara waved her hands to gesture her army to retreat.

"We are not here for a fight, but this area is now under our jurisdiction and you're not allowed to pass through here."

"How could that be?"

This area was under the demons' jurisdiction but had always been at peace with the neighboring regions.

"Merriedge has been taken by us, and now our Lord says no passing for the humans."

After the death of Barack Quintus, the region under the demon lord's rule had broken into several districts under different lords. And these demon leaders had constantly fought with each other over the ruling of the lands. Merriedge used to be ruled by August Lowe.

She had heard that Merriedge was recently taken by Kazimir Benalius, and they had been secretly expanding their neighboring territories.

Constance looked around; this area looked remote. She said calmly, "Interesting. You're illegally occupying."

"Even if we were," sneered a demon, "what are you going to do about it?"

"Now we say, the land you're now standing on belongs to us," said another demon. "What's the treatment for intruders?"

A demon made a wiping gesture across his neck.

The armored demons surrounding Constance and the apprentices laughed.

"You guys are rude," smiled Dionara.

Dionara was clever. She hadn't realized there was a master guardian among this group of guardian apprentices. Now seeing Constance, she immediately changed her plan.

Dionara's father, Kazimir Benalius, had newly taken over the area of Merriedge and didn't have an easy time handling the internal disputes. Dionara's reason for invading the area was to challenge the humans as a display of Kazimir's power to other demon lords. Thinking highly of herself, Dionara volunteered for this job; she planned to kill a few guardian apprentices, create conflicts and divert the demons' attention to avoid conflict among themselves. This move would also serve as a demonstration to the human world and would impress her father.

But Dionara didn't want to escalate the situation—she wanted to make it an "accident." She knew that the master guardians were powerful, and if she decided to kill one but failed in the end, it would only have a negative influence on their domestic disputes. They could even lose more of their current supporters.

She needed to handle this carefully.

Dionara bit her lip, her attitude softening a bit. She brushed a lock of hair off her cheek and said, "This must be the famous Constance the Aura. It's my honor to meet you. I think there must be some misunderstandings between us. I'm too young to control my fellows well; I didn't mean to offend you."

Though her words were soft, Constance did not drop her guard. This was not Dionara's style. Constance was clear about what was on Dionara's mind.

"But we can't let you pass here just like that," said Dionara. "Hennings is a famous guardian family, with hundreds of years of history; if we just let you leave like that, other demon lords will think that my army is scared of you."

"So what's your suggestion now?" asked Constance.

The apprentices whispered, "They have far more people than we do—that's not fair."

"I suggest we have a contest," said Dionara—a seemingly fair solution. "How about we each select three delegates? Three rounds."

It would be a good way for Dionara to test Constance's power, as Constance was famous even among the demons. Though Dionara now had a small troop of an army with her, she never let down her guard.

If Constance was too powerful, she could still take the initiative to withdraw before the situation got worse.

System's prompt came in: [Today's plot: Karl has to take part in the combat with demons. "Constance" has to make that happen.]

"I know, I will appoint him to participate," said Constance. She remembered this episode. Despite the fact that Karl's current ability was far below that of the demon candidate, "Constance" disregarded the honor of the Hennings and pushed Karl to fight because she wanted revenge on him for disobeying her. As a warning to other apprentices, she punished him with the demons' hand, but she didn't expect Karl to finally defeat the demons.

As a matter of fact, Constance personally held no grudge against Karl and had totally no motive to do that.

"Must I do that?" probed Constance, trying the regular bargain.

[Warning Tip: If Karl is not involved in the fight, your score will be deducted 500.]

"Huh?" Constance was shocked. The deduction of points always seemed harsher than getting them.

This episode was a small climax, and Constance still remembered the order of the match fairly clearly.

One of Monogolem's arms was prosthetic, and he had spotty skin. When looking from afar, his prosthetic arm seemed to be covered by some dense and complicated decorations.

Without speaking a word, Monogolem walked to the center of an open space on the square as Dionara ordered. Constance finally saw his arm clearly. His other arm was, in fact, worked like a broadsword, covered with many tiny skeletons. The skeletons became actual spirits with his every slash; the evil spirits fed on his miasma and attacked the opponent.

Constance herself would be the first candidate representing the Hennings. The apprentices cheered for Constance as she stood facing Monogolem.

First round, Constance vs. Monogolem.

Constance knew about Monogolem's fighting capacity and smiled. "You have only one arm. Even if I won this unequal contest, it would bring me no honor."

"Oh? What's your suggestion?"

Constance smiled. "I will allow you to launch an attack first."

Her suggestion induced an uproar in the audience. Karl, standing in the crowd, was shocked too.

With one hand?

Dionara snorted, thinking Constance was making an overstatement, but at the same time could not help but be secretly elated since she would have a higher chance of winning. She hurriedly acquiesced, "I agree with Master Constance, let's start!"

Other apprentices thought the demons were taking advantages of their master, and boos echoed everywhere. When facing Dionara in person, it felt different from when Constance read this episode as a reader. The demon princess now seemed less adorable to her.

With everyone's gaze on her, Constance really did not pull out the wand. She smiled gently at Monogolem, and uttered an incantation.

Monogolem's first strike was rather harsh. Evil spirits with black miasma flew toward Constance as he brandished his arm at her.

However, before the evil spirits could reach her, boomerangs made of pneuma flew out from Aura and attacked Monogolem from all directions, spinning like wheels in the air. The boomerangs slashed the evil spirits into dust particles and converged to form a huge boomerang to withstand Monogolem's arm.

Everyone watched intently. The fight was stunning. Lights danced in the air, flashing in the audience's eyes. Both sides had considerable strength, and the visual effects were fancy and gorgeous. In particular, Constance's boomerangs, swirling at high speed, were really amazing!

Monogolem failed to cut his target as the boomerangs fought with him themselves, while Constance walked casually a few meters away from him, smiling.

Karl was agitated upon seeing the fight. He knew Constance was strong, but he didn't expect that she was powerful to this extent.

Marvelous and unbelievable.

Constance finally destroyed Monogolem's left arm when the boomerangs converged again and slashed his left arm off his body.

Monogolem let out a painful cry and knelt on the ground. The skeletons on the chopped-off arm screamed, the sight eerie.

With the apprentices' cheers, Constance won the first round.

Constance was pretty high on her win. It feels really cool.

The apprentices watched her with admiration. Constance was so proud of herself. She must look like an inspiration.

At the same time, there came the good news from the System: [Demon provocation, first round in contest, Constance won, strength value +50. Score + 50.]

Constance's smile soon disappeared, as the next System reminder was like a slap in her face.

[Warning: Two rounds left. Karl has to take part in at least one round.]

"I know...can you just be patient?" Constance secretly grimaced.

The contest was a crucial episode. It served as a platform for Karl to get the attention of everyone, receive cheers and arouse the female characters' attention.

If she could not put Karl in the limelight and attract everyone's attention, her scores would be deducted by 500.

But in this situation, there was no reason for her to send a junior apprentice, whose major power was rather weak.

While Constance was still complaining about the irrationality of the System, the second round had begun.

Dionara was eager to make a comeback, and she volunteered to be the candidate for round two. She was confident of herself.

"You have heard what she said. So who is willing to take this on?"

Although she was asking all the apprentices, her eyes fell on a certain area. There stood several female apprentices studying under Carolina.

After she asked, a girl with bronze hair stood forward. Constance was a little excited. The second round was actually full of stunts and highlights, as this was the first time two of the most popular female characters fought face-to-face.

Violet was the most beautiful girl in the book. Constance liked this girl because Violet was a rare one among Karl's many girlfriends. She was noble, elegant and knowledgeable; there were so many adjectives that could apply to her. She might look unapproachable, which made her stand out even more from the other girls.

So Karl would be torn between the most beautiful demon girl and most beautiful human girl. They fought for his love—a dream of every man.

Constance could not help but glance at Karl again.

It was hard for Karl not to notice. He wondered why Constance had been paying so much attention to him. Was it really because she thought highly of him?

After half an hour, Violet lost. As the demon princess, Dionara's capability was currently above that of Violet.

Violet walked to Constance. "Master, I'm sorry I lost."

"It doesn't matter," said Constance. "That was very brave of you."

Dionara was happy to win round two. She laughed. "So who will be the next warrior? Got to pick properly."

"Don't worry," said Constance. "I already have someone in mind. I can convince you that he will disappoint you greatly."

Dionara thought she was just exaggerating. She clapped her hands, turned to her people and asked, "Any volunteers?

There was Thornspawn, about ten feet tall, walking slowly from the crowd of demons. Bulky, bald and with a massive chin, he was covered with thorny skin that emitted smoking heat. His obsidian eyes looked at the Hennings disciples with a malicious grimace, and he breathed hot air from his jagged nostrils. He dragged an iron sledgehammer along with him. With every step he took, Constance could feel the ground slightly quaking.

"Just to remind you guys, the thorns on his skin are highly toxic. This poison is harmless to demons but could be fatal to humans."

Her statement lit up the fury of the crowd.

"Smelly demons! Despicable!That's unfair!"

"This is just a nice reminder," refuted Dionara. "In case any of you are afraid or regret taking the contest, it's totally fine for you give up the battle. We will never laugh at you because humans are relatively fragile, and it's understandable that you cherish your lives more."

With the demons' mockeries as well as the apprentices' angry condemnations, Constance lost the last of her patience for Dionara.

In the reader's perspective, one might like Dionara for her cleverness and sexiness, but when dealing with Dionara as an actual person, Constance doubted anyone could really put up with her.

Other than her unreasonable loyalty to Karl, Dionara was cruel to anyone other than him.

Now it's time for Karl to suffer a bit.

Constance was indifferent to Dionara's provocation. She kept quiet for a while to create pressure on the demons. Finally, she turned around and set her eyes on someone in the crowd.

"Karl, you, step out."

The apprentices fell into an uproar. The apprentices studying under Carolina were not familiar with Karl and thought he must be someone highly competent. As for those who studied under Constance, they were extremely surprised by Karl being selected.

Chad's face was pale. He stammered in disbelief, "Master, are you sure you want to send this little bastard...Karl into the field? I don't think..."Though he himself was not willing to go for the third round and was happy to see Karl being beaten up, a fiasco could spoil the Hennings' reputation.

Anna was so panicked that she tried to stop Karl by clinging to his arm, stamping her feet on the ground and yelling, "No!You have no actual combat experience. That monster has all those thorns over his body and a huge hammer like that—he will kill you easily!" Anna turned her face to Constance, pleading with her master with her eyes.

Constance looked determined.

She sighed secretly. Do you think I enjoy seeing him suffer? I am forced too!

Constance raised her eyebrow at Anna. "Anna, let him go. I have made my decision; do you want to disobey me?"

Seeing Constance angry, Anna finally let go of Karl's arm.

Karl patted Anna; though his face was pallid as well, his voice was firm. "Don't worry. Though my power is not strong enough, since Master sends me to the contest, I will try my best."

Anna let go of Karl, her eyes watering. It seemed she couldn't bear to see her beloved being beaten up, and she turned away.

Constance was relieved that Anna left, for she was worried she might create some trouble during Karl's fight.

Fortunately, Karl was the hero of the book. She guessed that though he would go through some hardships, his life would not be at risk.

Good boy, please don't blame me, thought Constance secretly.

It was then a reminder from System popped out: [Renewal reminder: Protagonist replacement. Character "Karl" unbound from the hero, new character binding to the hero...]

"What are you talking about?" asked Constance, then something surprising happened.

[Score+10000 for playing a CRUCIAL part in restoring the hero's freedom. Current score of "Constance's" account: 10750.]

What has she done to obtain this +10000? Constance was stunned. Earlier the System didn't mention sending Karl onstage would get her this many points.

The demons saw a tall and slender teenage boy stand out, handsome and with a good foundation, but still obviously weak.

The opponent was too strong. Compared to Karl, who was still developing, Thornspawn's bulky body created an oppressive pressure, and exuded a sense of dark power. The crowd was dubious; some speculated that Karl was concealing his strength.

However, when the contest did begin, everyone was speechless.

There was no hidden strength at all! Karl was completely no match for Thornspawn. This couldn't even be called a contest because he was unilaterally beaten.

Since Karl went on the stage, he had no chance to launch an attack. Thornspawn was muscular and swung his sledgehammer, each strike forceful. Though Karl tried hard to dodge the countless attacks and seek a chance to fight back, the hammer kept plunging and hitting his body from time to time.

The sight was horrific and bloody. Not only the apprentices were dumbstruck by the wide gap between the two candidates' strength, but even the demons were confused by the lopsidedness.

"Isn't this too miserable?" whispered some demons.

"Why is the fight still going on? The outcome is obvious. The guardian is sending the boy to his death."

Thornspawn laughed. "You'd better admit defeat early so I can spare your life."

Constance said calmly, "He will win the game."

Surely he will win because he's the lead of the book. Though he is going through a hard time.

Karl was being attacked from the front, a few mouthfuls of blood caught in his chest. Upon hearing Constance's words, somehow he swallowed down the blood.

Will I win?

So Master did believe in him—that was why she gave him the opportunity to go in the field?

Demons laughed and booed, urging him to quickly throw in the towel.

Suddenly Constance became horrified as she realized something.

Character unbinding.... Did that mean Karl was no longer the protagonist of this book? She was not sure how this happened, but it meant Karl was probably in mortal danger.

Without the protection of the Protagonist undying law, Karl might get killed at any time like any other characters.

Anxious, Constance confirmed with the System, "Is Karl the hero of the book?"

The cold voice of the System sounded: ["Karl" is no longer the hero.]

"So will he die in this contest?" Constance felt her fingertips trembling. If that was true, she was almost murdering Karl.

["Karl" is a supporting character; the Protagonist undying law does not apply.]

"How could this be?" Constance asked herself and involuntarily stood from her seat.

Karl turned to see Constance looking at him, her eyes full of worry. She mouthed, "Give up the battle."

Constance was prepared to intervene in the contest, even interrupting the game.

Karl's fists clenched. He refused to give in. Repeatedly being hit, he actually calmed down and turned a deaf ear to the noises around him. His steps became lighter, his movements more swift and agile. Thornspawn missed him several times.

The only parts of Thornspawn not covered with thorns were his face and fists. That meant these parts must be strong, as they needed no protection from the thorns. However, they could be the only soft spots to attack.

The only possible breakthrough.

Karl slowed down and breathed as he observed the opponent carefully.

On the surface, it looked like Master was picking on him by sending him to the contest, but on the other hand, if he lost this game, not only himself, but all the Hennings, the entire human world, and Constance herself would be humiliated.

His master had selected him for she did have faith in him.

Though the truth was completely different from what Karl had imagined, Karl was motivated, and his potential was encouraged successfully.

No one had ever trusted him so much. He had to prove that Master's faith in him was worthwhile.

The demon's sledgehammer again came with a heavy blow and was about to land on his head. Karl focused on his target and generated his pneuma in his palm, and was ready to attack.

Everyone was attracted to this persistent teenage boy. Although Karl still failed to counterattack among the blows, he did not give up on finding the opportunity to fight back. Finally, he saw the opportunity and attacked with extreme accuracy.

Suddenly, Karl was thrown to the ground a few meters away. As he lifted his face from the ground, a weird print started flashing in Karl's forehead.

A short demon was standing near Karl, dressed like a wizard among the demons, with pointed ears and bony arms. Tattoos in the form of demonic language drawn above and below his right eye marked his identity.

"What's the..." The demon looked at the Hennings boy in the center of the field with disbelief in his eyes. His shoulders back and face held forward, he took a few steps closer after Karl climbed up from the ground and continued the battle.

"The boy is..."

"What's wrong, Silgos?" asked a demon standing beside him.

"The boy...I seem to have seen him before," said Silgos. "Thornspawn will probably lose."

"Thornspawn? No way," laughed that demon.

As Thornspawn fought with Karl, his pupils shrunk as he saw the print flash again in Karl's forehead. He stopped for a second, and it gave Karl the time to attack his face.

For the rest of the duel, every time Thornspawn tried to attack Karl, he became unable to control his body.

The demon involuntarily slowed his speed whenever he tried to attack Karl and was punched fiercely. The demon swung his sledgehammer toward Karl again, but it was broken into millions of pieces by an unseen energy field around Karl when it was about to hit him.

A visible wave of vermilion particles formed in the air as Karl punched the demon in his stomach. The demon felt as if a strong blow almost forced his organs out of him through his mouth; he fell a few meters away from Karl with a blast, creating a huge dent in the ground and causing a series of cracking and collapsing until almost half of the combat field fell off the cliff.

This power... Thornspawn was left unable to climb up from the ground, and this power was so familiar. It was not an attack generated by pneuma, but rather, strong miasma.

How could this be? What is this boy?

Silgos, standing outside the field, squinted.

The Imperius?

It was a compulsive spell, and it was a natural ability possessed by the royal demons, to control other low-class demons.

After half an hour's deadlock, the third round finally came to an end. Including Constance, no one had expected this outcome.

Thornspawn, who was a hundred years of age, was defeated by a fifteen-year-old boy, and unable to climb up from the ground.

Violet and Dionara were attracted to Karl as expected. Two pairs of beautiful eyes looked over and stared at Karl's back.

No reminder from the System came to calculate scores for the completion of this plot. Something was indeed wrong.

So now, everyone had the same thought: the apprentice from Hennings was really powerful, and his master's mind was even more unpredictable.

Apprentices surrounded Karl as Constance came toward him.

She patted him lightly on his shoulder, smiling. She was actually trembling with fear, for she could have gotten him killed.

Dionara was lost for words for a while, before finally saying, "There are indeed many young heroes among the humans. We lost."

"Since the contest results are clear now, please withdraw your people. We still have other arrangements, so please excuse us for not entertaining the guests," Constance said sarcastically, ordering the demons to leave.

Dionara's face was dark; she was angry but dared not to rebuke Constance. She inhaled deeply and then suddenly exploded.

She stretched out her hand, and the serpentine bracelet on her wrist turned into a glowing whip. She whipped Thornspawn ruthlessly in the face until he moaned and knelt on one leg in front of Dionara.

"Useless! You're defeated by a young apprentice! A debacle!" cursed Dionara. "How dare you humiliate me and your fellows like this?"

The demon's society was rigidly stratified, and Dionara was a highbred saint (a title given to the demon nobility). Thornspawn suffered a slap in the face, but dared not to oppose her. "Please forgive my incompetency and punish me, Saint Dionara."

Constance did not enjoy watching such a scene She said, "Please punish your men later."

Dionara's anger was eased after lashing Thornspawn, and she resumed her smile. "No offense, Master Constance. Your apprentices are so talented, I'm sort of disappointed in my people. Please ignore my impoliteness."

When she turned back to Thornspawn, her face changed again, as cold as frost. "It's understandable the elder demon lost to Master Constance, but you, you have absolutely no excuse. You know what to do."

As Dionara said the last sentence, Thornspawn's expression changed. He knew what she meant, and his heart sank. He planned to kill several Hennings apprentices, as a trophy to please Dionara. And when he knew his opponent was only a kid, he expected the boy would be easily defeated. However, he never could have foretold the failure, and now he couldn't even guarantee his own life. He turned to see Karl at the center of the crowd, the apprentices making a big fuss over his victory, and a dangerous thought came to his mind.

He wanted to give a last try. He dared not touch the master, but this boy, who had ruined him, got to die with him!

Constance paid close attention to the demon's every action and expression. She did not miss the malice in Thornspawn's eyes, and the demon's intention didn't go unnoticed. The demon was quicker to act than she'd thought: he suddenly rolled onto the ground, like a giant hedgehog rolling itself up into a huge ball, heading toward Karl at high speed. He was bulky, like a swift-moving wall, while Karl was heavily injured, his movements slow and awkward; he was about to be hit. It was then Karl heard Constance snort and a blow hit Thornspawn's knees.

Thornspawn immediately stopped moving and knelt on the spot; his entire body tumbled to the ground, and he became unconscious.

"What a bad loser. My apprentice is not yours to walk over." Constance acted in a righteous and conscientious manner; her awe-inspiring words left the demons speechless.

However, she was actually ashamed of her own words, for she was the one who'd pushed Karl into danger. If she had noticed the reminder's abnormal condition earlier, she would not have done so. Fortunately Karl was mysteriously safe after all; otherwise, she would never have forgiven herself.

Karl was still in shock—he only knew that his master has just saved him. Constance walked to him and blocked him behind her back, facing the demons. He thought, Master Constance might act icy and harsh toward him, but she did try to protect him during critical moments.

Constant turned her face and asked, "Are you all right?"

"I'm all right, Master! Thanks for saving me."

This kid's mind was so sweet and pure, Constance felt even more guilty. She blushed and quickly turned around, put up a cold and solemn face, and said to Dionara, "Saint Dionara, your men need more discipline. If they can't accept their defeat, why did you suggest the contest?"

Dionara did not expect the surprise attack; she was embarrassed and about to pay lip service. It was at that moment, something unexpected happened again.

Thornspawn, who had been lying on the ground as if dead, suddenly jumped up and rushed toward Karl again!

His arms were open, as if trying to give Karl a hug. Constance realized this time he actually planned to crush Karl with his thorny body! A cold sweat formed over Constance's forehead.

The toxic thorns! He was determined to kill Karl.

Karl subconsciously retreated to dodge the attack, but he was standing with his back facing the cliff created by the combat just now. He had nowhere to retreat, and half of his body was already off the cliff.

"Roots!" yelled Constance, as roots stretched out from the ground and held Karl in the air.

Constance was relieved, but she immediately sensed something wrong, Thornspawn, showing a vicious smile, abruptly diverted his body and rolled into a thorny ball, changing his target to Constance!

Caught off guard, Constance immediately formed a light blade and pierced through Thornspawn's chest to stop him from coming forward. Despite being pierced, Thornspawn didn't retreat but looked overjoyed. He rushed forward, letting Constance's light blade penetrate deeper.

Constance sensed his true intention and she quickly retreated, but it was already too late. She felt a sharp pain caused by the demon's thorns, and her right hand tingled with a burning sensation.

Her heart sank.

Thornspawn, lying on the ground and spitting a mouthful of blood, was laughing crazily. "Constance! I will bring you with me! I feel worthy! Ha ha ha!"

"Master!" Karl abruptly grabbed Constance's right hand, his eyes moist due to anxiety. "Master! You are poisoned?!"

Constance threw off his hand. "Never mind, I'm not pricked. Do not listen to his threats." As she said this, she bowed her head to check on her hand.

She groaned secretly. The back of her hand, as well as her right arm, were covered with small reddened pinholes. When Karl saw the pinholes, his face turned white.

Constance didn't really have much choice just now. Karl was no longer the protagonist of the book, hence he could easily die just like herself. She saved Karl out of the basic instinct of trying to protect a kid.

Thornspawn was satisfied with the result. Dying along with a respectable guardian,he was not depressed at all now. He said, "I'm not exaggerating—no antidote means no antidote! Master Constance, just wait for the death quietly! Haha!"

Suddenly Karl drew his sword and placed it on the demon's neck. His movement was so swift that even Constance didn't see it clearly.

Fury seemed to have changed Karl into a different person; he shouted as he pressed the sword blade into the skin of the demon's neck. "Liar! There must be a way out! Hand over the antidote, now!"

Dionara interrupted, "Thornspawn didn't lie—this toxic is called 'Unsolvable.' It's indeed unsolvable for humans. Furthermore, he is about to die—he's not afraid of your threatening."

Unsolvable! The poison meant what it was named.

In the original plot, Anna didn't run away from the contest site, and she was actually the one who blocked the demon's attack... However, Constance was not sure how the plot was affected. Was it because of the protagonist replacement, or...

Dangerous flames glittered in Dionara's eyes: seeing the situation had obviously changed, she again came up with some evil design. Constance secretly generated spiritual power in her right hand, trying to ease the pain and twitching. Meanwhile she smiled, pretending to be relaxed and said, "Have you forgotten that I'm actually half-mortal? Will this poison work the same for me?"

She said this to deter the demons, but she was not sure if they would fall into the trap and leave.

Dionara's expression became worried, but only for a second. She resumed her smile and said, "I'm not sure about this. But I can test if Master Constance is poisoned. That poison, starting from the wound, will disable her pneuma circulation, slowly spreading to the whole body. Finally not only the pneuma, but even the blood will also condense until it stops circulating. Master, you can try to generate a blow at your right hand to prove that you're not poisoned."

Armored demons started to surround her.

Dionara smiled. This was an excellent opportunity. Killing a master guardian could greatly boost Kazimir's influence over his supporters and deter the other opponents.

Suddenly, Constance raised her hand, and blue light started to generate in her palm Dionara looked at her in terror and backed off quickly, but the glow soon died down.

Usually, when Constance launched an attack, the destruction was comparable to that of a grenade, but now she was like a short-circuited light bulb: only intermittent sparks of pneuma were seen in her palm. Now her pneuma circulation was temporarily smooth again, but she wasn't sure how long she could sustain it.

"It's only temporary," smiled Dionara. "Now you can hit me with a blow, and then?"

She could take an opportunity to throw a blow now, but even if this blow was fatal to Dionara, how about the rest of the army?

She couldn't even risk holding Dionara as a hostage.

If she got only one chance to launch a blow, it must be fatal enough to wipe out the entire demon army.

Upon hearing about the effects of Unsolvable, Karl's face turned extremely pale and his lips trembled. At this moment, Constance's harshness and mistreatment of him in the past were all erased from his mind. The only thing left was the knowledge his master had lost her power because of trying to save him, and might even die of blood condensation.

Seeing Karl's changing expression, Constance comforted him. "Don't worry."

In fact, she was sweating fiercely now. Shit; could it be that she would die right here? Before she could go back to her world?

All the Hennings apprentices were depending on her now—she mustn't show weakness. She never doubted the cruelty of Dionara.

Unconsciously, she no longer viewed these anxious apprentices as some ambiguous "amateur actors" of the story, but as teenagers she was responsible for and must protect.

Constance looked at "Aura." She knew "Constance's" reason for not launching the most powerful magic technique, for it would consume her life.

She wasn't sure how Abner and Gloria would feel when Constance practiced such a cruel form of magic without the protection of "Echo."

"You know there's still one kind of spell I never used," said Constance, standing up. "It's powerful enough to wipe out your entire army. If I can only launch the attack once..."

Dionara squinted.

"I never use it because this spell would consume my life," said Constance. "But if I have to die here today, none of you are going to escape either."

"Master!" cried Chad. "Don't, don't..."

"Chad, come over," whispered Constance. "Chad! You arrange for the escape! I don't know how long I can keep her waiting....two persons on each beast, try to escape and call for help!"

Then she turned to Dionara.

"So what's your decision," said Constance. "You want to try it out?"

Constance looked at Dionara calmly, as if she did not expect to flee, waiting for her to make a decision.

Dionara bit her lips again. She had heard this rumor before, but she didn't expect Constance to mention it herself.

If the spell was really that powerful, Constance didn't have to launch attacks repeatedly to defeat them.

Finally, Dionara bit her lower lip and was determined. "Show me your power."

Oh my god, yelled Constance inwardly. She is not tricked!

The apprentices ran to the Animaris, while Chad rode Namir, flying straight to Constance. "Master! Get on the Animari now!"

Constance turned to see Karl was the only one left behind. Obviously, there were not enough Animaris for the exact number of persons, and Chad had automatically omitted Karl and came for her.

"Get on my Animari!" Constance whistled and the Animaris ran toward her; she swung Karl onto the beast with Chad.

"Run!" yelled Constance.

"Master!" shouted Chad and Karl at the same time.

"How about you?" cried Chad.

"Go back to the Guardians' Council and call for help!" shouted Constance. "I will be right back!"

Right back? She wasn't sure!

Karl saw Constance fighting in the encirclement alone as the Animari rose.

"Hey you!" Chad shouted, Karl had already jumped off the back of the Animari. He landed with a few rolls, stood up and ran toward Constance.

"What are you doing?" shouted Constance angrily. She wanted to yell, Who do you think you are now? You're no longer the protagonist and can die just like me!

"I won't leave you alone here! You're hurt because of me..."

Constance glared at him. "Since you know this, you should not risk yourself! Don't waste time here!"

Karl's lips moved, but he still didn't say anything. Tears welled up in his eyes due to panic and remorse.

On the other hand, Dionara's heart was beating fast as well. She lifted her palm and aimed at Constance. A dark magic blow exploded from her palm and flew toward Constance.

"I will show no mercy," said Dionara.

Karl pulled at Constance's sleeves, whispering, "Master, I'm willing to take this blow for you."

"Do you know what you're talking about? I don't need an apprentice to come forward for me." Constance kicked Karl aside and raised her Aura, pointing at Dionara, ready to meet the attack.

She murmured the murderous incantation.

However, she was not blown up by Dionara and didn't die from using that lethal spell.

Flows of powerful pneuma swept Dionara off her feet and threw her miles away.

The crowd was silent for a moment, then seethed with enthusiasm.

"Master Abner!"

"Master Abner and Master Carolina are here!"

"It's time to bring the demons down a peg or two!"

"Wipe out the demon bitch!"

The malachite stone shone among a cluster of barites at the top of "Echo" in Carolina's hand, sending out strong pneuma currents and dazzling lights, magnificent like the special effects in a movie.

Constance was relieved, and she looked at Carolina with appreciation. Fortunately, they'd arrived in time—she'd almost gotten killed just now.

Dionara landed on the ground in a beautiful turn before kneeling. She stood and looked grimly at the masters. She pulled the cloak over her body and announced, "Today is my miscalculation. This is not over. Let's go!"

"This is not for you to decide!" sneered Carolina. She chanted an incantation, and a light beam sent out from "Echo" shot into the sky. The beam broke the shield formed by the demon and transformed into a huge magic circle in the air.

Lightning shot from the magic circle, forming hundreds of light rays. The demons soon became the prisoners of a blazing inferno.

Dionara fled with her men, her cloak pierced into shreds. All the apprentices joined the battle, and most of the demons were killed or heavily injured; only a small group broke through the siege and escaped with Dionara.

After the demons fled, Carolina ended the spell casting. With a serious look, she turned back to check on the wound on Constance's hand. Quietly, the apprentices came forward and surrounded them, their faces tense.

Constance grinned. "Luckily you guys came in time. How's my condition?"

Carolina sighed. "You won't die immediately." As she said that, she continued passing her pneuma into Constance's body, and her face became more and more serious. Bursts of twitching disturbed Constance.

"Constance?"

She heard Carolina calling in her ears, as she felt herself sinking into endless darkness.

Constance passed out.

# Chapter 9

Constance slowly woke up.

When she opened her eyes and saw the familiar white veil overhead, she realized she was now in her own Tranquility Tower. The demons must have been put down. Not sure how long she had been sleeping, she took a deep breath and stretched. Suddenly the door opened, and someone came in.

"Master, you're awake!" cried Chad with exaggeration. He was holding a plate as he came in, and seeing she'd woken up, he hurriedly put the plate on the table and rushed forward.

Constance noticed there was someone else standing outside the door; he seemed hesitant to come in.

It was Karl.

After his excited greeting, Chad turned to chide him. "Why are you still standing here? Don't you know Master hates seeing your face?"

He then turned back to Constance. "I'm not sure what's wrong with him—he insisted on standing there and waiting like a stupid pillar. I had a hard time driving him away."

Constance waved her hand. "Never mind, let him be."

"I go to inform Master Abner and Master Carolina first!"

It seemed she had been sleeping for three days.

Chad left and soon came back with a healer. Abner, Carolina and Elroy followed them in.

Karl stood aside to make way for the healer and masters to enter, standing further from the door but still, he refused to leave and peeked with uncertainty into the room.

Constance had wanted to get out of bed but was stopped by Abner.

"You need more rest right now."

Abner felt her pneuma by placing his fingers on her hand and removed them with a serious look.

Constance didn't hesitate to ask whether her poison could be cured.

"Its name is Unsolvable—what do you think?" interrupted Elroy. Carolina's face looked pale.

"So how long can I live?" Constance wondered whether she could survive until she left this world.

"It can't be cured, but can be controlled," said the healer. "Take these herbs every week, and with the help of another master, your pneuma circulation can function as usual. Just note that occasionally, your pneuma might be disabled," said the healer. "Remember to take the medication regularly—don't stop."

The three of them paid close attention to Constance's expression, for the disabling of pneuma was detrimental to a guardian like Constance. Especially during a master-level duel, small miscalculations could lead to death. However, they didn't know Constance was pretty satisfied with this result.

In the role of a villain like her, the fact she could actually survive was already very lucky.

After the masters and healer left, Constance finally remembered Karl. She sat up straight and said, "If you have something to say, just come in."

Karl came in as she asked, and stood a distance away from Constance's bed.

"I know what you're thinking," said Constance. "About the weapon electoral convention. It was my mistake, you must hate me for that but...."

Before she could finish the sentence with "I didn't do it purposefully," suddenly Karl knelt down before her bed.

Constance was shocked.

With one knee on the floor, Karl lifted his face, eyes full of earnestness and guilt. "Master, please forgive me for my stupidity and ignorance."

Constance frowned.

"It's a shame for me to...have guessed Master's state of mind. I used to think Master was not really concerned about me. Until the battle with demons... I realized I was so narrow-minded that I mistook Master's consideration in the past."

No, you were not mistaken—the original "Constance" did hate you. She wanted to get rid of you desperately.

Before he came to Constance's room, he had rehearsed the words in his mind over and over. The fruit accident was a misunderstanding. He felt ashamed of thinking ill of Constance, especially after Constance had decided to dissolve her engagement because of him and saved him from the demons.

Karl went on to say, "From now on, I will do anything for Master. I'm dedicated to serving Master, and will do anything you ask."

Constance looked at him with a complex expression.

This boy's innocence and virtue actually moved her. She saved him once, and he sincerely thanked her and completely forgave all the abuses she'd imposed on him in the past.

Since the disabling of the System, Constance was relieved that the plot no longer demanded her to be cruel toward Karl.

She was glad they could be friends now.

Constance paused for a moment, then said, "It's good you finally understand. Please stand up. You will not be expelled from the Hennings. I have spoken to my father," Constance continued. "I clarified all your undeserved wrongs."

"Thank you, Master," said Karl. "You have done so much for me."

Constance smiled. "It's late, I need some rest now."

"I will leave Master to rest now. Are there any special dishes you would like to eat these days?" asked Karl.

Constance squinted her eyes. "Um?"

"I...I am in charge of the kitchen, so are there any special needs I can help with?" said Karl. He wasn't sure if Constance still remembered or noticed he was a helper in the kitchen.

"Um...good suggestion. I'm a patient now," said Constance. "Make some cheesecakes for me tomorrow. You know how to make them?"

"Though I have not heard of it before, I will try my best."

After Karl left, Constance lay back down on the bed and was ready to fall asleep.

Wait. She'd overlooked something important.

At the end of the game, points were neither added nor deducted. The System was disabled on Karl because he was no longer the protagonist.

Something must have happened. Is it something to be happy about or sad about? Constance was not sure.

She asked the System, "Who is the new hero?"

[Hero of Sword of Wrath: Tristan Quintus.]

What's happening? And who is this guy? Constance had never come across this character while she was reading. A hidden character again? She'd experienced a leap in score, which meant she must have done something to contribute to this Tristan's ambition...but she couldn't remember what she specifically did.

In any case, she no longer needed to turn against Karl to get points. OOC was disabled now. She was now serving the new protagonist, though she had no idea who this new hero was and where he was at the moment.

She was both relaxed and a little worried. Relaxed for no longer needing to be a hostile master in front of Karl, and finally being able to get along with him in peace.

Karl is a nice kid.

As for her worries...she wondered what was going to happen between her and the new character.

The next day, Connor came to visit Constance with Goldie. In fact, he was forced to visit Constance on Florence's order.

"You're famous now," said Connor. "For the battle with demons a few days ago."

After some small talk, Connor went to discuss something with Abner and left Constance's room with this excuse.

Constance and Goldie stared at each other.

"I don't really care for you much, it's just that you're the only one I know in this book so far," said Goldie, lying back in her seat.

"Whatever, we were never close anyway," said Constance.

"He seems not to be interested in you at all," said Goldie, winking at Constance, pointing in the direction where Connor just left with a thumb.

"I know," said Constance. "He likes the girl from the Lancasters, and I am the obstacle between them."

"Lilith Lancaster?"

Constance nodded.

Lilith Lancaster was the sister of the current head of the Lancasters—Declan Lancaster. When compared with Constance, who was the elder daughter of the Hennings and had an obviously brighter future, Lilith was definitely less attractive to the Byrnes.

"How's your wound?" asked Goldie. "Will you die?"

"Maybe," said Constance. "This is confidential news within the Hennings, just don't let anyone else know, otherwise I may get killed quicker."

"You have read the book—is there any way it can be cured?"

"It doesn't make much difference because I'm not going to use that method."

"Why? You know the method but you're not using it?" Goldie frowned. "What is it?"

"To have sex with the hero," said Constance with an expressionless face.

Karl was the descendant of ancient demons, and since Unsolvable didn't work on demons, his blood or body fluid could neutralize the toxin. In the original plot, it was Anna who got poisoned, and as Karl's future girlfriend, her body was naturally detoxified through this means.

"Huh?" Goldie was confused for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

Constance looked at her with a grim face. "You think this is funny?"

"This is really a cliché. Ask him to help you," giggled Goldie. "He should—you saved his life."

"I'm not that kind of creepy teacher taking advantage of my student." Constance rolled her eyes. "What are you thinking?"

Suddenly Goldie stopped laughing and looked at the door behind Constance, who turned and was surprised to see Karl standing at the door, holding a tray full of food in his hands.

How long has he been standing there?

"Oh, hey," said Constance, feeling awkward, not sure if he'd heard something weird. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, no, I'm just bringing you something to eat." Karl hesitated. He had gotten up early and prepared various tasty dishes for Constance, and came to serve her in her room.

"Thank you, just leave the food here," said Constance, smiling at him.

As soon as Karl left, Goldie looked at Constance with excitement in her eyes. "Is he the boy I met in Bleakvault last time? That time it was too dark in the cave and I didn't see him clearly..."

"What are you trying to say?" Constance rolled her eyes.

"Come on, this is just a book! No one is going to sue you for anything, and by the way, your actual age is not much older than his. Honestly, isn't he remarkably attractive? In another three years, he would be super hot."

"I don't have that kind of thought for a good-looking kid," said Constance—that's why she never understood why Jeremy was keen for Gina. He should see how her eyes sparkled upon the fifteen-year-old Karl.

"So you would rather die of this poison?" Goldie widened her eyes and grinned. "If I were you, I'd try to have something with that good-looking boy before I finally leave this book."

"I guess I need to escape from this book before it deteriorates."

"When do you think we can go back? "

Constance shook her head.

"I saw Gore," said Goldie suddenly. "I almost forgot—that's the main reason I'm here."

"Oh really? So I didn't mistake that boy in Bleakvault for him. Where is he now?"

"I think his identity is a demon now," said Goldie. "I saw him on the Falcon Island."

"Even in this world, it's not easy for us to meet each other and talk," sighed Constance.

"That means he's against us now?" exclaimed Goldie. "What should we do?"

Constance didn't say anything.

After Goldie left, Constance was very upset. She walked to the balcony. She needed to talk to Gore for once. Suddenly something cool touched her eyelashes.

Constance looked up at the sky. It was snowing.

Without her realizing it, winter had come. She had been in Acadia for half a year.

* * *

In the basement, Karl prepared his own bedding. He was used to sleeping in the basement; however, sleeping in a basement was hard during the winter.

He still remembered, for numerous nights last winter, he'd failed to fall asleep due to the cold. Thus Sophie had suggested to Master that he sleep in the kitchen, so at least he could light up the stove for warmth. But Master refused for the reason of preventing a fire from occurring.

Luckily this year was a bit different. He had Terrance with him, and the creature was a natural furnace during the winter.

Karl still remembered that day, how surprised he was when he was back to the kitchen at night and saw Terrance wagging his tail at him.

"You said Master Constance had taken you back?" asked Karl excitedly. "Maybe she just meant to teach me a lesson. Remember, don't sneak into her room anymore, understand?"

Karl had kept Terrance on the island since then. But he never thanked Constance openly regarding this. Constance had left Terrance to come back secretly, which might mean she didn't want him to keep Terrance openly on the island; thus he had always hidden Terrance in the bushes of the Whistle Slope and met him at night in the kitchen.

Somehow Karl felt Constance had completely changed, just like another person. He didn't know why it was so, but the changes were certain.

Karl prepared his own bed by spreading the bedding on top of a heap of dried straw he collected from the field. Sophie had given him her thicker quilt, but still, it was not enough to keep him warm. He overlapped the quilt with his other clothes, and called out to Terrance, "Terrance, come here."

Terrance got into Karl's bed and both of them curled into a ball.

In the darkness, Karl thought about what he'd heard from Sophie during the day, about the powerful and deadly spell and "Echo." He had heard something about it when he'd first joined the Hennings, but only got to learn the details after Constance's injury this time.

"Master almost got herself killed by launching that deadly spell," Karl talked to Terrance in the darkness. "If Master Abner and Master Carolina had come later..."

Terrance sniffed his nose on Karl's chest.

"Why?" murmured Karl. Not expecting any answers from Terrance, he went on to say, "Why is Master Gloria so cruel to her...?"

Terrance lifted his head and yelped.

"Felt sorry for her?" Karl smiled at Terrance. "Yah...kind of. No wonder she got so angry last time over my approaching Master Carolina."

Karl never realized that since the battle with the demons, he had been trying to rationalize all of Constance's mean and harsh conduct in the past.

The night was getting deeper, and a chill permeated the basement. Karl gradually felt drowsy and closed his eyes. There seemed to be someone knocking on the basement door in his dream.

Suddenly he opened his eyes.

It was not in a dream, for he heard Sophie calling, "Karl? Wake up!"

Karl climbed out of his bed and opened the door, surprised to see Sophie's face full of joyful excitement. "Pack your things and move to your new room!"

"My new room?" asked Karl with disbelief. "Where?"

"In your master's Tranquility Tower," smiled Sophie. "Let's get going! Oh, leave that old bedding, you've got a set of brand-new ones now!"

When Karl stood in his new room with the only clothes he owned in his arms, he still could not believe he got his own room. The small room was simply furnished, but it was warm and tidy, with a simple bookshelf and a desk, new pillow, and quilt on the bed beside them. Terrance walked around in the room, looking at everything with curiosity.

"Master...Master gave me this room?" asked Karl.

"Yes!" said Sophie. "I knew it, I brought Constance up since she was a little girl, I know she is more softhearted than she appeared!"

Chad stood aside with a dark face.

Three hours ago Master Constance had called Sophie and Chad, asking them to get Karl a bed in the apprentice residence.

Chad was secretly gloating when reporting to his master there was no more room left for another bed in the apprentice residence.

"Then ask him to move to the Tranquility Tower," said Constance to Sophie. "There's a lumber-room at the first floor of the tower—at least it's better than a basement after cleaning up."

Both Chad and Sophie couldn't believe their ears.

Is Master asking Karl to live in her tower?

Constance then turned to Chad. "And you help to get Karl a bed."

Sophie glanced at Chad and whispered in Karl's ear, "If I didn't urge him and another apprentice to move the bed here tonight, he would put off the moving until tomorrow. I know there are always extra beds in the apprentice residence..."

That night, Karl slept in his new bed happily. Terrance was allowed to stay in his room as well. He'd almost forgotten the feeling of a bed—the last time he slept in a bed was six years ago. He'd led a vagrant life after his mother's death and had slept in various places, such as on the street, in the cave, and in the grass and bushes...later, when he was brought back to the Whispering Isle by Master Abner and Constance, he slept on the basement floor.

Just in three months' time after the weapon electoral convention, Karl's life seemed changed to a brighter one that sometimes felt unreal.

The next day, the news of Karl moving to the Master's tower had spread to all the apprentices like a wildfire on a prairie, and for those who had bullied Karl in the past, the news was like a thunderbolt that left them petrified.

As for Chad and his lackeys, they were feeling most devastated, as Karl had been doing everything he could to please Master these days.

He prepared all of Constance's favorite food and served her himself, so complaisant that he aroused gossip among other apprentices. Especially when Chad peeked from outside Constance's bedroom and saw Constance lovingly complimented Karl's tasty food and good service, his grievances reached the highest point.

This day, when Karl tried to serve some tea to Constance's room, he was stopped halfway by Chad and one of Chad's little lackeys, Rubin.

"You're not allowed to go in. Master Abner is talking to Master Constance in her room—I will take the tea in for her," said Chad.

"Well...thank you then." Karl didn't think too much and handed the tea to Chad.

After Karl left, Rubin sneered at him, "Who does he think he is? Entering Master's bedroom freely like that's his own dirty cabinet."

"You should see how he shamelessly flattered Master." Chad gnashed his teeth in anger, never realizing he had been doing similar things over all these years. "If Master Constance didn't refuse, I think he was going to feed her by holding her spoon!"

"He's so cheap," said Rubin. "Tried to win Master's attention by such little tricks! Master will one day realize that he's not as reliable as you!"

"Of course," said Chad. "He's getting above himself just because Master let him live in her tower."

Holding the tea, Chad entered Constance's bedroom alone and saw Constance still sitting in bed, Abner talking to her.

"Can you converse with the Guardians' Council, to grant Karl one more chance?" asked Constance. "I believe in his ability. Even without the help of the energy fruit, he will be able to draw out the 'Calibur' once again, so this can prove his innocence!"

"Since you insist...," said Abner. "I will take your suggestion. He did return to the battlefield for you and was willing to take the demon's attack for you, which proves that he's a loyal and brave kid."

Chad was extremely frustrated, for he was only there to deliver a cup of tea, and he was forced to hear compliments about Karl again.

He missed the days when he and Master Constance spoke the bad words together behind Karl's back. He had no idea why Master Constance's attitude toward Karl suddenly changed. Karl had already taken Anna, and now he was taking another important woman from his life too?

He walked to the kitchen and shoved the empty teapot to Karl, and yelled, "Master said she hates this tea!"

"Um...really?" said Karl. "I thought this was her favorite...did she say anything about changing to another flavor?"

Chad had no patience for the tea thing. He stormed away with Rubin, who asked Chad, "Master Constance really begged Master Abner to give Karl one more chance to select the weapon?"

Chad complained as he went, "Even without the energy fruit, he will be able to draw out 'Calibur'! What a joke!"

Though they cursed in a low voice, still, Karl inadvertently got a rough picture of what happened from their broken phrases and keywords.

So this was how Master actually thought of him?

She believed that he could draw out the "Calibur" without the help of the energy fruit.

Once again, Karl blamed himself for being too narrow-minded in the past, and a sense of warmth beyond description surging in his heart gradually became more turbulent until it spread to his entire body.

He went back to the kitchen and started preparing the dinner for Constance. Sunrays shone in the dim and damp kitchen from the only small window.

This kitchen had always been a lonely place for Karl; remembering the old days with his mother was his only pleasure in here. However, now everything seemed not so bad, for there was, in fact, someone out there who cared for him and was willing to risk her life for him... This feeling was really wonderful. He wouldn't ask for more.

As if a root of hope began to sprout, he became cheerful; even his hands holding the bucket seemed full of strength.

While Karl was working happily, Anna popped her head into the kitchen and looked about.

"Karl! There's a carnival in town!" said Anna cheerfully. "Let's go to town tonight!"

"Um, I've got to make the soup for Master tonight...."said Karl with an apologetic smile.

To him, everything regarding Master would be a priority during this period.

Though Anna was happy for Karl having his own room, she thought Karl had been recently spending too much time on Master. She whined and pouted, "Can't you just take a leave tonight? Ask Sophie to do it for you tonight."

"No...Master was injured because of me," said Karl. "I should do it myself."

"But I thought the injury was three months ago?" asked Anna with confusion.

"Um...the aftereffects will continue," said Karl. "Master Carolina said so."

"You're not Master's private maid!" said Anna. "Can't you spare some time for me as well?! If you don't agree to go with me tonight, I will wait for you here until you finish the cooking."

Sophie came in just in time to hear the two talking, and she urged Karl, "Just leave it to me. Master Constance won't be starving just because you're not here. I've cooked for her for a long time as well. Just go to enjoy the carnival with Anna!"

Seeing Anna angry, Karl softened and said, "I will go with you. Sophie, thank you so much."

"No problem!" said Sophie.

Anna smiled again. "That's more like it."

The two of them left the island for the town of Bunbridge to join the carnival. It was a small town on the mainland not far from the Whispering Isle, especially notable for its yearly harvest festival.

The carnival coincided with the harvest festival, and colorful night lights, flowers and dancing young people were on the street. People were singing and playing music, Karl and Anna walking in the crowd, looking at the interesting stuff from stall to stall. It was like all the people had come out of their homes onto the street.

"Karl, look!" Anna crowed with pleasure and pointed her finger at the sky. "Fireworks!"

There was no response from Karl, and Anna turned to see him busy buying things at a stall. Ever since they entered the street, Karl had been stopping constantly at the stalls.

Anna came near him and saw him buying some juice.

"Master Constance likes this flavor. This is cheap and sold in jars." Karl smiled.

Anna rolled her eyes. "You're going to walk with these large jars?"

"No worries, I will take them all by myself," said Karl as he took one on his left shoulder while carrying the other with his right hand.

"There seems to be a show, "said Anna. "Let's go there and see." As she said this, she found Karl was missing again from her side.

"Ah, here it is!" Anna then heard Karl's voice; she turned and saw him wave at her with excitement. "Come here and see!"

Anna came forward and frowned at some wild herbs. She didn't know Karl was interested in this.

"Look! The Kocia Grass! This herb is rare, I heard the healer mentioning it," said Karl. "Master Constance needs to take this regularly to maintain her pneuma circulation. Please get me some."

As Karl said this, Anna saw him pouring almost all the coins out of his pocket, looking a bit embarrassed. "Can you lend me some money? I didn't bring enough."

Anna pouted as she felt her pocket. Though she cared for Master Constance too, she was a little unhappy as Karl didn't even buy her a flower or something for tonight, but kept buying things for their master.

Karl took the herbs from the stand owner. The owner was an old man with a dirty hat on.

"Son, what are you buying this for?" asked the stand owner.

"A friend of mine got this...," Karl pondered what to say, as Constance's illness was supposed to be confidential.

"Unsolvable?"

Karl's eyes widened. "You know about that?"

"Yah...pneuma circulation problem?"

"Exactly!"Karl nodded.

"Honestly, this herb can only control it for a period of time." The stand owner shook his head. "There is only one way..."

"You know methods to cure this?" asked Karl with disbelief.

"Ya...there's a flower called Aaross," said the old man. "Some say you can find it on the Shadowy Peaks. However, no one has actually seen it—it's only mentioned in the legend, maybe it doesn't exist at all."

"Shadowy Peaks?"

"To the north," said the old man. "At the boundary of the demon and human worlds."

"Sounds kind of scary," said Anna, pulling at Karl's sleeve.

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome."

The two of them left, Karl alone carrying two jars of juice and a large bag of herbs. As they continued to walk around the carnival, Karl stayed silent all the while, seeming to be thinking about something.

Suddenly a sharp headache struck him; he stumbled and almost dropped his belongings.

"Are you feeling unwell?" asked Anna with concern.

"I have been having weird headaches recently," said Karl. "And it's gotten more frequent this month."

"You should go to see the healer regarding this. Let's go back now." Disappointed, Anna sighed and took over the bag for him. "I don't think you can walk along with all this stuff."

As she said this, she saw a weird print flashing on Karl's forehead.

"What, what's that on your forehead?" asked Anna with disbelief, pointing at Karl. "Looks like a symbol...or a crest...?"

"A symbol?" asked Karl, and touched his own forehead. "Ouch!"

His headache abruptly deteriorated as his fingers touched the print on his forehead. He fell to his knees; the jars of juices fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

"Karl!" cried Anna. "What's happening to you? Don't scare me."

A red light beam shot from the symbol on Karl's forehead into the sky, then the symbol on his forehead finally stopped flashing.

"Karl?" Anna pulled at Karl's arm as Karl appeared to be depleted, his head lowered.

Suddenly two shadows cast down from the sky. Anna lifted her head and was surprised to see two skeleton pterosaurs hovering over their heads.

One of the skeleton pterosaurs blew out a black fog at Anna, who immediately passed out.

"It can't be wrong," said a short demon, climbing down from the pterosaurs. The skeleton pterosaurs lowered their heads for two tall men to walk down. They walked to Karl. "That's the light of the Royal Seal."

"Well done, Silgos," said one of the men, with a long and gray beard. He had sculptured cheekbones on a chiseled, timeworn face. Deep-set gray eyes watched thoughtfully over Karl, who was kneeling before him in pain.

"Anna? What did you do to her?" asked Karl in shock, but his headache was still serious and he could not really stand. He noticed the short demon called Silgos was one of the demons present at the battlefield of Merriedge.

"His face is identical to that of young Lord Barack Quintus," said Silgos. "And I saw that seal flashed once during the battle."

"Did anyone else notice him?" asked the man with long beard.

"I don't think so. It flashed only once—it was not obvious," said Silgos.

These two lords here further confirmed that this was the Royal Seal—a seal used by the demon royal members on their own descendants, to seal their demonic power.

Not many people present at the scene noticed that flash, but Silgos happened to spot it during Karl's fight with Thornspawn.

"We have been looking for you for so long."

"Try to keep the whereabouts of this boy secret," said the other tall man, who looked younger. "Kazimir's attitude toward Tristan is still uncertain now."

"Who are you?" asked Karl. As he said this, the man with the gray beard suddenly placed his hand in front of his face, and a glow formed in his palm. Karl screamed in pain.

"Lord Emmett!"

"Jovani, lend me a hand," said Emmett to the younger man.

Jovani placed his palm before Karl's face, and a similar red glow emitted from his palm. Both recited some incantation in demonic languages until the light of the symbol on Karl's head died down.

"We are not the one directly casting the seal on him," said Jovani. "It doesn't work."

"Lord Barack was the caster. If the caster dies, then the power to break the seal will be passed down to the target himself," said Emmett. "We can only weaken the seal, but this boy has to agree to break the seal on himself."

"You mean...he refuses to break the seal on himself?" asked Jovani.

"Boy, by now you should know your identity," said Emmett. "You're a descendant of a royal demon."

Karl had always been aware of his demon descent and had been carefully concealing his identity since his childhood. He was surprised that someone talked about his blood openly now.

Karl's brain was a blank, the headache disappeared.

"Tristan's back. His people are searching for you; it would be just a matter of time before he gets to you," said Jovani. "Leave with us."

"I don't know who you are. I am not going anywhere," said Karl.

He didn't have the firework roll (a tool to send out a distress signal) with him at this carnival. He was thinking of how to break through these people, as they looked powerful.

"If you refuse to go back with us obediently, then I will have to take you by force. At your current level, you're still no match for me now," said Jovani.

Jovani swung his hand, and without touching Karl, Karl's body was thrown to the ground a few meters away. Karl felt blood somersaulting in his chest. A strong energy surged inside him, but the feeling was different from the warm flows of pneuma; instead, a flow of power, scorching like fire, was spreading to his entire body.

"Just by weakening the seal, you can already feel the difference, do you?" Emmett nodded. "This is the true level of power that you can control—the pneuma is nothing compared to what you really have."

Jovani walked toward Karl, who looked at him in shock.

"Jovani, give him some time," said Emmett, reaching out his hand to stop him. He then took a step toward Karl. "In another two years' time, you will have to make a choice: becoming a total demon or..."

He didn't finish the sentence but went on to say, "Otherwise you will have a problem of balancing the two contradicting powers inside your body."

Becoming a total demon?

"It's not going to happen," said Karl. "I will never give up my other half, my human blood."

Emmett frowned at his words.

"What are you persisting in?" asked Emmett. "Why do you refuse to have more power?"

"I don't know what you are up to," said Karl, hatred in his eyes. "But my father abandoned me and my mother ever since I can remember. I have no interest in having any relationship with him now or in the future."

"You don't belong here," said Emmett. "Once those guardians found out your true identity, you think they will keep you?"

Karl was hesitant for a moment.

"Why not return to your origin? In fact, you don't have a choice," said Emmett. "The guardians accepting you as a member is just an illusion—humans and demons are different."

Karl, holding his aching chest, didn't speak.

"We will wait for your return," sighed Emmett. "Silgos will be your contact—you can always find him at the Borderland."

"When you make the decision...," said Silgos. He took out a bronze miniature bird and handed it to Karl. "You can find me at the border of Merriedge. By passing your miasma into this thing, I will show up."

"I will never even consider joining your kind! I don't need this!" yelled Karl, waving the bronze miniature bird off Silgos' hand, and it fell to the ground.

"Our kind?" Jovani frowned with anger as if he'd heard something extremely ridiculous, while Emmett shook his head weakly.

They walked back to the skeleton pterosaurs and left.

"I don't need to make any decisions!" Even after the men left, Karl sat in the grass and kept talking to himself.

The demon blood was the source of his misery throughout his life. If he ever had the chance, he wanted to get rid of it badly.

Then he remembered the passed-out Anna, and he shook her. "Anna?"

"Karl!"

He heard someone calling his name in the distance. It was Elroy coming to his rescue.

"Master Elroy...," called out Karl. "Here..."

"Some folks reported seeing demonic creatures around here," said Elroy. "Are you all right?"

"I'm...I'm okay," said Karl. "Let's help Anna first."

Karl turned back and looked at the bronze miniature bird on the ground; he hesitantly walked back and picked it up.

"Karl? What's up?" asked Elroy, walking to his side.

"No...nothing."

Elroy ordered the apprentices to take Anna and Karl back to the Whispering Isle.

Karl shortly described how they met a demon, but omitted the details and the conversations with Emmett.

"Do you know what they were up to?" asked Elroy.

"I'm not sure, they tried to attack us," said Karl.

"What did they look like?" asked Elroy.

"I don't really remember," said Karl. "Sorry, it's too dark."

"Let the boy take a rest first," said the healer. "He's having a little fever."

The masters finally left him alone in his room.

Karl quickly fell into sleep. He had a nightmare and woke up in the middle of the night.

He touched his forehead. His headache was finally gone.

You don't belong here. Once those guardians found out your true identity, you think they will keep you?

That mysterious man's words echoed in his ears.

Then don't let them find out. thought Karl, and closed his eyes.

Let it be a lifelong secret.

Forever.

The day was breaking; Karl got out of bed. After one night's sleep, the headache was finally gone and he felt as if he had just gone through a serious illness. Kind of upset about all the jars of juice and herbs he lost last night, he walked to the practice field and approached Constance.

"Are you feeling better now?" asked Constance.

"Yah..." said Karl. He paused for a while before he suddenly asked, "Master, have you heard of an herb called Aaross?"

Constance was surprised for a second. "Yes?"

"The demonic flower, can it cure your poison?"

Constance became nervous.

Karl looked like he wanted to search for that special herb to detoxify the Unsolvable in her body.

Fortunately, someone interrupted them.

"Hey, Karl!" an apprentice called out. "Someone's looking for you!"

"Looking for me?" wondered Karl. As the crowd of apprentices jeered, he saw a girl walking toward him.

Violet Beck?

"Hey," said Violet. "Hope I didn't interrupt your practice."

Oh! She is here! Constance cheered secretly in her heart. Though the storyline was "slightly" altered, Karl did catch Violet's attention during the battle with the demons.

"Just forget about the Aaross," said Constance immediately. "Go ahead and talk to Violet first."

But Karl persisted, "Master, please tell me what you know about the Aaross."

"That thing is useless." Constance shook her head as she said this. "Don't waste time on it."

Constance's words seemed to greatly disappoint Karl, and the sparkle in his eyes died down.

"Come on!" The other boys were booing and hooting around Karl with jealousy, and Anna looked at Violet with annoyance.

Boys whispered to each other, "What? After Anna, he's hooked up with the most beautiful girl on the island?"

"This is so unfair—"

Violet smiled shyly as she stopped in front of Karl and took out a small bag of fruits. "These are for you."

Another burst of booing came.

"This shameless playboy," cursed Chad, and tried to take Anna by her arm. "Anna, now you know what kind of person he is."

But Anna flung Chad's hand off and turned her back on him.

"Um...we're just friends," said Karl with embarrassment. He turned to look at Constance, and happened to see her looking over at him at the same time. With a naughty smile on her face, Constance winked at him.

Did Master think that he had something with Violet too?

Even with that naughty smile, Master looked graceful. She was just like a white rose among that group of apprentices, gorgeous and spotless, glowing with light aura, pale blonde hair gently floating in the breeze.

He wasn't sure about her actual age, but she just felt like any other teenage girl of Karl's age.

Karl could not help but blush, and he looked away immediately.

He's embarrassed, thought Constance, giggling inwardly. The actual scene was more fun than reading a book.

"Thank—thank you," said Karl, still blushing.

Violet laughed and said, "See you around."

"Boy, you're really someone." The other boys made fun of Karl as Violet left. Karl looked in Constance's direction again.

Constance was talking to other apprentices, laughing.

In the past, Constance didn't usually laugh openly in front of the apprentices; however, now she looked relaxed and unfettered. Karl felt a pleasure in his heart as he saw her laughing, then he immediately realized he was having disrespectful sensations toward his master. He blamed himself secretly and tried to think of something else.

However, for the rest of the practice lesson, he could not concentrate but kept thinking about Constance and her words.

Ever since the battle with demons, Karl sensed his master had something on her mind. He had never seen such a melancholy look on Master's face, and he had been thinking the Unsolvable was the reason for it.

So he didn't understand why Constance seemed to be diffident about the solution to the Unsolvable poison. Wasn't this a big deal to a guardian? Why did she seem to avoid this topic?

* * *

Karl went to the library as soon as the practice lesson ended, and searched the books for the mountain mentioned by the old man.

He found the map of the Shadowy Peaks and copied it onto a piece of paper, folded it and put in his pocket. As he passed by the Whistle Slope, he heard someone talking.

Surprisingly, he ran into Constance talking with Carolina on the hill.

Karl wanted to leave immediately, but something they talked about caught his attention.

"What's troubling you?" Karl heard Carolina asking. Involuntarily, he walked nearer. He knew he shouldn't be eavesdropping, but he had always been curious about Constance's worries.

For the past few months, Constance had been searching for Gore's whereabouts, but the results were unsatisfactory. And she hadn't met the new protagonist yet. She was eager to accelerate the plot but didn't know how.

After living in Acadia for more than a year and seeing her students growing up, she realized she would probably spend longer than she had expected here. This fact disturbed her from time to time; however, Carolina and the rest of the Hennings were taking her low spirits as a result of her pneuma circulation problem.

"No big deal."

"Is it because of the inheritance of the divine?"

Carolina sounded reluctant.

Karl was surprised. Master Constance lost the inheritance?

"I can understand Father's decision, for my pneuma circulation is not stable."

"The Unsolvable," said Carolina. "So..."

"That's okay, really, Carolina," said Constance. "I don't hate you for that."

Carolina was dubious. In disbelief, she asked, "You forgave me?"

Constance was confused.

Forgave? Carolina?

But still she went on to say, "Yah, our relationship may not be considered good, but...you're my sister. Though I'm the elder daughter, the Hennings can't have a leader who fails to manipulate magic power."

Carolina stared at Constance as if she had said something weird. She knew Constance had been behaving strangely since that mysterious fever, but being so understanding really wasn't Constance's style.

"Are you all right?" said Carolina. "Since you were wounded by the poison, you've seemed indifferent to your loss of power."

"Anyway, I have made my confession. It's up to you whether to trust me or not," said Constance, as she turned to leave.

Carolina was left behind, looking at Constance's backside, pondering her words. Was Constance tired of being jealous of her after all these years? This was so hard to believe. She shook her head.

Karl was in extreme shock. He did not know that Constance's illness would lead to such serious consequences.

* * *

Karl went back to the kitchen.

"Unhappy? What happened?" asked the kitchen elf, Joseph.

"Master Constance is deprived of her inheritance, because of the Unsolvable, Master Carolina will be the one to inherit."

"Demon's poison?" asked Joseph. "Which will induce some disorders and cause her to lose her power?"

Karl nodded, depressed.

"Being unable to manipulate magic freely is a serious limitation, isn't it?"

In fact, it's a disaster.

"I didn't know that...."

"Don't blame yourself too much," said Joseph. "The demons are at fault."

"Do you think there is anything that I can do for Master?" Karl turned to ask Joseph, upset.

"The loss of divine inheritance meant that Constance would never be an immortal in her lifetime, which is every great magician's ultimate goal."

Maybe she was just not saying anything about her loss of power.

"That's true. In fact, we are supposed to hold a banquet celebrating Miss Carolina inheriting the divine, but Master Abner is afraid of stimulating Miss Constance, thus the dinner is canceled," said Sophie. "Master Abner will announce the inheritor later. Miss Constance must be upset—as the elder daughter of the Hennings, she was supposed to get the 'Echo' and the divine..."

Karl listened, and his mind could not become calm for a long time.

# Chapter 10

To get to the Shadowy Peak, Karl had to cross the boundaries between human and demon territories. He took a leave from the school, and after spending three days and nights riding on Terrance, he finally reached the sky over a small town called Embercrest. It was a sparsely populated, narrow town located along the border. There was a forest on the border, surrounded by a thick fog, and far in the distance, Karl saw snow-capped rocky mountains.

If ignoring the fact that the other side of the border was demon territory, the town of Embercrest's beauty was matched by the backdrop of forest and tall mountains which helped to shape its scenery.

"Is this the place?" Karl asked himself. "The Shadowy Peak is among them."

It was then Karl heard someone call to him. "Don't go near the Drowsy Forest!"

Karl recognized the speaker. These were the guardians guarding the areas near the border, the Wallaces, and they tried to stop him from entering the sky above the forest.

A Wallace guardian noticed the crest on Karl's uniform. "You're from the Hennings?"

"Boy!" yelled another Wallace apprentice. "Where's your master?"

Ignoring the guardians' persuasion, Karl patted on Terrance's back and flew toward the border.

"Terrance? What's wrong?" asked Karl. He sensed something wrong with Terrance, as the creature started flying up and down in the air.

Suddenly it dropped in the air, and its body was quickly shrinking. Karl fell into the forest with Terrance; he was surprised to find Terrance had already transformed back to its cub form.

"Go to inform the Hennings about this," said one of the guardians to his apprentice.

The Drowsy Forest was misty, and sunlight could hardly shine through the dense branches. Shade cast on the grass, making the inside of the forest dark as murky night. The Drowsy Forest was just like its name: whatever creatures entered the forest, it wouldn't take long for them to feel weak and spiritless, as if they'd been drugged. Not only did their bodies feel weak, but they also experienced sense paralysis.

As Karl walked with Terrance, he felt like he was walking on cotton, stumbling and sluggish.

Suddenly, he widened his eyes as he saw someone standing in the distance, smiling at him.

Someone who should not be in this world anymore.

"Mama?" whispered Karl, as he saw a lady waving at him. He stepped forward but was stopped by Terrance's hissing at the lady.

Karl realized it might be his illusion. He shook his head, and the image of that lady disappeared.

It was impossible that his mother would appear here.

Just when Karl thought the illusion was gone, he found himself begging his Mama.

"It hurts so much..."

"Cutting the tail can conceal your identity," said Estee. "If the villagers find out, they will burn you alive."

Young demons had tails when they were first born, and as they grew up, their tails became vestigial and they looked more like humans.

But before that...

"No, Mama, no!" cried Karl in pain. "Please don't cut my tail! I will never come out of the dungeon!"

Estee had asked him not to leave the cabinet during daytime, but he heard the laughter of other kids in the village and was attracted to them.

Estee finally dropped her knife in tears and said, "Let's move to the other place tomorrow."

........

The scene changed again before Karl's eyes.

"Please save this kid," begged Estee. "I'm so sick now. I know you're moving to another town, please hide him from the villagers...take him with you..."

"I can't...," said Nerissa. "He's...he's a demon, God won't forgive me for this..."

"Please, he's just like any other ordinary kid..." said Estee. "I won't be able to escape with him anymore... Nerissa, you have been like a family member to me these years, please help me this one last time! Look at him, he cries like just like any other human kid, and he bleeds just like any of us...."

Shouts and curses of the villagers were heard. Someone was hitting the door, trying to force their way in.

"Hand out the demon!"

"Let's kill them! Whoever tries to protect the demon child must be killed too! They are the traitors and should be expelled from the human community!"

Weeping, Nerissa took over Karl. "Poor little thing...come with me."

Again, suddenly the woods around Karl disappeared. He found himself inside a big house, where Nerissa was cleaning the floor.

Suddenly the door of the hall opened, and a middle-aged man, a teenager and a tall man in guardian suits came inside.

It was the young Samuel and Gerald Gallagher.

"Please save my daughter," cried the middle-aged man. He seemed to be the house owner. "She has been possessed for over a month; I don't know how long she can survive!"

"We need a decoy to lure out the dirty things," said Gerald. "There's definitely evil in this house."

"A decoy?" asked the house owner. "What should we do now?"

"A live human will be the best but..." said Samuel, raised an eyebrow.

The house owner's eyes sparkled and his eyes fixed on Karl's mother, who was still diligently mopping the floor, unaware of the malicious line of sight behind her.

Gerald shook his head and said, "It's forbidden by the Guardian Guild—forget it."

"Please!" said the house owner and took a small bag of gold, placed it into Gerald's palm and said, "We will appreciate your help greatly. We're willing to pay as much as you want, if only you can drive the evil spirits away from her!"

"If none of us here says anything about it..." Gerald took over the small bag and passed it to Samuel. "Tell the other disciples not to come in during our ritual."

"Yes, Uncle," said Samuel, and gestured to Karl's mother with his chin. "So...."

Gerald nodded, and Samuel went up to Karl's mother and covered her mouth with a drugged handkerchief; she passed out quickly.

The mistress looked a bit scared and asked, "Will she get killed?"

"Don't worry, we are just using her to lure the evil spirit, we will kill it before it can do something to this lady," said Samuel with confidence.

Gerald nodded.

Karl's mother was placed on the floor of the hall, and Gerald and Samuel drew symbols around her.

The image then disappeared again. Karl's surroundings were replaced by a horrific scene.

Guardian disciples and servants were running outside the house, and the house was on fire.

"Run!" shouted Samuel. "This spirit is a powerful one! It's enraged!"

The house owner, holding his daughter in his arms, ran out the house; the fire was an evil black flame and soon engulfed the entire house.

"No!" whispered Karl involuntarily. "Mama's still inside! No!"

Despite Terrance trying to drag him by biting on his trousers, Karl ran toward the fire.

Suddenly, someone pulled him back by his arm. Karl tried to look at the one pulling him but could not see clearly.

"Karl!"

Someone was calling him, but still, Karl failed to see clearly the one shouting at him.

Who are you?

Karl slowly opened his eyes and saw Constance looking at him worriedly.

"Are you waking up now?"

"I was asleep?" Karl looked around and found himself lying in the grass, surrounded by darkness. Faint voices and cries could still be heard.

And why is Master here?

"Do you know how dangerous this forest is?" asked Constance angrily. "Once humans enter it, they will see illusions and will be easily trapped in here forever, then their souls will be absorbed by this fine woods."

It was then he heard a voice screaming behind him, "Karl! Help me!"

It was Mama's voice. Karl immediately wanted to turn his head, but Constance was quicker to stop him by placing her hand on his cheek. "Don't turn back!"

Karl looked at her in confusion. "But...."

"Your mother's dead, you remember?" said Constance. "Whoever tries to call you in her voice is fake—it's the soul eater."

Just now when Karl was still sleeping, Constance heard him calling his mother, and she guessed the soul eater had disguised itself as Karl's mother. Whoever responded to the calling of a soul eater, his or her soul would be immediately taken by it.

"Let's leave here," said Constance, as she pulled Karl up from the grass. "Follow me closely if you don't want to get stuck in here forever, and try to stay awake. If Sophie hadn't told me that you had gone for Shadowy Peaks, you might have died here!"

Suddenly Karl and Terrance disappeared from Constance's side, and she saw a huge wooden door appear in front of her. She pushed the door open and saw her father, Abner Henning, and the young priest—Elroy Gonzalez—were standing in the hall with a staff floating in front of them.

A girl, standing in front of the Echo, cut her index finger with a knife and dripped her blood onto the gemstone of the staff.

The gemstone on the staff beamed as the girl's blood fused with it and its color became the dark green of a piece of malachite. Bars of barites grew around the malachite, surrounding it like a cluster of petals.

"Carolina, from now on, Echo is yours," said Abner. "It will obey only you."

After Abner left the hall, Constance sneered, "I didn't expect you would lie about Mama's last words."

Carolina didn't speak.

"I really underestimated you. How did you get Elroy to witness the succession of the weapon for you? He knew he would lose his powers of prophecy by telling lies?"

Carolina didn't answer.

"You're good at playing with others' minds, father and Elroy. Even I... I have been trying to let you have it even if you didn't lie, but you and Elroy are scheming behind my back, to claim a weapon that doesn't belong to you!"

Carolina's eyes widened and she whispered, "Constance..."

"I struggled for the whole night over this staff," said Constance. "But how about you? The lies come so naturally from your mouth! Do I have a place in your heart when you betray me?"

"Constance, I...I'm just scared!" said Carolina. "I'm scared...you know I am never as talented as you, and even without this weapon, you can still outshine me as you always did."

Constance raised a hand to stop her. "Enough said—obviously you didn't take me into account when you claimed that staff is yours. From now on, we go our separate ways."

"So you're going to tell Papa I lied just now?" asked Carolina carefully.

"Haha, are you kidding me? Papa always believes you more," said Constance, her fury evident. "I'm sure you were pretty clear about that when you betrayed me."

Carolina took a step forward, trying to grab her hand. But Constance glared fiercely at her, flung off her hand and said, "You won. Nasty liar!"

She slammed the door as she left.

Constance shook her head violently until the image in front of her suddenly disappeared. She was still involuntarily being influenced by the memories of the original "Constance."

What the original "Constance" said before the collapse of the illusion somehow left her lost in thought.

She was panicked to see Karl had fallen asleep by a tree again. Terrance walked around him, looking worried.

"Karl, wake up!"

But this time, Karl wasn't easily awakened. He was in a deep sleep.

Karl was lost—he was separated from Master and Terrance, walking alone in the forest. The forest seemed to deliberately separate the two of them.

"Master?"

Suddenly he looked at his own hands, and he found himself much shorter than he was supposed to be.

Water surrounded him, almost above his head. Karl struggled and the water gushed in his lungs.

Seawater?

Slowly the water drifted away; Karl felt almost drowned. He noticed that he was now a little boy of six, his hands dirty, his clothes drenched, belly hungry, and with bruises all over his knees.

Weak and terrified, he lay on the ground.

Someone riding on an Animari had come near him.

Karl lifted his face.

Abner Henning.

"Look, there's a boy, he seems weak," said Abner.

"A little beggar," said a girl, riding on a white leopard.

This voice was familiar; the leopard finally stopped in front of Karl.

Constance Henning looked at him coldly.

Master?

"Where are you from?" asked Abner with kindness.

Karl remembered this scene. It was after Nerissa died. The house owner claimed Nerissa died in the fire as an accident, and when Karl learned about Nerissa's death from the other servants, he tried to stab Samuel with a knife. But as a little kid, he only managed to scratch his face. After Karl lost his foster mother, he wandered on the street and searched for food in the garbage bins of other families. Once he was chased by a few men because he was too hungry and stole some bread; his arm was almost broken as he jumped into a river and escaped.

When he woke up again, he was found by Abner and Constance on a seashore somewhere near the Whispering Isle.

"This boy's bleeding badly, his arm is broken. Let's take him back to the Whispering Isle, "said Abner, turning to Constance behind him. "How about you take him in as your apprentice?"

"The Hennings is not an asylum or charity organization," sneered Constance.

"Constance," said Abner, his face darkened. "Look at this kid—he could die if we leave him here. And the Hennings don't take in apprentices based on their family backgrounds, otherwise the Hennings would be no different from the Gallaghers!"

"As you wish," said Constance coldly, and asked the other apprentice to take Karl onto their Animari. "Bring him up!"

This was Karl's first encounter with Constance.

To Karl's understanding, Constance saved him because she didn't want to anger her father further. She preferred to take in apprentices from richer families, so Karl was not a formal apprentice when he first joined the Hennings and was asked to help in the kitchen.

"Hey!" Constance slapped Karl's face, but he just wouldn't come back to his senses. She carried him on her shoulder and walked on.

She saw dead bodies occasionally along the way, in the bushes. Those were the victims being trapped in the woods.

Constance sensed the gradual loss of Karl's pneuma; she was getting more and more frustrated. Terrance looked anxious too, and finally, it jumped up and bit Karl forcibly on his hand.

Karl moaned, and finally opened his eyes slowly. Though Terrance was in its cub form, its teeth were sharp, and Karl was surprised to find Constance carrying him on her shoulder.

In fact, now Karl had the same height as Constance—he could be heavy for her.

"Sorry, Master!" said Karl. "I fell asleep again."

"I should have let Terrance bite you earlier since it works well for you," said Constance.

Karl did feel more sober now. His limbs were less heavy, and he accelerated his pace.

After walking for about half an hour, Karl saw white light rays in the distance—the darkness was finally getting thinner.

"We're about to get out of here," said Constance, pointing ahead. Terrance cried with excitement.

Out of the woods, Karl and Constance found themselves on the edge of a cliff, the endless mountain ranges brown and bare in the distance. As soon as they were out of the forest, Terrance had resumed its adult form, and now it flapped its strenuous wings.

"It's on the highest mountain ...," said Karl, and Constance knew he meant the flower.

Constance looked upwards. A tall, steep face of a rock, glimmering with silvered snow and ice and striped vertically with snow gullies, angled up into the lightening sky.

"Go back with me!" Constance took Karl's arm. "That flower won't work for me!"

"How do you know if you don't try it?" Karl was determined.

"You have no idea how dangerous it would be!"

"It wasn't easy for me to make it here," said Karl. "I don't want to give up just like that."

"Karl, are you not listening to me now?" said Constance, her face darkened. "I said go back with me now."

"How do you know it won't work if you don't try? I know you don't want me to risk it, but if I give up halfway, my heart will never be at peace!" persisted Karl.

That's not true.

I can't tell you the only way to detoxify the poison is to have sex with you!

[Spoiler alert. Player is forbidden to tell the characters in the story about the plot!]

It was the first time that Constance found Karl so stubborn. Forbidden by the System, Constance failed to explain to Karl the outside world she came from, and she stared at him with a piercing look. "Is it because I have been indulging you too much? Now is not the time for you to be unruly!"

"I will be back soon." As he said this, he jumped on Terrance and shouted, "Terrance, go!"

"Don't even think of it!" shouted Constance at his back. "Roots!"

But even this small spell failed to form as she found she was having a problem with her pneuma circulation again.

"Master, wait for me here!"

Karl took advantage of Constance's pneuma circulation and broke free from her. He flew toward the highest mountain on Terrance's back.

Karl ducked into the clouds with Terrance, and Terrance flew almost vertically toward the summit of the mountain.

The sky was cloudy and dim, with a reddish shadow occasionally flashing in the clouds below them. Snowflakes blew in the wind, and when the wind finally eased, Karl found himself arrived at the summit of the highest mountain.

At the center of the volcano, there was a lake. And a flower was floating at the center of the lake. Sunrays shone through the clouds onto it.

Terrance hovered over the surface of the lake, and Karl leaned forward, reached out his hand and picked the flower.

"Karl!" Constance caught up with him, riding on her Animari.

"Master!" shouted Karl, beaming.

The Aaross. It was a kind of special orchid, its petals transparent like crystals; it was also regarded as the "ghost grass." In the story, it was described as having the effect of bringing the dead back to life, even its fragrance could cause a mysterious fear in humans if they tried to pick the flower.

This was the description of Aaross in the book; it felt intriguing to see its actual form.

"I got it—!" Before he shouted out the rest of his sentence, he saw a frightened look on Constance's face.

He immediately turned back and saw a reddish dragon had risen behind him and was braying at them.

Several horns sat atop its head, just above its narrow, warped ears. A row of small horns ran down the sides of each of its jawlines. Sunrays shone on it, its batlike wings fully opened; the reddish scales running down its spine shone like diamonds.

It was the protector of the flower—The Sardonyx.

Constance turned and mumbled, "What the hell..."

What they saw here was completely different from the peaceful scene below: the clouds here were reflected red like blood, and the white rocky mountain was also surrounded in red as many scarlet dragons circled the mountain, trying to snatch the climbers with their jaws.

Constance pointed Aura at the Sardonyx; it was then the sunlight was blocked by the clouds again, and the Sardonyx disappeared.

Constance realized the Sardonyx would only be visible when the sunlight shone on it. When it got cloudy, it became invisible. That was why most flower seekers wouldn't notice the dragons when they climbed the mountain and got attacked easily.

Karl's heart throbbed. The Sardonyxes passed by roaring, stirring up a whirlwind so Karl could hardly stand. He had to lower his body, hoping that the Sardonyxes would overlook him.

Constance pointed Aura at a Sardonyx, and started to manipulate magic.

"Ah..." Karl screamed as he was grabbed by a Sardonyx. The flower had fallen onto its belly, and he struggled in the air. Karl screamed, his hands clutching the crevasses of the rocks tightly. The surface was slippery, while his legs were in the claws of the dragon, slowly loosening the rocks. Karl was sweating, his fingertips bloody, veins popping out of his forehead.

Finally, he could not hold on to the wall anymore and let go. Then someone grabbed his wrists. Karl looked up and was surprised to find Constance.

"Karl, hang on, don't let go!" hissed Constance, pulling him up with all her effort.

Terrance attacked the Sardonyx in the eye. The Sardonyx's claws untightened in pain, and he let go of Karl. Constance took this opportunity to pull Karl out of the dragon's grasp.

However, the blow had enraged the Sardonyx and it rushed over, trying to attack them again. Karl used his sword to slash the Sardonyx. Finally, the Sardonyx let them go and only flew around the mountaintop in anger.

"Escape now!"

"You should not take something that doesn't belong to you," a voice echoed in the dark summit.

It was a teenage boy, holding his arms in front of his chest, dressed in a long black long robe which ruffled in the air, slowly walking out of the darkness. His jet-black hair curled slightly against his neck and around his ears; his eyes were cold, dark and dangerous.

Constance's face turned pale as she took two steps backward. "Gore?"

Karl looked at Constance in confusion. Did Master know this teenager?

The boy observed Constance carefully. He could see that Amber was now a master guardian: her temperament was calm, while her costume showed her status and the faction she belonged to.

Even inside this storybook, their respective roles did not seem to have a good relationship with each other.

He smiled ironically.

Constance looked excited; however, before she could say anything, the boy spoke up. "You're now a guardian?"

Constance realized Gore's current identity and looked a little pale.

"Just for your knowledge, I'm not called that name in this world," smiled the boy. "They call me Deurom."

That's a demon name.

"How do I look in this world?" asked Deurom, turning around in front of Constance to show himself. "I think this body is much better."

Constance couldn't believe she would meet Gore this way in this world.

"That can't be...," muttered Constance to herself.

"This flower is the property of the demon's territory—you cannot leave with it," said the boy, looking at Karl.

Feeling uncertain, Karl came forward to greet him politely, "We are from the Hennings, we need this flower..."

He paused. Master and the boy seemed to know each other, but the boy was a demon. He was hesitant to speak of Constance's poison.

Before he could finish his words, he was surprised to find his own body was attracted to the teenager, and a cold claw was on his neck. He felt his body becoming paralyzed but could not resist at all. His pneuma was slowly drifting away from his body to the boy.

Deurom's eyes squinted and he casually said, "You're good. However, not strong enough for my lord to be after you."

"Gore! Let go of him!" said Constance. "And go back with me!"

"Back to where? You know how to get back?" sneered Deurom. "I'm not going with you anywhere, neither in this world nor the other."

"Nope, that's why we need to figure it out together. We should not get too involved in this world."

Karl was confused, listening to them all the while.

This world?

"Mind your own business," said Deurom coldly. "And we go separate ways. Drop the flower and leave now."

"Gore, I don't want to harm you," said Constance as she raised Aura.

"You want to launch an attack against me? Really? You're trying to protect someone else when you meet me again?" said Deurom, his face full of sarcasm. "And I'm actually trying to save you."

Suddenly, there came a very sharp cry, far away from the direction of the sea, resounding through the clouds. Constance stood up and looked, and her heart skipped a beat, frightened—there was something weird flying over here!

The thing was still far away in the distance, but its speed was amazing. Its wings stretched out, similar to those of a bat; however, its figure resembled that of a bird. Furthermore, when it came closer, Constance found there was someone standing on top of the creature.

Is that the accomplice? Constance tensed up.

"Damn it! Leave now, quick!" whispered Deurom; he let go of Karl, looking in the distance. "Before it's too late!"

As soon as Constance saw the Animari, she knew who that was.

Volaram the Gorefiend. Standing gracefully in the moonlit breeze, his cheeks looked hollow and sunken. Two obsidian eyes stared at Constance and Karl with a terrifying grimace.

Why would this most famous subordinate of Karl, known for all kinds of evil, show up here!?

According to the story, he was supposed to show up fifty chapters later.

It's all messed up.

Constance quickly grabbed Karl's hand and ran with him toward Terrance.

"Get on Terrance now!"

But it was too late: Volaram had landed, and his creature soon jumped onto Terrance and grappled with him in the air.

Constance had no choice but to drag Karl to a bush, and said seriously, "Don't get close to him. Stay here and wait for me."

It was the first time Karl had seen such panic on Constance's face. Worried, he asked, "Master?"

Constance whispered to Karl, "I heard my father talking about this guy who liked to ride a high-ranked Animari, the Bald Hawk. He maintains and enhances his power by taking humans' blood."

She tried to frighten Karl so he wouldn't come out and be spotted by Volaram.

"The lord sent me to handle this." said Volaram. "Back off—you are no fight for her."

Deurom didn't move, standing between Constance and Volaram.

"Deurom, I'm here to help you, why do you look scared?" asked Volaram, smiling.

Volaram was a pureblood demon, the second generation of royal lines—he inherited the territory from his family. Volaram was very loyal to Karl's father, but during the early parts of the story, his attitude was ambiguous toward Karl, for he was only a half-demon. However, he became the strongest support for Karl as he was conquering Acadia.

As one of the most powerful demon characters in the book, his way of maintaining his power was unique even among the demons.

Perhaps the prototype of the goddamn author's reference is a vampire...

He was especially fond of the blood of those with great magic power.

The antagonists, such as Volaram, didn't follow the old plot and entered a scene not described in the book.

Volaram placed his hand on Deurom's neck. Deurom's eyes widened in fear; his limbs were crumbling, his face was chalky.

"Are you trying to let them go?" asked Volaram.

Slowly, Deurom felt his miasma drifting away from his body. As Volaram absorbed Deurom's miasma, his complexion turned florid.

"Hey! Let go of him!" yelled Constance. With her current strength, she didn't have the confidence to overcome Volaram. She had to give it a try.

Volaram grinned. He'd just thought of teaching Deurom a lesson, not killing him. Upon seeing Constance, he threw Deurom onto the ground and smiled. "Interesting. The Hennings are protecting a demon. Which side are you on? Your pneuma looked tasty."

Constance glared at him; her face did not show the slightest sense of fear. Terrance sensed that the enemy was strong: it stayed alert and sank its body slightly, narrowing its amber pupils at the Bald Hawk.

The Bald Hawk's rank was below that of Terrance; however, its figure was huge and was not threatened by Terrance. It even arrogantly glanced at the other Animari.

Deurom looked at Volaram with a mixture of horror, envy, and awe.

Volaram slightly turned his face to Constance and Karl; his handsome masculine silhouette was half-immersed in the darkness. Constance took a step forward, Volaram waved his hand, and Constance felt that her body was swept into the air, like being whipped by a sudden violent force. She fell on a tree and broke its trunk. Constance felt as if she was being punched in the chest; the pneuma inside her billowed like boiling water. Blood streamed down the corner of her mouth from the blow.

According to the role set, the power of the royal demons was comparable to that of Patrons, thus the gap between her and Volaram was unimaginable.

Volaram's power was overwhelming, prevailing over Constance's; he immediately lost his interest and said, "Even worse than I thought."

Constance was speechless. Ever since she came to Acadia, everyone addressed her as "Master" with respect. Though some guardians might despise her for her character, no one ever questioned her talents.

Volaram was the first one to sneer about her magic power in her face.

Constance raised "Aura" and pointed at the sky. The altitude of this peak was quite high; maybe she could try out that spell.

Thunderous!

A light beam emitted from the gemstone of "Aura" and shot into the sky. The light escaped into the dark clouds, swirling layers of clouds gathered around the mountain summit, and lightning struck close to Constance and Volaram. The sky roared as rain fell.

As the raindrops fell, they turned into ice thorns and surrounded Volaram from all directions.

It was a spell that conjured a storm around the position of the caster. This was the first time Constance used this spell. This spell had weather and altitude requirements and thus was not frequently used.

Karl looked at the sky in awe as numerous ice thorns flew toward Volaram. Anyone being attacked by this spell could turn into a beehive in a second.

Volaram sneered, and the ice thorns unexpectedly stopped in the air, suddenly changed their directions and flew toward Constance.

Constance was shocked. The thorns were flying toward her at high speed; Constance raised her hand and shouted, "Barrier!"

After the battle with the Sardonyx, Constance was now near the depletion of pneuma. The barrier formed was thin and brittle.

It's too late.

Suddenly, a white shadow flashed, and without a word, Karl actually blocked Constance.

It wasn't the first time Karl had tried to defend her when facing danger. Constance wouldn't say she was completely untouched.

Though Karl would be Volaram's future boss, his current strength was a far cry from Volaram's. He looked Volaram in the eyes, not intimidated in the slightest.

However, the pain of being penetrated by the numerous ice thorns didn't happen. Suddenly the ice thorns shattered into millions of pieces in the air before they reached her and Karl. The crushed ice thorns scattered all over the night sky as ice crystals, reflecting the moonlight.

It could almost be described as beautiful.

To her disbelief, Karl withstood this wave of murderous attacks.

The energy field about Karl was unusual: it was not pneuma, but a kind of purplish miasma.

Suddenly Volaram raised an eyebrow as if he'd discovered something intriguing. He suddenly sneered, "Hmm... A mixed blood. You think you can fight with me?"

Karl clenched his fist tighter on his sword.

"Let's see how long you can sustain before I give you a quick death," said Volaram with disdain.

Constance wondered how Volaram would feel three years later when Karl could beat him up with one hand.

As soon as he finished his words, the air tensed.

The energy field about Karl was instantly changed, and the crest flashed in his forehead again.

"The royal seal?" asked Volaram, and held back his attack.

Just as Constance had expected, Volaram must have sensed something. His eyes sparkled, and he looked into Karl's eyes with imperceptible joy.

That can't be wrong. That's the royal seal cast by Barack Quintus.

The dark magic aura became thicker over Karl's body; the lightning flashed and thunder crashed in the sky as if a downpour was about to come.

Volaram sensed this appalling change in Karl, and the excitement of bloodthirst shone in his eyes.

Volaram looked at the black energy current that constantly corroded his arm like a snakebite —he was too familiar with this kind of power, the mighty and perfect force...that could only belong to that man.

Interesting. He hadn't expected to harvest something else during the hunt.

Suddenly Karl fell to the ground due to a headache. The tumult felt as if it was tearing his skull apart, and the outbreak of the miasma around his body looked like a black electric current.

"That's the problem: if you don't transform into a total demon, the conflicts between the two powers will continue," said Volaram. "Why do you refuse to break the seal? Without fully unsealing yourself, you're no fight for me. Or you want to transform yourself into a total human when you turn eighteen? That will be a stupid idea."

Karl flung his arm, and a miasma blast was thrown out in the form of a gun-like boom at Volaram.

The blow was powerful. Volaram raised his hand to disperse it, slightly surprised, and praised, "Not bad."

Karl's royal seal had not yet completely broken. Volaram only intended to test him, but the fight was still severe: stormy waves of miasma overflowed from their bodies, almost covering the entire peak and shielding the moonlight like dark clouds.

Volaram was the one who stopped attacking first, as he had a rough picture of Karl's strength and decided to quit by now. He asked, "Do you know who your father is?"

Karl lifted his face to look at Volaram, at a loss, as if confused by his question.

His father?

He gave up finding out who his father was a long time ago. Ever after Estee's death, he was no longer interested in this question.

Whoever that man was, he was someone who abandoned his wife and his son.

Surprisingly, as if not expecting an answer, Volaram ignored his question and abruptly said, "Leave here now."

Karl was confused as to why Volaram would let them go. Constance vomited another mouthful of blood and collapsed onto the ground; Karl immediately supported her with his shoulder and found she had passed out. She looked weak and pale.

"The guardian actually allowed you to be her apprentice." Volaram smiled as he glanced at Constance. "I wonder how she will react if she knows about your blood."

He then glanced at Deurom kneeling weakly on the ground; he knew this boy would not say a word about today's incident. He had always suspected this boy's background since Thovruk brought him back; however, today he found Deurom's relationship with these two was unusual.

Still holding Constance in his arms, Karl supported Constance with his shoulder and helped her onto Terrance. His brain was still a chaos, that weird and strong power almost out of his control.

Now the evil power finally faded away like a receding tide. After he put Constance onto Terrance, his body shook terribly due to the fatigue and he collapsed on the ground.

All the while, Volaram didn't make any moves and watched them leave.

Halfway down the mountain, Karl suddenly shouted, "Oh no, the flower!"

Constance slowly regained her senses, then she heard Karl's voice.

Were they safe now? How did they escape?

Seeing Karl diverting Terrance's head and asking it to go back, she seized Karl's arm and said, "Don't go back!"

Karl didn't speak but obviously had no intention of retreating. He went on ordering Terrance, "Terrance, go back to the summit now!"

"Is it that you're not listening to my words anymore?" asked Constance angrily. She raised her hand and slapped Karl in the face.

The slap left both Constance and Karl in shock. As a matter of fact, for the past year, Constance never said anything slightly harsh to Karl, nor gave him a slap. Though Karl was apparently at a loss, he finally obediently shut up, but his eyes were still stubborn, looking straight into Constance's.

This child still seemed to haggle over whether to get back the Aaross. His eyes were stubborn and aggrieved.

I did this for you! You shouldn't pick the Aaross for the wrong one!

There were no details of this episode in the book, and if she hadn't accidentally broken into this book, Karl would not have fallen into this danger to help her. He would just need to follow his own plot.

Moreover, Karl had likely lost his hero role as a result of her entry. Constance was greatly disturbed by this possibility.

It started to rain. Looking at the rain in the sky, her spirits low, Constance said, "Let's go back."

To be continued

