Inverted Alley No. 231.
Locke rode his Engel Swift-Spin Snail into the narrow alley, his Magic Pressure as conspicuous as a lighthouse in the dark night. The powerful pressure was like a small stone thrown into a river, stirring ripples in the small pond that was Inverted Alley.
Many Second-Class Wizard Apprentices looked at Locke with astonishment and respect, greeting him proactively.
Inverted Alley was a small pond, incapable of accommodating big fish.
It was mostly populated by Second-Class Wizard Apprentices, so they all wondered what could have drawn a First-Class Wizard Apprentice to charge into Inverted Alley with such imposing momentum.
Locke nodded slightly at them before arriving at No. 231, where Gabby Montoya had already been drawn out by his Magic Pressure.
Every wizard's Magic Pressure had a unique natural frequency, making it relatively easy to identify.
When a First-Class Wizard Apprentice needed to conceal themselves, they had to suppress their Magic Pressure. But when searching for someone—or wanting to be found—they had to release it as much as possible.
Locke said to Gabby, "Gabby, come with me. I'm hiring you again for 70 Magic Stones. I need to find a Third-Class Wizard Apprentice named Pierre."
He handed Gabby a leaf from an Omen Mandrake Vine. "Can you track him using the scent of this leaf? He has an identical vine leaf on him."
Locke gave a brief explanation. "He's in extreme danger right now—I need the fastest possible speed."
Hearing this, Gabby carefully took the Omen Mandrake Vine leaf. His face then morphed into a feline-like appearance with black cat features—a partial transformation using Cat Transformation.
He took a deep sniff before fully transforming into a black cat. After darting around briefly on the ground, Gabby relaxed and turned to Locke. "Senior Locke, I can detect his faint scent in the air."
"I can find him. Senior, should we leave immediately?"
A faint smile crossed Locke's face. "Good. We leave now. Hop onto this snail—you'll guide the way."
The Engel Swift-Spin Snail was bred by wizards specializing in magical beasts, created through Bloodline hybridization and modulation using different Magical Creatures. Not only did it possess an innate 0.3-ring Drift Spell, but its endurance was astonishing. Its natural Spells were passive, consuming minimal energy—unlike the principles behind wizards casting Spells.
Even if a wizard temporarily boosted their speed beyond that of the Engel Swift-Spin Snail using magic, they still couldn't match its efficiency in long-distance travel, as the snail could maintain the Drift Spell continuously throughout the journey.
Gabby, now in the form of a black cat, leaped onto the snail's back. The snail then dashed swiftly in the direction Gabby indicated.
Perched on the snail, Gabby continued sniffing the air for the distinct scent. Spirit cats were Magical Creatures known for their incredible agility, keen sense of smell, and tracking abilities.
Low-level Shapeshifters usually had limited combat prowess, so their studies often expanded into exploration, tracking, and reconnaissance fields.
A shapeshifter who chooses to transform into an intermediate magical creature essentially gains all the abilities of that creature, and may even surpass them slightly—because the transformation is based on the average of that species.
In contrast, using bloodline modification—such as integrating the bloodline of a magical creature like a spirit cat into one's own body—only grants partial abilities of the spirit cat. Moreover, few wizards would willingly undergo such flesh-altering modifications.
Different needs, different methods.
Five minutes later.
Gabby, now transformed into a black cat, stood atop a snail's shell, her eyes gleaming. "Close. They're in the mountains ahead. But I also smell blood... and something undead..."
"Next to that third-class wizard apprentice, there should be another third-class apprentice. Both seem injured."
"Senior, you'd better hurry—otherwise, they might not make it."
Locke frowned, glancing at the three Omen Mandrake Vines coiled invisibly around his right hand. They had darkened to a deep crimson, nearly black-red.
This confirmed the enemy was nearby.
But the color was... off.
After a moment of contemplation, a sharp glint flashed in Locke's eyes. Whoever dared interfere with his experimental data would pay with their life.
He turned to Gabby. "Gabby, shift into an owl and scout from above."
"You've learned the Transformation School's Secret Speech Art, right? Be ready for my instructions."
Gabby replied proudly, "Senior, Secret Speech Art is a core skill for shapeshifters at the apprentice stage—of course I've mastered it."
"At least the single-target version, anyway."
The so-called Secret Speech Art involved manipulating mana to form a low-frequency channel for covert communication between wizards. During combat, it allowed instant coordination and information exchange.
Advanced shapeshifters delved deeper into multi-target Secret Speech Art, even establishing private communication networks among multiple individuals through mana manipulation.
Locke had studied this in the All Things Class.
Back then, the dark elf Sassari had meticulously explained the differences, similarities, strengths, and weaknesses between the Transformation School's Secret Speech Art, the Illusion School's Voice Transmission Art, the Divination School's Language Code, and the Psychic School's Mental Interference.
The realm of magic was vast. In the early, more primitive eras, some wizards could master multiple disciplines and become polymaths. But in this age, White Wizards emphasized cooperation—leveraging strengths, compensating for weaknesses, and dividing labor.
It was simply more efficient.
...
Deep in the mountains, Raun and Pierre were covered in wounds, gasping for breath. Their already meager mana reserves were nearly depleted.
All around them, undead creatures lurked. More rotting corpses, reeking of decay, hid among the trees.
Raun groaned wearily, "Why are there so many ghouls?"
The two had initially obeyed Locke's warning—avoiding the academy's external missions to eliminate undead. Locke had told them spies from the Blood Curse Court were hunting apprentices of Lilith's Cottage outside the academy grounds.
But they didn't hold out for long before being lured by the academy's mission to eliminate undead creatures, which offered a reward as high as 15 Magic Stones per completion.
This was no small sum, after all.
Back when Gabby conducted preliminary investigations for anomalous events, his payment was only 25 Magic Stones—and that mission didn't even require combat. Yet Gabby was a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice.
So, after being tempted several times by Raun, Pierre eventually agreed, and the two of them took on this academy mission together before heading out.
Who could have guessed that, unlike others, the moment they stepped out, they were ambushed by a horde of Ghouls?
Pierre regretted his decision. "Raun, Locke warned us not to go. We should have listened to him. He's a First-Class Wizard Apprentice—he must know more than we do."
Raun raised his sword and swung, forcing back one of the Ghouls. Wiping the sweat from his face, he said, "It's too late for regrets now."
"Pierre, I'll try to use my knight's physical strength to fight our way out with you… Maybe there's still a chance—"
Before Raun could finish, a series of mocking laughter, growing louder and louder, echoed from the dense forest.
"Hahaha… These two little White Wizards are so stupid they're practically bubbling with idiocy. They've fallen right into our trap, yet they still think they can fight their way out?"
"How laughable."
"Let's just kill them already, especially that wizard apprentice named Pierre. He must have some important experimental potion on him. Killing him will slow down those drug-peddlers' research on new formulas."
In the despairing eyes of Raun and Pierre, seven Second-Class Wizard Apprentices from the Blood Curse Court emerged from the woods—some hanging upside-down from trees, others standing beneath them.
The moment Raun tried to move, a vampire apprentice appeared before him in an instant, moving at inhuman speed. Blood Claws pierced through both of Raun's shoulders.
The vampire apprentice smirked with cruelty and amusement. "Don't move, or you'll lose both arms."
"Now, let me ask you a question: Do you want to lose them now, or later?"
Pierre and Raun paled. They never expected to encounter Second-Class Wizard Apprentices from the Blood Curse Court!
Meanwhile, another vampire apprentice seized Pierre's head with his Blood Claws, fingers pressing into his skull like they were crushing stone, leaving five deep indentations.
Pierre screamed in terror, but his cries only excited the vampire apprentice, whose long-suppressed environment in the Blood Curse Court had twisted his mind.
"Hehehe… Little White Wizard, don't you know? Pain and fear are the source of our curse magic's power?"
The vampire apprentice began whispering the incantation for the Paralysis Curse into Pierre's ear.
For curse magic to succeed, three conditions must be met: the curse caster must chant the spell and strike the target, the victim must feel fear or at least have an emotional vulnerability, and there must be physical contact or injury to directly inflict the curse.
None of these could be missing.
Of course, this only applies to those of equal rank. When there's too great a disparity in magic levels, these three conditions aren't necessary.
So when it comes to curses, they're rather ineffective against peers, but against weaker opponents? They're absolutely devastating.
Amidst terrified screams, Pierre gradually realized his body was slipping beyond his control. His breathing lost its rhythm, growing faint.
His limbs felt as though they'd lost all sensation.
Pierre and Raun were like two helpless lambs fallen among wolves—utterly defenseless against the torment inflicted by their cruel predators.