Darkness enveloped the world, yet humanity held the light in its grasp.
...
"Roar!!!"
In the silent and vast underground valley, a series of low, terrifying roars suddenly echoed!
The sound was like thunder, chilling to the bone in the unknown darkness. It relentlessly assaulted the eardrums of the black-robed youth by the lake. The boy covered his ears, his face contorted in pain.
His black hood fell to the ground, revealing a handsome face filled with noble aura. Though his complexion was deathly pale and blood trickled from his ears, his eyes remained remarkably clear, and his expression grew resolute once more.
Sain, a humble black magic apprentice.
At that moment, rocks from the underground lake's dome cascaded down like an avalanche, crashing around Sain in chunks. He could only dodge clumsily.
"Roar!!!"
The deafening sound came again, as if mercilessly mocking this human's infinite insignificance in the face of absolute power—all struggles and resistance were futile.
The owner of the terrifying roar was an intermediate magical beast, the Saltwater Giant Crocodile.
The underground lake beneath Sain's feet was its habitat.
Now, it had ceased roaring and was staring at this human. Its massive tail lashed against the rocks, and its terrifying aura made Sain, who had finally caught his breath, feel a shiver down his spine!
Its pale eyes emitted an eerie glow in the dimness, with much of its head bearing scorch marks from fire—clearly, Sain's previous magic had inflicted some damage.
But in its view, this human was obviously provoking and challenging it.
While the fear of death hadn't completely crushed this black magic apprentice, the giant crocodile's patience had been utterly exhausted!
It charged fiercely toward Sain, opening its bloody maw to bite directly at his head. Sharp fangs dripped with saliva, the foul stench nauseating.
In that split second, Sain moved!
The opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived!
His left hand fiercely scattered a handful of iron phosphorus powder!
With the last remnants of his magic power, his right fingertip released the long-accumulated spell—
Minor Fireball Technique!
In an instant, a soccer-ball-sized fireball shot out at high speed!
"Boom!!!"
The powder ignited in a flash, combined with the fireball's impact, exploding instantly!
The ear-shattering blast shook the entire valley, shattering the giant crocodile's massive upper jaw into pieces, with blood and flesh scattering everywhere.
Sain was hurled three or four meters away by the shockwave. He barely got up, looking at the giant crocodile's corpse before him, and excitedly pumped his fist.
The gamble paid off!
Thanks to the iron phosphorus powder that triggered the combustion, this minor fireball, on which Sain had pinned his hopes, erupted with unimaginable power.
...
The battle ended. Due to the excessive drain on his mental energy and his magic power nearly depleted, Sain's face turned ashen white.
After recovering a sliver of strength, he first forced himself to stand, swam to the small island in the middle of the lake to pluck three vibrant Starlight Grasses, then returned to the battlefield to retrieve the Saltwater Giant Crocodile's most precious magic crystal and a piece of its skull imbued with considerable elemental power, before quickly leaving the lake's edge.
In truth, regarding the value of the intermediate magical beast Saltwater Giant Crocodile, Sain had only taken about half.
More corpse materials and the beast's blood rich in magical elements were left behind—not because he didn't want them, but because in this underground world, every minute and second was fraught with danger.
Sain, now at the end of his rope with no fighting strength left, could not afford to put himself in peril again.
The three Starlight Grasses were his ultimate goal for braving the Saltwater Giant Crocodile's territory—the fundamental reason he had risked his life in this overleveled battle.
"Huff, huff." Low breathing sounds came from the darkness.
The noise seemed to originate from the lake's edge.
Sain couldn't help but quicken his pace to leave this troublesome place.
...
Mossobla City.
As the center of the underground world known as the "Dark Region," the only city in history built by black mages, this was a place revered and feared by all dark creatures.
On the twenty-meter-high city walls, the azure stone bricks revealed the vicissitudes of history. In the crevices between those bricks, besides being soaked with countless dried magical beast bloodstains, there were also obscure and oppressive magical runes inscribed within.
After two days of hurried travel, Sain arrived at this magnificent city. The weight in his heart finally lifted; his safety would now be somewhat assured.
"Hey, Sain, looks like you're pretty badly hurt!" As Sain approached the special passage reserved for mages, a mocking chuckle came from atop the city wall.
A dozen people dressed in similar black robes to Sain stood on the wall. The speaker was the one in the center, a man with a scar on his face and dark skin.
Though he and Sain had no irreconcilable feud, he didn't mind seeing Sain suffer.
The other apprentices present, while not voicing mockery, mostly wore expressions of indifference.
It wasn't that these apprentices were cold-blooded; this was simply the norm in the underground world.
Conflicts existed among the black magic apprentices of Mossobla City. The underground world revered the strong as kings; the kind-hearted couldn't survive here.
Survival of the fittest was the only law.
Even Sain himself wouldn't help others without reason.
If he saw other black magic apprentices in trouble, he might secretly rejoice at having one less competitor for resources.
Ignoring the mocking black mage on the wall, Sain pulled out his token and said to the minotaur captain guarding the gate: "I am a magic apprentice sent out on a collection mission by Lord Mosido. Let me into the city immediately!"
The robust minotaur captain, whose combat power rivaled that of advanced magical beasts, showed utmost respect and obedience to Sain, this low-level apprentice.
What it revered was not Sain the low-level apprentice, but the identity of a black mage, and the Master Mosido mentioned by Sain.
In Mossobla City—or rather, in the entire Dark Region—black mages represented absolute truth!
Sain paid no heed to the apprentices' sneers and whispers. After passing through the gate, he headed straight away, much to the disappointment of the apprentices who had been hoping for a spectacle.
Sain was something of a notable figure in Mossobla City's Black Magic Academy. At sixteen years old, he was already on the verge of reaching the mid-level apprentice threshold.
Potential didn't fully dictate a young person's future. What truly made these black magic apprentices take him seriously was the praise Sain had received from several great black mages over time.
No one knew when Sain might get lucky and be taken as a disciple by some lofty black mage.
If Sain ever became a disciple of a master, his status in Mossobla City's apprentice circles would immediately soar to the upper mid-tier.
"Hmph!" Sain's indifference and refusal to respond caused a flicker of anger on the scarred apprentice's face.
This guy wasn't actually looking to directly antagonize Sain; rather, he was wary of Sain's girlfriend.
After a moment's thought, the scarred apprentice whispered to his lackey beside him: "Spread the word to Ilk about Sain being severely injured."
"The two of them are mortal enemies. Heh, I bet Ilk doesn't want to see Sain show up in front of him as a mid-level apprentice one day."
The scarred apprentice himself was at the mid-tier in magic level, while his lackey was a newcomer who had only arrived in Mossobla City two years ago, just starting to learn magic and still at the entry-level apprentice stage.
In the Dark Region, when one's own strength was insufficient, everyone needed a backer.
The lackey couldn't defy the scarred apprentice's orders, even if it meant making enemies of Sain and his mad girlfriend.
If Sain truly fell at Ilk's hands, that crazy woman would never let it go.
As for the scarred apprentice?
He had his own backer and naturally wasn't afraid of that woman.
In fact, in certain areas, the scarred apprentice was in competition with Sain's girlfriend.
That's why he found Sain, who lived with that woman, so irritating.