It was an hour past midnight, and the waning moon had disappeared behind a veil of soft white clouds, plunging the land in darkness. Only the stars twinkled upon the celestial velvet, saving the night from blindness.Ezra swam across the lake, keeping his head below the surface until he reached the shore. The treants had dispersed by now, and the only ones keeping watch were the Wood Nymphs flitting across the treetops and swinging on the prickly vines.Since the Royal Guards had strict orders to stay within the borders of the palace, Servius had used his magic to secure the area adjoining the Blackwater Lake. However, Ezra was nimble on his feet and knew the lay of the land well enough to move between the shadows without setting off any alarms. Emerging from the lake, Ezra used the trees for cover and ducked behind the bushes and shrubbery whenever there was movement nearby. The shadows of the moonless night aided his journey, helping him avoid detection.Beyond the grassy wastelan
Tanya quickly set to work, measuring the ingredients and preparing the cauldrons and beakers for the task ahead. Brewing a rare potion like the Crimson Purge involved several steps and required both precision and patience. One little mistake could spoil the brew and produce something completely different.To enhance the potion’s potency and maintain its purity it was extremely important to follow the steps in a perfect sequence and ensure every measurement was as accurate as possible.Ezra stood watch near the window while Zala guarded the door and Glenn arranged the equipment. Tanya had learned the art of brewing potions from her mother, but she was yet to master the techniques. What made her task even more difficult was the complexity of the brewing process.She started with the condensed sap of the Elder Elm and slowly added it to a beaker of boiling water to distill its essence and dilute its toxins. Once the water turned milky white, she transferred the mixture to an earthen bo
Hearing Aleena’s shriek, her chambermaid, Aya rushed out of the bathroom and immediately turned on the lights. “My Princess! Are you alright?”Her eyes widened as she looked at Ezra. Alarmed by Ezra’s terrifying new appearance, Aya was about to scream for help, but Aleena stopped her.“Dear Goddess! May Ishani protect us from the horrors!”Though dumbfounded at first, Aleena swept away her fears and approached Ezra. “What happened to you?”Ezra looked away from the mirror, and his gaze swept the floor before narrowing on his wrinkled gray arm. His left arm had turned scaly and gray, and the tips of his fingers blackened beyond recognition.Strangely enough, the other side of Ezra’s face retained its natural complexion, and his right arm looked perfectly normal.Ezra remembered when he was inside the cottage on the hillock everything was normal except for the darkness cloaking his visage. But now it looked like some terrible curse had wreaked havoc on his body and inflicted him with a
Azure crystal lamps flickered in the distance, hovering overhead like curious fireflies as a throng of impatient onlookers watched on. In the middle of a circular training arena, a young boy with a frown on his face tightened his trembling grip on a smoking revolver. He looked lean and weak and his cheeks were flushed like dying roses. Despite wearing a furry red cloak over his jacket, he could feel the biting cold wind chilling his bones as it swept the arena from the east. A spectral white wolf flickered behind him like an enormous shadow. It loomed over his head for a few seconds before dissipating into thin air. “Get lost, you pathetic cripple!” “Enough of this shit show!” “He’s just a useless loser!” The disappointed booing from the flock of eager onlookers pierced his chest amidst shouts of mockery. And it was all due to his failure to hit the floating targets. "Magic talent level E, magic power: 29%!" a loud voice sounded as if taunting him. "Shooting score 2/10,
Ezra lay awake all night, unable to get his failure out of his head. Every single time he tried to sleep, he heard those mocking voices and the cackling faces flashed before his eyes. Recalling all the humiliation and mockery only made him more anxious and uneasy. He tossed and turned in his bed, cursing his fate.He could have never imagined the prospect of his bright future would be snatched away by one freak accident. “What good is this reincarnation if I am destined to live and die as a cripple?” Ezra questioned as he sat up straight on his bed and threw off his quilt. In his previous life, Ezra had been a young schoolboy whose grades were consistently low and who was as athletic as a lazy mule. However, he had always been a good friend to the ones he valued, and would always help those in need even if it was at his own expense. Ezra faintly recalled his past life, and the scene of his death only flashed in his mind in blurry fragments. He remembered getting hit by a truc
The appearance of a human eye on someone’s hand was a shocking phenomenon even in this magical world. Ezra looked shell-shocked by the incident. “What the hell is this?” he gasped, grabbing his trembling right hand with his left. The eye that had suddenly popped open had a pale blue iris and coral-red blood vessels, which darkened as it throbbed spasmodically. Ezra could feel a sharp pain in his hand, but he gritted his teeth to suppress his urge to scream. People around him already treated him like a freak, and he did not want to attract any more attention to himself. Keeping his calm, Ezra walked up to his study table and got hold of a compass. Curling his fingers around its cold, steely legs, he prepared to pierce the eye. But just as he was about to stab his hand, the eye disappeared. Beads of cold sweat rolled down Ezra’s neck as he looked at his hand. Dropping the compass, he brought his right hand close to his face. The eye was no longer there, and his hand had stopped hur
Lord Sebastian was absolutely furious to hear the Elder’s proposal, but he knew he didn’t have the strongest cards to play. A freak accident had reduced his gifted son into a cripple, and his middle child wasn’t the most responsible man. The Elder was quick to notice the missing family member and grinned slightly. Looking around with a discerning air, he spoke in a tone expressing mock concern. “I see Sir Ramel isn’t here. I had heard many great things about him. Wasn’t he anointed as an honorary knight last year?” “I believe it was for winning a tournament, not fighting a war,” Lady Lillian sniped. Although Aurelia wasn’t too keen on siding with Ramel and could care less about how people chose to think of him, this time the matter was different. By insulting Ramel, Lady Lillian and the Elder were trying to humiliate the Romanov household, and she wasn’t going to stand by and watch like a silent spectator. “Not all boys need to die on the battlefield. In fact, I don’t think your
Ezra felt a tingling sensation in his right hand, and his thoughts immediately went back to that peculiar incident in his room. He quickly hid his right hand behind his back and then turned to Aurelia.Normally, whenever a system panel flickered into life, it would be visible to all in the nearby area. But strangely enough, no one seemed to be bothered by Ezra’s Gunsmithing screen.After staring at those present around him for a while, Ezra realized that they could not see his Gunsmithing system display, and the information floating in front of his eyes was only visible to him.Suddenly, Ezra felt an unbearable pain shooting up his right arm, and he could tell something was squirming under his skin. “Not again,” Ezra mumbled under his breath, his hands turning cold and his face rapidly losing color.Aurelia wanted to talk to Ezra and comfort him, but he hurried back to his room without a single word.Although Ezra was quite used to being ridiculed by those around him, things had gone