The Wizard's Secret Journey

Chapter 222 Counterattack (4.2k)

In the quiet office, Daphne's delicate eyebrows were furrowed, and her expression was quite unpleasant.

She sighed, agreeing yet with a hint of doubt, and said:
“I also feel that he didn’t just ask me for help… but if he wasn’t on the run and seeking my assistance, could he be targeting Tilo’s shop like the Black Crow?”

Daphne initially thought the wizard who handed her the note was like the wizard Lynn had encountered, on the run, which was why he sought her help.

But upon further reflection, Daphne realized something was amiss.

If the wizard in the shadows really wanted her help, why wait two more days?
Moreover, since he was able to leave the note at Tilo's shop, why didn't he just come to her directly when she was there, instead of going through all this roundabout ways... Although all of this could be explained by caution, Daphne felt that it was more like he was forcing her to keep the appointment.

But why should he keep the appointment? She's just a newly promoted first-tier wizard.

After much thought, Daphne realized that the only reason she was being targeted was because of her still somewhat valuable Tilo shop.

"Tillow Shop..."

Lynn pondered for a moment, then decisively shook his head, rejecting Daphne's conclusion. "While Tilo's shop may be valuable, it's not worth provoking a first-tier wizard for it."

Daphne paused, then murmured, "That seems to make sense."

When she was still an apprentice, her strength was not worthy of Tilo's shop, which naturally attracted covetousness. But now that she has advanced to the first rank, even though Tilo's shop has expanded again, she still earns hard-earned money. It's not worth provoking a first-rank wizard from Silver Ring Academy for such a small gain.

"But if he's not really asking for my help, and he's not eyeing Tilo's shop... then what exactly does he want?"

The unknown is always more frightening, and Daphne felt uneasy, her delicate brows furrowed.

"I don't know... whether you have any enemies in the Exploration Association besides Black Raven?"

“No.” Daphne shook her head, then added firmly, “Apart from the trade gatherings, I have never participated in any of the Exploration Association’s activities! Especially after advancing to the first tier, I have basically never gone to any gatherings except for necessary ones. I know almost no members, let alone first-tier members.”

Daphne sighed and said slowly, "It seems we have no choice but to postpone it. Going to the appointment is impossible; it's too dangerous."

"After all, I am only an outer member of the Black Moon Exploration Association. As long as I take the initiative to explain to the academy that I have nothing to do with the Black Moon Academy ruins, I should not be guilty of a capital offense, but will only be punished to some extent."

“Delaying it won’t solve anything.” Lynn shook his head, his tone resolute. “What if that wizard frames you and insists that you gained something from the Black Moon Ruins?”

"Daphne, how will you prove yourself then?"

"This concerns the ruins of the Black Moon Academy!"

"Given Silver Ring Academy's modus operandi, they will definitely extract your memories. And since you are already a first-tier wizard, unless a Silver Ring wizard personally intervenes, this process will certainly damage your soul! If your cultivation regresses to that of an apprentice, that would be the lightest consequence."

Daphne gradually fell silent, a chill running down her spine as she thought about what Lynn had said.

Lynn looked at the note again and said, word by word, "We need to take back the initiative."

Daphne cannot allow the Silver Ring Enforcement Team to discover her identity as a member of the Black Moon Exploration Association, otherwise he will also be exposed.

This isn't because I don't trust Daphne, but because the wizards have too many tricks up their sleeves, making it impossible for Daphne to keep it a secret even if she wanted to.

"But how can we regain the initiative?" Daphne followed Lynn's gaze and looked at the note, her eyes filled with confusion.

The next moment, Daphne suddenly noticed that the note was picked up by a slender hand, and then disintegrated again, revealing the profound witchcraft patterns inside.

Daphne had very limited knowledge of witchcraft and couldn't understand what Lynn was doing at all, but she wisely remained silent.

"That's enough." She heard Lynn say that very soon.

"Can...what?" Daphne looked bewildered.

“You can speak now. I’ve disabled the eavesdropping function of this witchcraft.” Lynn looked up at Daphne, then looked down at the witchcraft in his hand. “I was in a hurry just now and didn’t realize that this witchcraft is actually a ‘mother-child’ witchcraft.”

"After a certain period of time, or when you destroy it, it will split off a more concealed sub-body and attach itself to you. In this way, it can complete the task of location tracking—the sub-body does not have the function of eavesdropping, only location tracking."

Daphne stared at the ordinary note in Lynn's hand, a chill running down her spine. After a long pause, she murmured, "I've never seen such an elaborate witchcraft tool before."

“These kinds of witchcraft tools are used insidiously and are generally not sold openly. I guess the witch behind them made them themselves. His skill in making witchcraft tools is indeed quite high,” Lynn replied, then smiled and said, “However, since this witchcraft tool can locate, I can use it to find the location receiving the location… which is most likely the location of that witch!”

Daphne couldn't help but glance at Lynn a few more times.

"What's wrong?" Lynn asked, puzzled.

“If this witchcraft tool can evade my detection, then it must at least be a first-level witchcraft tool… Are you really confident that you can find the location of the witch behind it? Won’t it alert them?” Daphne suggested in a gentle tone, “I think it might be safer for us to go and investigate the location left on the note beforehand.”

Although Lynn's process of dismantling the sorcery tool with the note demonstrated his remarkable skill in crafting sorcery tools, being able to dismantle and being able to locate the tool are fundamentally different things, with vastly different levels of difficulty.

Disassembly only requires understanding the basic structure, but to reverse-engineer the spellware through the note, one must either be a spellware expert far superior to the spellware maker, or be a master of spellware making with a thorough understanding of its structure.

Lynn wasn't surprised by Daphne's doubts, after all, he had only recently raised his knowledge of witchcraft tools to this level.

“Daphne, this matter concerns not only your safety but also mine,” Lynn said slowly. “You know my personality; I wouldn’t do this unless I was absolutely certain.”

"Moreover, since he dared to reveal the location agreed upon on the note so early, he must have considered that we might arrive early and must have made some preparations."

Daphne looked at the man in front of her, her anxiety gradually subsiding. She slowly nodded and asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

“No need.” Lynn shook his head, took out the materials from his storage ring, and began modifying the note-shaped magical tool on the spot.

Lynn moved quickly; his arms were just afterimages, with flashes of light appearing and disappearing intermittently.

Daphne tried looking at it for a while, but found it dazzling and couldn't understand anything.

After about an hour, Lynn finally stopped.

"All done?" Daphne, who had been feeling a bit sleepy, perked up and quickly approached to ask.

"Hmm." Lynn nodded, but his brows furrowed slightly.

"what happened?"

“I’ve completed the modifications, but I haven’t found a receiving location. The wizard is probably out of range right now,” Lynn replied. To ease Daphne’s worries, he added, “Don’t worry, I’ve checked, there’s nothing wrong with my modifications.”

“I believe you.” Daphne shook her head and continued, “So what do we do now?”

Now that she has chosen to believe in Lynn, she will not waver.

After all, apart from Lynn, Daphne had no other friends she could trust.

After her first-tier uncle and parents died in the accident, Daphne witnessed how her former friends drifted away one by one, how her mentor withheld her resources, and how malicious people like Black Raven came to be.

Having experienced the coldness and warmth of human relationships, Daphne finds it hard to trust anyone again, but once she does trust someone, it's hard for her to waver.

“Now…” Lynn thought about it carefully, “perhaps I can go and investigate the location mentioned on the note.”

Although it's likely to be a wasted effort, it's still better than waiting idly.

"Don't you need me to come with you?" "No, it's more convenient for me to do it alone. You stay here and keep an eye on the note. Since he placed such a tracking device, he'll come closer to check it sooner or later."

Lynn shook his head. Daphne was far weaker than him, and bringing her along would not help; on the contrary, she would be a burden.

“I understand,” Daphne said without objection.

……

After leaving Daphne's residence, Lynn made a point of returning to Horsens's base first to disguise himself and avoid being spied on before heading towards Sycamore Street in Lower Silver Ring.

Wutong Street has a nice name, but this area is notoriously chaotic in the downtown area.

Most of the houses on both sides were dilapidated and uninhabited, serving as strongholds for low-level wizard gangs that enslaved mortals.

Before entering this place, Lynn went into the shadows, completely concealing his figure, and at the same time activated the active sensing of the Black Moon Spirit Body.

However, even after he arrived at the entrance of Building 78, he did not sense any aura of the Black Moon relics.

Either the person didn't activate the Black Moon relic in their hand, or they weren't actually here.

Standing at the doorway, Lynn activated his secondary reality vision.

In the field of vision, the abandoned house was empty and devoid of any special magical energy. Apart from a few rats and some insects, there was no sign of life.

After circling around again, Lynn avoided the main entrance and the large hole on the right, and flew in from the left corner.

Lynn remained silent and unnoticed while he was hidden. The rat at his feet was completely unaware of his presence and continued to sniff around.

Lynn walked past it and carefully searched the entire building, and soon made a discovery.

Deep within some of the unassuming bricks and stones of the building, there are many unique patterns and structures that together form a large-scale witchcraft array.

These patterns are very well hidden, which is why Lynn was able to discover them, thanks to his secondary vision and his extraordinary skill in spellcasting.

As for the specific effects of the witch array, it should isolate movement and noise, as well as have a certain degree of binding effect.

hum-

Suddenly, the badge on Lynn's chest vibrated slightly.

Lynn's expression remained unchanged; his Phase Shadow Magic perfectly concealed himself, and the slight vibration could not be transmitted to the outside world.

He used his spiritual senses to probe the badge and discovered that it was a message from Daphne!

"There's movement! Come quick!"

Daphne didn't say anything about the movement, but it was clearly about the note... which means that person is now near Daphne!
Lynn felt a chill and quickly left Wutong Street!
……

……

Tilo's shops and offices.

Daphne paced back and forth, her gaze sometimes falling on the note on the table, and sometimes on the doorway.

Tuk Tuk——

A knock suddenly sounded at the door, and Daphne's face lit up with joy as she quickly opened the door.

A wizard dressed in a black robe and wearing a hood came into view.

Daphne closed the door, relieved, and said, "You've finally come."

Lynn didn't answer. He went straight to the table, picked up the note, and after examining it carefully, he raised an eyebrow:
"Just one kilometer away?"

Activating the Black Moon Spirit Body's active sensing state, Lynn indeed detected the aura of a Black Moon relic in the distance. Its location was exactly the same as where the note-writing artifact had been found.

“Yes, he approached from the direction of the lower city, and kept getting closer before stopping at our current location… Is there a problem?” Daphne asked.

“The effective range of this witchcraft tool is roughly ten kilometers. If he is only monitoring secretly, the farther away the better,” Lynn explained, becoming more vigilant.

"Perhaps he just happened to be in the vicinity, or maybe he's very confident in his ability to disguise himself?"

"Maybe." Lynn thought for a moment and said, "I'll leave the note here. You monitor it here and update me on his location as needed. I'll go check it out."

"Can't you make the magic tool send him a false location?" Daphne asked anxiously and earnestly. "I want to go with you, Lynn!"

“I’m not underestimating you, Daphne, but if I can’t handle it, your presence probably won’t help.”

“No, I don’t want to just wait here and watch you go over alone.” Daphne shook her head, her tone resolute, and explained, “Even if I don’t help, at least I won’t cause any trouble.”

Lynn hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.

This matter concerns his safety, and also Daphne's safety... When life and death are at stake, no one would be willing to completely entrust their life to someone else.

However, what Lynn didn't know was that Daphne hadn't thought that far ahead; she simply felt that Lynn shouldn't bear these dangers alone.

The two made their decision and were almost ready to set off when they discovered that the location of the wizard who had been secretly watching them had suddenly changed.

This discovery made Lynn and the other person sit down again.

Several dozen seconds later, the shadowy wizard stopped. He hadn't moved too far, only about a hundred meters.

"That area is a commercial street. Did he just switch shops?" Daphne frowned, feeling a surge of annoyance at the thought of the wizard's seemingly leisurely demeanor.

At this moment, Lynn suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and stroked his chin, saying:
"We shouldn't go looking for him; we should let him come looking for us!"

Daphne looked puzzled. Lynn didn't explain, but simply picked up the note and the witchcraft tool and fiddled with it for a moment.

Soon, Daphne noticed that the hidden wizard's position had changed again. This time, he was much faster and less leisurely.

“I gave him a fake location. Now we just need to wait along the route to find out the real location,” Lynn explained simply, leaving the note behind.

Moreover, this has another advantage—

This can put the enemy on the defensive, allowing Lynn and his companion to choose where they might meet.

In this way, we can avoid the enemy's possible preparations.

For example, right now, the enemy is located in a bustling commercial street, so even if they go there and find him, they can't take action.

This might be a place the enemy chose randomly, but objectively speaking, it still limited the space for Lynn and his companion to maneuver. However, if they led the enemy to another place, the space for maneuver would be much greater.

(End of this chapter)