Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

Dago looked at the charred pit with a complicated expression. Although the power of the Flame Core Air Bomb was immense, it had many drawbacks, such as excessive mana drain and long charging time.

The biggest drawback is that it can't keep any spoils of war at all; it just grinds the enemy to dust, which is truly a one-step solution.

But then I thought, being able to survive is already a great blessing, why would I need any more spoils?

Dago took a deep breath and murmured, "It feels so good to be alive."

There is still a lot of cleanup work to be done, and many wizards' investigations to evade.

Too many people died this time, especially a half-step formal wizard from the academy. The academy will definitely investigate this thoroughly.

In the dead of night, with the sky covered in dark clouds, the fields were deathly silent, turning into a dark paradise.

Only the flickering light from the top of a watchtower in the distance, swaying in the wind, could be heard, like a lighthouse.

With his exhausted and wounded body, Dago slowly walked to the watchtower. The wooden house had been completely burned and collapsed, turning into a pile of charred ruins.

He continued to move his body to the area where old Marico's body was located.

Previously, the sparks from Raymond's fireball had burned old Maric's body to ashes, leaving only a few ashes.

By the light of the watchtower's fire, Dago collected the ashes little by little and put them into his storage bag.

Just then, a rustling sound came from afar.

He used his detection spell to look at the source of the sound, and a familiar mental fluctuation came from it—it was Serena.

She furtively covered her body with her cloak, crouched low, and approached Dago step by step.

Dago shouted at her, "Serena, come out, it's me, Dago."

Upon hearing this, Serena ripped off her cloak, got up, and ran quickly toward Dago.

The light in her eyes was like a spark suddenly ignited, dazzlingly bright in an instant.

Before Dago could react, she had already pounced on him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, practically hanging on him.

"That's wonderful!" Serena's voice was filled with laughter, and the last syllable of her words trembled with joy. Her shoulders shook slightly with barely suppressed delight.

Dago was knocked back half a step by her before he could regain his balance. He could clearly feel her heart pounding in her chest and her unreserved joy.

He patted Serena on the back to comfort her, then broke free. They still had a lot to take care of; time was of the essence and the task was heavy.

Serena's joyful expression turned to apology upon seeing Dago's battered body, and she immediately took out her healing and psychic potions and handed them to him.

Then he chanted a spell over Dago and cast a healing spell.

Dago popped the caps off both bottles of potions and gulped them down; his own potions had long since been used up in the battle.

The medicine worked immediately; his complexion improved significantly, and the burning sensation on his body lessened considerably.

After a while, Dago recovered a lot and tore off the remaining strips of cloth from his cloak.

He was considering how to deal with the academy's investigation. First of all, it was highly illogical that an entire patrol team had been wiped out, leaving only the two of them alive.

However, the only wizards who actually died at Dago's hands were Raymond and Viser, and their bodies were almost completely destroyed, making it difficult to trace their demise back to him.

No one could have imagined that Dago could kill Raymond, and no one in the Academy would believe it if they told them.

So the main thing was to create an alibi. After discussing it, Dago and Serena made some mistakes at the scene and erased their traces of being there.

Then create the illusion of a panicked escape into the forest, discarding some personal belongings along the way.

As the two walked toward the forest, they discarded scraps of cloth from their cloaks.

Although Dago was worried that the academy might have supernatural detection methods, it was beyond his control, and he could only leave it to fate.

To put it bluntly, once the facade is broken, Dargo can only become a black-robed wizard. In the wizarding world, black robes and white robes are not important; only strength matters.

Dago and Serena took a long detour and ended up back at the wizard's inn.

Seeing Serena's unease, Dago comforted her, saying, "So much has happened today, go back and get some rest. Don't worry, everything will be alright."

Serena nodded, and the two returned to their respective rooms.

Dago took off his tattered robes, went to the bathroom to get some hot water, and used a towel to wipe the mixture of blood and mud off his body.

Although there are extraordinary medicines and healing techniques, wounds still need a certain amount of time to heal.

After treating his wounds, Dago lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep; he was exhausted.

...........

The next morning, the weather was clear, in the courtyard of the Wizard's Inn.

Despite the sunshine, the two felt as heavy and cold as the wind blowing outside.

Under the old plum tree in the corner of the courtyard, there is a mound of fresh soil containing the ashes of old Marico. Dago has already bought this piece of land with the people from the Wizard's Inn.

They intended to take him back to the treehouse in the forest for burial, but the forest was essentially a semi-occupied area and was off-limits to the academy.

On the ground lay a faded, worn-out robe, the one old Marico often wore when he was alive. The collar still had frayed edges, and now it was neatly folded, as if its owner had only temporarily departed.

"Old Marico, it's getting cold, I brought you some wine."

Dago spoke in a low voice, as if afraid of disturbing someone. As he spoke, he poured wine into a ceramic cup and slowly poured it onto the ground. The moment the wine seeped into the soil, tiny bubbles appeared.

The ritual was so simple it was almost perfunctory. He and Serena simply stood there quietly, occasionally adding more wine and straightening their wind-blown robes.

When the sun was directly overhead, the academy's inspector came looking for them. Dago weighed down his folded robe with a stone and turned to leave, his footsteps barely touching the ground.

Then the two of them followed several inspector wizards out of the wizard inn and into the academy's castle. Wearing blindfolds, they entered a sealed room, which was the academy's most mysterious trial chamber.

The stone walls of the courtroom exuded a chill, and the twelve obsidian pillars, engraved with runes, cast distorted shadows in the candlelight.

The two men being interrogated sat in the center of the rune array, their wrists bound by silver shackles. With each movement, the shackles glowed with a pale blue light.

The presiding wizard of the academy sat in a high-backed chair, his fingertips tapping the academy's codex on the table, his voice as calm as a frozen lake: "I'm asking you for the third time, what happened to the town patrol last night?"

The candlelight flickered suddenly, and Dago looked up sharply. Beads of sweat on his forehead fell onto the rune array, sparking a ring of tiny sparks.

"As I've already said, Serena and I returned from patrol to find corpses strewn across the ground and a black-robed wizard. Lord Raymond fought him to save us, and we fled into the forest." His voice was hoarse, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Oh, really? Then why are only the two of you alive, and everyone else is dead, not even Raymond, whose body was never found and there's no way to prove it?"

"We only need the truth. Since you are so certain of what you are saying, I will now use the Truth Spell. If any of you are lying, the Truth Spell will detect it."

The academy wizard stopped tapping his fingers, chanted an incantation, and drew his wand, pointing it at the central rune array.

The candlelight flickered again, stretching the shadows of the twelve stone pillars even longer, as if countless eyes were silently watching the trial from the cracks in the stone.

Dago's shoulders trembled, and the incantations on the shackles tightened suddenly, leaving several bloody marks. He thought bitterly, "Looks like I'm going to die here today."

The rune array suddenly hummed, and a strange energy surged forth, then entered the mental space of the two people.

In an instant, Serena seemed to have lost her soul, her eyes glazed over as she sat blankly in the chair.

When this spiritual energy appeared in Dago's spiritual space, it was instantly extinguished by the surging waves of the endless black sea, without even a ripple.

Dago imitated Serena's dazed expression, sitting foolishly in the chair.

The presiding wizard from the academy spoke directly, asking three questions: "Did you betray the academy? Did you participate in the killing of the academy's wizards? Do you know what happened to Raymond?"

After hearing this, Dago and Serena responded with completely emotionless "No, no, no."

The runes on one of the twelve stone pillars lit up green, and the presiding academy wizard's breathing became slightly rapid. He stopped channeling his mental energy into the rune array, appearing to have expended considerable energy.

The rune array stopped humming, and Serena gradually regained her senses, her face ashen white. Dago, on the other hand, clutched his head in pain, trying to hide his not-so-pale face.

The academy wizard said to the two who had regained their senses, "You have passed the truth spell test. This spell has some side effects on the soul, so you can go back and recuperate properly."

"We will not wrong an innocent person, nor will we let a guilty person go free."

After saying that, he got up and left the courtroom. Not long after, several inspector wizards came in, put blindfolds on their heads, and helped them out of the courtroom.