There was a saying about a newbie's luck. Maybe that saying was true as the scalpel in Ryan's hand stabbed precisely at Barg's throat. It was not that Ryan's aim was good, but Barg, who was startled, instinctively tilted his head at the wrong angle. Barg, who tilted his head to the left as an instinct, was like someone who was running himself to the tip of the scalpel.
After stabbing Barg's throat, Ryan rolled to his left, falling between the two stone beds.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing with stone was heard after he fell. He saw a knife that was thrown away because the impact force of the knife hitting the stone was too great, causing Barg to involuntarily release his grip.
Barg ignored the pain he felt in his hand and hurriedly used it to cover his throat, but it was useless as blood still seeped out between his fingers. His mouth tried to produce sounds, but the result was just more blood coming out.
He looked at the person who killed him in disbelief and unwillingness. He was destined for greatness; he had already gathered more than three cores. He had already gathered enough wealth to buy the resources required until he became a mage, but everything was gone just like that, just because of a moment of carelessness.
He was unwilling, extremely unwilling, but there was nothing he could do. His life was slipping away beyond his control. No matter how hard he tried to cover his throat, the blood still gushed out, slipping away between his fingers along with his life.
At the end of his life, he finally realized what was wrong when he tried to lift Ryan's clothes. The body's temperature! It was warm. If only he were a bit more careful, if only he were a bit more attentive, if only he were less greedy. If…
But everything was meaningless now; he closed his eyes with regret.
"Hah, hah!"
Ryan began to calm his anxious heart after seeing the man slumped to the ground. He stood up and took the black box from the table before hurling it towards the man; seeing there was no response even after the black box hit his head, he finally felt relieved.
After all, he was fooling the man by pretending to be dead and he didn't want to be fooled just like that.
He stood up with his still wobbling legs. He looked at the mess the room had become. Everything was painted in red; the fresh blood contrasting with the white clothes the experiment subject wore had created a different contrast that gave him a sense of…disgust.
Now that the danger had passed and the adrenaline had receded, he finally got his senses back. The bloody mess and the fishy smell of blood instantly assaulted his senses.
Blergh!
He retched hard, but nothing came out except his own spit. After retching for a while, he finally could catch his breath.
"I can't stay here any longer; I can't risk another person coming here." Ryan said under his breath.
Looking around, he saw a pouch at Borg's waist. He knew what was inside it; it was some sort of cores. For Borg to come here to retrieve it amidst the battle must mean that it was a precious thing. Although he found it a bit disgusting, thinking it was dug out from a human's heart, he had no choice. In a new place, wealth was something very important. Except for the pouch, he also found a book on Barg's chest area and another pouch that was smaller than the one on his waist.
He poured everything on the pouch, then he wiped it clean from any blood before making another makeshift pouch from another experimental subject's clothes that were still clean. He also didn't forget to clean the book and put it away; who knew, maybe it would be useful in the future.
He looked at the messy room once again; there were still several precious cores inside, but he was not brave enough to dig them out from a corpse's heart; who knew what nightmare he would have if he did that?
He didn't know if he would regret it in the future, but he knew he couldn't be too greedy, because the lesson of being too greedy was already laid out before him.
He climbed the stone bed and toppled the candles, setting the room on fire to erase any trace that could be tracked to him.
He hurriedly left, leaving the room that was on fire. He didn't know what consequences it would bring, but can it be tracked to him, an obedient experiment subject?
***
"Dead end again!?"
This was already the fifth passage he took, and it still ended up in a dead end.
Should he really go to the battlefield, where the sound of intense battle is coming from?
He was really unwilling, but he didn't have any other choice. It was not that all the passages he chose ended in a dead end, but many passages collapsed, making it a dead end. He didn't know if it was because of the battle or because someone purposely collapsed it to block pursuers—maybe both.
Guess it was the only choice left.
Ryan walked carefully towards the source of the battle's sound. He didn't want to suddenly end up in the middle of the battlefield.
As he became closer and closer to the battlefield, his walking also became slower and slower.
Just then, he witnessed something that shattered his old worldview. On one side was a man in a white robe that was adorned with a blue pattern. His brown head looked messy, but it couldn't hide the dignity he emanated. His calm eyes blazed red as he looked towards his opponent.
Circling around him were numerous head-sized fireballs.
On the other hand was a cloaked person with no distinct features. The cloak seems to be able to cover everything about the person, preventing someone from gleaning any information. In front of him was a broken earth wall that was still smoking.
"Let's see if you can still block this!" The brown-haired man said. "Consecutive fireballs!"
The numerous fireballs around him suddenly shot out, like a soldier that was getting a command to attack towards the cloaked person.
The cloaked man seemed flustered as he hurriedly formed a hand seal at an incredible speed; his mouth was also chanting something indescribable at an incredible speed. If it was on earth, he would be able to become a good reaper.
Then, he took out a parchment from his cloak and slammed it into his body.
Suddenly, Ryan felt a tremor from the earth, and it continued to become stronger like an earthquake. When he stabilized his footing, he realized that there was a huge wall in front of the cloaked person, but it was different from the earth wall from before. It was black all over and looked very sturdy.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Consecutive explosions sounded as the fireballs continued to hit the earth wall.
After the explosion ended, the earth wall was in debris, but there was no one behind it. The cloaked person had disappeared.
Is he dead?
The brown-haired man hurriedly walked over towards the place where the cloaked person had been previously.
"Teleportation scroll!" He said, his expression grim, "To think he had something so precious on him, this lab must more precious than we thought." He said with gritted teeth, his anger evident on his face.
Ryan, who looked at everything that happened, was fascinated.
"So, magic exists in this world." He muttered unconsciously.
"Who's that?"
The brown-haired man suddenly appeared in front of Ryan.
Ryan was startled, and his heart was in his throat.
He has witnessed everything; is he going to be silenced?