A Sorcerer’s Journey

Eight years later.

Gritting his teeth, Grimm slowly walked along a narrow path that led to the Demon-Hunter Castle.

Unlike the others who relied on Mental Strength, Grimm’s advantage lay in his sturdier Constitution. While the others only had to keep on doing meditation to maintain their Magical Power at the same level as their Mental Strength, Grimm needed to train every cell in his body, utilize every ounce of his strength and vitality to push his Magical Power to be at the same level as his Constitution level.

Huff… puff… huff…

Although highly unlikely, Grimm—an Anatomy Refinery Sorcerer with high Constitution was exerting so much effort just to walk. It seemed so impossible and unimaginable.

Yet, that was what was happening.

If one were to observe in closer detail, one could see that Grimm was carrying a massive and heavy alloy—one that was created from alchemy. These alloys were materials used to construct the Voidships; and Grimm was now putting these on his back.

Nonetheless, despite having these on his back, with Grimm’s high Constitution, it was still quite difficult to make him struggle this much as he walked to his destination. The real reason that was causing him so much trouble in moving about was the constant gravitational pull from the Terran Stream. This essentially multiplied the weight Grimm had to carry as he moved about.

Hence the reason Grimm was struggling so much to walk towards his destination.

In the sky, there was a pair of sorcerer-spouse who spotted him and threw him a glance. Ignoring them, Grimm lowered his head and continued pushing on towards his destination. His robe was now totally soaked by his sweat as it clung onto his muscular body; his chest was rapidly rising as he panted for air.

Next to the narrow road, paved by small white stone pallets, that he was journeying on there was a long man-made river. Schools of fish were happily swimming about in the gushing water reflecting each of Grimm’s struggling steps.

“Oh? Good morning. We meet again.”

An old Sorceress, who was walking two pet pigs with two ropes tied to their collars, greeted Grimm. The two pet pigs were about twenty centimeters in length; snorting through their long noses, the pigs showed off their white glossy hides while waving their curly tails. Oh, such lovely creatures.

Under the setting sun, the massive shadow of the Tree of Life was slowly moving away from Grimm’s long slender shadow.

“Hmph.”

Nodding his head in acknowledgment of the Bright Sorcerer, Grimm dipped his head and continued on, passing her by. Two large sweat drops rolled down from his forehead to his jaw, and then dripped onto the stone pallet below him.

Hmm…

Leading her two cute happy little pigs, the Bright Sorcerer resumed her evening walk.

A moment later.

“Hey, Grimm. I’ve come to accompany you again. Aren’t you glad?” Claudia said as she approached Grimm with a cheerful smile.

She was clad in a revealing scarlet, greenish dress—one that half-covered her private part while still presenting her exquisitely feminine voluptuous figure. A mysterious golden necklace hid mischievously in the cleavage that was in between her two huge snowy melons—a rather inviting sight, yet leaving a lot of room for lustful imagination. Plus, that wasn’t all. Even though she was speaking in a rather seductive tone, her face looked serene like a goddess, one whom no one would dare to violate.

What a nymph!

Thud thud thud…

The thuds that Claudia’s stiletto heels made echoed around Grimm as a whiff of alluring body fragrance lingered around him, tempting his olfactory senses.

Not uttering a single word, Grimm continued on with his difficult journey—like a camel crossing a massive desert, not entertaining anything else that was moving in the world. He kept on pushing forward as he panted heavily for fresh air.

An hourglass later.

Looking at the empty narrow road, Claudia mumbled to herself, “It would seem that this isn’t the usual Dimensional Sorcery that they had taught during the sorcerer-apprentice era. It appears that he’s researching a higher level of Dimensional knowledge.”

Claudia shook her head as she pondered upon this thought. Then, she leaped up to the sky and flew back to her Demon-Hunter Castle.

Back at Grimm’s Demon-Hunter Castle, Grimm stood in the bathroom quietly as boiling water splashed on his muscular body. Owing to his sturdy elemental resistance, the boiling water was not able to cause him any damage at all. As steam rolled around him, Grimm’s body was finally able to relax.

‘Hmm?’

Suddenly, Grimm took out his crystal ball and read the message that was glowing in it. Then, he mumbled to himself, “Shadow World? It’s been 9 years since the Void Fortress sent a team over. So, the Demon-Hunting team is about to complete its task, huh? This time I’ll be signing the contract with three Stigmata Sorcerers, so achieving victory in the Shadow World shouldn’t be much of an issue.”

Beep beep beep…

Millie’s communication signal was beeping through the crystal ball. Without any hesitation, Grimm fuelled up Magical Power into his crystal ball to establish communication as he hastily threw on his clothes.

“Grimm, how’s your preparation? The Shadow World. From the looks of it, this is a world that has a different set of laws and rules from the Sorcerer World. I’m hoping that the environment there isn’t too harsh to handle.” Millie stated, sounding worried.

Grimm replied with a frown, “The contract has been signed. We don’t have much choice. If things went on as usual, the Demon Hunters would normally spend half a month to comprehend the rules and laws of the new world while preparing and analyzing the specimens from the world’s habitants in the Void Fortress. The Stigmata Sorcerers would usually provide a huge amount of data, information, and specimens of the habitants of the world they’re conquering. Let’s do more preparation when the time comes.”

“Yeah.”

Nodding her head, Millie continued on with her inquiry, “What about your Soul Slaves? I’ve met with a few complications here. I’ve got two dead Soul Slaves here that I am not able to resupply in time.”

Snap!

After snapping his fingers, four black-scaled humanoids, each one and a half meters in height, appeared behind Grimm. He calmly replied, “I’ve remodified these things using Hematology Sorcery and a unique technique. Their combat prowess should be enough to handle low-level Legendary Knights that are modified via Hematology Sorcery. They can each deal 150 damage. They also possess a great amount of Health Points. Hmm, let’s call them ‘Ghouls’.”

Roar!

The four Ghouls let out a roar in unison as they extended their black batwings. Tiny rays of violet energy radiated out from their mouths as dark green venom gushed out from their claws.

“Oh? They look great. Could you sell me two of these? I’ll let you decide the price—so long as the trade’s not in Sorcerer Essences.” Millie asked, overjoyed with the prospect of buying the ghouls.

Grimm replied, “Certainly. I still have three of these as spares. I’ll send two over after this. Alright, give me three hourglasses to seal my lab. Then, we’ll head to the Dark Sorcerer’s Headquarters.”

“Alright.” Millie cut off communication after giving a curt reply.

The Shadow World, huh?

Grimm pondered deeply as he stepped towards his lab. Then, he began to seal his tools while also stowing other tools that he might need for his Demon-Hunting mission into the Dimensional Gap.

“Caw caw, my beloved Master Grimm, is there a reply for the Demon-Hunting Mission? You’re leaving?” the Myna stood on a chandelier above Grimm as he posed his question for his master.

While still packing up his items, Grimm replied, “Yes. It’s a world called ‘the Shadow World’. You ought to make preparations too.”

“Oh… what’s there for this lone parrot to prepare for though? Well, seeing that we might be gone for a hundred to two hundred years… perhaps it’s best that I bid my farewell to the little Angelis.”

Then, the parrot spread his wings and flew towards Angelis’ Demon-Hunter Castle.

Two hourglasses later.

Grimm sat on the sofa in the middle of his lobby, checking to see if he had left anything behind.

A few minutes later, Grimm, who had done all his preparations and was ready to depart, saw his Gnaw slave working hard at cleaning the chambers.

The old Gnaw’s spine was so disjointed that its body was almost curved to the floor. Its thin and weak body wielded its broom shakily as it gasped for air. Its green skin was wrinkled to a knob, showing very little vigor and vitality.

Grimm could see that the old Gnaw did not have long to live—it could, at best, live for another two to three years.

As though noticing Grimm’s gaze, the Gnaw raised its head and looked at Grimm with its lifeless eyes and asked with its sore voice, “Master?”

Grimm then was stunned as he noticed something.

He could not believe he had completely forgotten about this Gnaw.

Soul Slaves were valuable—in fact, more valuable than some tools for experiments. He almost made the mistake of not retrieving a prized Soul Fire.

After a brief chant, Grimm waved his hand at the Gnaw. Then, a green flame, invisible to ordinary mortal eyes, flew out of the body of the Gnaw and then fused into Grimm’s body.

Weakened and frail, the old Gnaw then fell to the floor together with the broom.

“Master…”

Even though it was now free from the Soul Fire’s control, there was no thought of rebellion residing within the old Gnaw’s mind. All that it could do now was to look at Grimm with its teary eyes.

Seeing the tears in its eyes, Grimm recalled the two hundred years worth of memories they spent together in his Demon-Hunter Castle. Feeling a ripple of emotions surface in his heart, Grimm lowered his hand, forfeiting the idea of decommissioning this “material” that had already reached the end of its use with a fireball.

Due to the total control bestowed upon them, sorcerers would usually not have any emotional attachment to their Soul Slaves—much like how humans would not care for their mechanical slaves too.

Yet, these Soul Slaves were not machines. They were living beings that possessed feelings and a livelihood. The only difference between them and living beings was that they were controlled by the sorcerers via the domination of their souls.

Even though at first glance one would think that the sorcerer had full control of the Soul Slaves’ bodies and minds, these “slaves” could still feel emotions. Despite being alive, they could only watch their bodies act based on their masters’ wills instead of theirs.

Having forfeited the thought of killing this useless Soul-Slave-leftover, Grimm decided to grant its final days some peaceful grace.

After tossing a few Magic Stones and a bottle of medicine to it, Grimm calmly told the Gnaw, “After I leave, treat this castle as your home. I’ve saved a piece of land in the backyard for you; you can bury yourself there when the time comes.”

Clack!

The castle’s wooden door shut tight as Grimm took his leave.