Chapter 360: Not an Illusion

Without giving him a choice, Mark shoved Saul and ran, warning him that if he wanted to die, he was free to stop.

Saul didn’t resist. Without knowing the power of the enemy, he wasn’t about to be the horror movie cannon fodder who dies deciding whether to flee.

Of course, Mark himself wasn’t exactly acting normal either. But the energy radiating from him was unmistakably that of a Third Rank apprentice.

Saul was confident that beating up a Third Rank apprentice would still be a piece of cake for him.

Especially since he had four soul bodies alongside him.

So even though Saul was currently fleeing in a sorry state, his Flight Spell only kept him three to five meters off the ground, while the towering ancient trees around them rose dozens if not hundreds of meters, with chaotic branches and tangled vines—he was surprisingly calm inside. Flying was even slower than running here.

The soul bodies behind him followed with blank expressions. They had even less magic stored than Saul, and relied solely on energy to sprint.

Too much sprinting, of course, would still burn through magic crystals.

While running, Mark specifically warned Saul not to recklessly use mental power here.

Saul understood the reasoning.

Just now, when he lightly probed Mark’s energy waves, his soul body had already begun to tremble.

And the tremors hadn’t faded with time—they remained steady and constant.

Though they didn’t currently hinder his spellcasting, if the tremors worsened and didn’t recover, Saul knew he’d eventually lose his greatest trump cards—Soul Fishing and the mental realm.

They ran for nearly an hour before stopping to rest on a patch of empty grassland.

Even with modified bodies, two Third Rank wizard apprentices were still left panting and gasping.

The vessels remained unbothered. They didn’t rely on lungs for running—just energy.

Of course, overexertion still meant a drain on magic crystals.

“Senior Mark, when did you advance to Third Rank? I haven’t had the chance to congratulate you,” Saul asked after catching his breath for a few moments.

Mark looked over, his expression still animated. “There’s nothing to congratulate me on. Spend ten days to half a month in the Elven Valley, and you’ll see a big improvement too.”

Saul had to agree. After that strange moment of weightlessness earlier, he realized that the density of elemental particles in this new world was horrifying and they were startlingly active.

Even without meditating, the particles that resonated with his element were throwing themselves into his body one after another.

Just from the run earlier, he already felt his magic reserves tick up.

But Saul was also sure: every gift came with a hidden price. This kind of easy upgrade definitely hid massive dangers beneath.

When Mark stopped in a sunlit clearing, Saul asked in confusion, “Have we shaken off our pursuer? Isn’t this spot too exposed?”

Mark chuckled and shook his head. “This is our safe zone. Only in a clearing like this are you safe from suddenly having someone tap you on the shoulder.”

Saul glanced around the clearing, which barely stretched five meters in diameter.

Mark reminded him from the side, “Don’t get any ideas about cutting trees. If you create your own clearing, you might not be chopping down a tree.”

Saul turned back, stunned. He had just been thinking that.

“You mean what we see in the Elven Valley might not be real?”

“No. Not hallucinations. The plants, even the grass beneath your feet could be sleeping elves.”

“…Huh?” Saul looked down in shock, lifting his boot and noticing a snapped twig beneath it.

Elves are this cheap?

“Minor contact and natural breakage isn’t a big deal. These plants follow natural laws too—growth, aging, decay. But if you make too much noise or damage, you might wake them up. You saw me opening the path earlier—I never slashed away the vines or branches, did I?”

“…Is that so?” Saul crouched and picked up the broken twig.

The fracture looked normal. The center was pale and tender, the edges gradually darkened and aged into bark.

He narrowed his eyes and examined it carefully, but saw nothing unusual.

He slowly stood and walked to the edge of the clearing, placing his hand on the trunk of a towering tree.

“Careful,” Mark reminded him.

But Saul wasn’t about to blindly follow everything Mark said. He had to see and sense this new world with his own eyes.

Otherwise, he’d be led by the nose.

Mark seemed to understand Saul’s thoughts. He only voiced a reminder but didn’t stop him.

Saul placed his palm on the bark and examined its texture and branches.

Still nothing unusual.

But Mark wouldn’t give such a flimsy excuse to mess with him.

This was the Elven Valley—a place said to have no return.

“Senior Mark,” Saul said, hand still pressed to the bark, glancing back, “Since we’re safe for now, can you explain—”

His words cut off suddenly.

Because just then, he felt the rough tree bark beneath his hand instantly transform into soft, delicate skin.

The sensation was so fleeting that it had already reverted to hard bark before Saul could even react.

He jerked his hand back. His fingertips still remembered the warmth and softness of that skin.

His heart pounded wildly, and he staggered back two steps.

“You felt it, didn’t you?” Mark asked, without mockery. He was the same when he first arrived.

“Sometimes I wonder if I’m going mad. Are these towering trees, these flowers and vines, really just elves standing still in various poses? Maybe their eyes are just closed. Maybe when they open them, they’ll see us. The intruders in their valley.”

A trace of fear tinged Mark’s voice.

Clearly, staying here for so long had taken its toll on his nerves.

Agu stepped forward and cautiously examined the tree trunk, but found nothing.

“Master?” Agu asked, voice neutral but tinged with doubt.

Saul steadied himself.

He had to learn to relax here—to accept all these abnormalities as daily occurrences.

Only then could he avoid dangerous fluctuations in his mental state.

And in the Elven Valley, once mental tremors occurred, they could not be undone.

Once calm again, Saul suddenly realized. Penny was gone.

But he had no way to ask the others if they’d seen her.

Once the four soul bodies left the mental realm, they entered a semi-independent state. In that state, they couldn’t see the Nightmare Butterfly that existed solely in Saul’s vision.

“Little Algae?” Saul called out.

But Little Algae only looked around and found nothing.

Saul then opened the diary inside his soul body.

The silver bookmark had vanished.

Still, he felt that if he simply called for Penny, he could forcibly bring her back. But he blinked, and didn’t do it.

Penny surely knew she hadn’t escaped the diary’s control. If she wasn’t showing up now, something must’ve happened.

That might not be a bad thing for Saul.

He decided to wait calmly. If Penny sent out a cry for help from the diary, he could pull her back then.

He sighed deeply, making it look like he was just recovering from the shock.

“Senior Mark, let’s continue our conversation.”

Mark understood and nodded, sitting cross-legged and trying to relax his limbs.

Saul followed suit. The four soul bodies remained standing, as if on alert.

Mark looked around at the four of them and sighed. “No wonder you’re the Tower Master’s personal apprentice. You even get bodyguards when you go out.”

Saul didn’t explain, and Mark let it go with a single remark.

“I’ve been through a lot these past few months. Where should I start?”

Saul locked eyes with him.

“Start with that strange state you were in outside the Elven Valley, and why you returned to normal once you entered.”

(End of Chapter)

If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.