Chapter 1

Darkness enveloped the world, while humanity held the light in their hands.

...

"Roar!!!"

Suddenly, a series of low, terrifying roars echoed through the silent, vast underground valley!

The sound was like thunder, sending chills down one's spine in the unknown darkness. It continuously assaulted the eardrums of the young man in a black robe by the lake, who covered his ears, his face contorted in pain.

The black hood fell to the ground, revealing a handsome face with an aristocratic air. Though his face was pale and his ears were bleeding, his eyes were clear, and his expression became resolute once more.

Sain, a humble apprentice of dark magic.

At this moment, the rocks on the ceiling of the underground lake fell like an avalanche, continuously striking around Sain, forcing him to dodge clumsily.

"Roar!!!"

The deafening sound came again, as if mercilessly mocking the insignificance of this human in the face of absolute power. All struggles and resistance were in vain.

The owner of the terrifying roar was a mid-level magical beast, the Brackish Water Crocodile.

The underground lake under Sain's feet was its habitat.

Now, it stopped roaring and stared at the human, its massive tail lashing the rocks, its terrifying aura making Sain, who had a moment to catch his breath, shudder with fear!

Its pale eyes glowed in the dim light, and most of its head was scorched, clearly indicating that Sain's previous magic had caused it some damage.

However, from its perspective, this human was clearly provoking and challenging it.

The fear of death did not completely overwhelm this dark magic apprentice, but the crocodile's patience was thoroughly exhausted!

It charged at Sain, opening its massive jaws to bite directly at his head. Saliva dripped from its sharp fangs, the stench making one gag.

In that split second, Sain moved!

The opportunity he had been waiting for had finally come!

His left hand suddenly scattered a handful of iron phosphorus powder!

His right fingertips, using the remaining magic, released a long-accumulated spell—

Secondary Fireball!

Instantly, a football-sized fireball shot out at high speed!

"Boom!!!"

The powder ignited instantly, combined with the impact of the fireball, causing an explosion!

The deafening explosion shook the entire valley, the crocodile's massive upper jaw was shattered, and blood and flesh scattered everywhere.

Sain was thrown several meters away by the shockwave. He barely managed to stand up, looking at the crocodile's corpse in front of him, and excitedly waved his fist.

He had bet right!

Thanks to the iron phosphorus powder that caused the explosion, the secondary fireball Sain had been counting on exploded with unimaginable power.

...

The battle was over. Due to the excessive consumption of mental energy and almost depleted magic, Sain's face turned deathly pale.

After regaining a bit of strength, he first forced himself to stand up, swam to the small island in the middle of the lake, and picked three bright Starlight Grass plants. Then he returned to the battlefield, taking the most valuable magic crystal and a skull of the Brackish Water Crocodile, which was rich in elemental power, and quickly left the lakeside.

In fact, Sain had only taken half of the value of the mid-level magical beast, the Brackish Water Crocodile.

More of the corpse's materials and the magical beast's blood, rich in elemental power, were left behind. It wasn't that he didn't want to take them, but in this underground world, every second was accompanied by danger.

Sain, who was already at the end of his strength, had no more fighting power and could not risk being in danger again.

The three Starlight Grass plants were his ultimate goal for daring to venture into the Brackish Water Crocodile's territory, the fundamental reason for his risky battle.

"Breath, breath." A low, heavy breathing sound came from the darkness.

The sound seemed to come from the lakeside.

Sain couldn't help but quicken his steps to leave this place of trouble.

...

Menzoberranzan.

As the center of the Underdark, the only city in history established by dark mages, it was a place revered by all dark creatures.

The twenty-meter-high city walls, made of blue-gray stones, showed the沧桑 of history. In the gaps between the stones, not only were there countless dried magical beast blood, but also subtle and oppressive magic runes were inscribed.

After two days of rapid travel, Sain arrived at this magnificent city, finally putting his mind at ease, and his safety was now somewhat guaranteed.

"Hey, Sain, you look pretty beat up!" When Sain reached the special passage for mages, a mocking laugh came from the city wall.

A dozen or so people in black robes similar to Sain's stood on the wall, and the one speaking was a man with a scar on his face and dark skin.

Although he and Sain had no mortal enmity, he didn't mind seeing Sain in trouble.

The other apprentices, though they didn't mock him verbally, mostly had cold expressions.

It wasn't that these apprentices were cold-blooded, but this was the norm in the Underdark.

There were disputes among the dark magic apprentices in Menzoberranzan, and the Underdark believed in the rule of the strong. Good men and women couldn't survive here.

The law of the jungle was the only rule.

Even Sain himself wouldn't help others for no reason.

If he saw other dark magic apprentices in trouble, he might secretly rejoice at one less competitor for resources.

Ignoring the mockery from the dark mage on the wall, Sain took out his token and said to the minotaur captain guarding the city gate, "I am an apprentice mage sent by Master Morthito to carry out a collection mission. Let me into the city immediately!"

The minotaur captain, whose strength rivaled that of a high-level magical beast, showed utmost respect and obedience to the low-level apprentice Sain.

He revered not Sain the low-level apprentice, but the identity of a dark mage and the name of Master Morthito.

In Menzoberranzan, or in the entire Underdark, dark mages represented the truth!

Sain ignored the cold remarks of the apprentices and left the city gate, much to the disappointment of the apprentices who had been looking for a show.

Sain was a notable figure in the dark magic academy of Menzoberranzan. At sixteen, he was almost at the threshold of becoming a mid-level apprentice.

Potential didn't necessarily guarantee a young person's future, but what truly made these dark magic apprentices take Sain seriously was the praise he had received from several great dark mages.

No one knew when Sain might get lucky and be taken as a disciple by a high-ranking dark mage.

If Sain became a disciple of a master, his status among the apprentices in Menzoberranzan would immediately rise to the upper-middle level.

"Hmph!" Sain's cold and disdainful response made the scar-faced apprentice's face flush with anger.

This guy wasn't trying to directly antagonize Sain, but he was wary of Sain's girlfriend.

After a moment's thought, the scar-faced apprentice whispered to his lackey, "Tell Ilk about Sain's serious injuries."

"They are mortal enemies, hah, I'm sure Ilk wouldn't want to see Sain appear before him as a mid-level apprentice one day."

The scar-faced apprentice's magic level was mid-level, and his lackey was a newcomer to Menzoberranzan for only two years, just starting to learn magic, and was still at the beginner level.

In the Underdark, everyone needed a patron when their own strength was lacking.

The lackey couldn't disobey the scar-faced apprentice's order, even if it meant antagonizing Sain and his crazy girlfriend.

If Sain really fell to Ilk, the crazy woman would not let it go easily.

As for the scar-faced apprentice?

He had his own patron and was not afraid of the woman.

In some areas, the scar-faced apprentice was even in competition with Sain's girlfriend.

That's why he found Sain, who lived with that woman, so annoying.