Chapter 66

"Cough, cough, I'll tell you, but you have to let us go and give us some water and food." As Sain faced Stenson, a voice suddenly came from behind him.

It turned out that Mari, the intermediate apprentice who had been weak and collapsed in the depression of the sand dune, had somehow struggled to stand up.

His pale lips and ashen face indicated that he was not in good condition.

But despite this, the guy was still holding a magic wand, which seemed to contain a powerful intermediate-level spell.

"Your magic power is also running low, Sain. I remember you haven't been an intermediate apprentice for long," Mari said.

"Let us go and give us some food and water, and I'll tell you everything we know," Mari reiterated.

Mari's resilience earned him a higher regard from Sain.

However, Sain noticed that Mari's attention was mostly focused on the fallen advanced apprentice, Stenson.

These two clearly had genuine feelings for each other.

Stenson had bled to save Mari, and now Mari was most concerned about Stenson.

The deep bond between the two male black magic apprentices made Sain feel a bit strange.

Looking at these two who were willing to die for each other, he had a sense of absurdity—feeling like he was the bad guy!

Taking a deep breath, Sain turned around and sneered, "You can try to activate the spell in your magic wand and see if it can hurt me."

"But I guarantee that Stenson will die first under my fireball!"

"And you, will ultimately die from my acid wand. As an intermediate apprentice, you should have heard of my advanced magic item," Sain said calmly.

Sain's response made Mari's face even paler.

But Stenson's reaction was even more intense.

This big guy completely ignored the fireball spell Sain had pressed against his neck. The sound of burning flesh echoed as he struggled to stand up again.

His resilience made Sain doubt whether a secondary fireball spell could kill him.

After all, this guy had previously withstood two intermediate-level spells with his bare flesh!

Without a magic shield for defense, Sain had never seen such a freak before.

The secondary fireball in Sain's hand grew larger as he infused it with more magic, and the smell of burning filled the air.

Just as Sain was about to cast the spell, Mari stopped him.

"No!"

Mari discarded the magic wand he was holding.

Facing Stenson, who was being burned again by the secondary fireball, Mari stumbled over to him, falling twice along the way.

Watching the intermediate apprentice approach, Sain raised his magic wand several times but ultimately put it down again.

He could see that the weak intermediate apprentice posed no threat, and after discarding the magic wand, the guy had no strength left to resist.

Stepping back, Sain gave the two some space.

After all, they were neighbors.

Although what had just happened was unpleasant, Sain wasn't in a hurry to kill them immediately.

These were the only two living people he had seen since arriving in the Yellow Sand World.

Even talking or fighting with them was better than Sain being alone and blindly wandering in the desert.

Mari reached Stenson and cradled his head in his arms, whispering something to the heavily injured giant.

Stenson's body, which had grown to 2.5 meters during the fight, had shrunk back to 2 meters.

His magic black robe was tattered, but his muscles indicated how powerful he had been in his prime.

The mushy words between the two men made Sain shudder.

Stenson couldn't speak and his consciousness was hazy, so it was mainly Mari who was whispering.

Through Mari's whispers, Sain understood that these two weak black magic apprentices had relied on each other to survive in the underground city of Menzoberranzan for 22 years.

Stenson's advanced apprentice strength wasn't from training but from experiments and modifications by official black mages.

And it seemed that Mari had always been the leader, while Stenson, despite his strength, wasn't very smart.

But the two had a deep bond, not inferior to the one between Sain and Lina.

Sain had thought the underground city of Menzoberranzan was filled with deceit, darkness, and betrayal.

He never expected to find such a deeply devoted pair of men right in front of him.

Stenson and Mari's deep bond softened Sain's cold expression.

Especially after observing that the two had no ability to fight back, the fireball in Sain's hand quietly extinguished.

Only the acid wand was subtly aimed at them, ready to prevent any instability.

"Alright, tell me what happened."

"Where are the advanced apprentices and quasi-mages who entered this Yellow Sand World earlier?"

"How did you two meet?" Sain asked calmly.

Despite his extreme weakness, Mari managed to answer Sain's questions.

Under Sain's scrutiny, Mari slowly revealed everything he knew.

...

Mari had indeed entered the temporal rift with Sain, but he had arrived earlier, about seven days before Sain.

Mari had experienced two nights, and through his account, Sain accurately learned that the daytime in the Yellow Sand World lasted 15 days in the wizard world.

As for where the advanced apprentices and quasi-mages were, Mari pointed to a direction in the desert and said, "They should be in that direction, but it will take about ten days to reach them, according to Stenson."

The direction Mari pointed to was roughly the same as the direction the two elemental pearls in Sain's hand were heating up.

This confirmed that Sain had been on the right path, which relieved him.

As for how Mari and Stenson met... According to Mari, they had always had a mysterious mutual感应.

This感应originally belonged to Stenson, a result of the black mage's modifications.

But at some point, Mari also began to experience this感应.

Since Mari arrived in the Yellow Sand World, Stenson, ignoring the warnings of other advanced apprentices and quasi-mages in the camp, insisted on going deep into the desert to find Mari.

It must be said that Stenson was foolish. Despite being an advanced apprentice, he didn't prepare adequately before heading into the desert, nearly leading to both of them dying.