A Sorcerer’s Journey

“Is the seal… broken?”

A deep, hoarse voice came from the cracked Frozen Seal, sounding dreamlike and surreal. A pair of double-colored fiery and frigid eyes slowly opened. The three-meters tall bone-spurred monster permeated waves after waves of Darkness Pool that threatened to cover the area in pitch black darkness.

Looking from afar, it was as if the bone-spurred monster was hiding in a black hole and slowly resurrecting.

“Level-1 Demon-Hunter? Heeheeheehee, are you Grimm?”

After a moment of surprise, Bone Bell Stigmata Sorcerer asked in amusement while visually examining the spatial features of the bone-spurred monster that Grimm had transformed into.

These bone spurs shared a stark similarity to the breath of Ivory Fort Stigmata Sorcerer!

However, there was a layer of black breath lingering on the tip of the bone spurs that had a faint connection with the Mystical Energy. This was a mysterious Darkness Energy that could devour light.

Upon the mention of Grimm’s name, a thought seemed to strike the bone-spurred monster as if he was seeing flashes of his past memories. He desperately tried to solidify these memories while staring at the man in front of him.

A skull?

Emerald Soulfire?

This…

The bone-spurred monster’s double-colored eyes widened in bewilderment as all of his memories came crashing like a ferocious tsunami. He finally remembered everything about himself! Crouching under the Frozen Seal, he began to struggle vigorously and the ice layer began to crack.

Crackle, crackle, crackle…

Bang!

Suddenly, the violent forces shattered the frozen icy layers on the bone armor and bone spurs. A large piece of ice crystal imploded all over the place. The bone-spurred monster growled lowly and solemnly, standing humbly as per the sorcerer etiquette.

“Bone Bell Stigmata Sorcerer, it’s an honour to meet you.”

When he spoke, the three-meter tall strong bone-spurred monster armored with its skeletal muscles slowly started shrinking back into Grimm’s human form. He let out a weak moan as his body trembled slightly, feeble and wobbly.

With a flash in his hand, the Sabbatic Goat Staff seemed to grow out of his flesh and blood. Its end tip thudded sturdily on the ground like a pillar, supporting Grimm’s weak body.

The Soul Wave of the Rank-1 Honor Badge appeared almost immediately after Grimm’s magic was restored from the Frozen Seal. Many of the Bright Demon-Hunters who were closely watching the progress unfold were caught unaware by the unbelievable development. They stared with their eyes wide open as they whispered frantically regarding their speculations and wild guesses!

An elite Demon-Hunter with a Rank-1 Honor Badge had already entered this abyssal space way before they did. Moreover, something must have happened that caused him to be sealed here.

He was indeed a notable Demon-Hunter with a Rank-1 Honor Badge!

All the Demon-Hunters stared at Grimm with admiration and respect. After all, he was the heroic sorcerer who once turned the tides of a Demon-Hunting expedition. They yearned for such an achievement of their own in the near future.

A mystifying Level-1 Demon-Hunter was sealed inside this abyssal space which was regarded by many Demon-Hunters as the enigmatic and bizarre seal of the Infernal Spirit World. None of the Demon-Hunters anticipated such a dramatic twist of events.

At this point, Grimm’s Mandala Robes had been completely consumed. Although naked and weak, he waved a hand in the air and retrieved a sorcerer robe from the Dimensional Gap. He threw the robe over his well-proportioned and masculine body, his long blond hair falling over the robe like a golden-colored waterfall.

Little Myna squeezed his way out of the Dimensional Gap and hopped onto Grimm’s shoulder.

“My dear Master Grimm, you are very fortunate to have your seal broken in just a few days. I thought you were going to die in there!” he shrieked in a shrill and terrified manner.

“Heeheeheehee, young man, do you finally comprehend the level of difficulty for Rank-2 Honor Badges’ missions? In my opinion, the reason why Black Isotta assigned to you a Rank-1 Honor Badge mission is to reward you for your contribution as a World Coordinate Locator.”

Bone Bell Stigmata Sorcerer hissed with a wicked laugh and pointed to the giant claw that was constantly struggling.

“This is a part of the Lord of the Burrow World. In this world, there should be four other parts in the Ancient Seals under the other four kingdoms. When all the ancient seals are broken, the Lord of the Burrow World will be resurrected. Now, go back to the fortress and rest, and while you’re on it, issue these four Rank-2 Honor Badge missions.”

Grimm looked up to where the sorcerer was pointing to.

Scorching with the blazing azure flames, the giant claw was constantly struggling against the thin black thread’s forceful restraint. The throne was just at the other end of the black silk thread!

Despite the fact that the Vulkshy Infernal God was just a corpse and the onyx flame on his head had already been extinguished, the Mystical Energy in the Darkness Pool did not dissipate, which in turn imprisoned the giant claw.

As the giant claw struggled, large pieces of ice blocks fell like raindrops.

Of course, this was just the residue of the element waves. It was no longer the Frozen Seal Force.

“Noted.”

After acknowledging the order, Grimm took a deep breath as he retrieved the Starfall Reconnaissance Craft from the Dimensional Gap. Slowly, he turned around and looked at the black silk thread again.

He was right, the black silk thread was the Mystical Energy in the Darkness Pool. It possessed such incredible strength that it was able to withstand such an intensified struggle without a sign of reaching its breaking point.

“Huh? Perhaps… we can test this mystical energy with the Destructive Force Gauge.”

As he was thinking about the possibilities, the upper half of the aircraft’s metal cover flipped open with a deafening creak. Grimm hopped onto the aircraft with Little Myna on his shoulder and settled comfortably on the soft seat in the center of the aircraft.

With another creak, the metal cover closed.

From the outside, the aircraft looked like a harmless three-meter wide pitch-black metal sphere, but from the inside, the whole aircraft was entirely made out of windows providing an unobstructed view of the outside. The rotating seat that was unaffected by gravity was a plus point.

At this moment, Bone Bell Stigmata Sorcerer opened his mouth and exhaled a cloud of emerald Soulfire. The Soulfire floated towards the Vulkshy Infernal God on the throne…

Whoosh!

The Starfall Reconnaissance Craft lifted off from the ground, bypassed several thousand Bright Demon-Hunters and exited the highly sealed space. After a short moment of hovering at the seal entrance to determine the position, a laser flashed and the aircraft disappeared without a trace.

The Bright Demon-Hunters looked in awe. For them, Grimm was the ultimate symbol of unknowable essence and mystery.

How did he come to this space?

What was he doing here? What mission was he on?

Was he sealed here because he failed his mission?

Would he be sealed here forever if no one had entered this space and broken the seal?

What kind of power was behind him? What kind of glorious past had he been through? How did he, a Level-1 Demon-Hunter, manage to secure a mission meant for a Rank-1 Honor Badge?

After a short while, Grimm sat comfortably behind the craft’s wheel and exited the ancient seal that was buried under the Dark Destroyer Temple. The appearance of the black sphere attracted curious glances from Demon-Hunters and slave monsters as they watched the sphere soar into the sky and fly towards the crimson-colored moon.

“Little Myna, how long was I sealed for?” Grimm asked as he regained composure from the exhaustion.

Grimm’s body was sealed under the Frozen Seal along with his consciousness. He had no awareness of everything happening in the outside world. As for the condition of his soul, the time he was sealed could be regarded as his time of death.

Little Myna seemed to be in an excellent mood since his physical and mental state was finally at ease. He was drinking a glass of coconut juice using a straw, his face contented and pleased.

“How do I know? The loss of power in the Dimensional Gap has nothing to do with the real world. Everything in that space has nothing to do with this world.”

Little Myna was blatantly self-contented.

However, he was a little hostile towards Grimm, thus his remarks carried a tone of consternation and agitation.

Grimm simply shook his head with a bitter smile and decided not to pursue the matter any further. From the looks of the Dark Destroyer Kingdom beneath the craft, he estimated that he had not been sealed for long.

To confirm his conjecture, Grimm took out his crystal orb. Soon, Millie was connected.

“Grimm! Are you alright?” Millie’s vibrant and excited scream echoed from the other end of the line.

A bitter grin surfaced under Grimm’s Mask of Truth. He deviated from her question and asked, “How are you?”

“After we opened the Advanced Seal, we were counter-attacked by the powerful spirit of the seal, luckily there were no casualties. After that, we carried out the mission of clearing and destroying the resistance forces in the Dark Destroyer Kingdom. Wicky was the only one who left the scene.”

The background of Millie’s crystal orb was a vast area of Flame Burrow ruins.

After a while, Grimm disconnected the crystal orb communication. He heaved a sigh of relief and uttered, “It’s only been ten days. In this case, does it mean that the World Landing War has just ended recently?”

While rejoicing, Grimm opened his mouth abruptly and produced a black Onyx.

In the blink of an eye, the Darkness Energy filled the interior of the Starfall Reconnaissance Craft entirely and formed a shield of dark breath outside the craft, absorbing most of the light that shone into the darkness.

“Savage Flame Giant? This means that it has the potential to evolve into a Dark Devourer Infernal Spirit in the future! If we can understand the evolution transcript of the Infernal Swordsmanship, when we return to the Sorcerer World, we can depict the frame structure of its mental strength with the soul of the Dark Destroyer Infernal God. Until then, this element-activated creature can be considered as the actual Level-2 creature that has reached maturation.”

Although the Savage Flame Giant obtained the Mystical Energy from the Darkness Pool, Grimm still had to execute a relative sorcery-like augmentation on the creature.

According to Grimm’s original plan, he would eventually integrate element-activated creatures, living flesh chimeras, and metal machinery like the Holy Tower of Seven Rings.

Anyhow, based on the current progress, it was clear that Grimm’s path to element activation had far surpassed the path of synthesizing the Occult Code of Life and Death on the chimeras.

“It seems that in this Infernal Spirit World… In addition to the Infernal Energy, there is more work to be done to cultivate the Tree of Soul Fusion.”

The Tree of Soul Fusion—the strange plant that Grimm encountered when he was attacked by a colony of Ice Bats during his mission of collecting the Soul Lens cultivated by the Infernal Spirit World. Grimm named the tree himself.

Back then, Grimm had collected a part of its roots and conducted a simple experiment in the Sorcerer World. He intended to use it as the key item to his own natural elemental soul fusion.