Sorcerer's Handbook-Chapter 611: The Quartet

The sky was overcast, and the rain poured like a deluge. Motorcycles carved clear tire tracks into the soggy earth, their steel frames resembling both boats braving a tsunami and paintbrushes recklessly doodling across the land.

In the ruins of a house with a broken roof, a Green Beast almost entirely made of bright green crystals was taking shelter from the rain. It appeared half-human, half-dog, about the size of a child, with a crystalline tail that seemed to be a part of its body. Dressed in tattered human clothes, it was dozing with eyes half-closed.

From its appearance, it was clear that this was the lowest tier of the Green Calamity, a “Shallow Grass.”

Green Calamities not only devour humans but also consume each other. Although the strength of a Green Beast is linked to its former life-like a sanctuary sorcerer transformed into a Green Beast would be far more powerful than other Green Calamities-the darker the color of a Green Beast, the more it has devoured both humans and beasts. This consumption allows the Green Beast to enhance itself and even gain extraordinary abilities, naturally making it stronger.

The levels range from “Shallow Grass” to “Ink Beast,” “Deep Sea,” and “Black Tide.” A Black Tide-level Green Beast can trigger a widespread Green Calamity, destroying several cults at best, or overthrowing half of Senlo at worst, though one hasn’t appeared in many years. Even a Deep Sea-level Green Beast would be hunted by nearby cults, so most Green Beasts that still exist in Senlo are either Shallow Grass or Ink Beasts.

As the name suggests, Shallow Grass Green Beasts are at the bottom of the food chain, merely “producers” destined to be food. If a sorcerer or adult warrior transforms into a Shallow Grass, they might quickly grow into an Ink Beast, even rallying other Ink Beasts to wreak havoc on towns.

But a Shallow Grass the size of a child wouldn’t dare approach other Green Beasts, fearing it would become prey. It could only wander the wilderness alone, even needing to hide from the rain.

Rumble-

Even amidst the cacophony of raindrops, the screech of tires braking was piercingly clear. Always in a light sleep, it jolted awake, hurriedly grabbing a small crystalline knife, baring its sharp teeth and claws. Its body crouched low, crystals glowing, and green flames flickered on its four legs-a stance that had scared off other Green Beasts before.

The ruined house had no door, and the stone blocking the entrance was kicked to pieces. Four humans walked in, clad in black raincoats still dripping with rain. Though the house was spacious, their presence filled it like mountains. Their footsteps were loud, with more than one pair of shoes having steel soles, and the sound of their steady steps on the wet ground was like a mournful wail.

As they moved, their raincoats parted to reveal shirts of various styles, all made of exquisite silk. Some wore gold-trimmed white tailcoats, as if attending an important banquet, while others donned white shirts and black coats, clean and understated yet impossible to ignore.

Clean, handsome.

They were so clean, so handsome!

Having wandered the wilderness for so long, it understood an important rule: anything clean and handsome was either too weak to withstand a blow or so strong that it couldn’t withstand them!

These people, able to traverse the Rain Curtain, were certainly not the former. They were likely those powerful beings known as “sorcerers.”

Instinctively, it wanted to flee, but the only exit was blocked by them, and the walls were too high to jump over. It could only retreat to a corner, curling up but still gripping the crystalline knife tightly, baring its teeth at them.

“What day is it today?”

“It’s August, not sure which day.”

“Move aside, I want to let Alice out.”

“There’s no sun, and it’s raining. Why let him out?”

“Alice likes the rain, especially the feeling of raindrops hitting his eyes.”

“Wow, impressive. As someone who has to close their eyes to put in eye drops, I’m a bit envious… Igor, I’m feeling down lately. Since we have time now, can you perform that Miracle for me again?” ṛã𐌽ồʙÊ𝙨

“Get lost.”

Amidst their casual chatter, a fire quickly rose, dispelling the chill brought by the rain.

Pop. A round, golden cicada suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling it.

The Round Cicada fluttered around the room, its gaze following the cicada’s trajectory closely. When the cicada approached, it barely resisted the urge to pounce, but the cicada seemed to know it was holding back, teasingly hovering in front of it until the person with the pleasant voice gestured, and the cicada flew back.

Soon, it was no longer distracted by the cicada-the humans opened cans and placed them over the fire to heat, the rich aroma of the food making its throat gulp involuntarily.

By now, it realized these people were different from others, seemingly without the intent to kill it. However, it dared not move recklessly, much less attempt to escape, and remained huddled in the corner.

But when they began eating the canned food, it couldn’t suppress its hunger any longer. It quietly released the crystalline knife, picked up a small stone, and chewed it finely with its teeth.

The sound of its crystalline teeth grinding against the stone was crisp and clear, even with the rain as background noise. It noticed their movements paused slightly, and one of them even glanced its way, prompting it to quickly spit out the stone and grip the crystalline knife again.

Soon, the sound of chewing resumed in the ruined house, as if nothing had happened. The person wearing the raven mask stood up and walked towards its corner, causing it to tense up, emitting a low growl.

However, the raven stopped three steps away, sat on the ground, back to the others, and removed the menacing mask.

Initially, it was ready to explode its outermost crystals (bristle), but upon seeing the face beneath the raven mask, its eyes widened, and all wariness vanished.

Its crystals quickly retracted, and it lay down, no longer biting the crystalline knife, eyes unblinking as it watched the raven, its crystalline tail wagging.

When the raven began eating the canned food, it tentatively approached, finding the raven seemingly indifferent. It slowly moved closer, retracting its crystalline claws, gently nudging the raven’s leg with a blunt paw, once, twice, thrice.

After a while, it grew bolder, nestling its head into the raven’s lap, looking up at the canned food in the raven’s hand, letting out a yearning whimper, its tail wagging rapidly.

As the raven seemed to finish the canned food, it grew more expectant, as if seeing the raven leaving the leftovers for it.

However, it watched as the raven scraped the greasy residue from the can’s interior with a finger and put it in his mouth until the can was empty. Even then, the raven didn’t leave the can for it but instead crushed it into a metal ball in his palm.

It stared blankly at the metal ball until the raven flicked it, sending it through the wall, prompting it to scurry back to the corner, nervously gripping the crystalline knife.

The raven donned the mask again and rejoined the group. Once they finished eating and the rain outside had lessened, the uninvited guests donned their raincoats and left the ruins, continuing their unknown journey.

The Round Cicada flew in front of it, fluttered twice, then vanished with a pop.

Rumble…

It took a long time after the motorcycles’ roar faded for it to cautiously emerge, still not daring to approach the still-burning fire but instead throwing stones to test for potential traps.

Once it confirmed safety, it rushed over to the discarded cans, finding them still containing a fair amount of food, with the lids fully opened so it could easily eat.

Great!

It vaguely sensed this was intentionally left by the three people, feeling a surge of gratitude, though slightly annoyed at the stingy raven.

It wasted nothing, first finishing the food inside, then gnawing on the can like sugarcane until its mouth was full of indigestible scraps, which it spat out before moving on to the next meal.

As the rain gradually lessened, Ashe and his companions reached a particularly rugged section of the road. They switched their motorcycles to “mountain mode,” the tires expanding, reducing speed but significantly decreasing the bumpiness.

“Tamashi, I’m sorry,” Ashe suddenly said.

The raven glanced at him. “Hmm?”

“I know Green Beasts are humanity’s enemies, and I know feeling pity for them is meaningless,” Ashe said, staring ahead. “It’s just, thinking that Green Beast might have been a child… I’m sorry.”

Igor and Harvey both glanced at the raven. After a moment of silence, the raven said, “You don’t need to apologize to me.”

“But don’t you hate-“

“Ashe,” Igor interjected smoothly. “The ever-righteous Raven didn’t immediately crush that Green Beast cub into pulp upon seeing it, even allowing it to live. That’s already his greatest act of kindness.”

Ashe ignored Igor’s embellishments, scratching his head. “Huh? Tamashi, you don’t mind? That’s great, because this time it wasn’t just me; even Igor and Harvey left a bit-“

“Let me clarify,” Harvey said lazily. “I only did it because I guessed you would, Ashe. I have no sympathy for little monsters, purely accommodating your feelings.”

Ashe nodded in understanding, never having expected moral standards from the necromancer, then looked at the con artist beside him. freewebnσvel.cøm

Igor’s mouth twitched. He wouldn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for a monster, even if it were a human child, but…

He could only say, “I felt a tiny bit of compassion and now deeply regret doing something so pointless.”

Even with the con artist’s admission, the cult leader’s lips curled into a lighthearted smile. “Hehe.”

What are you laughing at! Igor had to take a deep breath to quell his inexplicable annoyance.

“Tamashi, if you don’t hate it, why scare it like that?” Ashe asked. “You’re not a bad person.”

“But I have to be a bad person,” the raven replied.