Chapter Fifty-Three: Blackstone City Prison

The Festival of the Goddess of Life—everyone was waiting for this day to arrive.

As one of the deities with the most followers and the greatest power in the entire Pantheon, the Goddess of Life wielded profound influence across the continent with her dominion over life itself. The King of the Kingdom of Aelno had been able to escape suffering and prolong his years thanks to her blessing; in fact, some rulers willing to pay a steeper price had secured a semblance of eternal life.

The goddess’s festival was celebrated in numerous cities across the continent. On that day, the Goddess of Life would bestow her grace in answer to her devotees’ prayers, making it the grandest holiday of all.

Anna relayed everything she knew to Chu Yun. While Chu Yun wondered at her unusual enthusiasm, Anna finally revealed her true purpose.

"Chu Yun, I'm very interested in the Divine Berry Spell you used yesterday."

"I studied it all night but still have many questions. Would you… would you be willing to teach me?" Anna hesitated, then added, "I can pay you for your trouble."

Chu Yun found this odd and asked, "Surely there are others in the Mage Guild who know this spell. Why not ask them instead of coming to someone who just joined?"

Anna sighed. "I’m a commoner mage. Being chosen by my teacher to become a magician was already a stroke of luck. But after my teacher left Blackstone City to travel, I had to teach myself."

"And I’m a woman. Female mages aren’t exactly welcomed in the Mage Guild."

Without her teacher’s protection, Anna the commoner never quite fit in with the rest of the guild. Even as a second-tier mage, she was rarely afforded much respect.

"A bunch of uptight, single-minded tech nerds," thought Chu Yun. "If Anna were on Earth, she’d probably be a celebrity idol."

"I’m quite familiar with the Divine Berry Spell," Chu Yun replied. "No need for payment. When I return tonight, let’s go over it together. I’m not well-versed in the ways of this continent and the kingdom—maybe you could tell me more."

What Chu Yun knew was largely gleaned from books, and Anna, even as an outsider in the guild, still knew much more than any text.

Anna’s face brightened with a small smile at his answer. She took her leave, heading off to earn money by charging the magical devices at the mage’s inn.

As for why she chose this over adventuring to earn a living, the reason was simple: it was often more lucrative. The Mage Guild was a wealthy institution.

"The auction’s tomorrow night. Today, I’ll spend some time exploring Blackstone City," Chu Yun decided.

He unhitched his carriage and left it at the mage’s inn, then mounted Paimon and set off to wander through the city.

Human sorrow and joy are rarely shared; sometimes, they’re diametrically opposed.

Unlike the pessimism of the poor districts or the clergy, most mages and other professionals remained optimistic about recent events. Though the mana web had become unstable—sometimes even erupting in elemental surges—mages, on the whole, could still wield extraordinary power. Not to mention the so-called “sorcerers” of the Society of Truth, whose blue-robed magi seemed almost unaffected.

With the decline of priests and paladins, the social standing of other professions had actually risen.

Now, thrilling rumors were spreading across the continent.

Divine Spark fragments—whoever obtained one could leap to power. They were said to number in the tens of thousands, scattered all across the land, giving everyone a chance.

Chu Yun didn’t know who had released this information, but judging from the fragments he’d already collected, the results were impressive.

His Fire Element Summoning skill had become his trump card. Since his affinity had evolved to Fire Elemental Lord, he now held an overwhelming advantage in that domain—not only were his spells more powerful, but his ability to convert basic aether into fire elements was much faster.

When someone finally absorbed a Divine Spark fragment and showcased its effects to the world, a new era would surely dawn. Countless professionals would set off in pursuit of these fragments.

Idly wandering, Chu Yun glanced at his experience points—he needed just over four hundred more to level up.

There were plenty of experience-rich places in Blackstone City. The slaughterhouse that supplied the city’s taverns, for example, had numerous monsters to hunt. In fact, he didn’t even need to kill anything; he could simply collect the experience dropped.

The Blackstone Arena, too, where slaves fought to the death, and the Blackstone Infirmary, where people died daily, were potential sources.

Chu Yun marked all these spots for easy experience collection, then fixed his gaze on one final location:

Blackstone City Prison.

The prison held a number of criminals; defeating their mirror-image forms to increase his own strength would pose no moral quandary for Chu Yun.

Generally, the prisoners here were no pushovers, so the experience gained should be considerable.

"I’ll start here today. Let’s hope I’m not disappointed," Chu Yun thought, dismounting Paimon in excitement.

He’d need to train Paimon as well, but since it couldn’t stray far from its physical body in the mirror world, the prison wasn’t suitable. He planned to take it to the slaughterhouse later—perhaps they’d find suitable skills there.

Blackstone City Prison lay at the boundary between the commercial and central administrative districts. Chu Yun found a hidden spot nearby, activated his Invisibility Ring, and entered the mirror world.

He slipped past the guards’ mirrored forms and made his way inside.

As a border city of the Kingdom of Aelno, Blackstone often saw fugitives attempting to escape the realm, and many captured spies were held here.

Among them were some formidable experts—defeating such adversaries would be a great boon to Chu Yun.

He surveyed the prison: three levels in all. The first, at ground level, held commoners and short-term inmates—mostly petty thieves. The first basement housed professionals, more dangerous and tightly guarded, and was, in fact, the most populated.

The second basement was unique. Here, the worst of the worst were incarcerated, each in solitary confinement. Every cell door bore a plaque listing the prisoner’s crimes and abilities—presumably as a warning to the wardens not to relax their vigilance and fall prey to manipulation or sudden attack.

Chu Yun’s primary targets were the prisoners on the second basement level, then the first.

With limited mental energy, he needed to plan carefully to maximize his gains.

"Today, I’ll test Fire Element Summoning," he resolved.

He could use the spell in the mirror world, calling forth fire element mirror images. This would be his first time deploying the spell here, and he was curious how the summoned mirror images might differ in this realm.