‘Run! I need to run!’

I dashed into a nearby street, doing my best to create some distance between the Lycan and I. The Lycan was struggling on the floor but many passer-bys have turned their attentions onto me and started revealing greedy expressions. In their eyes, I was no different from a walking money bag; whoever brought me to the city hall would be handsomely rewarded. The Lycan had successfully brought me into one of the shadiest parts of the city. While few would dare to openly attack a member of the Healing Temple, in these dark alleys away from the eyes of the temple, anything could happen. The people living in the slums were often people who had nothing to lose.

I gulped down hard while rushing forward. Unfortunately, I barely ran a hundred metres before I felt something wrap around my neck. It felt like a hand; a cold and sharp one.

“Where do you think you are going?” A voice whispered right next to my ears. That person’s hand firmly held my neck, stopping me from looking behind me.

“Argh!” I grunted, trying to free myself.

The hand around my neck tightened its grip and lifted me off the ground. A pale and transparent silhouette appeared before me. His eyes were dull and blank. His face was abnormally pale. He wore a dishevelled white shirt matching his long and messy hairstyle.

‘A spirit?’ My mind went blank as I realised who had just caught me. ‘Not just a regular spirit. He should be at least at the fourth circle if he can materialise and physically grab my body like this.’

I tried to speak but the hand around my neck prevented me from saying anything intelligible. Nevertheless, by doing so, I noticed a faint white mist coming out of my mouth as I tried to speak. The white mist flew out of my body consistently as I breathed and soon, I realised how numb and cold the rest of my body had been feeling.

‘Ice… He uses the ice element. His plan is to freeze me completely to stop me from escaping.’

Noticing my panicked look, the spirit smirked. “Stop resisting. You cannot stop the Frost Prison with your current strength.”

I knew he was right. My body was no longer responding and I was already starting to feel sleepy. It was just a matter of time before my whole body would be covered in ice and I would lose consciousness.

However, at that very moment, my vision blackened. The whole street was submerged in darkness and the whole world turned silent.

“F*ck!” The spirit cursed and swiftly released my neck.

Now without support, my body fell on the floor but the layer of ice covering me protected me from the impact.

“Spirit! How dare you attack a member of my Healing Temple?” A sonorous voice echoed in the silent street, sending shivers down my spine.

The spirit lightly trembled, feeling pressured by the newcomer. ‘D*mn. The Healing Temple caught up and it is not just a random healer. Of all those I could encounter, it had to be a Hall Master.’

“Lord Xylius. This is a misunderstanding. I was just trying to help this human but he tried to attack me thinking that I was with the bounty hunters. I was going to freeze him to make it easier to escort him back to safety.”

‘That f*cker!’ I internally cursed on the ground as I listened to the spirit. Unfortunately, I was unable to speak and could only hope that the person who came to my rescue would not fall for the spirit’s lies.

Cure! While lying on the ground, I cast my spells, removing the frost that invaded my body. However, it was not easy to deal with a third circle spell like Frost Prison. I needed a lot of time and ideally, better spells.

“You were trying to help him? Do you think I am stupid? You know the consequences of lying to the Healing Temple.” Lord Xylius coldly spoke, gently landing on the ground.

“Lord Xylius. Why do you think I am lying? I would never dare to do so.” The spirit replied defensively.

“Is that so?” As Lord Xylius spoke, my vision suddenly returned. The darkness that covered the street all converged and disappeared into the body of the newcomer. I instantly recognised him, having just seen his statue at the Healing Temple and memorised his name. Unexpectedly, one of the Hall Masters had been dispatched for this operation.

“Thank you, Lord Xylius. I will immediately take my leave.” The spirit hurriedly said as the street returned to normal. He wanted nothing to do with a Hall Master, especially knowing that the frost covering my throat would soon melt and I would be able to testify against him.

“Hold on!” Lord Xylius raised his hand, causing a black wall to cut off the spirit’s retreat path. “I did not dispel my World of Darkness to let you go. I did so to show you this.” He pointed at me.

I froze in place. Why was the Hall Master pointing at me?

To my surprise, a black silhouette moved from under my body. The black silhouette stood up and walked up to Lord Xylius and bowed. My mind went blank as I understood what was happening. The black silhouette was none other than my own shadow. A spell came to my mind; a dark element spell that allowed the user to infect a person’s shadow and take control of it, creating the perfect spy.

‘Shadowblight! I was already affect by this spell without even realising it. The Healing Temple had their eyes on me since the beginning. They knew everything that was happening around me. Who would have thought that a Hall Master would be personally involved and even cast a fifth circle spell on me?’

Lord Xylius flapped his wings. “Anything else to say? I saw and heard everything.”

The spirit fell silent. He nervously scratched his hands. “Lord Xylius. I made a mistake but you should not go too far. I am a member of the Summoning Hall. You would not like to strain the relationship between our two organisations, would you?” Caught red-handed, the spirit could only bring forward his background. He had made a mistake and never expected a Hall Master to be monitoring the situation.

“This has nothing to do with the Summoning Hall. You attacked a member of the Healing Temple and that alone is sufficient for me to cripple your hands. Furthermore, because you intervened and froze some of the bounty hunters, I was forced to get involved myself. You messed up our plan to locate the bounty hunters’ hideout.”

The spirit frowned lightly. “This…”

“Anything else to say?” Lord Xylius asked impatiently. He raised his hands, causing two gigantic dark spheres to appear. His actions indicated clearly that he would not longer entertain this pointless argument.

The spirit anxiously gulped down. He weighed in his mind his chances of escaping; as a spirit, he did not have a physical body and could escape through unconventional routes. However, he was not facing a regular opponent but a sixth circle creature. Furthermore, nothing would stop the Healing Temple from complaining to the Summoning Hall. Eventually, he came to a conclusion. “I have a suggestion to make.”

“A suggestion?”

“At the end of the day, you are just going to beat me up to earn yourself a good amount of points and mana crystals. Let us just skip this needless step. How much do you want?”

“Oh?” Lord Xylius paused for a moment, surprised by the spirit’s words. “A smart one. Give me one thousand points and at least five High-quality Mana Crystals.”

“Lord Xylius… Isn’t that too much?”

“What? You are not satisfied with this price? I am letting you save your face in front of your peers but if you want a cheaper price, I might as well cripple you for a while. I am sure the other spirits will be delighted.”

The spirit internally cursed. ‘This is blatant extortion! You are the one who is saving on mana and spells… The greedy old fellows of the Healing Temple…’

“Fine. I can transfer the points now but I will need to make a trip to the Summoning Hall for the Mana Crystals.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal. Now scram before I change my mind.” Lord Xylius dismissed him as soon as he received the points.

The spirit heaved a sigh of relief and left without further ado.

I remained on the ground, unable to move. I watched the exchange taking place between these two advanced creatures. I felt weak and miserable. In my past life, I could contend with powerhouses like them but right now, I could only grovel on the ground and be treated like dirt.

“You did well.” Wearing a satisfied expression, Lord Xylius turned his attention toward me. “We told you we would protect you. It would have been better if you let yourself be kidnapped all the way to their hideout.” He raised a finger and pointed at me.

It was faint but I noticed his mana flowing toward me. The frost covering my body melted in an instant and I was once again able to move. The numbness had completely disappeared. I narrowed my eyes and hurriedly got up from the muddy ground.

‘He used two spells in such a short amount of time… Dispel to remove the frost and Restore to remove the numbing effect.’

“Thank you.” I blurted out weakly.

“We could have weeded out many more bounty hunters but that spirit had to intervene. You should quickly return. A team from the Forbidden Hall is dealing with the bounty hunters who first assaulted you a few streets away. They will escort you back to the Healing Temple. Follow your shadow; it will guide you there before returning to your body.”

Without waiting for my answer, Lord Xylius opened his wings and took off. I could only silently watch the Heracross disappearing behind the buildings with a buzzing sound.

I clicked my tongue but remained silent. Although he had already left, I was certain that he was still watching me through my shadow. The latter stood still a few metres away. The shadow cocked his head and signalled me to follow him.

I felt awkward, facing my own shadow. I nodded quietly and followed his steps through the complex streets of the slum.

…

One adjacent street away, Lord Xylius landed in the middle of the street, close to a scorched area. He lowered his body an examined the burnt area.

“That potion that exploded is indeed interesting. The explosion should be equal to the third circle fire spell: Deflagration.”

“It smells like burnt hair but sadly, the Lycan got away. It will be troublesome to track him down now…”

“Tsssk. I guess I will have to satisfy myself with these three…” Lord Xylius let out a sigh and took off. He landed on the roof of the closest house, right next to the frozen body of a succubus. The latter was encased in ice, completely unable to move.

On the roof of the house on the opposite side of the street, Lord Xylius noticed two elves whose bodies were similarly frozen. He picked up the succubus and flew to the opposite house.

“Now then, let’s deal with you three for the crime of attacking a member of the Healing Temple.” He clicked his fingers, causing several dark spears to rise from the roof.

Despite being frozen, the succubus’ eyes displayed traces of panic while the elves’ eyes remained soulless; they were already resigned to their fate.

Lord Xylius clicked his fingers again. “Don’t worry. The Healing Temple never kills… Why would we send our business to those gravekeepers? However, you should prepare a hefty sum if you ever want to live normally again.”

The dark spears suddenly thrust forward, piercing through the succubus and the elves.