The Bizarre Wizarding World

The sense of dejection suddenly vanished, and a smile reemerged on her face as she continued to ask, "When did you advance? Was it recently?"

Colin's cheeks tensed slightly.

Lillian furrowed her brow slightly at his reaction, puzzled.

"Who would have thought that you had already advanced to a Second Rank Wizard," Shelley suddenly interjected, "Golden Feather truly lives up to its reputation."

Lillian turned her head, her attention shifting to the surprised Shelley.

Colin was visibly taken aback, but seeing Shelley gesture to him with her eyes, he subconsciously continued, "Yes, but I have no intention of revealing my strength for now. The internal situation within the School is complex, and being too conspicuous isn't a good thing."

He couldn't quite understand what Shelley was thinking... Wasn't this the time when she should unexpectedly say, "I saw you advance to Second Rank Wizard more than two years ago?"

"I will keep it a secret for you," Shelley continued, glancing at the petite blonde girl beside her.

Smooth cheeks, long eyelashes, and emerald eyes that were as clear as gems, matched with her short stature, she looked just like a delicate doll, making her impossible to dislike... and making one unwilling to truly hurt her.

"I've hidden it well for you, junior brother!" Lillian chimed in quickly, having already forgotten to ask when exactly Colin had advanced to Second Rank Wizard. The gloominess in her heart dissipated like mist on glass, becoming clear once more.

"However, since you've already advanced to Second Rank, we must celebrate properly tonight."

The figures of the three gradually receded into the distance.

The liveliness continued at the Colin Family's home until late into the night before it gradually ceased.

It's worth mentioning that after the dinner, Lillian did not stay at his house but went to Shelley's next door.

During just one meal, the relationship between the two seemed to have made significant progress.

The next day.

As dawn was breaking.

Colin was readying his things, preparing for the routine patrol.

What warmed his heart was that Lillian and Shelley had also gotten up early, came over for breakfast, and were virtually seeing him off for the patrol.

Today was sunny and cloudless, the sky hanging high like a vast blue gemstone.

Colin and Welber patrolled the skies together, looking down at the closely spaced buildings below, and Colin found himself thinking about Shelley's words that morning.

"You go on your patrol with peace of mind, today I'll be taking Lillian around the Roon Kingdom."

He wondered where they would go.

Shaking his head, Colin focused on patrolling, looking forward to meeting them in the evening.

Although a life of constant cultivation and research was fulfilling, occasionally chatting and gathering with familiar and reliable people was also a rare and pleasant experience.

"Hmm... What is that?"

Just then, Welber suddenly voiced his confusion.

Colin was jolted back to reality and immediately noticed something unusual nearby.

They were patrolling near the edge of Pino City, a city on the northern side of Neustadt City, and also the city closest to the Lightless Forest.

At that moment, a patch of pitch-black smoke was suddenly rising from the forest in front of them at great speed, like an unbroken arrow shot from the ground.

Because it was close to them, Colin could clearly see the specifics of the black smoke.

This was no ordinary fire; the pitch-black smoke was distinctly different from the thick smoke caused by regular flames, much darker overall and with more solid edges, showing no tendency to spread.

Hiss!

Colin's brow furrowed as he immediately activated the warning token in his hand.

Bang!

A burst of orange-red light surged into the sky like a meteor before exploding into a fire-engulfed wheat sheaf shape.

The pattern was huge, the color extremely vivid, and the explosion's sound deafening.

"Lord Colin..." Welber, standing beside him, didnt expect Colin to be so decisive, and he was still somewhat taken aback.

"Lord Colin, what should we do?" Ward, although he had reacted, was also somewhat panicky and instinctively asked Colin for instructions.

"Maintain distance and observe, wait for support... Huh?!"

Crack crack!

Before Colin could finish his sentence, there was a sudden sound of breaking branches from the dense canopy in front of them.

Then, a queer gray elk emitting pitch-black smoke all over its body suddenly burst out and charged toward the trio!

"Scatter!" Colin called out in a low voice, quickly moving to the side.

The gray elk was incredibly fast; even with the obstruction of the tree canopy, its burst of speed exceeded that of the First Rank.

This was a Second Rank bizarre creature!

Though Welber and Ward's combat abilities were concerning, their reaction speed to escape was faster than Colin had expected; neither was hurt by the elk's swift attack.

Colin carefully surveyed the enormous elk, close to ten meters in size, before him.

This strange beast seemed as if it had stepped out of a black-and-white film. Aside from the flickers of flame in its eyes, no other colors could be found on its body.

Its overall condition did not appear good, its semi-transparent body showing signs of damage, with rotting traces visible on its gray-white skin. Semi-transparent tentacles were wriggling in the wounds, and half of its left twisted and recurved huge antler was broken.

"This isn't the Frost Phantom... What exactly is this thing?" Ward murmured beside him, looking at Colin, he couldn't help but suggest, "Shall we avoid it for the time being and wait for Wizard Erwin's arrival?"