The two mages, one old and one young, rode on the vast plains, and the surrounding land was almost covered with snow, and in normal times, even in winter, the land in central Tempe was rarely completely covered with snow, and one could always find some dirt that was still bare. Now, it looks like a frontier country, and although it's summer, Rui feels like the surroundings are the same as they were in Doyle a few months ago.

It's been five days since Canrito set out for the north, and Manfred is not in a hurry, compared to the missions of the other two teams, the mission of the Great Sage and Rui seems to be the safest, they don't need to go to some inaccessible forest, they don't need to go south to track down the people of the Mage's Tower, all they need to do is to reach Delus and meet King Augusta. However, this did not mean that their task was the easiest, and it was not easy to convince King Tempe to put aside his ambitions for a while and join Cumberland in supporting Doyle. Manfred knew this well, and along the way he had thought of many arguments to deal with Augusta, but there was still no guarantee that he would succeed in convincing the king.

As the night of the fifth day approached, the two of them arrived before dark in a small village only a day's journey from Deluth, and found an inn to stay in. The towns and villages along the way from Canrito to Deluth are so dense that they pass through a village almost every half day, so they don't have to worry about accommodation at all.

The two of them found a table and sat down in the tavern on the first floor of the inn, and the food and wine were quickly served, Manfred was old, but still a heavy drinker, and could not eat anything without wine, and Rui wondered how the old mage survived the long journey in the wilderness.

Rui finished a slice of buttered hard bread and took a slow sip from his teacup. "I don't know if Fern and Stan are going well, we're calm on our side, I'm really worried about those two guys. ”

Manfred smacked his lips, savoring the taste of wine in his mouth. "Don't worry, they'll be fine, although the danger is inevitable. ”

Rui looked at the great sage's relaxed demeanor in confusion. "How do you know they're going to be in danger, and it's not going to kill them?"

The Great Sage laughed. "How many of you have died so much, have you encountered fewer dangers before, but haven't you survived until now?"

"But that doesn't guarantee that we'll still have such good luck in the next danger. Rui looked at the Great Sage's calm eyes disappreciatively. "Do you know something?"

"What can I know?" said Manfred, taking a sip of his glass. "If I really knew that much, Sara wouldn't have fallen. ”

The Great Sage's words pulled Rui back into his memory. "By the way, speaking of Sarah, what happened in the palace when Asgard was captured, and is Urel still alive in this world?

Manfred's eyes hesitated, and the speed at which he poured his wine slowed. "You're Sarah, Ray, I can understand your eagerness to know the truth, but now is not the time to tell you. ”

"Is there a difference between telling me now and telling me later?" Rui got anxious, and put his hand holding the teacup on the table, his eyes fixed on the nonchalant sage.

Manfred filled his glass and brought it to his lips. Of course, telling you now will only have an effect on your psychology in the future, and these subtle changes will change some of your behavior before you even realize it, so that you can no longer make correct judgments. ”

Rui narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment. "What you say is not unreasonable, and besides, I don't have a reason to know now. ”

Manfred nodded in satisfaction and took a sip of the wine from his lips. "Very well, you have great potential in every way, and although you may not be able to become an archmage at such a young age as Jarena, you will not be much later than her. ”

Rui was flattered by the praise of the great sage. "You say...... I'm just an ordinary mage, no match for Molina. ”

"Jasmine, she does have an incomparable talent in magic, and her personality is also very calm and composed, all of which have helped her become an experienced archmage at such a young age, and you ......" Manfred put down his glass and looked calmly into his dark eyes. "You may be a little less talented than hers, but you are still much better than the average person, and more importantly, your personality is more calm than hers, which is almost impossible for your age, but you have done it. ”

"I ...... It's only because of the effect of dark magic on me that I'm particularly psychologically mature. Rui's eyes looked at the table.

"Not only that, you can endure hardships more than Morena, Morena's child has been in the palace all the year round, and she has developed the habit of being pampered, and to tell you a secret, she is very timid, hahahaha. Manfred belched and let out a puff of wine.

Rui looked at the sage with a smug look and remembered a question. "You really let her act with Fern this time just so that she could get close to Fern?"

"It's just one reason, she's my beloved apprentice, of course I hope she'll find a good escort, and she's not too young, and Fern is the right age for her......" Manfred saw that Rui's brows were getting tighter and tighter, and quickly changed direction. "Of course, there are other more important reasons, first of all, she is very knowledgeable and knows some of the characteristics of the Hallows, which will definitely help in finding the Hallows. Again, I also wish to teach you something, so let you walk with me. ”

"Teach me something, magic?" Rui suddenly came to his senses and sat up straight.

"What else can I teach you but magic?" said Manfred.

"But as you know, I studied shadow magic, this ...... Can you teach too?" Rui asked, leaning forward, curious.

"There's a lot to be taught about magic, not just how to cast a certain type of magic, but also the various forms of magic. Manfred lifted the bottle and poured it into the glass, only to find that the wine was finished, so he put the bottle down in frustration. "For example, do you know the various forms of shadow magic?"

"Form?" Rito swallowed his chin and pondered. "I remember Moses saying a long time ago that the first form is to control the shadows that we can see, such as the Dark Wall Technique, and the second form is to manipulate the shadows in the depths of the human heart, such as the Psychic Explosion, and ...... The third form is a creature summoned from the Shadow Plane. ”

"You're right, but there are two other forms that Moses must not have told you, but you must have inadvertently used some of them when you cast spells. Manfred said slowly, lest Ray miss a word.

"Really, what form?" asked Rui eagerly, never realizing that she had been using shadow magic for so many years, and that there was something she didn't know.

Manfred waved his hand, signaling that Ray didn't need to hurry. "The next step is to convert yourself into shadow form, which greatly increases the power of all shadow magic, I talked to Adeline, and she said that you used to have purple-black wings behind you when you were in Magnus Fortress, and you also exuded a black aura on your body, which is actually that you have entered the shadow form, and you don't realize it. ”

"Yes? That wasn't the only time I'd seen wings, I'd seen them several times before. Rui reminisced about the past. "I just feel like I'm suddenly getting a lot more powerful and the magic I'm casting is even stronger. ”

Manfred nodded. "That's for sure, because you've entered the Shadow Form and become one with the Shadow, so you have to exert the power of the Shadow more than the normal form. The Great Sage paused, thought for a moment, and continued. "Finally, there is a form, which is actually a magic, but it is the highest level of shadow magic, summoning the god of darkness, which is what we often call the black god. ”

"Summon the god of darkness...... But does the god of darkness really exist? I thought it was just a legend. Rui's eyes widened in shock.

"Of course there is, since there is a god of light, then there must be a god of darkness, the highest level of magic of light magic is to summon the white god, then on the contrary, dark magic must be able to summon the black god. Manfred smiled slightly.

"When I was in Magnus, I saw Adeline summon the White God, so who can summon the Black God in Wallis?" Rui's eyes were fixed on the Great Sage, and his body trembled slightly.

Manfred picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of hot tea. "As far as I know, there's only one person, but that guy is missing now, and there's another person I think has the potential to be the second person to summon a black god. ”

"Who are you talking about......" Rui retracted, his head bowed in reserve.

"That person is right in front of me right now, but it's going to take some time, I'm afraid not right now. Manfred picked up his teacup and sipped his tea.

"Can I really do it? I can't even control the Shadow Form, and every time I feel like I'm about to be consumed by the Shadow, and I have to stop casting. Rui raised his head and looked at the Great Sage seriously.

"It has something to do with your mana, and because Moses didn't teach you the next two forms of dark magic, it's really hard for you to comprehend it on your own. Manfred rinsed his mouth with the tea, then swallowed. "But don't worry, although I haven't used dark magic, I have a lot of research on dark magic, and I will guide you on the rest of the journey, which is also one of the purposes of my letting you go with me. ”

Rui nodded gratefully. "Thank you so much, Manf...... Great Sage. Then Rui thought of something, and his brow furrowed again. But why didn't Moses teach me these things at that time, so that I could have avoided these detours? ”

"I guess he was also trying to protect you, I know he left you very early, and at that time you were still young, and it was obviously extremely dangerous to tell you about the shadow form and summoning the black god at that age, and it is very likely that you will try these high-level magic when you can't reach the ability, at that time, you can't stop casting spells in time to save yourself like now, I'm afraid you will really be swallowed by the shadows. Manfred drank the tea from his teacup and exhaled hard. "And when you're an adult, he'll never have a chance to teach you magic properly. ”

Rui nodded thoughtfully. "I didn't expect Moses to think so much about me, so what about you, why are you telling me this, and teaching me to use high-level shadow magic?"

"Remember what I said about Wallis's existing people who can summon the Black God?Unfortunately, he is the leader of the Twilight Sect, and we will definitely fight him head-to-head in the future, until then, we must strengthen ourselves to compete with him, although you can't match it with your mana, but if you can also comprehend the high-level shadow magic, maybe we can join forces to defeat him. Manfred blinked, trying to moisten his parched eyes, the old mage was tired.

"Who is this man that even you and Adeline can't defeat him?" Rui was surprised by what the Great Sage said.

Manfred let out a low breath from his throat with a grim expression. "Adeline and I can't beat him alone, just as he can't beat either of us. ”

"Could it be that he is ......" Rui looked at the great sage in shock, and only half of his words were spoken.

Manfred looked at Rui's eyes that were no longer calm, but full of seriousness. "That's right, he's one of the five great sages of Wallis, Aloiseus. ”