The explosion boomed, the sound echoing through the quiet Lower City District. Lynn, not far away, was knocked off his feet by the shockwave of the blast. At the same time, a warning sounded from 071.

[Energy reserves depleted, overload mode terminated...]

"Cough, cough..." Lynn struggled to his feet, feeling drained, empty and ears ringing from the blast. The successive castings had sapped all his magical energy.

Compared to Lynn, who had been caught in the blast, Brenny appeared far more miserable, lying at the epicenter of the explosion.

As the smoke dissipated, Lynn couldn't help but inhale sharply at the sight of Bryan's mangled form at the epicenter of the explosion. His right arm, which had been wielding a sword, was severed halfway, and his exposed skin was scorched and blackened. His chest armor had been reduced to shards, offering a glimpse of the putrid flesh and pallid bones beneath.

Even more harrowing was the fact that the ferocious explosion had instantaneously deprived the air of all oxygen, and Brenny's agonized cries were silenced within a matter of seconds.

Lynn couldn't help but feel a flutter of anxiety. He had heard of the destructive power of methane explosions on the news, but seeing it with his own eyes was a wholly different experience, particularly as he had been the one to set it off.

If Brenny had been at a greater distance, it would have been easy to predict the trajectory of the [Fireball] and evade it, but Lynn had taken the risk of using the principle of methane explosions to lure and slay his opponent.

Thankfully, magic's peculiar ability to manipulate the flow of air to a certain degree, coupled with the abundance of "raw materials" in the Lower City, made it difficult to attain the necessary concentration to cause an explosion.

Lynn retrieved the long sword that had fallen to the ground and approached Brenny warily, checking on his condition.

Despite suffering such grave injuries, Brenny didn't succumb to death immediately. His eyes, still rooted in their sockets, glared at him with a fierce intensity as he emitted a series of gurgling noises, indicating that his vocal cords had also been damaged.

"I'll take you on a one-way journey. Don't thank me," Lynn said coldly. It was impossible for him not to harbor resentment towards Brenny, who had intruded into his hideout and forced him into a dire situation, but he had no desire to torture him. In his current state, it was unlikely that he could divulge any useful information.

Death would be the most favorable outcome for him in this scenario.

Lynn lifted the long sword and precisely pierced Bryan's heart. He watched as his body convulsed briefly before returning to stillness.

Perhaps it was the influence of his animosity or the residual effects of his original body, Karl, but Lynn didn't experience much discomfort after taking a life with his own hands, aside from the occasional throbbing in his head from the aftereffects of casting spells earlier.

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Confirming that Brenny was truly deceased, Lynn finally relaxed his tense demeanor and swayed on his feet, leaning on his long sword to prevent himself from collapsing to the ground.

"071..." Lynn called out in his mind, but received no response. Remembering the previous alert sound, he immediately understood that 071 was likely to have temporarily shut down due to an excess of energy consumption.

There was little Lynn could do in the moment, so he resolved to wait for 071 to replenish its energy on its own. He was now consumed by confusion.

What is the magic power utilized by wizards, and how is it able to manipulate chemical elements? And what of the bizarre runes that appeared inexplicably in her mind earlier...

But what truly perplexed Lynn was the fact that, in the overload mode of 071, he was able to directly convert magic power into hydrogen and oxygen.

Does this mean that magic power can be transformed into any other element?

If so, then the enigmatic nature of this power is likely to surpass all his expectations.

[Come with me! I shall unveil the truth of this world to you!]

As Lynn remembered the words spoken by his mentor, Kelu, during their meeting half a year ago, he couldn't help but feel a tremble of excitement.

Perhaps the old wizard had not been deceiving him after all!

It is unsurprising that Karl's former body would relinquish a comparatively comfortable existence with sustenance and housing to become a wizard's apprentice, traipsing around the saddle and reins...

The only lamentable aspect was that the former body had too little time to learn magic, and with Kelu having more than one apprentice, the teaching time was restricted and couldn't access more secrets.

The after-effects of exorbitant magic power consumption also caused Lynn's heart to palpitate. The last time he cast a spell, he nearly thought his brain was going to implode, and his body was so weak it felt like he had been gravely ill. He desperately wanted to lie down and sleep.

But Lynn knew that this wasn't the time to rest. Although he had confronted two enemies, the battle in the slums had caused quite a commotion, and it wouldn't be long before it reached the local church of the Holy See, and more people would be sent to apprehend him.

The most pressing concern was to locate a place to stay as soon as possible and find a way to contact the other apprentices...

Lynn gazed down at Brenny's corpse, prodded the sword on it, and tore open the torn bag at the waist. A small heap of coins fell out.

One Sika gold coin, seven silver coins, and over a dozen copper coins lay before Lynn.

The sight of these finely crafted coins, unmarred by the explosion, brought a slight lift to his spirits.

As the illegitimate offspring of a noble, the original body had never been particularly wealthy, and after running away from home for over three months, occasionally supporting the mentor's research, even meals had become a luxury during this time...

This unexpected windfall meant Lynn needn't take the risk of returning to the dilapidated house. It seemed highly likely that doing so would be a dead end.

"Oh!" Lynn bent down to gather the coins, unexpectedly discovering a sheepskin paper scroll amongst them.

Under the scorching heat, most of the writing was completely illegible, only the characters for "Uer Town," "Moon Radiance Day," "Aubrey," and "Seventeen Copper Coins" still discernible.

"Uer Town?" Lynn mused to himself, collecting the burnt sheepskin paper with caution rather than destroying it on the spot.

He needed someone who could alleviate his doubts. Traveling to Uer Town to search for other apprentices would likely be a wise decision.

At the very least, it was more trustworthy than him attempting to locate those hidden wizards by himself...

As Lynn considered this, he reached out and seized Brenny's ankle, dragging him towards the nearby putrid stream.

In this medieval world steeped in magic and divinity, even the deceased could not be relied upon. Should the world's church possess the resurrection technique, his information might be exposed.

The safest course of action was to dispose of both the corpse and the evidence.