Primora was a kingdom filled with overgrown forests across the land. The southern part of the continent Cognor, housing the kingdom of Primora, was filled with such forests. The lack of knowledge on the beasts that inhabited them, and the instinctive fear of the unknown led to the creation of many myths and legends surrounding the wildlife. Most of them were obviously fake, popularized by mothers to scare little kids. But some of them were partially or completely true. One of such legends was the legend of the Salamander of the Southern forest. People of Aeria believed the existence of a giant salamander living in the forests near them, but very few people claimed to have spotted the beast. And fewer people were telling the truth (according to the lie detection spell anyway).

The salamander that stood in front of the three young mages lived up to its tales, at least from the appearance. Eight feet long, excluding the tail. The dark grayish body was covered in bright red circles. The huge amphibian carefully scrutinized the three as if it was trying to detect any potential threats.

Eon 'Glared' at the crystal white eyes of the Salamander. But the petrification effect was shrugged off by the monster, giving a taste of its enormous magical resistance, and projected its long tongue at Eon at a blinding speed.

Eon didn't try to dodge, as if he was waiting for this. He revealed his right hand glowing red like a heated steel and landed a direct punch on the tongue. "Arachnid magic: Scorpion Bash! Gods, I was waiting for a perfect moment to use this!" He exclaimed.

The force exerted by the punch not only smashed the tip of the tongue but was also enough to create a shallow crater around Eon.

"Damn you're scary even while not using the dragon spells." Razor gasped.

"I still need to charge the spell. The longer I charge the stronger it becomes. Also I have to predict the enemy movement well enough to be able to land the punch." Eon explained. "That's why I couldn't use it against the dragon, and I believe I won't be able to land another one on this particular salamander."

The startled and wounded Salamander retreated and attacked Evelyn with an energy ray instead, who deflected the beam with a powerful Fire Storm. The amphibian jumped aside but the spell still managed to hit the monster slightly. But the Salamander did not take any damage from that. It stared at the red haired girl for a moment and attacked again.

"Flame Tornado!" Evelyn casted, trapping the monster in a fiery vortex. But to her surprise, the Salamander walked out of the tornado completely unharmed, the red spots on its body glowing brighter.

"Eve, step back! It's apparently immune to fire!" Eon warned.

Evelyn casted a Quick Shield to deflect another tongue attack, which was now much weakened due to Eon's blow earlier.

"Do you have no other spells beside fire spells?" Eon asked.

Eve didn't answer. Eon appeared in front of her and attacked the Salamander with a Claws of Fury. The monster decided to retreat once again. It leaped back.

But it didn't land on the ground.

The poor monster was completely tangled in a Sticky Spider Web, a modified Sticky Web spell Eon picked up from Cindy's familiar.

"D-did you do that?" Evelyn looked at Eon in amazement. "But when?"

"When you were playing with our little salamander. It took me longer than I thought, placing the web with support from the lower branches of nearby trees."

"I'm done here too!" The ground below the spider web collapsed in a circular fashion, revealing a deep hole. Razor climbed out of it, holding his Drill Blade.

"Alright then, Two-face!" Razor summoned his familiar through a magical portal. "Let's get this over with!"

The tiny baby hydra shot poisonous darts through its mouth. "The toxin will strip the Salamander away of its magical defense." Razor explained. "Eon, you're up!"

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"Viperia magic: Glare!" Eon petrified the Salamander successfully this time. "New tricks, Razor? At least now you won't lose your familiar anymore. Oh Eve, get rid of the strings please."

"Oh. Okay!" Eve just observed the whole act with awe till now. Suddenly snapping back to reality she summoned a small bright red magic circle in front of her. "Flare Rain!" Thousands of tiny flame particles burned away the web, leaving nothing to hold the beast hanging in the air.

The salamander fell down in the hole. "That hole won't hold it for long, will it?" Evelyn asked.

"Eon told me to throw a bunch of Chuteplant corpses in there when digging the hole. The slippery lubricants would probably be enough to hold the Salamander in for a while."

"Oh then what do we do n-" Eve let out a shriek instead of completing her sentence as she looked at Eon.

Eon's arm was shining too bright to be looked at directly. Razor and Eve could almost feel the mana being converted into pure kinetic energy. Eon ran towards the hole and threw himself in. The two gasped in anticipation.

There was a loud noise. Loud enough to scare all the inhabitants of the forest in almost a kilometer radius. The good thing was that there were no sentient beings in the area that'd come running to complain.

The hole Razor dug was non-existent. Replacing it there was a large crater, leveling the trees that stood there moments ago. Razor and Eve casted a big Aegis, a spherical mana draining but very sturdy shielding spell.

"I thought you don't have any other spells beside fire spells?" Razor smirked.

"I do but they're not offensive spells. They're mostly locator spells or protection spells." Evelyn pouted in anger.

They saw Eon slowly returning to them. "Oops." He grinned, covered in dirt.

"Talk about an overkill." Evelyn laughed.

"What's that you're palming there? Razor asked as he let go of the Aegis.

"Oh this.. I am not sure." Eon revealed his hand. A black scale with red spots rested on his palm.

The three got distracted by a shining pillar of light erupting from the center of the crater. A sphere of ghostly light slowly floated upwards. Then it drifted away deep into the forest.

"Weird." Eon commented.

"Hey look. Leonhart's hideout!" Evelyn pointed towards a small cottage. The crater leveling up the trees made it easier to navigate the forest and the cottage could easily be spotted.

Upon reaching the cottage they found several holes around the house.

"Guess the Salamander used it as its own nest for years. That's why it became territorial when we got closer." Eon deducted.

"Hope the insides are intact at least." Razor said worriedly.

They carefully opened the house, which was unlocked for some reason. The giant hole on the floor was probably the monster's own entry point in the house. Leonhart's belongings were covered in dust due to years of negligence. Eon spotted a dust covered tiny sphere on his mentor's work table. He was a little shocked to find out the sphere was of a shiny silver coloring. With runes and various exotic symbols grafted on its whole surface. They found a large box under the table as well. The box had various accessories and magistones and a note left in it.

"Dear Eon,

Actually I hope it's Eon, I never told you where my hideout was. But I believe you will look for it and eventually find it. Anyway, if you managed to find it, that probably means I'm dead. And I want you to know that I was completely prepared for this outcome. I have been looking into this incident since a while, and it would be entirely a lie to say I didn't know this dragon attack would happen. The attack happened four years too early, specifically to get rid of me. You do not need to finish what I started, this is not why I took a student in. All I wish you to do is make yourself a proud mage, make yourself a proud Blue Mage.

I came across the silver sphere when looking into the dragons. They have something to do with it. I don't have much time to explain everything but I want you to head to Grandor, look for an Alchemist who goes by the name of Hotaz, and give the sphere to him. He will find someone who will be willing to put an end to the greater evil that's soon to follow. If nothing else, hopefully this letter alone will prevent the attack in Grimoria.

That topic aside, I left a few of my treasures for you and your friends. I left a Short Sword made out of a Wyvern's fang for Darryl. It can actually deal damage to dragons by bypassing their scales and causes magical damage by ignoring a dragon's huge magic resistance. For little Evelyn I left a Fire Magistone. I know she will become a capable heir to the Ignovor in future.

And for you, I left my greatest treasure. My years of research on the flora and fauna of not only southern forests, but the whole Cognor and beyond. Though I'm only a human who hasn't seen that much. And what I noted there is only my observation and not everything might be perfect. I hope you shall progress the completion of the Bestiary a little more, and make good use of it.

Oh, in case you're disappointed that your friends got cool weapons and stuff while you got a giant encyclopedia, there's a box under my bed that should contain a detailed instructions booklet that teaches you to store magical spells in tiny spheres. They're a little hard to make at first, considering you don't have any idea how runes and warding work. But I'm sure it'll be useful to you. It's my original creation after all. And I'd be taking this to my grave if you never managed to find this letter.

Anyway I wish you luck. Make me proud, kid.

Leonhart Shiftblade

5th of Brownleaf, 625