Tap tap tap~

Celosius hurried down the stairs with his luggage in tow.

Upon reaching the lobby, he looked around swiftly, his gaze quickly locking onto Rosen.

Rosen also noticed Celosius, raising his head to meet his gaze.

In that instant, their eyes collided across the distance of over ten meters.

Rosen was still leisurely eating, a look of 'puzzlement' in his eyes. Celosius' murky pupils, however, held a strange, gathering iciness.

This chill sent a shiver down Rosen's spine, causing him to ask apprehensively: "Master, what's the matter?"

Celosius' gaunt face revealed a hint of eerie smile. He did not respond to Rosen's inquiry, but under his billowing cloak, his left hand surreptitiously rose, fingers secretly pointing at Rosen as a wisp of gray light swiftly coalesced at his fingertips.

In the final moment, a frigid thought flashed through his mind:

'If I can't have it, no one can!'

Next, the condensed gray light formed an extremely inconspicuous sphere that noiselessly drifted toward Rosen's body along the shadowy corners beyond candlelight's reach.

At the same time, Rosen had been closely observing Celosius.

Taking in his behavior, Rosen roughly guessed his thoughts, a chill growing within. Rapid thoughts flashed through his mind:

"Carrying luggage, moving hastily—he's likely trying to flee."

"Catching sight of me, murderous look, cold smile—could he be planning to kill me?"

"There are people in the lobby, the quest-giver is upstairs, he certainly wouldn't dare make a scene."

"So...a curse! He must be trying to curse me!"

He had caught glimpses of related notes in the spellbook.

'Curse spells are cast inconspicuously, taking effect inconspicuously as well, optimal for stealth assassination.'

'Precisely due to their covert nature, curses are generally quite weak in power.'

Knowing Celosius could curse, Rosen had pondered countermeasures.

But time was too scarce, relevant knowledge too little. Though he had some ideas, he hadn't managed to put them into practice.

Now, there was no time for caution!

Seeing the frigid aura already preliminarily invading his skin, Rosen desperately focused his thoughts, picturing a layer of Primordial Fire that could incinerate all covering his skin's surface.

Spurred by his thoughts, the inner warmth instantly grew lively, rapidly floating to the surface and becoming extremely hot.

If a third party were observing, they would see a faint reddish glow manifest on Rosen's skin, as if a swathe of smoldering flames.

In a flash, Rosen felt the chill on his back disappear, though his skin there felt somewhat cool.

Reaching back, he found a finger-sized hole in the beast hide at his back's center—cold air was blowing in through the hole, but his skin was smooth as before, unharmed.

Clearly, he had successfully resisted the curse.

At the same time, an information stream flowed through his mind:

'New Spell: Fire Barrier recorded.'

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Raising his head again to look at Celosius, Rosen saw thick astonishment in his eyes.

Of course Celosius was shocked!

In this brief, covert clash, he had distinctly sensed the apprentice's inner arcane power—seemingly fire-aspected, extraordinarily high in magnitude, even exceeding his own!

He could not fathom how this had happened, but little time remained for his safe departure.

Casting one final look at the boy he had casually taken as apprentice, meeting the depthless gleam that had surfaced in the once naive, humble eyes, Celosius suddenly understood everything.

'So he really is an arcane prodigy! And everything before was merely an act!'

'At such a young age, lowly birth, yet manipulating us round and round!'

'How can there be such profound cunning in this world!'

In that moment, extremely complex emotions flashed through his heart—shock, envy, fury, the urge to strike down this threat with full force, yet reason ultimately prevailed.

'Once I've absorbed the feather's power, I'll dispose of this scourge!'

Thinking thus, Celosius hastened his pace and swiftly left the Skylark Inn.

Once his figure had vanished from the lobby, Rosen discreetly relaxed, the hand tightly gripping the crystal bead covered in cold sweat.

He had made it past this hurdle for now, but the two sides had completely torn off their masks.

With Celosius' petty heart, he would surely worry about future reprisals and seek to kill him by any means, eliminating potential threats.

Thus, it was now a matter of life and death between them. He too had to find a way to get rid of this wandering mage.

It was nothing personal, just self-preservation.

About another quarter hour later, two more figures emerged from the inn stairwell.

In front was Lillith, complexion rosy, dressed in a thick, plain long dress. Behind her followed the formidable, stout warrior.

Lillith's injury seemed largely recovered. Upon reaching the lobby, her gaze swiftly swept the room before settling on Rosen.

A hint of relief surfaced on her face as she briskly walked over to him. "Well, had your fill?"

This puzzled Rosen. With a formidable foe right behind her, how could this girl show not a shred of pressure? Could she have an ace up her sleeve?

But he would not betray anything outwardly, maintaining an expression of 'delight'. "Miss Lillith, you've recovered from your injury?"

"Yes, all better now."

Lillith smiled and sat down beside Rosen while the stout warrior also came over, taking a seat on Rosen's other side.

The warrior's gaze shifted between Rosen and Lillith before he spoke: "Lillith, though I don't kill beauties, I also don't like being toyed with by them."

Lillith quickly responded: "Please be patient, Sir Chapparal."

"Many things in this world cannot be judged by appearances. Take Rosen for example—he may look like an ordinary country boy, yet he painted such a fine portrait."

Chapparal gave a derisive laugh. "Don't try to fool me, I already looked into it. Those paintings were done by a certified mage called Celosius or something."

Hearing this, Rosen began to understand.

With a mental flash, an expression of 'naivete' surfaced on his face.

"What a coincidence, my arcane mentor is also named Celosius."

"Oh right, I just saw Master leaving with his luggage earlier. I bid him farewell and he said Miss, your injury was severe so he went to gather medicinal herbs to treat you."

Lillith gave a start. "Gather herbs to treat me? Hasn't he been holed up in his room this whole time? How did he know I was hurt?"

Rosen looked 'puzzled'. "No? Master went out for a bit around noon and only just returned this evening."

"You said what? How do you know that?" Lillith demanded, looking increasingly shocked.

"I can hear the door opening and his steps on the floor. Master's room is right next to ours. I recognize the sounds."

Lillith grew more astounded as she listened, her expression fluctuating wildly.

After a lengthy pause, she suddenly raised her head to look at Chapparal. "Sir, I think I understand what happened now."

Chapparal shrugged, having also guessed it. "It seems that mage should change his name to Thief."

He turned to Rosen. "When did your master leave?"

Rosen looked 'blankly'. "A while ago? After he left I ate another oatcake."

"Where did he head... Forget it, no point asking you."

Chapparal impatiently rose to his feet and paced around several times before lightly patting Lillith's shoulder.

"Fair lady, I no longer want those items. Your Nightingales may take them to curry favor with the baron. But I can't accept losses for no reason either, right?"

Lillith promptly nodded. "I understand. Once we retrieve the feather, we'll do our utmost to compensate your losses."

"Excellent, excellent!"

Chapparal paced some more, anger on his face intensifying, his moustache twitching like an enraged porcupine.

"That despicable thief not only stole my possessions but made a fool of me too!"

His hand gripped the hilt of his blade tightly as his anger condensed into killing intent.

"Miss Lillith, inform me immediately once you locate him!"

"I'll finish him off myself... Oh right, he's a certified mage!"

"By the Golden God, how did this damned thief become a certified mage?!"

The empire treated mages well, enacting laws to safeguard certified mages' rights and interests. The empire's Mage Guild also held tremendous influence, thus certified mages enjoyed extremely high status not to be lightly killed.

Lillith quickly added: "No need to worry, Sir Chapparal. This Celosius is a wandering mage without background. Also, there's evidence he has secretly cultivated forbidden curses."

"Forbidden curses? Hah! This fool walks the path of death!"

Having such a powerful backer pleased Lillith. She immediately said: "Sir Chapparal, please allow me to relay this information to the Nightingales."

"Go, find this thief swiftly! My demon-slaying blade thirsts for blood!"

Killing intent billowed from the stout warrior's body.