"The unknown's dragon corpse," I stressed, using my hands to emphasize my words, the cleaning wipes caught in my fingers flopping around in the process. "It's the field south of the city. It's huge, like, bigger than most buildings. How can you miss it?"

No matter what I said, the polite expression on Terre's face didn't change. He obviously didn't know what I was talking about.

I faltered. "There's only one Laramie City, right? We didn't go to different cities, right?" I couldn't resist pinching my thumb. "It was definitely there when I left. You can't miss it. I mean, I know it was there. Levi was the one that killed it." I pointed at the curled up snake. I paused, seeing him still in time out in the mist cage. "Ah, can you let him go now? I promise he'll behave."

He wasn’t on full alert now. Regen did wonders in the time we talked, so Levi and I were much better. Levi didn't feel the need to protect me anymore, not to mention that he already figured out that he couldn't defeat Terre. I could feel his sulking wariness — which is why he stopped struggling, well, that and he was mad at me — but there wasn't an ounce of desire to attack Terre.

Terre glanced at Levi, disbelief on his face. "I find it hard to believe this snake killed a dragon the size of a building." After all, me and Levi just almost died fighting a level 19 zombie. Despite Terre’s words, the mist around Levi disappeared.

Levi sat up, the feathers appendages on his head flaring in insult, but he didn't attack. He knew he couldn't win. Suddenly, the timer for Levi's transformation ran out and the magic lines on his body winked out. In an instant, he shrank into a little blue noodle with big golden eyes.

Terre blinked, even less impressed.

Levi slapped his tail against the ground in a fit then shot over to hide behind me, radiating humiliation.

"He used to be a lot bigger," I mumbled, embarrassed for him. Especially since it was all my fault that he was small to begin with. Then again, it was also my fault he was still alive, so there's that. "Back to the dragon corpse," I stressed, trying to take control again. "You really didn't see it?"

Monsters ate monsters all the time. It was a fact of life. But that carcass was so big, there was no way monsters could eat it all in just a couple days. And the flesh was so strong, the average monster couldn’t even bite through it. I mean, I couldn't even cut it properly with my sword. It would take A ranked or higher to cut though the unknown’s natural armor, and there aren't a ton of those in the wilds, usually only one — or one family group — per territory. I was just unlucky enough to travel across multiple territories, so I kept running into them. But even if another A ranked monster gnawed on the unknown's carcass, there would still be bones left. Huge bones.

Unless there was another leviathan around that pulled the bones into the river? I glanced at Levi hiding behind my back.

He looked up in understanding what I was thinking and responded with an image of just himself. He'd always been alone.

Then, where did the corpse go?

Terre drew my attention back to him with a shake of his head. "There's only one Laramie Wyoming, and that's exactly where I went. I saw the ruined city, just like your party reported. I saw the destroyed field and all the dried blood, but I never found any dragon corpses." He waved a hand. "Your party never said whether there was an end to the dragon battle, only that you died in one."

"My..." My voice died as fury set in. I clenched my fists so hard there hurt, the cleaning wipes caught inside. The sanitizer solution leaked through my fingers and dripped to the cold gray stone. "They're not my party," I stressed. "They're nothing but murderers."

Terre's eyes narrowed. "I see."

I shook my head, reining in my wild emotions. Carefully, I opened my hands, smoothed out the wipe and finally started to clean my face and hands. "So, they made a report."

"Yes, they said you were killed in a dragon territory battle." Terre stood up and stretched. "But that's all the Association would release, so Maveric sent me to figure out what really happened. But it was such a mess, there wasn't much to tell."

My eyes narrowed as I carefully scrubbed a bloody spot on my arm bracer. "It wasn't the dragon battle that almost killed me, they intentionally left me behind when they escaped on the roc. But I bet they didn't report that."

"Of course not," Terre said.

I looked up, surprised at his casual tone.

"Never enter the wilds with someone you can't trust," Terre instructed. "It's just asking to be killed."

I nodded. Yeah, I learned that the hard way. I mean, I already knew that from Hunter Prep, but it took a life lesson for it to truly sink in. A lesson I never wanted to learn again.

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Levi climbed up my back and curled up around the back of my neck. Was he comforting me, or did he not want to sit on the cold stone anymore?

"Rest up for a minute longer. It's too late to get back home tonight, so we'll head out in the morning. I need to go check this out and I’ll be back." Terre motioned behind him.

I nodded, accepting his call. Orange streaks were already staining the sky. Unless Terre could teleport long distances, we'd never get back before the gates closed. I opened my mouth, dying to ask if he really could teleport, like what I saw in the battle, or if he simply moved that fast but it was common knowledge that you didn't ask another Hunter about their abilities. After all, any information put out there could be used against you.

Terre turned and started walking away. As he did, he moved out of the way enough for me to see the thing he motioned to.

Way back against the gray stone wall, was a small black, smokey cloud. The same cloud that kept empowering the wraith.

Shocked, I climbed to my aching feet and followed after Terre. I thought the black cloud was destroyed after the battle. I mean, the wraith was so obsessed with it, so I thought it was a part of the monster. I guess it wasn't?

Terre glanced back at me, but didn't comment or try to drive me away as we walked up to it.

I didn't really pay attention to him, anyway. I was too busy noticing the gray shimmer hiding in the black smoke. Hang on, this was ... "A magic spot," I whispered in wonder.

Terre paused mid-step before he shot me a look. His usual polite smile was gone, the air around him was more than a little intimidating. "Yes. Did Maveric teach about those?"

I wasn't in trouble for knowing about them, right? Were they supposed to be a secret after all? "No, I kinda stumbled into a couple of them the last few days." Yeah, I totally intentionally stumbled into them via the System. I stepped closer, watching the gray magic swirling around the black cloud. "But none of them looked like this. The others were blue and white." I paused. "Clean looking," I said slowly, searching for a word.

I mean, this black smoke was magic too, and magic wasn't inherently dirty, but this just looked ... tainted. Although still pretty in its own way, it didn't scream enchanting.

When I leaned forward, Levi leaned away, repulsed by the magic. He stuck his tongue out tasting the air then jumped off my shoulder and slithered a short distance away. He curled up and stared, his tongue flicking in and out with disgust.

Terre hummed under his breath. "A couple, huh? Considering how hard it is to find these, that's impressive." He stepped up to the black smoke and extended his hand into it. "Most magic spots are non-elemental, so they simply enhance an element around them. Monsters are naturally drawn to those spots and sometimes get boosted by the magic.”

I paused, remembering the larger than normal frost ora in the mountain cave. Since they were so close to the magic spot, it would explain the size.

"Sometimes," Terre continued, watching the black smoke curl around his fingers, "the magic isn't pure. It's tainted and attracts nefarious monsters, like the wraith. It’s a pain in the ass when those get boosted." At first the black magic moved freely around his fingers, but the longer his hand was in there, the more the magic seemed to move against his hand, like a pet seeking attention.

My eyes narrowed. "The wraith using the magic spot to get stronger," I stated. Just like me, when I cultivated the magic spot.

"Yes," Terre agreed, sending me another searching glance. “So you could tell.” Did he mind that I could tell or not? Then why was he telling me about the magic spot? He could have just done nothing and I would have been none the wiser. "Which is why the magic stops can't stay out here." A bowl sized energy crystal appeared in Terre's hand. Bright white energy gleamed through the black smoke, like the full moon behind a night cloud.

I gaped at the crystal, stunned. I mean, I knew he was the heir of the multi-billion dollar mine, but I didn't expect him to whip out a million dollar hunk of money so casually. My family had money, but it was nothing like this.

Levi perked up. He slithered closer and curled around my ankle, staring at the crystal in fascination. He leaned his nose forward in interest, only to pull back in agitation the next second, then he leaned forward. He repeated his action, both drawn and repulsed by the energy crystal.

Levi wasn't the only thing drawn to the crystal. The black magic swirled around Terre's hand like a hurricane. Slowly at first, then growing faster, the black glitter was drawn to the shining white gem. As soon as they touched, the magic absorbed into the energy crystal, and the crystal's color faded from clear transparent crystal to polished hematite. The smokey cloud grew fainter and fainter.

"Why are you doing that?" I couldn't resist asking. A couple days ago, I didn't even know magic spots existed, then I learned I could cultivate them and get stronger. Now I learned that the same magic can be stored in an item. Did Uncle know?

"Magic spots, although found in the wilds, aren't actually healthy for the Earth," Terre said and left it at that, as if that explained everything. Which it totally didn't.

Soon enough, the black cloud was nothing but a few smoky wisps. Did it feel the same as other magic? Curious, I lifted my hand to touch it.

A System screen popped up in front of my hand, stopping my action. Ding! [Touching tainted magic can pollute your own magic.]

My mouth screwed to the side as I stared at the screen. Seriously? But Terre's hand was in it the whole time and he looked just fine. There was no way his magic was tainted or dark. Even though he wasn't using it, I could still see the sparkling white magic that clung to his body. I mean, he was practically a moving magical bomb with an unlit fuse. And just a bit ago, he displayed what happened when that magic bomb went off. Unfortunately, I wasn't at a high enough level to keep up and fully enjoy the show.

Terre tilted his head enough to glance at me out of the corner of his eyes. "You shouldn't touch..." His voice faded out before he finished his sentence. "Teal...?"

"Huh?" The smoke was black, what was he calling teal? I glanced up then followed his shocked expression ... which was glued on my System screen. Hang on, can he see the actual color my System screen was?

*****