A Sorcerer's Journey 533 Get Together

"Mentor Peranos, Mistress Alice, Senior Varro, Garnigel and… hmm?!"

Grimm greeted Peranos and the rest of his crew who were all riding on the back of a giant bird whose wings spanned over forty meters wide. Seeing the huge silhouette of a person standing behind Peranos, Grimm was visibly taken aback for a moment.

"Lord Grimm!"

That naive voice, to Grimm's surprise, was the Thousand-Eyed Carnicus who had come over together with Mentor Peranos. It seemed that the pincer it lost had yet to be fully recovered. Where its pincer was originally, a small lump of growth could be seen sprouting out.

"Thousand-Eyed Carnicus, it's nice to see you but I have to ask, why are you here?"

Grimm asked in a genuinely surprised tone. It was a soul slave that belonged to Black Isotta Stigmata Sorcerer after all. Following Black Isotta's downfall, it and the other soul slaves should have died with him too.

"My master, the great Black Isotta has fallen. For now, all of his soul slaves in the Black Isotta Realm and the Sorcerers World have been completely wiped out. As for the reason that I am alive, well, it's all thanks to Lord Grimm's Black Isotta Friendship Key. My master has yet to fulfil the power of the contract, and the Friendship Key contract under Lord Grimm's possession thus prevented my fate from being the same as the other ones, sigh…"

The Thousand-Eyed Carnicus sighed deeply.

So it was the Black Isotta Friendship Key!

In Grimm's experience, he could guarantee that Black Isotta would keep to his side of the contracts he made very strictly. Even before his downfall, the Stigmata Sorcerer had not forgotten to summon Grimm to his side in order to compensate him with the Book of Grimm, which he subsequently renamed as the Book of Truth.

Grimm looked toward Peranos only to see him nod while heaving a great sigh.

"Unfortunately, Black Isotta, the Stigmata Sorcerer has indeed fallen. The Holy Tower of Seven Rings confirmed his final location of death to be in the Infernal Spirit World. It was a Level-6 Purgatory Giant that somehow crossed into their realm and defeated the Stigmata Sorcerer. For the time being, control over the Mana Pool of the Academy's Sorcerer Tower has been transferred over to the Holy Tower of Seven Rings."

It was that time when Grimm returned to the Sorcerers World that Peranos had received information from Black Isotta that Grimm was participating under his campaign. It was also during that exchange that he came to know of Grimm's Rank-1 Honor Badge.

From Peranos' perspective, Grimm should have received the news about Black Isotta's downfall.

A moment of silence ensued before Grimm asked, "Then what about the Sorcerers at the academy?"

"A portion of them left, which whittled down the Mana Pool of the Sorcerer Tower by a considerable margin, but the remaining majority chose to remain there. As for the academy's future, it would entirely rest upon the hands of the Academy Dean who has just taken over. Though, in comparison to what Dark Realms Sorcerer Academy is going through, Black Isotta Sorcerer Academy can be said to be doing relatively well."

Nodding in response, Grimm felt a sense of loss in his heart.

The lines were blurred between what was lost, was it the loss of a great Stigmata Sorcerer, or the loss of Black Isotta who had accompanied Grimm's growth process during and after his apprenticeship days? Looking at Grimm's dejected expression, Peranos' stitched up face was lost in his thoughts on coming up with something to say.

A short while later, Peranos broke the silence.

"For us, Black Isotta Stigmata Sorcerer himself represented an integral part of the Sorcerer Academy. Grimm's deeply-rooted feelings are understandable as the memories are forever etched onto our minds. It is an important milestone in our lives after all. Although Black Isotta is technically deceased, he is still very much alive to the Sorcerers World as well as through his personal experience in life. You can consider this as just another phase in his journey through life."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Grimm raised his head and asked Peranos with a puzzled look on his face.

To others, he was considered to be deceased but he lived on from his perspective?"

Peranos explained slowly, "We'll have to start from the beginning of the Black Isotta Sorcerer Academy. Tell me… why do you think that as an Ancient Sorcerer, Black Isotta built the Sorcerer Tower within the Holy Tower of Seven Rings' territory, after the second Civilization War?"

Grimm froze for a moment and shook his head. He had never thought of such a question.

Yeah, why did an Ancient Sorcerer erect the Sorcerer Tower under the Holy Tower of Seven Rings' domain. Something was off about this. Could it be that Black Isotta moved to that place after abandoning his original Sorcerer Tower.

This seemed a bit hard to justify.

"Grimm, do you still remember the academy territorial wars during your apprenticeship?"

Grimm nodded and replied, "Of course, back then the Big Six Dark Sorcerer Academies in District Twelve and the Big Nine Bright Sorcerer Academies from District Nineteen were conducting a screening exercise in a Stigma Crater."

After the passage of a few hundred years, and after participating in a handful of Demon-Hunting Expeditions, Grimm had now developed an understanding of the rationale behind the "academy territorial wars" between the Bright and Dark Sorcerers.

Only in the face of a real war, when the Bright and Dark Sorcerer-Apprentices were putting their lives up on the line, then they would be able to unveil the full potential and under-developed ferocity that lied beneath the surface.

Only through the use of such a cruel doctrine, that the Sorcerers participating in the Sorcerers World's Demon-Hunter Expeditions were pre-exposed to real warfare. It would force the apprentices to develop the combat awareness so essential to an effective Demon-Hunter Sorcerer. Superficial shows of force were useless and could only lead to utter defeat under the sharp, merciless claws of the foreign world creatures.

It was not that the Sorcerers World deliberately chose to use such cold-blooded measures. Instead, the reason for this was that the Sorcerers World no longer had enough time to be "moderate".

Like a wolf whose speed and strength grew as it got hungrier, so was the Sorcerers World in their never-ending quest to subjugate foreign worlds through its expeditions. The Sorcerers World must find its original long lost coordinates, defeat the Abyssal Civilization and only then can they return to their rightful place to escape the fate of destruction.

"To tell you the truth, that crater was left behind by Black Isotta's predecessor during the Ancient Sorcerers World's Civilization War!"

Peranos said in a serious tone.

Predecessor?

What did he mean by that?

Stunned, the eyes beneath the Mask of Truth stared blankly at Peranos. Can a Sorcerer die twice by having two separate bodies?

"This is the ability's overall function, and it represents the peak of Black Isotta's wisdom as a Sorcerer. I don't quite understand the specific details but from what I know, Black Isotta advanced into a Stigmata Sorcerer only after the second Civilization War. And it is after his becoming of a Stigmata Sorcerer that he regained memories of his predecessor from ancient times. This factor explains why he was able to advance as a Level-six Stigmata Sorcerer in such a short span of time!"

Grimm's heart raced as a number possibilities flooded his mind.

"Which is to say… one day in the future, if one were to advance into a Stigmata Sorcerer, there is a possibility for that person to regain all the memories of Black Isotta himself?"

"That is correct."

Peranos nodded his head and continued, "Though, to Black Isotta at that moment, his downfall of today and the downfall of his predecessor during ancient times are both merely pieces of memories. He will continue on with his journey through life through a new body. Of course, this is just a speculation. Perhaps, Black Isotta will never become a Stigmata Sorcerer again. If that's the case then we can consider him to be truly deceased…"

Grimm suddenly remembered memories of him being pulled into the Black Isotta Realm back in the Infernal Spirit World.

At that time, the phantom of Black Isotta's soul could be seen in the mouth of a ten-meter-tall tree, whose trunk wounded and twisted its way up to the top. The tree chewed nonstop at his soul. At the tree's roots was a massive and complex magical array, where the Stigmata Sorcerer's soul was being pulled into in the form of a long thread.

Perhaps, this ability was the true trump card up Black Isotta's sleeve?

Hearing such a news from Master Peranos, Grimm's mood improved for the better. It was as if a heavy load was suddenly released from his shoulders.

Hope was still very much alive!

The common thing that supported every Sorcerer as they traversed the bumpy and thorny road toward sorcery was the near-mystical combination of truth and hope!

Even if Black Isotta was no longer a Stigmata Sorcerer and were now some other person, so what?

At least he was another Sorcerer in the Sorcerers World that fought on relentlessly and pushed forward on his Sorcerer's path.

Peranos stood in front of Alice and Valor. In his arms lied the lazy Garnigel whose fluffy fur was being combed and stroked by his calloused fingers.

"Yo, Grimm, Vivian, stinkbird."

Garnigel, who was having a siesta in Peranos' arms opened its eyes and greeted Grimm and co.

"Caw? Stinkbird!? You wretched black cat, who did you call stinkbird? You're the real stinkbird, and your whole damn family as well! I, Lord Myna will… will bring you down today!"

Grimm yanked Little Myna out of the air and said to Garnigel while smiling, "Garnigel, just let Little Myna be. Prior to coming here, I have already discussed with him so he will treat you well for a month and Little Myna has given me his promise."

"Ah! Ah! Young master don't you stop me! Lord Myna will never, and I say never, treat any bat, or a damned cat with courtesy! Ha ha ha…"

Garnigel licked its paws and stretched lazily.

"Alright alright Grimm, on your behalf, I will not stir up trouble with this… yep, this Steel Emblem Myna who's a nobody."

"Lord Myna doesn't care how you act on my young master's behalf! Also, Lord Myna is the great Steel Emblem Myna!"

Little Myna shrieked.

Behind Alice and Valor also stood two distinct-looking soul slaves.

Following the fall of Black Isotta, Peranos could no longer act like he did in the Sorcerers World before, when he could just summon any soul slave he wanted from the Black Isotta Realm.

Valor flew over to Grimm's side.

"Ha ha, Grimm, you seem to have aged quite a bit now. Though, your Light of Wisdom is certainly shining brighter than ever! Have you tried advancing into a Level-2 Sorcerer?"

Valor had the face of a wrinkled old man after successfully advancing into an official Sorcerer. His left mechanical eye continuously made a creaking sound, possibly due to minor malfunctions after some modifications were made. The Elemental Orb which emanated a life signal also seemed to have grown somewhat larger.

"Yeah, but I failed."

Grimm nodded his head.

"Hmph! Thank God you failed, otherwise the mentor will definitely be at my throat again when you're gone. He'll repeat 'Look at Grimm, and look at yourself! If only you had half of what he had then…' Mentor doesn't seem to take into account who you are. There are countless Sorcerers out there but he only chose you as a benchmark for me to be compared with."

Valor imitated the tone of Master Peranos while speaking with Grimm.

Grimm laughed as soon as he heard such an impeccable imitation. From what Valor had said, the mentor must have paid a lot of attention to him. But come to think of it, his temper was indeed as what Valor had described.

On the other side, Alice and Vivian were standing in the corner. Seeing her comforting gaze, she must have been soothing Vivian's feelings as tears rolled down her face while she nodded from time to time.

A short while later, Grimm and Little Myna climbed onto the red-hair covered back of the Thousand-Eyed Carnicus.

"We're off!"

As Peranos gave the giant bird the command to fly toward the Holy Tower of Six Rings, the Thousand-Eyed Carnicus followed closely from behind, and two streaks of darkness shot across the ground surface.

Chapter end