Chapter 110: Extortion
The next day.
Dormitory No. 31.
Within the cramped, dimly lit space stood only a stone table and two stone beds, squeezed tightly together.
Lin Wei and Ban Saini both sat cross-legged with eyes closed, practicing the wizard’s meditation technique. Generally, once one reaches the rank of Level 2 Wizard Apprentice, meditation can replace sleep.
Lin Wei had developed this habit long ago while at the Wizard Academy. As for Ban Saini, after arriving at the battlefield by Lake Segawi, where the threat of death loomed, he was forced to revive a habit he had abandoned for decades.
“Hm?” Suddenly, Lin Wei’s eyes snapped open.
Bang!
The wooden door of the stone hut was kicked open in the next moment.
“Who’s there?” Ban Saini also broke free from his meditation, a trace of anger etched on his face.
A bald man, about thirty years old, clad in a battle-worn wizard’s robe, stood in the doorway. A long scar crawled down the right side of his face like a black centipede, radiating a corrosive aura. Normally, an apprentice wizard could erase such wounds with potions, but the fact that this man’s injury remained unhealed suggested it had been inflicted by a higher-level wizard.
“Are you the new guy who arrived yesterday?”
The bald man chuckled disdainfully, his contempt unabashed.
Before arriving, he already knew that the two occupants of Dormitory No. 31 were wizard apprentices sent from the Mortal Kingdoms, not elite reinforcements dispatched from headquarters. Possessing the strength of a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice himself, he had never taken Lin Wei and Ban Saini seriously.
“Yeah, just reported to the camp yesterday.”
Seeing Lin Wei remain silent, Ban Saini replied to the bald man.
“Good, then you’re the fresh combat personnel.” The bald man’s tone dripped with superiority. “Next, I’ll take you to Senior Saniel to receive your assigned mission.”
“Much appreciated.”
Ban Saini’s tone softened somewhat.
“But…”
The bald man sneered coldly, “Before you get your mission, you’ll have to pay the claiming fee.”
“Claiming fee?!”
Ban Saini was no fool; he immediately understood the man’s true intent—this was blatant extortion.
“I never heard of paying a claiming fee before receiving a mission back at the Academy!”
When his own interests were at stake, even Ban Saini would not yield.
The bald man scoffed contemptuously, patting his smooth scalp. “You two wizards from the Layton Kingdom must have left the Academy decades ago, huh? Talentless rejects still want to talk about Academy rules? Listen carefully: here, Senior Saniel makes the rules!”
He did not bother hiding his intention and issued a stern threat.
“How much is the claiming fee?”
Lin Wei, who had remained silent all along, suddenly spoke.
“Hm?” The bald man scrutinized Lin Wei carefully. He sensed a hint of unease from him but quickly dismissed it. After all, wizards sent from the Mortal Kingdoms posed no real threat.
“Lin Wei…” Ban Saini looked at him anxiously.
“One hundred magic stones per person.” The bald man licked his blood-red lips, greed plain in his eyes. “Aren’t you grateful for my generosity?”
One hundred magic stones?!
Ban Saini’s veins bulged in frustration. As a wizard apprentice of the most ordinary aptitude, unlike Lin Wei, his savings had never exceeded triple digits since entering the Shadow Forest. Having been away from the Academy for so many years, he no longer had any income. Asking for one hundred magic stones at once was a death sentence for him.
“One hundred magic stones per person? Two hundred for both?”
Lin Wei’s tone was calm, showing no sign of distress.
“Lin Wei!” Ban Saini could no longer contain himself. Without earning any military merit points yet, one hundred magic stones could vanish just like that.
Lin Wei waved him silent.
“Two hundred magic stones… acceptable.” Lin Wei smiled faintly at the bald man.
“See? Just two hundred magic stones. Once you pay, Senior Saniel will protect you in this camp. You won’t lose out at all!” The bald man’s tone was frivolous.
“What I mean is, if you leave two hundred magic stones with me, I’ll let you walk out unharmed.”
Lin Wei’s smile remained unchanged.
“Are you mocking me?!” The bald man was momentarily stunned, then a violent aura surged from him.
“From start to finish, I never said I’d give you any magic stones.” Lin Wei stretched lightly and stepped off the bed. “Your intelligence is quite troubling…”
“You’re asking for death!!”
The bald man’s fury erupted instantly!
Backed by Senior Saniel, a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice, he had never failed when extorting newcomers. No magic stones? Then pay with other treasures! Except for a few other Level 3 apprentices, nearly every newcomer without connections had been fleeced by him!
Lin Wei was the first brave enough to provoke him!
“Newbie, you might not know this, but in the camp, killing is forbidden, but crippling is not!”
The bald man grinned widely, emitting a chilling laugh. Black demonic flowers bloomed on his shoulders, their eerie aura seeming to warp the air itself.
One by one, the black flowers began to crack open under his control, and suddenly, ghostly faces emerged from within! They let out wailing cries that shook one’s very soul.
Five ghostly faces trailed dense black mist, swirling fiercely around the bald man’s already terrifying visage, making him appear even more fearsome.
“Two hundred magic stones per person, or I’ll spare you no mercy!”
Dark energy radiated from the corners of the bald man’s eyes.
“Wasn’t it one hundred?” Ban Saini, seeing the man’s posture, panicked for a moment.
“Haggling? Then you might as well die!”
The bald man roared with a hoarse voice. The five ghost faces sprang forward at Lin Wei! Eerie whispers, surging magic energy, and murderous intent enveloped Lin Wei.
“A physical dark magic mixed with psychic attributes?”
Lin Wei’s lips curved into a faint, amused smile.
“Hm?” The bald man sensed something was wrong. This newcomer showed no fear; instead, he seemed to be… smiling?
Whoosh!
Just as the five ghost faces were about to close in on Lin Wei, a pitch-black sand curtain appeared out of thin air!
Like waves crashing in the sea, it swept the ghost faces away!
Puff!
The five ghost faces vanished into nothingness in an instant!
“Huh?!”
The bald man was dumbfounded.