Learning Magic with Outsiders

After boarding the carriage, it swiftly departed from the coastal city of Brugge, heading eastward. As the smooth road gradually disappeared, the carriage began to jolt slightly. This journey was much shorter than the trip from Saint Callen to Brugge, but since it was by carriage, it still took a full two days.

During the long and bumpy ride, Evelyn basked in the sun on the carriage roof, Helena dozed off in Luo Wei's arms, and Luo Wei passed the time by studying magic.

Evelyn explained to him that learning "Ring" magic required an innate ability to sense magic. Since Luo Wei lacked this talent, Evelyn suggested an alternative: to first familiarize himself with the most mainstream "Crystal" magic.

It was well-known that as the power of supernatural beings grew, so did the risk of backlash and madness. Mages were no exception. Thus, some clever mages began inscribing magical runes onto naturally magical stones, which later evolved into standard magic crystals. This way, as long as one understood the structure and principles of the runes and chanted the spells, even the most novice mage could easily cast what was essentially "foolproof magic."

This approach was quite logical. By removing the "human" element as the medium for casting spells and transferring the magic entirely to the stones, there was no risk of backlash. After all, stones didn’t have brains, so they couldn’t go mad...

However, this method stripped away the essence of what made magic magical. Could a mage who relied entirely on tools still be considered a true mage?

Indeed, with the rise of this relatively safer "Crystal Magic," the world's magical systems began to regress. It was likely that only the secretive Mage Hermit Society still preserved the orthodox traditions of magic.

While studying magic and flipping through *Gould's Book of Magic*, time slipped by unnoticed.

By the second day of the carriage journey along the rural paths, Luo Wei noticed that the surroundings were becoming increasingly desolate. Vast stretches of rocky beaches came into view, and a cold sea breeze blew in, causing the temperature to drop sharply.

Evelyn sneezed several times in a row before leaping down from the carriage roof, complaining that she hadn’t dressed warmly enough.

"It’s so far south here, why is it so cold? How strange..."

"We’re almost there!" the coachman called out from the front.

Luo Wei quickly opened the window and leaned out, catching sight of the distant silhouette of Heglais Town.

The town was much larger than he had imagined, sprawling all the way to the coastline in the distance. However, it was also exceptionally dilapidated. The outer buildings were even worse than the residences in Saint Callen’s lower district, with many being nothing more than ruins without roofs.

Although some houses in the town had smoke rising from their chimneys, indicating that people still lived there, every door was tightly shut, and the streets were eerily empty. Combined with the overcast weather by the sea, the entire town of Heglais exuded a lifeless atmosphere.

The carriage came to a halt halfway, and the coachman tightened the reins, refusing to let the horses go any further. He nervously stared at the town’s entrance, as if terrified that some monstrous creature might burst out at any moment.

"Hurry! Get out quickly. I need to leave as soon as possible. I don’t dare stay here any longer..."

After Luo Wei, Evelyn, and Helena stepped out of the carriage with their small suitcases, the coachman turned the carriage around, cracked his whip, and sped away without looking back.

Evelyn watched the carriage disappear into the distance, pursed her lips, and was the first to stride toward Heglais Town.

"It looks like there are still people living here. Maybe there’s even an inn or something."

Luo Wei held Helena’s hand as they followed behind. The three of them walked at a steady pace, moving from the empty town entrance all the way to the wide main road at the center of the town. It was only then that they finally saw a living person.

It was a man squatting on the ground, smoking a cigarette while mending a fishing net. As Luo Wei and his companions appeared on the street, the man happened to look up.

Even though old newspapers had previously described the townspeople’s grotesque appearances, Luo Wei was still taken aback by how unsettling the man looked in person.

The fisherman’s head was oddly shaped, with sparse hair, a flat nose, and unusually large eyes that appeared even more prominent due to their bulging, protruding nature. The sides of his neck were covered in folds and wrinkles, piled together in a disgusting manner. His skin was a pale gray, resembling that of a corpse left out for too long.

When all these features, which deviated so drastically from those of an ordinary human, were combined, they evoked a visceral sense of discomfort. Luo Wei thought the man looked even less appealing than a hairy monster.

As Luo Wei observed the fisherman, the man was also staring intently at the three of them, his gaze fixed and unblinking, but he remained silent.

Evelyn, who was extremely particular about appearances, had always detested ugly individuals. Seeing the man’s unsettling stare, her face twisted into an expression of disgust.

Luo Wei noticed a faint crimson glow flickering in her hand and quickly grabbed her arm, glancing around warily.

"Teacher, hold back for now. Don’t act yet..."

It wasn’t just the fisherman who was staring at them. At that moment, the tightly drawn curtains in some of the nearby houses were slightly parted, and faint, furtive movements could be heard from the alleys between buildings.

Luo Wei felt as though countless eyes were fixed on them, and the atmosphere grew increasingly eerie.

After walking a short distance along the town’s main road, Luo Wei spotted a few open shops, one of which happened to be an inn.

Exchanging a glance with Evelyn, they both walked toward it without hesitation.

Pushing open the inn’s old wooden door, a creaking sound echoed through the dimly lit interior. The air was damp and carried a musty, moldy odor.

"Looking for a room?"

A hoarse voice suddenly spoke up. The faint light illuminated half of the innkeeper’s face, which was even more grotesque than the fisherman’s outside.

After speaking, the innkeeper’s gaze lingered on Luo Wei and his companions, his eyes filled with the same strange intensity as the townspeople outside.

It didn’t feel like he was waiting for a response, but rather observing them, just like the other villagers.

"Yes, a room," Luo Wei replied, staring back. "One room will do."

This wasn’t Brugge, so for safety’s sake, it was better to stay together.

"Oh..." The innkeeper scrutinized them for a while longer before finally looking away and rummaging through the counter.

"We have single rooms with one bed or two beds. But... there are three of you."

Helena, who was holding Luo Wei’s hand, immediately chimed in, "That’s fine. I can share a bed with my brother."

Luo Wei nodded in agreement.

The innkeeper gave them a strange look but eventually nodded as well, his voice rasping like an old radio.

"Alright... the room is on the fourth floor. Follow me..."

As they ascended the creaky, old wooden stairs, Luo Wei kept an eye on the innkeeper’s hunched back and suddenly ventured a question.

"The people in town don’t seem very welcoming to outsiders, do they?"

At this, the innkeeper paused for a moment before slowly turning around. His grotesque eyes locked onto Luo Wei’s.

"Not at all. Heglais Town is known for its hospitality."

"They’re just sick, so they might look a bit strange. Don’t mind them, guests."

"Hospitality?" Luo Wei thought of the town’s various terrifying legends and the townspeople’s sinister, unwelcoming stares along the way. He couldn’t help but chuckle. "What kind of hospitality are we talking about? Is there some kind of welcome ceremony for us outsiders?"

To his surprise, the innkeeper actually nodded.

"Of course there is."

He grinned, revealing a strange, unsettling smile.

"Tonight, there’s a special bonfire performance prepared just for you outsiders..."