Dago sensed the dim runes inside with his spiritual power, attempting to activate and open it.
But he failed. He guessed it was out of energy, so he tucked it into his pocket for now.
After stripping the ring, Dago continued to search the body. His psychological barrier was much smaller now, mainly because the joy of striking it rich outweighed his fear.
Then, around his neck, he discovered an exquisite pendant, a badge carved with a red and black castle.
It looked like the emblem of an organization or power.
Dago's heart skipped a beat. This was a gang or organization. He planned to go back and question Old Marico first.
Since the Black Robe Wizard had accomplices, if he didn't return for a long time, his accomplices would surely come looking for him.
He shivered involuntarily, immediately not daring to linger in this place any longer.
Dago tore off the badge pendant, put it away, and quickly cleaned up the scene, indiscriminately damaging the environment with Air Bullets.
This way, there would be very few traces of him that could be collected at the scene.
Dago ran swiftly through the jungle, fearing that some Black Robe Wizard was chasing him.
He randomly took winding paths, hiding his true destination. During this time, he didn't dare to use sorcery, afraid of being tracked by enemies using detection-type sorcery.
To cover his scent, Dago even went to the small lake where he used to cultivate and had a thorough wash.
"Splash!" On the calm lake surface, a naked figure emerged from the water.
This was a slender young man with fair skin, blue eyes, and wet black hair draped over his shoulders, elegant and handsome.
Dago shook the water droplets from his hair, then walked step by step onto the grass by the lake.
His clothes, still wet hunting attire, hung on the branches of a large tree.
"They shouldn't be able to track me now, right?" Dago put on his wet hunting attire and murmured.
Picking up the cloth bag and machete from the ground, Dago set off for Old Marico's treehouse.
By the time Dago arrived, it was already five in the afternoon.
Old Marico was currently sitting on the treehouse platform, meditating with his eyes closed.
"Wizard Marico," Dago called out to him.
"Apprentice Dago, why were you gone for so long? I was about to go to my old friend's cave to look for you."
Old Marico opened his eyes, slid down from the treehouse platform, and asked Dago with concern.
"The situation is very bad. Your old friend might have been killed by a Black Robe Wizard, and I also had a battle with him."
Dago said while pulling out the Black Robe Wizard's badge from his cloth bag and handing it to Old Marico.
"Dark Blood Council," Old Marico took the badge, examined it for a moment, then returned it to Dago, his pupils suddenly contracting as he murmured.
The name of that organization was like a poisoned icicle, carrying a bloody scent when spoken.
"What kind of organization is this?" Dago saw Old Marico's expression and also became nervous.
Dago had killed one of their members, so this feud was definitely established.
"They are a notorious Black Robe terrorist organization from the Dark Crystal Highlands, composed of a group of perverted lunatics whose favorite thing is to mix Dark Crystal powder with human blood and drink it."
Old Marico said, his face ashen, as if facing a formidable enemy.
"Then what should we do?" Dago said after a long silence.
"Dago, tomorrow you take the badge to the Academy and deliver the intelligence: members of the Dark Blood Council are already active in the forest outside the Town."
Old Marico analyzed calmly.
"Okay, I will set off for the Academy tomorrow morning to deliver this intelligence," Dago accepted the task.
"As for me, I'll spread this intelligence throughout the forest first. Those who live in the forest are all unfortunate people; there's no need for them to die here for nothing."
"It's very dangerous to be active in the forest at this critical juncture."
"Dago, there's no 'but'. Just wish me good luck. I've survived several Wizarding Wars."
Seeing that Old Marico had made up his mind, Dago didn't try to persuade him further, simply telling him to be careful.
Afterward, the two discussed and analyzed the direction of this war, then returned to rest, each with their own thoughts.
The first thing Dago did when he returned to the Shelter was to change out of his wet hunting attire. He lit a bonfire in the open space outside the Shelter to dry his clothes and warm his body.
He sat by the fire, staring blankly at the fat dripping from the skewered crocodile beast meat as it roasted.
Many things had happened today, especially his first time killing someone. This event would be a turning point in his life, remembered forever.
Secondly, the Dark Blood Council. He had to be prepared at all times to face their retaliation.
Although he had covered up the traces of the killing, in this extraordinary world, no amount of caution was too much.
Thirdly, there was something that both he and Old Marico implicitly acknowledged but didn't mention.
Old Marico had miscalculated; the enemy came too quickly, not giving them any time to react.
However, this was also normal. This time, the enemy was the Wizarding World's terrorist organization, the Dark Blood Council.
And there was an even more terrifying thing: these Apprentice Wizards living in the forest were very likely to become pawns.
Pawns to be consumed by the Dark Blood Council, one by one.
Today, Old Marico's friend was attacked by the Dark Blood Council; tomorrow, it could be any one of them.
Yet, the Academy had never informed them that the Dark Blood Council would be the one attacking this time.
Those who lived in the forest were the dregs of the Wizarding World. Who would care if they could see the sunrise tomorrow?
"Tomorrow, I'll put this matter on the table and discuss it with the people from the Academy," Dago said fiercely.
"But it's still the same saying: friends are met with good wine, enemies are met with guns."
With his mind preoccupied, Dago still didn't neglect his cultivation and skill progression. After eating the beast meat, he entered cultivation mode.
......
The next morning, Dago walked out of the Shelter, yawning, dressed in a brand new Level 3 Apprentice Wizard robe.
Confused thoughts and guarding the perimeter of the Shelter at night had prevented him from sleeping well last night, experiencing his first insomnia in the Wizarding World.
Yesterday, the Shadow Leopard skin had already been sewn into the inner layer of his Level 3 Apprentice Wizard robe, providing him warmth on the cold autumn morning.
Now, with the progress of Resonance Art, the area of his body he could cover with ice elements was growing larger and larger.
At this moment, his entire arm was completely whitened by the dormant ice elements intercepted by Resonance Art, much like the 'White Hand' character from the 'Poisoned Milk Powder' game in his previous life.
He discovered a clever use for Resonance Art: by activating the ice elements covering his arm with spiritual power, he could form an ice armor on his arm for a short time, and it wouldn't cause self-injury.
As for the protective effect of the ice armor, Dago was still unsure and needed to verify it in actual combat.
Resonance Art could not only assist in the release of his Ice Crystal Cannon but also serve to protect his physical body.
"It seems I still underestimated the forbidden technique of Emerald Life. I haven't progressed and developed it properly; I must practice harder," Dago thought to himself.
He also figured out the function of the rune ring he obtained yesterday: an energy particle shield, which was the shield that blocked Dago's Air Bullet yesterday.
This was an essential skill for every Wizard in the Wizarding World, even forming a large category: "Protection-type."
A Wizard who couldn't cast a shield wasn't a qualified Wizard.
Dago only needed to activate the runes in the ring with his spiritual power to form a transparent barrier two meters around him.
The strength of the transparent barrier depended on the rank of the runes in the equipment. Unfortunately, Dago's protective ring was only a low-rank rune.
Dago had tested it with Ice Crystal Technique. The protective ring could provide enough energy to block low-level spells three times a day.
So, that meant that as long as you had money and were covered in rings, you were basically invincible during the apprentice period.
However, the prerequisite was to have enough spiritual power to activate and use the runes.
And you also had to be very rich. Dago had seen at the rune equipment stalls in Academy Square that a low-rank rune equipment cost around dozens of low-level magic stones.
Dago put the protective ring on his left index finger and looked at it with satisfaction. Now, the shortcoming in his defensive capabilities had been significantly supplemented.
Currently, his combat ability among Level 3 Apprentice Wizards was quite formidable; most Level 3 Apprentice Wizards were no match for him.
As for the level of Formal Wizard, only the Dean of Aynak Wizarding Academy was a Formal Wizard...
People of that level were usually like mayors in his previous life or leaders of a dominant faction.
Most of the Mentors at Aynak Wizarding Academy were Half-step Formal Witches, and Mentor Rosalind was also at this stage.
This small step in Wizarding's transcendence was a huge step in life.
Little did he know that this small step had almost taken Old Marico's entire life; it was too difficult, too difficult.
So difficult that Old Marico had already shattered his illusions and accepted reality.
These matters were still too far away for him. Dago slung his pack over his back and set off for Aynak Wizarding Academy.
At eight in the morning, Dago first arrived at the newly opened bakery in the Town and bought two loaves of bread to make do for breakfast.
The bakery owner was very fat, weighing about 230 to 240 pounds, and possessed very skilled bread-making craftsmanship.
The surrounding Town residents were all his loyal customers, and the main product sold here was whole wheat bread.
Most of the villagers from the surrounding areas who had recently poured into the Town would come here to buy bread, mainly because it was cheap.
Amidst the bustling crowd, Dago finally got his bread. A single penny could buy a loaf of bread.
This kind of transaction didn't require his low-level magic stone. One magic stone particle had the purchasing power of about ten pennies.
So, the bag of flour bought with one magic stone particle back then was a scam by that fat woman.
Pennies were used to buy daily necessities like bread, vegetables, and firewood, and were the most common currency among the lower classes.
Dago left the fat owner's bakery, took a bite of the bread, and found it dry and hard.
There was a lot of wheat bran inside the bread.
No wonder it was popular among the poor people of the Town; it could better fill their stomachs and keep them from getting hungry more easily.
The poor people of the Town didn't care what they put in their stomachs; they only cared how long it would keep them from being hungry.
This was the war of the Wizarding World; a war of a small group of people dragged a large number of others down with them.
Dago shook his head and ate the entire loaf of bread.