Chapter 41 – Abandoned and Forgotten

The Elemental Spirit emerged from the distant vortex, swimming over before finally hovering in front of Lin Wei.

Having mostly recovered his mental and soul power, Lin Wei summoned the Unicorn once again. It cast a light-based spell, and a soft glow fell, illuminating the area where the two of them stood.

After staring into a pair of small, pitch-black beady eyes for a long time, he sincerely commented, “It’s really ugly.”

Well—among earth-element magical creatures, there are only a handful that can be considered good-looking. An earth-elemental spirit, by nature, couldn’t possibly have the beautiful appearance of the legendary elf race, even if its name also contained the word “spirit.”

Contrary to its immense power to control the entire swamp, this little thing was only slightly larger than a fist, with skin the color of light gray—the shade of the most common stone. Its body resembled that of a human—it had arms and legs, if barely, with a round head adorned with two pitch-black eyes and no whites—if one ignored the skin color, its chubby body and round eyes gave it a somewhat cunning cuteness.

Since they had formed a master-servant contract and it would be summoned frequently in the future, Lin Wei needed to give it a name—just like the Abel Vine was named Abel, and his dragon from his past life was named Sandra.

“Jerald—how about this name?”

Lin Wei poked the Elemental Spirit’s body, feeling a cool softness.

Of course, even if the Elemental Spirit disagreed, it had no choice. The moment Lin Wei spoke the name, it was firmly tied to the contract.

The emotions conveyed through their soul connection weren’t too bad. The spirit acknowledged the name.

Elemental Spirits are a type of magical creature nurtured by dense elemental energy, and their ability to manipulate elements is undoubtedly formidable.

However, the Withered Wood Forest currently had sparse elemental energy, making it impossible for a spirit to be born here.

So, this place must have once been rich with magical elements?

Jerald’s soul strength was far superior to that of the Arcane Eagle, a mid-tier magical creature that could only maintain intermittent soul communication. Thus, it was capable of prolonged soul communication with Lin Wei.

Lin Wei hadn’t forgotten the original purpose of forming the contract—not only would it provide reliable defense in future battles, but it would also help them understand this sunless, eerie place, possibly aiding them in finding a way out.

The soul communication raced through the unseen world, with memories from the Elemental Spirit transforming into streaks of light that flashed through Lin Wei’s mind.

The memories and information carried by the light were numerous and chaotic, likely due to the spirit’s long lifespan.

In its memories, Lin Wei saw many scenes—peaceful at first, then increasingly sinister and terrifying, before finally settling into silence.

Lin Wei exhaled deeply. “I know why there’s no magical element here—we won’t see a trace of it until we leave the barrier.”

From Jerald’s memories, it was clear that this place was indeed the sealed Death Swamp, the stronghold of the dark mage faction from legend.

The elemental concentration here was once extremely dense, with dark elements being the majority, but other elements were also abundant—otherwise, Jerald couldn’t have been born.

Jerald’s birth likely occurred before the Dark Age, but the process of nurturing an Elemental Spirit is lengthy. In the beginning, it only had a faint consciousness, so the period before the sealing only flashed briefly in its memory.

“This place is bound by a magic barrier, so it can’t absorb elemental energy from the outside, and the elements that were originally in the Death Swamp…”

The elements here were once dense, and the inevitable result of such density was—it attracted and nurtured many magical creatures and beasts to thrive here.

After all, magical elements can be absorbed by magical creatures into their bodies.

Thus, from the moment the Dark Age ended and the seal was cast, the magical elements here began to deplete continuously!

No matter how dense the elements were, they couldn’t withstand thousands of years—in fact, the original elemental concentration dropped to an unimaginably low level within just three to four hundred years.

What followed was a period of competition and slaughter… The instincts of magical beasts made them aware of the benefits of magic crystals. In the face of sparse elemental energy, the beasts began to kill each other—those who could obtain more magical elements had the chance to advance, and advancement meant longer life, greater strength, and the ability to continue surviving in this abandoned place!

This brutal period lasted for many years: biting, fighting, blood and bones, shattered magic crystals releasing enticing magical energy, greedily absorbed by the victors…

This was a scenario that had never occurred on the continent, nor had anyone imagined it, because although elemental concentrations varied across the continent, they were always sufficient to meet the natural advancement needs of magical creatures.

Finally, the slaughter ceased, simply because there was nothing left to kill.

The weaker magical creatures had long since disappeared, and those that survived were all imbued with unimaginably dense magical power, possessing incredibly formidable strength. They coveted each other but were also wary, leading to a stalemate. The Death Swamp fell into silence.

Many more years passed, and they hid in this sunless place, concealing all traces of their presence, guarding, spying, waiting. Occasionally, battles would still occur, with the loser losing their life, their pure elemental energy dissipating and being absorbed by the victor within moments. When both sides were injured, the elemental fluctuations would attract others…

This state of affairs continued until now.

Over the long years, no one knew if those powerful magical beasts were still alive, if they were still wide-eyed, their sharp ears pricked, waiting for prey that could bring them magical energy.

After recounting everything he had seen in Jerald’s memories, Lin Wei couldn’t help but glance at the Withered Wood Forest surrounding them, recalling the empty spaces he had seen through the Arcane Eagle’s eyes, veiled in mist.

Beyond the Withered Wood Forest, in the seemingly lifeless silence, who knew how many pairs of dangerous eyes lurked, watching with ill intent through the hazy mist.

He felt a vague sense of oppression, as if he were already being scrutinized by powerful enemies, his back chilling—he couldn’t help but move closer to Duan Yu.

“Falling into this place, rather than somewhere else, can almost be considered a blessing from the Goddess of Fortune!” Lin Wei lifted the Elemental Spirit by the back of its neck, examining it. “This little thing managed to survive by hiding itself very well with its elemental control, though its attack power isn’t much to speak of… It only attacked us today because it sensed living creatures passing through its territory, and our strength seemed inferior to ‘those things’—and it got caught.”

“What about the dark elements?”

“I didn’t notice that, wait…” Lin Wei searched through Jerald’s memories again, revisiting the period of intense slaughter among the magical beasts, then said with confusion, “Wind, water, fire… huh, I didn’t see any dark elements.”

The records were very clear—the light mages, representing light and justice, sealed all things related to dark magic, including dark elements, into the Death Swamp, isolating it from the continent with a powerful barrier, completely abandoning this “evil place.”

“It seems like there was another type of element in the earliest memories,” Lin Wei shook the Elemental Spirit in his hand, urging it to recall—but the little thing bit his hand fiercely. He could only say helplessly, “Its consciousness wasn’t fully formed back then, so it really can’t remember—maybe the historical records are just stories, and there were never any dark elements…”

“Perhaps,” Duan Yu responded indifferently, “but the Death Swamp was indeed sealed.”

“Let’s not dwell on history that might not even be true—the spirit’s memories are the most reliable, the contract doesn’t lie,” Lin Wei said. “The Death Swamp is home to countless powerful magical beasts that have lived for thousands of years. This place is far more dangerous than we initially thought.”

Leaving the Death Swamp wasn’t something that could be achieved by staying in the Withered Wood Forest.

The moment the thought of leaving the Death Swamp crossed his mind, a surge of emotion came through the contract—Jerald was actually very eager, clearly tired of the lifeless days here and longing to be taken out. It rubbed the bite mark it had left on Lin Wei’s hand—fawningly asking for its master’s forgiveness!

“Hmph,” Lin Wei looked at Jerald’s actions. “It really is clever.”

“Then,” Duan Yu said, “is this the only safe place now?”

“Exactly, Jerald can control a large area of the swamp, and it’s certain there are no magical beasts within this range,” Lin Wei replied.

“We can stop here for now, and you can start studying the Book of Contracts,” Duan Yu said calmly. “If you don’t mind sparring with me every day—with Jerald… I can attempt to advance. After that, we can leave this place.”

“Advance?” Lin Wei asked. “So soon?”

“It won’t take long.”

“That’s great…” Even if the outside was unimaginably dangerous, if Duan Yu became a High Mage, their chances of survival would undoubtedly increase significantly.

Moreover, becoming a High Mage also meant that Duan Yu’s eyes could be restored?

Lin Wei felt his heart beating a little faster.

Those eyes—dangerous, cold—no matter how much time passed, they were still vividly imprinted in his memory.

“A High Mage… then you’ll truly be able to see,” Lin Wei said softly. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Duan Yu turned toward Lin Wei, his features softened by the light of the light-based spell. “I’m looking forward to it too.”

“It’s still a bit of a pity,” Lin Wei glanced at their surroundings. “The first world you’ll see is this swamp. It’s far less beautiful than the outside.”

A faint smile appeared on Duan Yu’s face, making it hard for Lin Wei to look away.

He said slowly, “It doesn’t matter.”