Chapter 6: Leena
Leena had quite the fiery temper, and that was one of the reasons that earned her the nickname of “crazy bitch” among many magical initiates.
Apart from his diligence and determination, Leena also played a significant role in shaping Sein’s progress during his time at the Black Magic Academy of Mystralora City.
When Sein first met her eight years ago, Leena was already a powerful intermediate initiate, just as she was today.
In the Black Magic Academy, junior initiates were known to barely be able to fend off the bullies, where intermediate initiates were respected as “experts” by the other initiates.
As for the senior initiates, they rarely make appearances before the other ordinary initiates.
In fact, Sein’s encounter with Liliana yesterday marked his first conversation with a senior initiate whom he had only heard about in the past.
Seeing the blood on Sein’s chest only caused Leena’s icy demeanor to grow colder.
Her anger only began to subside when Sein explained that Elrik, the one who had tried to kill him, had met his demise, and that his wound was the result of an encounter with a Giant Saltwater Crocodile.
“Why would you even confront a Giant Saltwater Crocodile? Even I would have hesitated confronting a magic beast of that size in the past,” Leena inquired with a slight frown.
In previous years, Leena had not paid much attention to Sein; he had been nothing more than a capable lab assistant in her eyes.
Their friendship evolved beyond that two years ago, and during this time, Leena began to warm up to Sein, revealing her true self beneath the icy exterior.
Sein then recounted his journey to the Giant Saltwater Crocodile’s territory in search of Starlight Grass and how he had become the apprentice of Master Morsidor, a full-fledged black mage.
Upon learning that Sein had become an apprentice to a full-fledged black mage, Leena’s icy demeanor revealed a hint of surprise and relief.
“It’s great that you’re now an apprentice, but you should have waited for me to return. At your current level, the Giant Saltwater Crocodile is not a beast you can handle on your own,” Leena said.
“There was a tight deadline to complete the quest and I was worried the Starlight Grass might have been eaten by the Giant Saltwater Crocodile or disappeared due to some other reasons. Besides, Master Morsidor might not have accepted me as his apprentice if I had obtained the Starlight Grass with your assistance,” Sein explained.
“In any case, such dangers can’t be avoided if we want to succeed in a place like Gloomhaven. I can’t rely on you forever,” he added while shaking his head.
Sein’s response visibly surprised Leena for a moment, but he did not notice the change in her expression and proceeded to inquire about her matters.
“Where have you been for the past two weeks? I was worried sick,” he muttered. Chart your course back to the origins of this substance at n0v^lbin
In response to Sein’s tone filled with care and concern, Leena’s icy demeanor melted, revealing a small smile.
It was the first time in almost two years that Sein had seen her smile. She was not smiling just because she felt loved, but there were also other reasons.
The value of autrum, the common currency of Mystralora City, had always been very stable.
Sein was not entirely sure about Leena’s financial resources, but his own savings over the years had barely exceeded twenty autrum.
Junior and intermediate initiates were typically not wealthy enough to indulge in the taste of magic creatures.
While consuming these creatures could indeed enhance one’s physical attributes, most initiates preferred to allocate their limited funds toward acquiring spellcasting ingredients or spell books.
After purchasing the Black Scaled Draconic Fish, Sein and Leena were about to leave when they encountered a group of troublesome individuals.
The person leading the group was none other than the scarred initiate, Jack, whom Sein saw standing on the city wall yesterday.
Conflicts seldom erupted in Black Street, as no initiates could afford to cause any trouble to the owners of the shops here.
Scar-Face and his group did not intend to fight with Sein and Leena either. However, a grin spread across Jack’s face when he noticed the Black Scaled Draconic Fish in Sein’s hand.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Quite the impressive purchase, Sein. I heard you took down Elrik yesterday. I wonder if you have bought that Black Scaled Draconic Fish with Elrik’s autrum,” Scar-Face Jack taunted.
Jack and his group had numbers on their side, so Sein had no intention of starting a fight with them under such circumstances.
Moreover, Jack was evidently ill-informed and remained oblivious to Sein’s recent acceptance as an apprentice to a full-fledged black mage, Master Morsidor.
Then again, Sein did not tell anyone about his apprenticeship aside from Liliana and Leena.
Considering Liliana’s esteemed status, it was no question that she would not be interested in associating with a bunch of intermediate and junior initiates.
Jack’s mockery immediately caused his group to burst into laughter.
Not all of them were his lackeys though. There were three intermediate initiates among them, each of equal status and strength to Jack.
Normally, Sein would have ignored Jack’s provocation if he were alone. After all, he was outnumbered. Besides, he had already become Master Morsidor’s apprentice. There would be plenty of opportunities to settle the score with Jack in the future.
What Sein had forgotten was the fact that he was not alone this time.
Swoosh!
A fireball, roughly the size of a basketball, suddenly shot out from Leena’s fingertip.
No one noticed when Leena had silently started her incantation until she unleashed the spell right in the middle of Black Street.
This fireball dwarfed even Sein’s Minor Fireball in size. Not only that, the flame was not crimson red but a sinister, unsettling deep blue.
“A senior initiate!” one of the people in Jack’s group exclaimed in shock, recognizing the nature of the spell.