Jihan and Esme are now full of wounds and exhausted from continuously fighting the two hooded individuals. Jihan doubted if the two hooded individuals are actually some sort of reanimated dead, and his doubts were proven true.
At first, Jihan avoided using moves that could kill a person, but then he started using when he noticed that his previous attacks are ineffective. The moment he used a move that could break the ribs of his opponent, he could not feel resistance as if there are no bones to begin with.
"We have been fighting reanimated dead bodies this whole time. No wonder those two do not get tired despite how many times we attacked them. That guy over there must be necromancer." Jihan stated as he defended himself from the reanimated dead that is attacking him.
"Necromancer is a very western and low-class way of defining my great magic. We are called Scribes and have been for the past millennia." The Scribe stated as he pulled out a scroll and activated the magic that is written on it.
The magic written on the scroll is none other than a spell that will turn the skin of the reanimated dead into steel. It seems that the Scribe is now trying to kill Jihan and Esme, but he suddenly sensed something wrong. The Scribe suddenly felt two of its reanimated dead warriors become mud as it felt a heavy sensation.
When the Scribe seemed distracted, Esme used the chance to send the small dagger she hid on her pocket flying towards the Scribe. Since Jihan said that magic activates if there is a conduit, she figured that eliminating the Scribe will solve all their problems.
The reanimated dead attacking Jihan saw this and immediately blocked the dagger using its body. Esme tried to retrieve the dagger but the reanimated dead attacking her started to strike at her faster. She needed to concentrate on defending or her head might get cut off.
A loud sound like that of glass breaking suddenly rang all throughout the room. The Scribe suddenly started to panic as the barrier broke and that means his preys could now escape. He has been tasked to get the token given to the two foreigners or else it is his head that would be offered.
"They are here." Jihan stated as he breathes a sigh of relief.
"Took them long enough." Esme stated as she controlled the reanimated dead using her powers and shoved it down the open window.
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"Are all artifacts that fragile?" Dustan asked as he easily broke the golden beetle.
"Nope. It is probably just a copy that has been imbued with its powers. Even the most normal artifact should be as hard as a diamond. Trust me, I have seen one in action, and it is very frustrating to destroy." Adrian stated as he opened the door to Jihan and Esme's room.
The drenched Adrian and Dustan greeted Jihan and Esme with two hooded individuals also in the room. The moment Adrian entered the room, the Scribe suddenly exclaimed what he is.
"An empath! If I abduct you then failing would not be as bad." The Scribe stated as it took out an ominous scroll that reeked of dark magic.
The Scribe activated the scroll and dark chains came out of it that launched themselves towards Adrian. Dustan tried to control the chains, but it is not made of metal but magic. Adrian has no time to dodge as he did not expect to suddenly become targeted.
When the dark chains are about to bind Adrian, a magic circle with hieroglyphs suddenly appeared below Adrian's feet for a quarter of a second that created a thin barrier around him. When the dark chains are about to hit Adrian's body, the thin film like barrier collided with the dark chains and cancelled the latter.
The Scribe that is coming towards Adrian to grab him after the chains bound him suddenly got shocked. The Scribe did not expect the magic that he is so proud of become dissolved so easily. Dustan used this chance to hit the Scribe in the stomach with his steel bar.
The Scribe wailed in pain as his some of his ribs might have been broken. The reanimated dead that is attacking Jihan suddenly stopped as the Scribe lost focus and directed all his magic to heal himself. Adrian saw the magic circle that enveloped him, but he did not create that as he has yet to collect mana from the surroundings.
"Hurry and see his memories. He seemed to be looking for the trinket that a creepy old man gave us." Esme shouted as she wanted to know why this man wanted the trinket.
Adrian got woken up from his deep thought and immediately did what Esme shouted. Dustan used his steel staff to bind the Scribe and Esme added another layer by using the blanket. Adrian immediately touched the Scribes head and dove deep into the memories of their assailant.
Adrian passed by a couple of images of memories until he saw the Scribe's most recent memory. Adrian is about to unlock the memories that the Scribe is trying to bury in his head when he suddenly saw the mindscape (the place inside the mind) shake.
"He is dying!" Adrian thought as he started to forcefully open the memories of the Scribe.
"Got it!" Adrian muttered in the mindscape as he entered the door of the subconscious.
"Too late." A man in red suddenly stated as Adrian's mind projection got ejected from the Scribe's mindscape.
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"Huah!" Adrian gasped for air as it is not an exciting time being ejected so suddenly from someone else's mind. It felt like he got ejected from a roller coaster going in full speed.
"What happened?" Dustan asked as he then saw the Scribe go in seizure as blood started to come out from his orifices.
"Did you kill him?" Jihan asked as he remembered that Adrian is not yet fully in control of his powers.
"It was not me. It was someone else. Even I almost died." Adrian stated as he heavily breathed in and out.