brother wolf

Standing in the ruins, Ignatius saw only broken walls and ruins, desolation everywhere.This is the first ruin that he found during his long travels that has traces of magic.

He didn't expect to find any clues in this land that had been burned by the fire, but he just cast a simple spell on the ruins to find the magic breath in the hope of just in case.

This time, the spell did not disappear silently as before, but responded quickly.

He ran excitedly, but tripped over a rock under his feet. Harrick, who had been closely behind him, supported him. When he stood still, he immediately shook off Harrick's hand without even looking at him. , continue to run in that direction.

The responding site was a granite platform, which was blackened by fire. Regardless of the dirt, Ignatius fumbled on the platform for a while. After a while, he finally found the switch and put his palm on it. The magic power of the whole body rushed there crazily, the platform made a "creaking" sound that made the ears sour, and a dark passage appeared there.

The secret room, which has been closed for more than 300 years, finally ushered in a long-lost visitor.

Ignatius refused to follow Herik, and went down with some black bread and water.

A whole month later, he came out of the ground with a haggard face and a tired body, fell on Harrick who had been waiting at the entrance of the passage, and passed out.

After coming out of that secret room, Ignatius became even more taciturn. He quickly ended his long-term travel life and returned to his suburban villa in Saint Rocco. Those books covered with a thick layer of dust.

One day, when he came out of the basement in a daze, the warm sunshine made him decide to stay in the garden for a while. He stood by the pool and looked at the reflection on the water.

The man in the water was less than 30 years old, but he was as old as a man in his early forties. He touched his temples, where strands of silver had already appeared, time was running out, he sighed silently, the distant As if it came from the other side of time.

The next day, he brought back a pale and thin little boy from the city of St. Roch. The little boy called him a teacher and began to learn from him. Occasionally, Ignatius would teach him some knowledge about magic, but he did not Not keen.

This child has an extremely prominent family background, and he worships his profound teacher-mysterious and seemingly omnipotent.

Even an indifferent person like Ignatius couldn't help but be moved by such a naive and enthusiastic gaze. He unconsciously avoided the child's sight, because his purpose of approaching Lance was not pure.

If it is true that the disappearance of magic is related to the Ross Empire as stated in the manuscript preserved in the ruins, then he must find out about it.

The founder of the Ross Empire, Ort I, was a powerful dictator who did not allow anyone to interfere or share his power. There were many conflicts between him and the unfettered Mages Guild who lived in seclusion above all living beings.

When the Mage Guild was still needed, Ort I hid this killing intent, but he never really intended to share power with these disgusting, self-important mages and sit on an equal footing.Once he became stronger, he tried every means to eliminate those mages who did not submit to his majesty, and the mages were not monolithic, and he found an ally within the mages' guild.

Betrayal may only be for a small reason.

This reason even made people who later studied this period of history laugh.

No one can guess how all this happened. By the time the mages came back to their senses, the source of magic had disappeared without a trace, just like the meaning of the "holy tree" to the elves. Disappearance means that the magicians have lost their source of magic power. Overnight, they found that they could no longer use spells as they wished. Not long after, they found even more panicked that the number of apprentices with magical potential was rapidly decreasing.

When they were in a mess, the army of Ort I had already approached the city. He sent eagles and dogs to kill the magicians who were hiding everywhere, burned those magic buildings, lost their powerful strength, and only had weak bodies. Like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, there is no way to fight back.

After all, magicians are a group of extremely smart and wise people. Under extremely difficult circumstances, they preserved the fire of magic, found out the truth behind some things, and left guidance for future magicians.

This is how the inheritors appeared.

Every generation must have a person who is chosen to become the inheritor, who is responsible for passing on the magic and finding the "source of magic". Considering the disappearance of the "source of magic", there will be more and more people with magical talents. It is rare, so those magicians who thought hard came up with a kind of life magic, at the cost of the caster's life, they transferred their own magic power to the selected inheritors who did not have magic talent.

The inheritor must complete the mission of inheritance. The longer he delays, the more pain and torture he will suffer. His life is consumed rapidly, but he cannot end his own life. Even if he tries his best to die, his soul will never be freed.

Eternal hell is nothing more than that.

When Ignatius first learned about it from his teacher, he felt that it was not an inheritance but a curse.

When he turned 30 years old that morning, he felt the power of this curse for the first time. The bone-eating pain all over his body was like being bitten by ants, which made even a person with his endurance roll on the ground in pain.

It hurts so much!It hurts so much!It hurts so much!

He grabbed his hair and hit the wall. Harik, who was standing by his side, hugged him tightly to stop his self-abuse behavior. He angrily bit Harrick's shoulder, bleeding.

Eventually, he passed out from the pain.

When he woke up from the coma, Harrick stood beside him. There was a hideous wound on his bare shoulder, and the bones were visible. He propped himself up tiredly, and said softly, "Leave."

Harrick knelt beside the bed, "Please let me follow you, master."

Ignatius said wearily: "This kind of thing will happen often in the future, maybe you will be killed by me who is crazy."

He lowered his head, unconsciously grasping the quilt covering his body with his pale hands.

Suddenly he felt a warmth in his hand, and looked up in surprise, only to see that it was Haric who boldly stretched out his hand to cover his.

Harrick's hands had thick calluses, thick and full of strength.

He looked at his master firmly, and said firmly, "Even so, I want to follow you, because—" He didn't go on, just looked at Ignatius with fiery eyes.

"Ha." Ignatius covered his eyes with his hands as if he couldn't bear it, sighed softly, and stopped mentioning this matter.

Time is like running water, nearly ten years have passed in an instant, and the attacks have become more frequent, let him know that the time left for him may not be much anymore.

His plan went smoothly, however, as time passed, he found that Lance was not a suitable carrier, he was too weak and gentle, like a flower in a greenhouse, unable to withstand a little wind and rain, He couldn't help but start to wonder, if he was allowed to become an inheritor, would he be able to bear this kind of pain and pressure?Moreover, he has no interest in politics at all, and he does not meet his requirements for entering the core power of the Ross Empire.

He hesitated.

At this time, Lance kept talking to him about what he saw in the Colosseum for many days, the two wolves and the wolf pack they led, "They look like an army!" He was Such an evaluation, which made him who was not very interested in these things, he went to watch a beast show with Lance. An indistinguishable magical aura.

He remembered that in the basement, there was an entire wall of books about how to turn animals with magical talents into humans, so as to continue the magical world. He thought that maybe he could try it too.

Ignatius rescued those wolves, and by the way, he also got an unexpected joy. It turns out that the animals with magic aura are not only the silver wolf, but also the lion.

He turned them into humans, but he was disappointed. Although the transformation magic was successful, the two animals that became humans lost their magical aura, and they became ordinary humans.

He was not particularly disappointed. He had been trying and searching for a long time, and he was used to all kinds of disappointments.

He watched the two human beings who had not yet broken away from their animal nature landed on all fours, roaring, and charged into the cage. There was undisguised hatred and anger in their eyes, tyrannical and bloodthirsty. According to the information provided in those books, he would soon have made a second plan.

He made a pact with these two beasts that they would help him find the "source of magic" and a precious material only available in the royal family of Rose, and he would use these to turn the other white wolf into a human.

Through secretly observing them these days, he easily concluded that it is very simple to control these two beasts, as long as he can control the white wolf, that is their only weakness.

These two beasts are indeed as recorded in those books: all beasts with magical aura that are transformed into humans usually have excellent abilities, and within a short period of time, they begin to get used to human life and have a strong learning ability. Ability and a high degree of ingenuity.

With them assisting Lance, the possibility of his plan's success is extremely high.

Things developed as he expected, and the two beasts lived up to his expectations, and even achieved success beyond his expectations.

With their support, Lance has finally begun to approach the core of power, and is even expected to marry the princess of the empire and become the future heir of the empire.

Cloaked in black, he watched from the shadow of the Empire.

Under constant bargaining and increasing pressure from the outside world, Princess Lodia finally agreed to violate the taboo handed down by the royal family, and exchanged that secret for Lance's support.

Ignatius finally got what his predecessors had been madly looking for, but—

He held the dark orb in his palm, and it was too late, the "source of magic" was about to dissipate, and he could feel its whine.

The long-standing expectations and deep-rooted obsessions collapsed at this moment.

He wasn't particularly sad or hopeless, he just felt empty, yes, empty, as if his body and mind had been completely hollowed out, so light that even a sigh seemed unnecessary.

Let it all end in his hands, thought Ignatius.

He decided to use this "source of magic" with some remaining magic power to break the magic spell inherited from blood and magic power.

He chose the white wolf as the carrier, on the one hand to fulfill his promise, and on the other hand, because his magic power is not enough to directly invalidate the magic of "Inheritor", but he must find a carrier.

Ignatius looked at Haric, who stood in his way, and he looked at himself with painful and eager eyes, as if he knew the adventure he was about to take-at the cost of his life.

"Harrick, don't stop me," he said softly.

Harrick knelt at his feet, looked up at him in pain, "No, I can't do it, master, I beg you, don't do it."

Ignatius was silent for a moment.

At that time, the burning pain from time to time was almost unbearable for him, and he was full of fear for the future every moment. He didn't know when the pain would suddenly fall on him. He had had enough and endured it. , he longed for peace and rest.

He held out his hand hesitantly, and for the first time took the initiative to put his hand on Harik's head. His hair was hard and a little prickly, but warm.

"Harrick, I'm tired," he said in a barely audible voice.

Harrick stood up slowly, and he put down his hand, but was caught by Harrick's hand, holding it tightly, with a dull pain.

"Then let me follow you wherever you are," said Harrick firmly.

"Not this time." Ignatius shook his head. "Where I am going, you cannot follow. That is the place of eternity."

Harrick put his hand on his chest, and Ignatius' pale and thin fingers could clearly feel his strong heartbeat, "Don't you understand my heart? No matter where it is, no matter where it is!" He emphasized He said, "Whether it's the place of eternity or any other place, my heart has nowhere to go. Only where you are is its destination."

Ignatius' fingertips were slightly red.

He retracted his hands and stuffed them into his sleeves, "No, Harrick, you still have something to do. After that, if you still decide to follow me, then—"

Harrick stared at him silently for a moment, "Everything is according to the master's order", he bowed his head and said respectfully.

"Come on." Ignatius slid silently across the marble floor, Herrick following closely behind him.

He looked at the white wolf struggling in the formation. It was a wild yet elegant and beautiful creature. It raised its head and roared silently. This was not the first time Ignatius saw the transformation scene , but just as shocking.

He looked at it with pity, it was the last victim, maybe it would hate itself, gave it a human body, but deprived it of its future.

What he'd left him might help it, and hopefully it's smart enough to figure those things out.

Ignatius sighed slightly in his heart, and slowly walked towards the center of the formation, reciting the incantations passed down from ancient times. When he was engulfed by the halo, he finally couldn't help turning his head and looking at the Those who silently followed behind him.

There was a smile on his old and haggard face. In this painful and long life, there was still one person who made him understand some things, such as feelings, such as staying together, such as everything.