The night in Santa Fe was shrouded in thick fog. Two cloaked figures walked step by step into the fog and left the dark alley.
Soon after, they reappeared in the eastern suburbs of Santa Fe, which is also the most chaotic area in Santa Fe.
As a city under the jurisdiction of the Temple of Light, and an independent city where the temple is located, Saint Fe should theoretically be completely quiet and peaceful, like a secluded paradise.
Instead of sending the Holy Knights to suppress the eastern suburbs with swift and decisive action, the temple allowed outsiders, adventurers, and mercenaries to stay there temporarily, letting evil fester and grow, almost like raising a venomous insect.
"You can stay here for now."
Maggie took off her hood and pointed to the slightly dilapidated wooden house in front of her, speaking to Perkin Xavier.
This is the most inconspicuous and poorest area in the eastern suburbs. You can rent this house for ten silver coins for a whole year. No one with ulterior motives would come here to cause trouble. There's not much profit to be made here.
Of course, that's only relatively speaking, since this is the most dangerous eastern suburb.
In Maggie's opinion, even if there were any fools out there, Xavier could take care of them quietly.
"..."
The boy raised his head, his light green beast eyes, which had shrunk to needle-like shapes due to vigilance, showed no sign of relaxing as he stared straight at Maggie, exuding a chilling aura of danger.
He looked more like a venomous snake about to be hunted than a slave being controlled by others.
"You can't disobey my orders. Don't try to escape. Your slave contract is still in my hands. You'll suffer if you try to run away."
Maggie casually waved the enchanted scroll in front of him, her playful tone full of threat.
With the slave contract in place, if a slave has any thought of disobeying his master's wishes, he will suffer the pain of being devoured by a thousand ants. Ordinary slaves cannot muster any thought of resistance.
Xavier, on the other hand, was exceptionally rebellious, repeatedly disobeying orders and even killing people at the auction, which is why he was auctioned off at such a low starting price.
Even the underground auction houses that specialize in capturing and taming slaves determined that he could not be completely enslaved, so they wanted to sell him off as soon as possible.
Maggie clearly saw Xavier's eyes follow the direction in which she swayed the scroll.
This guy is probably thinking about how to snatch the scroll from her; he's really restless.
It was a blatant provocation against her.
Maggie put the scroll away, her eyes half-closed as she leaned closer to Xavier, lifting his chin with one hand and gently patting his cheek with the other—a light but highly insulting gesture.
"Behave yourself, or my methods of torturing people will be more terrifying than you can imagine."
As soon as Maggie finished speaking, Xavier suddenly convulsed and collapsed to the ground without warning.
"I told you, don't mess with me."
Maggie looked down at Xavier, who was curled up on the ground, without offering to help him up. She stared at him with a slight frown.
This girl is such a pain. Even though she explained it so clearly, she still violated the slave contract's punishment mechanism.
As Maggie was still thinking, Xavier, who was lying on the ground, somehow grabbed her wrist!
How can you still move?!
Maggie was speechless with shock; her mind was filled with exclamation marks.
"If it hurts so much, don't fight me! I just want you to kill a few people for me, and I'll let you go!"
Maggie's inner chibi-style mind was screaming wildly, but on the surface she simply coldly pulled Xavier's hand away, while silently increasing the punishment level of the enslavement magic.
Xavier was indeed not to be underestimated; his willpower was truly strong.
"The pain must be unbearable, but what good is being able to move? You can't fight back against me."
Maggie looked at Xavier coldly and said in an unfriendly tone.
To everyone's surprise, Xavier moved, slowly standing up from the ground, startling Maggie. He could actually stand up?!
She was about to take two quick steps back to get away from Xavier when she heard the boy's cold, hoarse voice.
"Okay, I'll stay here."
Maggie stopped in her backward movement.
Um?
What happened? Why did he suddenly become obedient?
Was the punishment too harsh?
Although she was still confused, it was a good thing that he was cooperating, and Maggie secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Very good, good boy."
Maggie, feigning arrogance, took a bag of gold coins from her bosom and handed it to Xavier.
"Take it. You're a slave I bought for a fortune, and I don't want you to starve to death."
Xavier didn't speak, but his eyes moved slightly, and Maggie then noticed that his constricted pupils had returned to their normal size at some point.
His gaze lingered on the purse in Maggie's hand, and it took him a long time to reach out and take it.
This action caused their fingertips to accidentally touch for a fleeting moment.
Maggie didn't notice this detail; the little voice inside her was crying her heart out.
As the eldest daughter of the Zefnia family, the original owner's food, clothing, housing and transportation were all taken care of by the Duke's mansion. She had no need to spend money on a daily basis. The Duke was also afraid that she would rebel, so he controlled the original owner's source of income. Being able to save five hundred gold coins was already the original owner's limit.
Now it's all up to Xavier; let's just hope he doesn't cause any trouble.
It really hurts to ask her to come up with that much money.
My little treasure trove, sob sob.
Xavier's hand holding the money bag froze in mid-air for a moment, and he didn't retract it for a long time.
Maggie noticed he didn't move and a look of doubt flashed in her eyes.
She leaned closer to Xavier, wanting him to take the purse back, and just then caught Xavier giving her a strange look.
"???"
Maggie felt something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
But now is not the time to dwell on this. She has been out for too long and needs to get back to the temple quickly so that the archbishop can't notice anything amiss.
Thinking of this, Maggie simply reached out and pushed the money bag to Xavier.
Here are 500 gold coins, enough for you. Please, don't go out and cause trouble, just stay here! Please!
Maggie thought this to herself, but outwardly she spoke in a cold, commanding tone.
"I don't want to repeat myself, so don't make me angry."
After saying that, Maggie was about to turn and leave when Xavier's hoarse, dry voice came from behind her again.
When will you come again?
Maggie didn't stop walking; she only left behind a single sentence before her figure completely disappeared into the thick fog.
"When I need you."
...
As the stone gate slid and closed, a small, dark figure emerged from the depths of the temple garden.
Taking advantage of the knights' changing of the guard, the shadowy figure tiptoed along the walls and bushes, finally arriving safely at the saintess's room.
"Phew! This operation was a great success!"
Maggie only had time to remove her veil and cloak before she threw herself onto the bed with a thud, her whole body almost melting into a puddle of liquid, her limbs limp and powerless.
Her ability to move smoothly through the secret passage was entirely due to the confidence of the Temple of Light, unlike other forces that set up numerous restrictive formations near the temple.
On the one hand, the temple was so powerful that it didn't care about the covetousness of those with ulterior motives; on the other hand, it was also to demonstrate the benevolence and kindness of the God of Light, allowing ordinary people to enter and leave the temple.
It's unlikely that anyone would have imagined that the Holy Maiden of Light would secretly escape from the temple.
Having narrowly escaped death, this day still involves encountering dangerous individuals.
Maggie is now exhausted, her eyelids are practically glued together.
Her upper and lower eyelids kept drooping, trying to pull her into sleep, when suddenly the noisy, fragmented discussions during the chanting of hymns flashed through her mind.
Maggie immediately sprang up from the bed, her eyes wide as saucers.
"I almost forgot the most important thing."
Maggie grabbed a handful of her hair in frustration and began to chant a hymn without hesitation.
This time, she didn't activate the Moonstone's effect, but simply used her own magic to try and find out what was causing it.
To Maggie's surprise, as she chanted, the magic power in her body did not decrease at all; instead, external magic power flowed into her body like an endless stream.
If it weren't for the limitations imposed by her magic level, theoretically she could unleash a vast range of healing light using external magic.
Even though Maggie hasn't become a formal magician yet, she already possesses basic magical knowledge.
The idea that magic is released not from one's own magical power, but from elemental magic in the environment, is utterly counterintuitive.
But isn't this pattern of magical operation exactly what she encountered during her pilgrimage to the saints?!
Before long, Maggie noticed that the strange lights had reappeared in the room, along with...
Several small humanoid figures that looked very much like fairies, but they did not have thin wings on their backs, and their bodies were pure white, as if... they were beings made of light elements.
The little ones huddled together, whispering and pointing at Maggie, occasionally offering their opinions on her.
“Something’s not right. I’m pretty sure she’s using our power.”
"With such poor magical talent, how could they detect our presence?"
Maggie's face darkened; she felt that these people who resembled elves were mocking her.
She stared intently at them and tentatively reached out to try and catch one.
Maggie didn't have high hopes either; magical elements are untouchable, and these little guys didn't seem to have any physical form.
Just as Maggie expected, they didn't even try to avoid her, acting as if they couldn't be bothered with her.
Maggie slowly closed her five fingers, and the next second she felt a soft and warm object in her hand.
She subconsciously squeezed the little thing in her hand, and it felt surprisingly good, like some kind of squishy toy.
A few seconds of eerie silence followed, then several screams suddenly erupted in the room. Maggie felt as if her eardrums had burst at that moment.
"Aaaaaaahh ...
"It's over! Humans, these demons, no longer believe in gods!!!"
The little guy in Maggie's arms started putting on a melodramatic show, leaving Maggie speechless; she hadn't even done anything yet.
"I'm going to become an enslaved elemental spirit! Run!"
Maggie felt her head buzzing. She didn't want to threaten these unknown beings, but she simply couldn't take it anymore.
She turned her head and looked at them with a forced smile, her tone completely flat.
"If you keep making noise, I'll kill you red bean paste."
The room fell completely silent in an instant.
At the same time, as the chanting of the sacred prayers was interrupted, the healing light gradually went out, the light spots disappeared, and the room returned to its original state.
Strangely, these self-proclaimed elemental spirits did not disappear. After hearing her threat, they all fell silent, huddled together in a weak, pitiful, and helpless manner, looking at her with terrified expressions.
It made her seem like a bully who oppresses children.
"..."
Maggie hadn't expected her threat to be so effective; she immediately had some peace and quiet.
Looking down, she saw the elemental spirit in her hand staring at her with teary eyes, looking quite terrified, clearly quite frightened.
She decided to go all the way and play the bad guy to the very end.
Maggie squinted, held the elemental spirit in front of her, and spoke with a strong sense of threat.
"Answer my question honestly...or else..."
Before she could finish speaking, the elemental spirit in her hand rolled its eyes, went limp in her grasp, and she fainted on the spot from fright.
"..."
Is she really that scary?
Maggie is questioning the meaning of life.
When Maggie raised her eyes again to look at the others, one of them quickly spoke.
"Please ask!"
Maggie almost burst out laughing at those two words. So, are the creatures in the magical world also so spontaneous?
"First question, what are you?"
She suppressed the twitching corner of her mouth and asked in a pretentious manner.
"A level two elemental spirit, which is what you humans call a magician now."
One of them answered in a trembling voice.
Several scenes from the comics immediately flashed through Maggie's mind.
Magicians (elemental spirits) can help magicians quickly cast spells. The higher the level, the faster the casting speed. Magicians above level five can even achieve a near-incandescent casting effect.
Advanced mages can also enhance spells, such as increasing the power of a dust-level spell to the same level as a star-level spell, catching opponents off guard.
Furthermore, mages possess abundant magical energy reserves, essentially having a mobile magical wellspring that can provide them with massive amounts of magical power.
Even low-level mages are extremely rare, and even mages cannot possess them.
It is said that only top-tier archmages can possess such elemental creatures.
Besides, she had seen some pretty cool scenes of magicians fighting in comics.
So these guys in front of her... are they just messing with her?
Maggie fell into deep thought.
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