The sky was azure—clear after the rain.

The sea breeze, with its distinctive salty tang, filled Maria’s nostrils.

At this moment, she was standing atop the Wall of Sighs, located at the northernmost edge of the Stat Continent, gazing down at the gray-blue sea beneath her feet and listening to the flapping of her wizard robes in the wind.

The Wall of Sighs was a colossal structure, two hundred meters high. From the sky, it appeared as a seamless fortress stretching endlessly, forming a right angle that tightly enclosed the northern end of the continent behind it.

The bricks, clay, and binding materials used to forge this massive wall were all rare magical components. Maintained over centuries by generations of high-ranking wizards through complex formations, the wall had withstood countless Black Tide tsunamis each year and still stood firm.

Maria was one of the patrol wizards stationed on the Wall of Sighs, responsible for regularly inspecting the state of the wall in preparation for the annual Black Tide.

The Black Tide brought pollution with it. After every wave, wraiths, monsters, and even injured or mentally unstable wizards would sometimes mutate due to the contamination.

Thus, Maria had another task—periodically visiting the wizard stationed in towers beyond the Wall of Sighs to assess their condition and ensure no one had quietly undergone pollution and might, in turn, aid the Black Tide when it came.

Today, Maria was scheduled to visit a Third Rank wizard named Gorsa.

Although Maria herself was also a Third Rank wizard, she had no prominent family like the Glare family behind her. And from what she’d heard, Gorsa’s strength ranked among the very top within the Glare family.

The only issue was his eccentric personality. Despite mastering short-range teleportation, he couldn’t even be bothered to visit the wizard towers next door.

Not only did he choose one of the towers furthest from the Wall of Sighs upon arrival, but for the past few months since arriving at the Sighing Sea, he hadn’t been seen stepping outside.

Whenever the status of each wizard tower was checked from within the wall, the light indicator on Gorsa’s tower always showed white—occupied.

Today was no exception.

“Maria.” Another patrol wizard, Solot, arrived. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

He was a wizard from a prominent family on the Nephret Continent, and Maria was careful not to offend him. She smiled and said, “No worries. I was just taking a moment to enjoy the sea view.”

Solot turned to look at the sea as well. “As long as the sea hasn’t turned black, I actually enjoy the view. Haha.”

Gazing at the towering wizard towers rising from the ocean in the distance, he added, as if cheering himself on, “Today we’re covering the two farthest wizard towers. Once we finish today’s task, the rest will be much easier.”

Maria didn’t believe distance necessarily equated to danger, but she nodded anyway.

“Let’s get going then.”

The two of them rose into the air together, a layer of defensive shielding forming around their bodies. Outside the shield, two rings of runes rotated slowly in a cross-pattern around them.

This was mandatory protection when leaving the Wall of Sighs. Even though it wasn’t currently Black Tide season, remnants of contamination and monsters could still lurk in the sea.

They flew together for several kilometers before separating to visit different wizard towers.

Gorsa, of the Glare family, came from the Iskaper branch, which had long-standing tension with the Nephret Continent’s Solot.

Thus, Solot would never willingly visit a wizard from the Iskaper side.

Once separated, Maria flew with even greater caution. Even at the cost of reducing her speed, she activated an additional protective talisman.

Before long, she finally arrived at the Seventh wizard Tower—Gorsa’s.

Maria took a moment to tidy her wind-blown robes before descending onto the tower’s roof.

“Wizard Gorsa, I’m Maria, patrol wizard from the Wall of Sighs, here for a routine visit.”

Maria sent a message spell into the tower.

“One moment, please.”

Not two seconds later, a gentle and soft voice responded.

Maria had never seen Gorsa before, but rumor had it he was quite the handsome man.

Even as a Third Rank wizard, she couldn’t help feeling a trace of anticipation.

A minute later, the tower’s black door finally creaked open.

A… skeletal white hand reached out from within.

Then the bones disappeared into an oversized wizard robe, though judging from the robe’s contours, whatever arm was inside likely wasn’t human either.

The door opened fully, revealing a face entirely devoid of skin—blood-red and seemingly about to start steaming.

Maria nearly used the full force of her Third Rank composure to keep from reacting.

“Hello, Wizard Gorsa.” Though she had never seen him before, the aura emanating from this skinless figure unmistakably belonged to a Third Rank wizard.

“Hello.”

“If I may ask—were you attacked?” Maria took out a golden stone; this was a recording stone that would capture her entire visit.

When she returned to the Wall of Sighs, another wizard would review the footage to ensure that neither she nor the visited wizard showed signs of abnormality.

“No. I conducted an experiment,” Gorsa said, lifting a skeletal finger to poke at the muscle on his face. A stream of bright red trickled down the stark white bone, a striking contrast, almost beautiful. “It went slightly wrong. I’m waiting for the contamination to subside.”

“Contamination?” Maria’s expression immediately changed. Her job was precisely to check for contamination among tower-bound wizards.

“May I examine your body?”

“No,” Gorsa replied with calm and firm resolve.

Maria took a deep breath. She knew most wizards wouldn’t let others examine their physical state—especially those of equal standing, like fellow Third Rank Wizards.

Third Rank Wizards were rare and powerful in most places, but here at the Wall of Sighs, both patrol and stationed wizards were required to be at least Second Rank.

And the Glare family only sent Third Rankers to this most perilous frontline. Only families of such stature could afford that.

“Then may I ask what caused your contamination? I need to know the source to ensure the situation is under control.”

This time, Gorsa didn’t refuse. He even invited Maria into the wizard tower to examine things personally.

Maria cast a wary glance at him—but his skinless face revealed no emotion.

Still, every wizard stationed here had signed the Alliance Oath. She reasoned he wouldn’t dare attack her outright. Suppressing her unease, Maria followed Gorsa into the wizard tower.

The interior was dark, with only a flickering oil lamp far ahead.

But for two Third Rank wizards, such dimness was of no concern. They moved forward unhindered until they reached Gorsa’s laboratory.

The moment she entered, Maria saw a barrel of black liquid on the floor.

Her eyes immediately locked onto the barrel, ignoring everything else in the room.

“Is that… Black Tide?”

“Yes. I retained a portion from the last wave—for research.”

Maria couldn’t help but glance once more at this bloodied wizard.

Gorsa wasn’t the only wizard who had ever captured Black Tide for study, but he’d only been here a few months and was already daring to work on it!

“Truly bold—and crazy,” Maria thought to herself.

At that moment, Gorsa lifted both skeletal hands, presenting them like works of art.

“I tried making contact with the Black Tide. The flesh on my hands rotted away. Although I treated it in time, the contamination still corroded the skin.”

Watching Gorsa describe his injuries so casually, Maria tightened her grip on the recording stone.

“I suggest you request a leave of absence for recovery—”

“Unnecessary.”

“But the next Black Tide might strike as early as this month.”

Gorsa stretched the muscles on his face, revealing a pristine set of white teeth. “It’s fine. I’ll be better by tomorrow.”

(End of Chapter)

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