Chapter 118: The Legendary Expert

Just as Totoro finished speaking, before Xia Ya could utter a word, he heard Dora’s strange voice echo deep within his mind. "Life Sorcery? To think it is actually Life Sorcery! There are still human mages who practice this school of magic today?"

Even this proud dragoness expressed astonishment, which immediately piqued Xia Ya's interest. This so-called "Life Curse" was clearly far from simple. Moments later, he heard Dora sneer in his mind, "Your apprentice mage is too foolish. The true name of this magic shouldn't be 'Life Curse.' It should be... Life Sorcery! It is far more than just a curse."

Totoro, his face filled with excitement and his eyes glowing with a magical fervor, looked at Xia Ya with immense anticipation. "Master, these... these items, can you bestow them upon me? In my hands, these things could unleash their true power. From now on... from now on, I, Totoro, could help you fight as well. I wouldn't have to hide behind you like a coward whenever you are in battle."

Xia Ya chuckled, but the movement tugged at his wounds, forcing him to gasp in pain. He managed to say, "Fine, you rascal. Tell me, what exactly is this 'Life Curse'? Speak honestly, and don't hold anything back."

As he spoke, he glared fiercely at Totoro. Totoro rolled his eyes and said cautiously, "Master Xia Ya, you know that the world of magic is vast and filled with endless mysteries..."

"Cut the nonsense and get to the point," Xia Ya huffed.

Totoro shivered and hurriedly continued, "Well, there are many types of magical power. Most magic is driven by the mage's own mana, but there are exceptions. The source used to drive the power isn't always the mage's own mana. Increasing one's mana is incredibly difficult; it requires diligence, perseverance, and enough innate talent. It demands an immense amount of time spent in meditation and bitter cultivation, along with rare magical potions to enhance one's mental capacity. By these standards, a mid-tier mage would spend half their life just reaching that point. However, besides mana, the world of magic offers other ways to drive magical power and elements. This gives hope to many mages who lack outstanding mana talent. After all, not everyone who aspires to magic possesses great spiritual aptitude. Take me, for example."

When he reached this point, Totoro’s face grew dim. "Outside of mana, the most common alternative is Necromancy, also known as Dark Magic. To cast Necromancy, the mage's personal mana is not important; even a mage with very low mana can unleash powerful Necromancy. The source driving this power isn't the mage's own mana, but rather... the soul power of the undead! As long as one can collect enough souls and refine them into pure spiritual energy, that energy can replace mana to cast many formidable Necromantic spells.

"However, according to the laws of magic, using Necromancy—specifically refining souls to obtain spiritual energy—is cursed. Therefore, all mages who practice it are called Dark Mages. Although Necromancy is powerful, the mage will suffer from curses. Most commonly, because they are surrounded by the undead year-round, their bodies become extremely frail. They are cursed by the gods, plagued by misfortune, and always encounter terrible things. Furthermore, when summoning powerful undead creatures, the mage themselves may suffer a backlash, which in severe cases can even be life-threatening."

Totoro was rambling on, but Xia Ya grew impatient. "What does all this have to do with the so-called 'Life Curse'?"

"Uh..." Totoro froze, then quickly slapped his own mouth, laughing apologetically. "My apologies, I memorized this part of my magic theory class the best. Besides Necromancy using spiritual energy to replace mana, there is another channel. This power is what we call Life Magic, or as we refer to it, Life Sorcery."

"Simply put," Totoro explained, "ordinary magic is driven by mana, Necromancy is driven by spiritual energy, and Life Sorcery is driven by the mage’s own life force."

"Life force?" Xia Ya was stunned.

"Yes, exactly! Life force!" Totoro exhaled, his expression turning eerie. "To obtain great power, there are always those willing to pay a heavy price, even if that power is only temporary. But once people taste that power, they become addicted and are willing to pay even greater prices. Life Sorcery is one such path. In terms of danger, it is even more treacherous than Necromancy! Ordinary magic consumes mana, which can be replenished through meditation, rest, or potions. Necromancy consumes spiritual energy, which can be replenished by gathering more undead. But Life Sorcery consumes life force! A person’s life force cannot be replenished; once it is used, it is gone. The direct side effect of casting Life Sorcery is that the mage becomes short-lived. The more powerful the spell, the more life force it consumes. It is even possible that after casting a single spell, the mage could instantly exhaust their life force and die of old age on the spot."

"Damn," Xia Ya was dumbfounded. "What kind of magic is that? You use your own life force to gain power, and once the power is used up, you die?"

"According to ancient records, there have been fanatics throughout history who pursued power and practiced this magic regardless of the cost, but no Life Sorcery mage has ever lived past the age of seventy." Totoro’s tone was heavy. "Because the consumption of life force is so horrific, almost all mages believe this magic has no purpose. No matter how much power you gain, if you lose your life, everything becomes empty. Thus, Life Sorcery has always been a very obscure existence in the magical world. I only ever saw it in my theory textbooks."

"So, according to what you said, there is no way to practice this without paying the price?"

Xia Ya shook his head. "Once this power is used, the mage soon dies."

"There are exceptions," Totoro smirked, his face turning devious. "At least, history once saw an exception, and this exception opened a new door for all mages who practiced Life Sorcery." As he spoke, Totoro’s expression suddenly became incredibly reverent, and with a tone of awe and trepidation, he slowly uttered a name: "Hila Fenkia."

The moment Totoro mentioned this name, Xia Ya heard Dora let out a heavy snort in his mind. Then, Totoro began to recount the story behind the name.

Hila Fenkia. This name belonged to a mage. Even though he was infamous after his death, in the history of magic on the continent, he was still ranked among the top ten magical geniuses of all time—not just of his era, but in all of history! Some extreme mages even considered Hila Fenkia to be the greatest genius to ever exist. Hila Fenkia was not originally a mage; he was a cleric of the Church until the age of thirty. After killing a few dragons, no one knows what he thought of, but he managed to find the legendary Holy Tomb of the Dragons. Most legendarily, after entering the Holy Tomb, he walked out alive. Upon returning to the continent, his research soon bore fruit. He successfully improved upon Life Magic, turning it into what is now known as "Life Sorcery."

"In fact, all life force can be converted into the power for Life Sorcery!" Hila Fenkia had written this in his theoretical works. "It is not limited to the mage’s own life force. Using my results, one can extract the life force of all living creatures in the vicinity! Humans, dwarves, dragons, elves—no, not just these high-level beings. Even flowers, trees, insects, ants, birds, and beasts can all be targets for extraction!"

This passage from Hila Fenkia was recorded in textbooks, but the man was a madman—a ruthless, unscrupulous fanatic. Legend has it that to obtain abundant life force, he caused at least one plague disaster on the continent. It is said that wherever he walked, the grass would not grow, and all life would wither!

The power gained through such methods was simply too heaven-defying. When Hila Fenkia turned seventy, he finally met his retribution. Because of his perverse actions, the Church had issued a warrant for his arrest, and at least one Saint-ranked Archmage had hunted him, only for him to escape. In the end, he died at the hands of the "Gods." Legend says that even the gods could not tolerate his repeated violations of the laws of life and magic. At seventy, despite having obtained enough life force to look like a man in his forties, he was struck by divine lightning and heavenly fire, turning him and his laboratory into ash.

Although he died, for a hundred years after his death, this name remained the most controversial focus in the magical world. The primary reason was a statement he left behind: "Why kill me? I have merely opened a new door to the path of power. Perhaps it is the opening of this door that has unsettled certain 'existences.' In truth, slaughter and death were never my intention; it is just that to open new doors, some prices must be paid. At the very least, I do not see Life Magic as evil. Mages can obtain life force through many methods, not just by slaughtering their own kind or other high-level beings. Even pigs, dogs, cows, sheep, and horses can be sources of life force. When we eat beef or lamb every day, is that not also plundering life? Nobility and baseness are merely standards imposed upon me! To me, I don't even need to kill humans. As long as I am accompanied by a herd of sheep with enough life force, I can challenge a Saint-ranked Archmage! Even if my true strength is far weaker than theirs. The reason I was hunted and ostracized is precisely because of this 'unfair' challenge. Certain existences treat power as their own monopoly. When they discover that more people can obtain the same amount of power through new methods, they panic! Those at the top must maintain their status, so I must die."

Hila Fenkia had publicly proclaimed this a year before his death at the Church headquarters in Osgilia. At the time, his appearance in the imperial capital caused mass panic, but this heaven-defying man merely took a stroll, left his message, and drifted away. No one dared to attack him in Osgilia, for everyone knew that if they did, the genius madman might unleash his Life Magic, and every human in Osgilia would become a target for his life-force extraction. Neither the Emperor nor the leaders of the Church dared to let such a disaster occur under their watch.

After hearing the story of Hila Fenkia, Xia Ya sighed. "Damn, that’s intense." The bumpkin spat on the ground. "He was arrogant to the extreme." He narrowed his eyes and looked at Totoro. "Are you sure this guy I killed was practicing Life Sorcery?"

Totoro pointed at the rings stripped from the fingers of the dead mage. "I can feel the power fluctuations in these rings. It’s not stored mana, nor is it the spiritual energy of a Necromancer. It is life force—life force that has been extracted."