The black brick seemed plain at first glance.

  But if one were to perceive it more carefully, they would feel the strangeness emanating from inside.

  The strange waves were so feeble that they couldn’t be detected when Yelia kept the brick under his robe.

  Roland stared at it for a while but failed to recognize it.

  Yelia simply threw it to him and said, “Would you like to take a look?”


  Roland was briefly stunned. Just now, Yelia said that it cost him a fortune. How could he have thrown such an expensive item so casually?

  Noticing Roland’s surprise, Yelia smiled. “It’s just an odd magic item. It may be worth some money, but not a lot for Mages. Mr. Roland, it hasn’t been long since you took over your Magic Tower, has it?”


  “Only half a year.” Roland weighed the black brick in his hand.

  “Then it’s understandable.” Yelia smiled and said, “When I first took over my Tower, I found gold coins very important; but after a dozen years as chairman, it has occurred to me that gold coins are just a concept with which we buy magic materials. They’re just numbers and we’re never short of them. Though this magic item is somewhat strange, it’s nothing but a couple of gold coins.”


  Roland realized that the guy was telling him that money shouldn’t be a Mage’s concern, and that the guy was only treating the item as an unimportant toy.

  Shifting his attention to the black brick, Roland found that it was made of odd materials. At first, Roland thought that it was a brick or a stone, but then he found that it was more like a piece of jade.

  But after touching it for a while, Roland found that it was not jade either.

  He had a few pieces of jade in reality, and he knew how jade should feel. This definitely felt different.

  It was smooth but not as vulnerable as jade.

  It was very elastic and tensile. Roland thought it gave him the feeling of ivory.

  Elephant tusks were very expensive, but there was one at Schuck’s home that allegedly dated back a hundred years. Roland had touched it many times when he visited Schuck. It felt similar to this unknown black brick.

  Was it a tooth?

  But wasn’t it too huge?

  Was it an elephant tusk too?

  Roland narrowed his eyes.

  The carriage moved on and soon left the city.

  Yelia lifted the curtain and, looking at the unmoving woods outside of the window, said, “As dark creatures, vampires are most vulnerable during the day. Though they’re nested in caves or underground, they will be affected. We can totally crush them if we join forces.”


  Roland threw the Black Bones back to Yelia and said, “You said that the vampires are rich…… but didn’t you say that gold coins are not important?”


  “Gold coins are not the only things that count as wealth.” Yelia smiled and said, “The vampires have the habit of stashing magic gems and materials. More importantly, the vampires are magic materials themselves!”


  Roland seemed both surprised and confused.

  Yelia was delighted to see Roland’s expression. He said proudly, “Many Mages do not know that the blood of vampires is a useful catalyst that can add special effects to alchemical potions. Their teeth and bones can also increase the hardness of weapons and armor if added during forging.”


  Roland was surprised. “Seriously?”


  “Their bone powder is the best of all!” said Yelia in amazement. “If vampires are killed by powerful spells of the light class, they will turn into bone powder, which is a great magic material that can significantly boost enchantment.”


  Roland immediately grew interested. “It’s a material for enchantment?”


  “Yes!”
……

  There was a cavern in the hill about sixty kilometers from Liguburg City.

  Inside the cavern, Christina, the woman who competed with Roland for a whole night, was standing before an old man in a black robe and a black cape.

  The man’s hair was silver. He seemed old, but he was still handsome and graceful, except that his pale skin made him a little creepy.

  Seated on a rough stone chair, the old man looked down at Christina and asked, “You still haven’t found the Black Bones yet?”


  “Lord Bruce, those humble human beings split up. I was misdirected by them.”


  Bruce nodded and then looked at a little bat that was hanging on the wall upside down not far away. “Edmund, what happened to you?”


  The bat squeaked and shook its body excitedly on the wall.

  Christina burst into laughter after hearing what was said.

  Bruce looked weird too. He seemed to be trying to hold back his laughter. “A human being disbanded your bats in midair? Did you meet a dragon in human shape?”


  “Creak! Creak! Creak! Creak!”


  The bat shivered even harder.

  Bruce stood up and said slowly, “Are you sure he was a human being? Christina was after him?”


  At this point, Christina frowned and said, “Are you talking about the guy in the rock tent?”


  The bat squeaked again.

  Bruce looked at Christina and asked, “You met the man too?”


  “Yes!”


  Immediately, Christina told him what happened to her earlier—of course, without the unnecessary details, such as how she felt that whoever was inside the rock tent understood her.

  Bruce, the old man, clapped his hands, and a few gorgeous men and women appeared from behind him.

  “You will investigate in Liguburg and try to find the Black Bones.”


  Those pale but gorgeous men and women nodded.

  Then, Bruce said to Christina, “You should remember the smell of the man who hurt Edmund, right? Bring him to me.”


  Christina frowned. “Lord Bruce, since Edmund has been so heavily wounded by him, I don’t think I will be able to defeat him.”


  “That’s fine.” Bruce clapped his hands again, and another few pale men and women appeared. “You will follow Christina and listen to her commands.”


  “Yes, sir.” All of them accepted the mission.

  Christina revealed no emotion, but her eyebrow was slightly furrowed.

  On the other hand, Yelia’s carriage had taken Roland to a wood.

  “Based on the intelligence I’ve gathered, those two vampires must be hiding in this wood.” Yelia smiled and said, “I spent a lot of time and money to find their shelter.”