Ascension: Strongest Fateless Mage

"We were not 100% certain to get the spot, but after summoning our fairies, there's no way we can lose," Erica said as she puffed her chest, "if we still lose, then we should just die by drowning in a cup of water."

"Right, Kate?" Erica turned to a humanoid fairy with wings and a sword in her hand. She was palm-sized and sat on Erica's shoulder.

"Right, right," Kate giggled, "we will win."

"How old are you, Berus?" Dan asked the panda-like fairy standing in front of him. Berus looked like a panda with black and white fur, but it also had demonic-looking scales on some parts of its body and two horns.

"Ten," Berus said while chewing a magical bamboo. Magical because it was filled with magic power.

"Okay, nice," Dan said as he lightly punched Berus's shoulder, hitting its smooth fur, "you know some martial arts?"

"I know some," Berus nodded as he also punched Dan.

*Dhoof….*

Dan flew two meters away and fell to the ground as he looked speechlessly at Berus, "come on, man! No, you're a kid! Anyway, what was that for?"

Berus shrugged once before continuing to chew the bamboo.

"Woohooo!" Vernisia cheered as she flew on the shadow pegasus, "okay, time to get down, Lyn."

Lyn was as big as the size of an adult horse and was attuned to shadow magic, just like Vernisia's magic labyrinth. It could fly with shadow wings and had shadow flames burning on its body, but that didn't hurt Vernisia after they formed the contract.

Kate: 513 magic power

Berus: 528 magic power

Lyn: 515 magic power

All three fairies had over five hundred magic power, equivalent to people who had just gone through their first magic core evolution and became 5th class magicians.

"Okay, we have spent enough time today. It's time to sleep," Zevien said.

"Yeah. Hehe, everyone will be surprised when we use our fairies in the battle when the time comes," Erica grinned.

Everyone's fairy spirit disappeared as they returned to the fairy spirit magic labyrinth. Now that they have formed a contract, they can come here anytime.

The four then left the orphanage and returned to the academy dorms before sleeping soundly.

…

After a few days, it was time for everyone to enter the magic labyrinth again.

The students went to the field and let their magic eidos bodies enter the magic labyrinth except for Zevien. He didn't go to the academy today and went to his office instead.

Touma and the others didn't need to observe him anymore as they knew that he and Lopaz would physically go to their respective magic labyrinth.

After arriving at the Zenith Corp's office, Zevien talked with Yowen for a few minutes before putting the vampire blood vial in his pocket and entering the Purple Spectrum Magic Labyrinth.

"Hey, I am selling these fruits for ten silver coins, and you want them for eight? Are you nuts?"

Zevien was surprised to see himself appearing in an alley and hearing the sound of people talking. He went out of the alley and saw a wide street filled with vendors selling various things.

'So, a big town appeared in the location where I previously left in this magic labyrinth?' Zevien wondered as he walked down the streets.

"Hey, young man. Do you want this supreme magic spell book? If you can learn it, you will become a grand magician. The king might notice you and grant you a high position," a vendor called out to Zevien when he passed by a stall filled with magic books.

Zevien turned to the middle-aged man vendor and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the worn-out books, "supreme magic spell book? How much does it cost?"

"Just 100 gold coins," the middle-aged man with a rough beard said with a grin, "but seeing as you are a promising young man, I can give you a discount of 50%."

"No thanks," Zevien said before turning around. He knew how to recognize a scammer, and this vendor sounded and acted just like one.

"Wait, Wait! I can give it to you for ten gold coins!" the middle-aged man said as he picked up the so-called supreme magic spell book and stretched it towards Zevien, "I can see that you have a good magical potential and if you want it to bloom, you will need this book."

"I believe that the right place for this book is with you," the vendor spoke with utmost seriousness.

Zevien was getting more and more suspicious now. Who would give free stuff to a stranger?

"I'll be honest. I feel like you are sca-" Zevien couldn't finish his sentence as he saw something akin to a notification appear inside of his head.

=====================================

[Magic Quest initiated]

-Step 1: Get the book from the vendor and open it.

=====================================

Zevien was stunned to see a magical blue panel appearing in his head and thought, 'interacting with objects and people to initiate magic quests…interesting.'

"Alright, I'll take the book," Zevien said as he grabbed the book.

"Hahaha, you are indeed a promising young man," the vendor laughed loudly, "I am sure you will benefit greatly from it."

'Time to scam a scammer,' Zevien smiled, "how much does this cost again?"

"Just ten gold coins," the vendor grinned from ear to ear as he successfully managed to scam one more young man, 'this business is good. Though I wonder why that man told me to sell it to young men only? Bah, who cares…I am earning free money, and that's the only thing that matters.'

Zevien put his hand in this pocket for two seconds before quickly bolting away, "this vendor is a scammer!"

The vendor was lost in his glee and couldn't even react fast as Zevien ran away.

"Fuck!"

…

Zevien walked out of the town after a minute as he saw the exit gate. After leaving the town, he moved a kilometer away from it and jumped on a big tree before finally opening the book.

=====================================

-Step 2: go to the book's last page and put a drop of your blood on it.

=====================================

Zevien saw step 2 appearing inside his head and opened the book's last page. It was a blank page: pure white, nothing.

Zevien then took out his newly acquired magic item from his magic eidos body and cut the tip of his thumb with the dagger.

As some blood drops fell on the page, it started to transform before becoming a map.

There were two marks on the map. One was Zevien's, which displayed his current location a kilometer away from the town he had just left. Another was a dark purple skull mark fifteen kilometers away from where he was.

=====================================

[Magic Quest established. Prevent the Mura-Oni ritual]

-Go to the purple skull mark location, prevent the ritual, and save the young men who fell for the book's spell and were hypnotized to go there as sacrifices for the ritual.

-Time limit: 1 hour.

-Rewards: A random chain and 1000 gold coins from the king of Dunsar Kingdom.

=====================================

'So learning the spell intent in the book will hypnotize the learner and lead them to the ritual location as sacrificial lambs? Damn, that vendor was more wicked than I thought.'

Zevien didn't waste time and transformed himself into his humanoid cat form by activating shaman seed and then opened the vampire blood vial before using Blood Morphing Art.

This time, he managed to absorb six drops of blood, increasing the vampire powers and magic power by a bit.

-Magic power: 1214

*Swoosh…*

He flew high up in the sky before flying towards the purple skull mark location by following the map.