Chapter Ninety-Five: An Abyss of Insatiable Desire

The third round of assessments at the Mage Academy was in full swing.

Lava stones were highly resistant to fire, and splitting them in half with flames was no small feat. This tested not only one’s control over magic but also the endurance of their mental strength.

Candidates of different ages were given lava stones of varying sizes, as younger students were considered to have more potential and development ahead of them. The Mage Academy thus showed favor to the younger candidates.

Most of the girls in Chu Yun’s class were quite young. In this world, older girls had often already married—one could legally wed at fourteen.

The exam lasted two hours before finally concluding. Of the first two hundred students to complete the challenge, ninety belonged to Chu Yun’s and Anna’s groups. This was partly because their groups were larger, but also due to the age advantage.

Once again, Nielsen showcased his talents as a host, assigning those who had already mastered the Fire Spark spell but did not pass the trial to the reserve list of students.

After all, these students were still talented, and Nielsen saw no harm in keeping a few more around.

Reserve students were given a special examination opportunity each month; passing would allow them to become full members of the Academy.

It was a happy ending for all—effectively, all the students from Chu Yun’s two classes had entered the Academy.

“With this assessment successfully completed, congratulations to all who have joined the Blackstone City Mage Academy!”

“You are dismissed for now. Official classes begin in three days!”

With Nielsen’s final announcement, cheers erupted from both students and their families.

The crowd slowly dispersed, and students reunited with their parents. Chu Yun’s students, in particular, were overwhelmed; after five days of intensive training, many had not seen their families in some time, and tears of joy streamed down their faces.

After dealing with the parents’ expressions of gratitude, Chu Yun planned to head to Blackstone City Prison and the slaughterhouse to gain some more experience points, and to test the effects of copying skills from mirror images.

He had not experimented with Anna or anyone else before; since it was his first attempt, any mistake could be troublesome.

Just as he was about to leave, Anna caught up to him.

“Chu Yun, are you heading back to the Mage’s Inn? Would you like to have a meal together? My treat!”

Chu Yun shook his head. “No, I have something to take care of. I’ll go on ahead.”

Anna looked disappointed at his response, and after watching him leave, she stood uncertainly.

She had few friends—having grown up in the slums, the mage’s path had created an inevitable rift with her old acquaintances. Anna herself did not look down on them, and she still wished to keep their friendship, but their worlds had changed. Her friends talked about how much money they could make serving in taverns or doing laundry for others.

They no longer shared the same circle; meaningful conversation was difficult.

“Forget him for now. I have money—I’m going shopping! That dress I liked last time was absolutely beautiful!”

A man dies for those who understand him; a woman dresses not to please others, but to please herself.

Anna, who had never much cared for fashion before, now began to take an interest in her appearance.

---

For the third time, Chu Yun headed to Blackstone City Prison. After five days, the mirror images of the prisoners should have fully regenerated.

Truth be told, if he had wanted to, he could have farmed low-level prisoners for experience during the intensive training, but he was not obsessive about squeezing out every drop of experience points.

Grinding dungeons was like playing a game—some people feel compelled to complete their daily tasks, but Chu Yun was more laid-back. He’d farm when he had time, but saw no reason to turn it into a job.

Most importantly, Chu Yun felt little pressure. He was not in a rush to save the world, nor was he driven by vengeance. Even if chaos broke out, he could take care of himself.

Still, trouble had a way of finding him—like what happened last night, which left him quite displeased.

He was not one to provoke others, but if someone came looking for trouble, the Lionheart Tavern and that unfortunate nobleman who had died namelessly served as prime examples of the consequences.

Arriving at Blackstone City Prison once again, Chu Yun deftly summoned a fire elemental and began farming experience.

Zero-tier mirror images no longer yielded much experience, and even first-tier ones had diminished returns.

After clearing out the prisoners, Chu Yun gained a total of 853 experience points—less than half of his previous yield. He invested all the experience into his class skill, raising his bar to 1,809, just 191 short of the next level.

Chu Yun approached the only mage mirror image. To copy a mirror image, he first had to defeat it; otherwise, it would resist and interrupt the process.

Unlike copying his own skills, when duplicating a mirror image’s abilities—perhaps due to his Mirror World Lord rank not being high enough—he could only copy a random ability, not choose which one. Perhaps, with a higher rank in the future, he could copy abilities permanently.

Currently, he could copy up to two skills (at tier two), but each mirror image could only be copied from once per defeat; to copy again, one would have to wait for the image to respawn and defeat it anew.

“Mirror Copy!” Chu Yun pressed his hand to the image’s head, and a golden light enveloped the semi-transparent form.

A sphere of golden light separated from the image, containing the copied skill.

[Insatiable Desire]

Tier: Tier 2 State

Casting Time: 2 actions

Range: 10 meters

Components: Incantation, gesture

Duration: 20 minutes

Spell Effect: Causes the target to enter a state of burning lust, with any creature potentially becoming their focus.

Spell Description: If the target’s physiological organs are damaged or they are incapable, the spell fails.

No wonder this mage had become a criminal—their skillset was as dubious as their character. But such a spell might have its uses in certain circumstances. For example, casting it on a female monster might open an opportunity for a surprise attack.

There was no good or evil in spells; it all depended on the wielder.

So long as the spell was not used for malicious purposes, it was not evil in itself.

With that thought, Chu Yun decided to study this unusual magic in detail.

The spells taught at the Mage Guild were proper and conventional; there would be plenty of chances to learn those. Rarer, unconventional spells were actually more valuable. He certainly had no ill intentions.

“Let’s see how it works.”

The prisoners on the second basement floor were held in solitary confinement, so Chu Yun chose a prisoner from the first basement level to test on.

He approached a cell, withdrew a mirror from his spatial belt, and angled it toward the prisoner.

He then cast Insatiable Desire on the man’s reflection. The spell passed through the mirror into reality, and the medium—the mirror—vanished.

The man immediately became agitated, his eyes filled with bloodlust as he panted heavily.

“Boss, what’s wrong?” his cellmate asked in concern.

The man known as “Boss” turned, and upon seeing his rather effeminate fellow prisoner, lost all self-control.

A ripping sound.

“Boss, what are you doing?!”

“Stay away from me!”

♋

…

Chu Yun hastily shut his eyes and fled the cell. The scene was simply too much to witness.