The Room of Bygone Days

Evan squinted his eyes and subconsciously took another glance at the red-haired young man. 

Perhaps this was the first time he’d truly looked at the other.

Then, Evan was taken aback as he realized that the young man, with his puppy-like eyes, possessed a strikingly handsome face. It boasted three-dimensional and well-defined features, and the contours of his face were remarkably graceful. 

Evan couldn't help but compare him to an exquisite male sculpture made of expensive marble shipped over from a foreign nation. In short, his face was more than alluring enough to entice noble ladies (or even noble gentlemen) into having an intimate encounter with him.

It seemed odd that such a face would be accompanied by those puppy-like eyes, yet they seamlessly harmonized on the countenance of the red-haired young man.

Noticing Evan's gaze, a faint blush spread across the cheeks of the red-haired young man. 

“Do you have any questions?” his eyes seemed to say. 

"Your name?" Evan suddenly asked in a hushed tone.

"What?" The person being questioned widened their eyes in surprise.

The muscles beneath Evan’s eyes tensed with slight irritation. 

"Name," he repeated, suppressing his impatience.

"Alister... Alister Millian."

The red-haired young man belatedly realized something, and hastily responded, causing the blush on his cheeks to intensify. 

"Alister," Evan couldn't help but repeat the name. 

The naem felt almost too radiant for a mage. However, a quick glance at the young man standing before him convinced Evan that the name suited him well. 

Evan originally planned to take a closer look at Alister, but a series of whimpering sounds from the area diverted his attention back to his instructor.

In a way, Evan's instructor was quite unfortunate. 

Given the severity of the accident, the elderly man should have already lost consciousness, or at least descended into frenzied irrationality. 

However, the low whimpers that escaped his throat, squeezed through his clenched teeth, and were vocalized with great difficulty told Evan that his instructor had been unlucky enough to retain some sanity.

Evan involuntarily took another glance at the entangled bodies before him — one belonged to the mage, and one the deformed tri-horned demon.

The tri-horned demon's eyes densely packed eyes were concealed under swollen pustules, and Evan had never been able to gauge its mental state. 

As for the instructor... he was in a tragic state.

His long hair clung messily to his scalp, shoulders, and neck. His eyes, perpetually cloudy and muddled, were bulging out and frantically darting around within his sunken eye sockets. 

Faint blue veins protruded from beneath his gray skin, particularly noticeable at the temples. Evan witnessed bright red blood streaming from his instructor's eyes and nostrils. His desperate gaze wandered around the area, seemingly pleading for someone to save him.

A copious amount of blood poured from his body, staining nearly half of the room crimson. 

The odor of blood mingled with the distinct sulfuric scent of the tri-horned deomon, suffocating anyone who ventured near. 

Amidst this overpowering stench, an unmistakable... metallic aroma wafted. 

Evan couldn't help but shudder involuntarily, his complexion growing pale. 

The chaotic, ever-changing black shadow... and a metallic scent...

Thud... thud...

In that moment, Evan’s vivid memories blurred with reality.

He nearly let out a scream but was ultimately regained his senses thanks to the bustling and agitated crowd surrounding him. 

Lowering his gaze, he discovered that he had unconscoiusly clenched his fists, and his fists were turning white.

"Damn it, is there no one who knows how to handle this tri-horned demon?" 

A distant voice reached Evan's ears.

He recognized the owner of it as an intermediate apprentice.

Subconsciously, Evan stepped back, hiding himself behind Alister's towering figure. 

Goddess of Magic above, Evan truly did not want to draw any attention to himself at this moment. After all, he had been forced by his instructor to feed the tri-horned demon numerous times, and he did not want to be called out by this group of fearful and inept mage apprentices and turned into canon fodder to solve the issue. 

Alister appeared somewhat taken aback by Evan's actions. However, upon meeting Evan's gaze, he swiftly suppressed any strange expressions on his face and moved closer to Evan, providing a more secure cover.

Evan observed his movements, and similarly did not react. 

However, although it was not apparent on his face, Evan was acutely aware of the abnormal tension gripping him in that moment. 

Oh, Goddess of Magic... that metallic scent... 

Evan fervently wished it was merely a product of his own nerves.

Perhaps noticing Evan's troubled countenance, Alister refrained from asking any questions and simply continued to shelter Evan with great care.

***

It was uncertain whether Evan's evasive actions alongside his red-haired puppy-eyed companion had any impact on his instructor's demise. 

In any case, the group of apprentice mages failed to identify a suitable candidate to confront the mutated tri-horned demon that was entangled with Evan’s instructor.

When senior mages, who stood out in stark contrast to the surroundings, finally made their way to the scene, they promptly dispersed the junior mage apprentices who were crowded around.

Evan didn't even see his instructor's death with his own eyes — that piece of news spread quietly among the apprentices that night.

It was said that the final outcome for the instructor and the tri-horned demon was rather terrible. Even the high-ranked mages struggled to control the situation.

Some claimed that the tri-horned demon and the instructor had exploded into pieces of mushy black flesh right before the mages’ eyes, while others claimed that the tri-horned demon’s sudden death had caused it to expel hundreds of egg cases into Evan’s instructor’s body, resulting in his death...

Evan wasn't interested in those rumors, but there was no doubt that the death of his instructor still had some impact on his life. 

First of all, he no longer had to worry about being subject to inhuman torture and punishment for being late. 

Secondly, he could finally leave his dormitory room, which was more unbearable than a prison cell, and move to a better room.

The latter matter was definitely a stroke of luck — though it came at the cost of the instructor's tragic end. Regardless of how the instructor and the tri-horned demon entered Death’s embrace, one thing was confirmed: an abnormality must have occured in their corpses. 

As a result, the young new instructor had no choice but to sternly gather all the low-ranked mage apprentices and herd them, like captive livestock, to the floor above. If they had been following the Mage Tower's rules, they would only have obtained a chance to go up after years or even decades.

Gathering in the dark and damp underground cafeteria, Evan quickly glanced at his classmates. 

There were quite a few who did not show up. 

"The two corpses seem to be emitting something like plague smoke. Lena, Miriam, and Tony are all rotting. To be honest, I thought they were standing too close. Now the people above are figuring out how to clear the floor below.

Someone approached Evan silently and whispered in his ear. 

Evan raised his eyebrows, turned his head, and was not surprised saw Alister. 

"Well, it seems you're quite well-informed," Evan responded. 

It was just a standard reply, but Alister seemed to consider it high praise. His puppy-like eyes gleamed with excitement in the dim light.

"I went to inquire about the news... I thought you might want to know," Alister said. 

Evan knew what Alister really wanted to say. Yes, the two that died were his former instructor and the tri-horned demon he had been forced to feed numerous times...

Outsiders would probably assume that he would be interested in what had happened to them, but...

That pecular sensation ran down his spine. 

To be honest, Evan was not interested at all. 

To be more exact, deep down, he was subconsciously resisting the thought of investigating this issue and how the incident that led to the tragic deaths of the instructor and the tri-horned demon had started.

Thud, thud...

In his daze, Evan seemed to hear that strange sound of friction again.

Caught off guard, he trembled hard. 

He raised his head in horror and scanned the surroundings, but all he saw were the crowd whispering about the death of the instructor, the familiar cafeteria, and Alister, standing before him with a worried expression.

"Evan, you don't look okay," Alister said. 

He reached out, hesitated for a moment, and placed his hand on Evan's shoulder. 

His palm was as cold as ever and felt like the hand of a dead man, but his touch managed to bring Evan's wandering soul back from the his dark nightmare.

"Ugh..." 

Evan sucked in a breath to calm himself down. 

After a few seconds, he felt much better. 

"I think I'm just in a poor mental state,” he said, glancing at Alister while pondering over the choice of his words. “I didn't sleep well last night... and now my instructor’s dead.”

Alister's eyes roamed Evan's face. Evan couldn't fathom what he was thinking, but there was something peculiar about Alister's gaze

"That was simply an accident. Accidents happen all the time, especially considering your instructor was raising a mutated tri-horned demon,” Alister stated. 

Judging by Alister's expression, Evan figured that he had probably come to the wrong conclusion.

Yet Evan could not argue further.

"Yes, it was just an accident," Evan conceded.

(No, perhaps it wasn't an accident?) 

Despite his words, the voice in his heart which he had surpressed for a long time continued to chatter.

"And thank you, Alister," Evan expressed his gratitude.

As expected, Alister's face flushed red once again, and he finally dropped the topic of the instructor and the tri-horned demon.

Nevertheless, the information provided by Alister was not baseless.

Evan soon obtained more precise details from his new instructor.

"Well, I'm not sure what experiments your former instructor conducted, but he did create something quite remarkable. Frankly, it's almost unimaginable that such an incompetent person could achieve it,” Master Doug said after pouring a whole can of sugar into his teacup, stirring his almost gel-like black tea.

Compared to Evan's former instructor, Master Doug was much younger. There were thin lines at the corners of his eyes, and his temples showed hints of gray, but the rest of his hair remained black. 

His facial features were quite classical, and there always seemed to be a casual smile on his lips — though the smile quickly turned unkind when discussing that ill-fated event.

"The lower floor, which is the dog kennel where you all used to stay... sorry, I didn’t mean to humilitate dog kennels... Well, let’s disregard all that. In any case, that place has now become a restricted area. The mist emanating from that guy and the tri-horn has been spreading... They’ve probably destroyed three, no, four magic golems already, but not even a single fragment has returned. God knows how many arrays we’ll have to use up to to cordon that area off from the Mage Tower’s space...”

Doug muttered continuously as he gulped down his concoction of black tea and sugar. 

Evan stood silently in front of the workbench, helping him accurately and swiftly prepare various potions. 

He did not respond to his current mage instructor.

Although Master Doug appeared much more amiable than Evan's previous instructor on the surface, from another perspective, the former was more challenging to deal with than the latter.

Or at least that was what Evan thought.

Clang—

Evan heard the sound of the teacup being placed on the table. His fingers trembled slightly, nearly causing him to ruin a vial of precious unicorn blood.

"Oh, take it easy."

Accompanied by a whisper that could only be described as teasing, Master Doug reached out from behind and stabilized the test tube held between Evan’s fingertips.

"I'm very sorry," Evan murmured, lowering his eyes.

"It's okay," Doug reassured. 

His breath made Evan involuntarily think of the tongue of a giant toad — a sticky, putrid ball of flesh.

"Aren't you curious?” Doug asked

"Curious about what?" Evan responded in a monotone voice.

Using the act of gathering materials as an excuse, he left his new instructor. Thankfully, Doug didn't follow. 

He simply leaned against the workbench, smiling and observing Evan.

"Your instructor... you must have seen it, right? The way the triangular demon did that to him. By the way, some of those rumors were true — the little tri-horn did expel its eggs into his abdomen. If it weren't for that damned mist, you poor apprentices would be busy scraping the larvae of the tri-horned demon out of the cracks of the bricks."

"Somebody blocked my view, so I didn't see anything," Evan replied, preparing yet another bottle of unicorn blood.

Doug fell silent for a moment but continued to gaze at Evan. 

"Hey, you know what? Several senior mages have suggested that...” Doug’s voice changed as he said this.

Evan could keenly sense the malice hidden within.

“Maybe we should send a few apprentice mages down there to investigate. Apprentices may be fragile, but they are far more adapative than golems."

“...”

Evan listened and did not interrupt the other, his fingers never pausing their movements.

"Alright, my poor child, don’t show me such a frightened look. Don't worry, you won’t be selected by those people and sent to your death if you’re clever enough."

Once again, Doug took the test tube from Evan's hand. This time, Evan was certain that the improper handling by Doug would cause the unicorn blood within the tube to deteriorate.

"Alright, you may go now. Ponder over what I've said, my dear student," Doug said, dismissing Evan from his laboratory after he was sure that Evan would give no response.

As the door closed, Evan stole a glance at Doug. 

In Doug's eyes, Evan could see his own reflection. 

No wonder Doug thought he was afraid — Evan's current appearance was far from pleasant. His face remained ghastly pale, as if drained of blood. In just a few days, Evan had lost considerable weight, accentuating his sunken eyes.

To outsiders, Evan clearly appeared fragile and dazed. 

And he was indeed in a daze.

However, Evan's instructor seemed to have misunderstood something. 

He wasn't actually afraid, nor did he feel repulsed as he faced the harassment from the high-ranking mage. 

He was simply exhausted.

There were other things... indescribable, troubling things... that bothered him more. 

For example...

Thud... thud thud... thud...

It had appeared again.

Evan's eyes abruptly widened and his pupils contracted. Once again, he heard the eerie sound of friction originating from the other side of the door, whose gap was gradually narrowing until it completely closed.