I Have a Task Log

Chapter 456: Chapter 455: News of the Demon

"You... Fine."

Colin hesitated for a moment but still took the ring she offered.

While they were chatting, Colin suddenly spotted a few familiar figures under a streetlight on the street corner.

Looking closer, he realized it was the Paladin squad he had met back at the Black Tower.

They were standing in the distance, waving at him, apparently beckoning him over.

"Alright, Sela, go find your father for now. I have some friends who want to have a private word with me," Colin said with a smile, waving his hand.

"Then... goodbye, Colin." Sela still seemed to have more to say, but in the end, she walked away, glancing back every few steps.

After saying goodbye to her, he and Ale walked over to the Paladins, who were dressed in formal attire.

The men didn’t say a word, silently walking on ahead down the street. Colin was a bit baffled, but he could only follow quietly behind them.

Once there was no one else around, Colin spoke up. "Did you call me over for something?"

"Are you here on a mission?" one of the Paladins asked.

Colin shook his head. "I was invited here by a friend."

Seeing that they weren’t going to elaborate, he lowered his voice and pressed further, "Are you?"

"We’ve been tasked with investigating the Devil Cultists who have appeared in the Marine District. As it happens, a few of our targets were at the banquet just now," another Paladin answered.

"Devil Cultists?"

At these words, Colin instantly snapped to attention, the slight buzz from the wine vanishing in a flash.

"Yes. The great Mr. Helder sensed the presence of an Evil Demon in the Marine District, so we were sent specifically to investigate. Have you felt anything unusual?" said a different Paladin.

They kept taking turns speaking, which was giving Colin a bit of a headache.

But regardless, something like a Demon definitely needed to be thoroughly investigated.

Colin asked, "I haven’t noticed anything in particular... That said, who do you think your potential targets are?"

Another Paladin, one who hadn’t spoken yet, quietly reeled off a long list of family names. Colin wasn’t familiar with most of them, until "Leo Hawkeley" was spoken.

"Are you sure?" Colin asked with a frown.

The last Paladin to speak said, "Not certain. I’m just saying they are possibilities."

Colin glanced back at Sela, who was walking ahead with a light step some distance away.

’Could they be these so-called Devil Cultists?’

Colin carefully recalled everything since he had met Sela. She had never shown any strange behavior and seemed just like an ordinary person.

’But the problem is, how could the disguise of a Demon capable of hiding in Thousand Masts City be so easily seen through by me?’

"Since you have no information for us, we’ll be on our way," the Paladins said in unison.

With that, they turned at almost the exact same moment and marched away into the distance, as if in lockstep.

Colin sighed and said to Ale, "Let’s wait for a carriage."

"Have you known Miss Hawkeley for a long time?" Ale suddenly asked.

"A very long time. The first cantrip I ever learned was one she taught me," Colin nodded. "The first time Kase and I went out, we ran into a Blight. If it weren’t for that bit of Magic, the two of us would have been in serious trouble."

"Then you really ought to thank Miss Hawkeley properly," Ale said quietly.

Colin stared at the street corner, his mind elsewhere because of what had just happened.

After a good while, a carriage finally came around the corner. Colin immediately raised his hand to hail it, and he and Ale rode back to the apartment.

’As for the Demon, I’ll just have to wait for the results of Edwin’s investigation.’

-----------------

「About half a month later.」

Colin stood in his magic laboratory, flipping through the Magic Models recorded in his Spellbook.

As his Magic improved, he felt the difficulty of learning increase more and more.

It was a lot like studying physics or math. If he didn’t practice for three days, he’d get rusty. If he went a week without using it, he’d nearly forget everything. Thus, he had to spend time every day reviewing to maintain his acuity for Casting.

Colin dreaded to think how torturous this would all be if his Intelligence didn’t keep increasing.

He sighed and snapped his Spellbook shut.

Over the past month, Colin had spent Several Hundred Gold Coins on materials to learn Magic, and now he only had a few dozen Gold Coins left.

If Sela hadn’t given him that ring earlier, he would probably have to borrow money from Ale just to eat by now.

Of course, the result of this investment was that his Casting Proficiency had reached: Casting (Expert) 3061/4000.

At this Skill Level, he could just barely use Tier Four Magic, though it was still a bit unstable.

With that thought, Colin opened his Spellbook to begin Spellcasting, simultaneously reaching out with his right hand and making a grasping motion in the air before it.

Although there was nothing in front of the Spellbook, he felt as if he had grabbed hold of something—like he was tugging on a mass of invisible slime. This slime was incredibly viscous, and it took some effort just to pull it apart.

Colin slowly raised his right hand.

A complex Array, glowing with a dark green light, suddenly appeared in the empty space before the Spellbook. As his arm moved, a mass of emerald-green slime emerged from the Array, pulled into suspension in mid-air.

Once the slime coalesced into a sphere about thirty centimeters in diameter, Colin waved his arm, sending the ball of slime flying toward the testing area.

After traveling about seventy meters, the ball of acid exploded on the ground.

The ground within a roughly seven-meter radius began to emit white vapor. Under the acid’s continuous corrosion, the snow-white floor rapidly turned black.

Colin let out a sigh of relief.

’After nearly a month, I’ve finally got this Magic down.’

Of course, learning [Acid Ball] from a Scroll would have taken a day at most. The reason it took Colin so long was that he first had to raise his Casting Ability to the level required to learn Tier Four Magic.

[Acid Ball]: A Tier Four Magic spell. The caster attacks a point within a fifty-meter range with an Acid Ball. The ball explodes at the designated location, dealing 10-40 Damage to creatures within a seven-meter radius and an additional 5-20 Damage over the next six seconds.

Due to Colin’s mastery of ranged Magic, the spell’s Casting range for him was about seventy meters.

Colin was quite satisfied with this spell.

It added a new damage type to his arsenal, and its Damage wasn’t low. If he encountered a creature with resistance to a certain type of Elemental Damage in the future, he would now have another option.

After successfully Casting the spell, Colin began to pack his things, planning to go get some lunch.

Tomorrow was the day he was scheduled to leave with Albert. Kase and Orelia still hadn’t returned; those two probably wouldn’t show up until the very last second.

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