Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

When Field returned from the college, he found Sarah not at home and bloodstains in the yard, indicating that a fight had taken place.

His expression changed.

An enemy has invaded? Where is Sarah?

In his haste, Field summoned ten bone crows.

The bone raven flew out of his undead space, circling above Graystone City and emitting a piercing cry.

The city's residents looked up at the sky and saw those pale white bone birds, which made them feel uneasy.

The city guard commander ran out of the city lord's mansion and his face changed when he saw the bone crows.

Clearly, the legendary third-class apprentice of the Bone Spire has returned.

He sent a soldier to Field's residence to invite him to the city lord's mansion.

Field followed the soldiers to the city lord's mansion, and his expression softened when he saw Sarah sitting in the living room drinking tea.

The city lord personally received Field and, after confirming their identities once again, proposed that they serve as guest elders of Graystone City.

You don't need to do anything; you just need to lend a hand when there is danger in the city, and you will receive a reward every year.

Field glanced at Sarah, who shook her head.

Field declined the city lord's invitation, saying that they just wanted to live a quiet life and did not want to get involved in too many things.

The city lord did not insist further and sent a squad of soldiers to escort the two home.

From then on, everyone in the area knew that the wizard of the Bone Spire lived in this small courtyard and killed without blinking an eye.

Those who had once thought about Sarah began to have nightmares at night.

Greystone City returned to peace.

Anli grew up day by day, from an infant to a child, and from a child to a teenager.

She always had a smile on her face, and she walked with a bouncy gait, her braids swinging back and forth behind her.

She liked to play in the yard, look at the bird nests in the old locust tree, and collect stones by the river.

Her neighbor, Leon, was three years older than her and lived next door.

His parents ran a general store on the street, selling needles and thread, cloth, oil and salt.

Leon is fair-skinned, has a sweet tongue, and two dimples when he smiles.

He saw Anli playing alone in the yard, so he climbed over the low wall and ran over.

He brought candy for Anli, took out a paper-wrapped fruit candy from his pocket, and stuffed it into Anli's hand.

Anli unwrapped the candy, popped it into her mouth, and squinted her eyes because of the sweetness.

Leon then pulled a small wooden puppet from his pocket, saying that he had carved it himself.

Anli took the puppet and examined it from all angles. The puppet was carved to resemble a little girl wearing a skirt and with braids, much like her.

Anli smiled; she liked the puppet.

Leon comes often, and he always brings something with him.

Sometimes it's a piece of candy, sometimes it's a little wooden puppet, sometimes it's a bunch of wildflowers.

Anri was very happy, feeling that Leon was the best person to her besides her parents.

She didn't know that Leon was kind to her because she had heard from her parents that Anri's parents were powerful wizards.

Leon has always dreamed of becoming stronger, and it would be even better if he could learn even a tiny bit of witchcraft from Enri.

Seeing that the time was right, Leon asked Anri if she could teach him witchcraft.

Anli said she couldn't.

Leon didn't believe her, thinking she was unwilling to teach, so he tried to please her with candy and toys.

Anli felt guilty; she really didn't know how.

She had been tested by Field since she was a child and found to have no wizarding talent, no elemental affinity, no telepathy, and couldn't even learn the most basic meditation techniques.

Field tried many methods on her, but none of them worked.

Anli's body was like a sealed jar, unable to receive any energy.

Leon's patience was slowly wearing thin.

Seeing that Anli really couldn't teach him witchcraft, he visited her less and less, and went to find those more charming and caring older women instead.

I used to come every day, then every three days, and then once a week.

Anli went to find him, and he said he was helping his parents at the shop and didn't have time to play.

Anli stood at the entrance of the grocery store, watching him move goods, watching him do the accounting, watching him keep his head down and not look at her.

She didn't know what she had done wrong; tears welled up in her eyes for a long time but didn't fall.

After thinking for a long time, she concluded that it was because her parents disliked Leon that Leon had the illusion that the two of them could not be together, which led him to leave her.

So he pestered his parents every day, begging them to agree.

But Field could see through Leon's cunning, and naturally wouldn't let his precious daughter go into that mess.

No matter how Anli tried to persuade her, she wouldn't budge.

Since attending Lynn's promotion dinner, the family has returned to a peaceful life.

But for Anli, this trip changed many things.

That day, Anli went straight to her parents' bedroom as soon as she returned from outside.

"Mother!" Anli's boots thumped on the wooden floor.

She walked through the living room, around a round table, and pushed open the bedroom door.

Anri's mother, Sarah, was sitting by the window, holding a book in her hand. Sunlight streamed in from the window and fell on her profile.

Her hair was dark brown, coiled at the back of her head, with a few stray strands hanging down beside her ears.

Her skin was very fair, not in a sickly way, but rather the kind of fair that comes from not being exposed to the sun much.

She appears to be a genuine "homebody".

Her eyes were light brown with fine lines at the corners, but they weren't very noticeable.

She was wearing a light blue long dress, the hem of which reached her feet, and the neckline was embroidered with a few small flowers.

She heard footsteps, looked up, saw Anli, put down her book, and opened her arms.

Anli threw herself into her mother's arms, burying her face in her mother's shoulder, her shoulders trembling.

Sarah patted her back gently, once, twice, three times.

"What's wrong?" Sarah's voice was very soft, like the wind blowing across a lake.

Anli didn't look up, her voice muffled. "Mother, Leon..."

Sarah's fingers paused. "What's wrong with Leon?"

"He doesn't want me anymore," Anli said, her voice trembling with tears.

"His attitude towards me has completely changed. He used to come to see me every day, bring me food, and accompany me for walks by the river. Now, when he sees me, he doesn't even greet me."

Sarah continued to pat Anri's back gently.

"Did you ask him why?"

Anli looked up, her eyes red-rimmed.

"I asked him, and he said he was found to have no talent for witchcraft and could not practice witchcraft."

"He said he approached me only to learn witchcraft through me, and now that he knows he can't, there's no point in wasting any more time."

Sarah looked at her daughter's face.

Anri's lips trembled, and tears slid down her cheeks, dripping onto Sarah's dress.

Sarah reached out to wipe away her tears, her fingers lingering on her daughter's cheek for a moment.

"You like him a lot?"

Anli bit her lip and remained silent.

Her tears flowed even more fiercely.

Sarah hugged Anri tightly, resting her chin on the top of her daughter's head.

"Let me tell you a story."

Anli's body was still trembling, but her crying had subsided considerably.

Sarah's gaze fell on the old locust tree outside the window. Most of its leaves had fallen, and its bare branches stretched towards the sky.

"Many years ago, there was a girl who studied at the Academy of Bones, where she faced death, the dead, darkness, and deceit every day."

"She didn't like it there, but she had no other choice. She was of average talent and came from an ordinary family, so she couldn't leave the academy."

Anli looked up at her mother.

"Later, she met a man. He was very good at talking, had a sweet tongue, was shameless, and his eyes crinkled when he smiled."

"He said he liked her, took her to the Ghost Market, and bought her all sorts of little gifts. She thought he truly loved her."

Sarah's voice was calm.

"Later she found out that the man wasn't just nice to her; he was nice to many women, and he had said sweet words to everyone."

An Li was stunned. "Mother, that man you mentioned..."

"It's your father," Sarah said.

Anli's mouth was wide open, her tears had stopped, and her eyes were wide open.

She seemed to understand her father's comment about Leon: "Just like me back in the day."

So... my father was that kind of person too.