"...and in these crystal balls are the souls of the humans they harvested. They need to torture these souls to harvest their despair to become a qualified antimage, and they can use these tortured souls to cast spells."
Adam frowned upon hearing this. Antimages need to use other people's suffering to strengthen themselves.
The Black Mage didn't explain it in detail, since any apprentice who practices magic like this will be killed immediately as it affects the principles of the mage world.
That's for Adam to study on his own.
The two soon returned to Bran Village and the Black Mage's task was complete. The apprentices and the townspeople fell into a coma due to the explosion, since the Black Mage was unable to fully shield everyone from the blast. Those with fragile minds will die, but there is nothing the Black Mage can do to help them, since it is their own battle.
Besides, it's not like the Black Mage cares whether or not they live or die, since these ordinary people are of no use to him.
Adam didn't care enough to check up on the townspeople either, so he simply walked past all the unconscious bodies.
However, the egg had other plans. It leapt into the air and absorbed the negative energy from the unconscious townspeople. The townspeople jerked away as soon as the egg absorbed all the negative magic away from them.
The apprentices were the first to wake up -- Zach and Thomas immediately got up to greet the Black Mage.
William looked around and saw that Riley was nowhere to be found, so he knew that Riley died. However, he didn't know whether it was Adam or the antimage who killed her.
However, Terry's last waking thought was seeing Adam conjure a fireball to kill Riley. After he woke up, he anxiously searched the area for Riley and found her corpse lying quietly outside town. He rushed out immediately and knelt beside her body, whispering, "Riley, please wake up, don't sleep... the Black Mage is here... we're safe..."
No one cared about Terry. Their attention was drawn to the egg.
The egg rapidly inflated and contracted. Adam realised that the egg was about to hatch and hurriedly drew blood to impose the master-servant contract on it.
The Black Mage shook his head and advised Adam, "Adam, a devil will not accept a one-sided contract. You must sign a fair contract with it, or it would rather commit suicide than be..."
However, before he could finish, Adam's contract dissipated, meaning that the devil accepted the contract. The gassy layer of the egg collapsed onto itself and burst out.
Devils require fair trade -- they rely on souls and emotions to strengthen themselves, so a fair trade between a powerful mage and a devil is required for it to accept the contract. The residual negative magic in the townspeople was enough for the devil to accept the contract.
It was a deal between the devil and Adam.
And just like that, the formless devil was born.
It had no form, but it could mimic appearances.
This is an innate skill for devils. They keenly sense the physical preferences of the other party and morph themselves into a desirable form.
Newly born devils rapidly morphed itself according to everyone's preference, attracting everyone to it.
Terry returned to town with Riley's body in his arms, crazed with delusion. Riley was his lover. They had previously agreed to embark on the path to become a mage together, but Adam ruined everything. Terry was determined to avenge Riley, even if it cost his life.
But the moment he looked up, he saw Riley standing in front of Adam and she waved towards Terry. Terry's eyes widened, "Riley, you're alive! Oh my god..."
He dashed forward and hugged the devil, who was taking on Riley's form.
The Black Mage didn't say anything, because devils don't kill without reason; Adam didn't say anything either, because he wanted to see how the devil would react.
"I wonder what will happen to Terry..." he muttered.
The devil was still a newborn and had a simple thought process -- Adam is its master; the Black Mage is incredibly powerful, so it shouldn't provoke him; everyone else is simply food for it. The devil told itself that it wasn't right to just devour people fully, but it was also very, very hungry.
The devil glanced at Adam pleadingly.
Adam shrugged.
The devil's reasoning overcame its need to eat, choosing to let Terry go. However, if it had a chance...
Terry was still glued on the devil, and blabbered, "Riley, don't leave me ever again... you scared me... but it's okay, we're safe. We can return to the Academy together..." Then, he hugged "Riley" tightly and she felt incredibly warm. "Thank Prometheus you're alive..."
Suddenly, the devil morphed back into a formless blob. The moment Terry squeezed it in a hug, the devil unhinged its jaw, devouring Terry with a single swoop.
Adam and the Black Mage could only stare at Terry being chewed into gore and bones. As it devoured Terry, it continued to absorb the surrounding negative magic from the townspeople, and soon, everyone woke up from their coma. The townspeople could only look in horror as they saw a vaguely human shape being digested in the devil's translucent stomach.
Terry soon disappeared into nothingness, and the devil spat out his clothes. It cowered before Adam, as if it was waiting for Adam to punish it.
Adam frowned and bowed slightly at the Black Mage, "Dearest Black Mage, I am very sorry. I am willing to compensate for Terry's death."
The Black Mage simply waved his hand and replied, "It's not your fault that the little apprentice died of his own stupidity. However, you still need to compensate the Academy, since he is considered their property. You can negotiate a favourable deal with the Academy's law enforcers."
The Black Mage didn't care about Terry's death. In fact, it was more interested in Adam's devil. The Black Mage has never seen a creature like it before.
The Black Mage suddenly spoke, "Adam, are you willing to transfer your pet to me? I will pay you a handsome sum."
Adam was stunned, not expecting the Black Mage to make a request like this. He thought for a moment, but replied, "Sorry, Respected Black Mage, but I do not intend to give my pet away."
The Black Mage smiled and nodded.
Zach and Thomas were collectively stunned seeing Adam communicate with a qualified mage casually, and fear struck their hearts. They have never seen an apprentice worthy of a qualified mage's attention, so they were glad they didn't offend Adam to his face.
William, however, was still human, and Riley and Terry's deaths haunted him. Could you blame him?
...
A few days later, they returned to the academy. The Black Mage had other matters to attend to. William bid Adam farewell as he returned to the Task Hall to receive his payment. Adam didn't care about the payment and let William take the reward in full. He returned to his laboratory after paying for Terry's death.
In the academy, the apprentices were frantically preparing for the upcoming trial, and apprentices continued to die during this period of time.
Survival of the fittest.
James and Frank were still optimising the runes in Adam's lab.
They didn't expect Adam to return so soon, and greeted him, "Adam, did you complete the mission already?" They didn't know that Adam had encountered an antimage apprentice, and Adam had no interest in explaining the situation. He simply nodded and returned to his room.
The two were accustomed to Adam's behaviour and returned to their own tasks.
Adam sat in his chair and took the devil out of the portable space. The devil was dissatisfied with its treatment and complained, "Master! That space is too small, I can't even turn over!"
Adam was stunned, "Have you already learnt the human language?"
The devil announced proudly, opening its formless mouth, "Of course! Language is the easiest way to communicate and I'm a fast learner! It isn't difficult for me to learn a new language."