"Mr. Herag, please come in. I am Lady Wendy's housekeeper, Lorna." Lorna quickly responded and invited Herag into the mansion.

Herag nodded and followed Lorna into the yard.

The yard featured a large garden where several craftsmen were trimming the lawn and tending to the flowers and plants.

Some of these craftsmen merely glanced at Herag and continued with their work, while others buried themselves in labor, carefully pruning the branches and leaves.

Lorna led Herag into the villa, ascending to the second floor.

Upon entering, Herag found the decoration to be not as lavish as he had imagined.

Instead, the décor exuded an elegant taste throughout.

Unlike many wealthy families whose decorations radiate the smell of money in every corner,

this house was more about subtle elegance and a keen attention to overall harmony.

This alone made it clear that the owner here had a fine appreciation for aesthetics.

Herag followed Lorna to the second floor and met the owner, the widow Wendy.

"Madam, this is Mr. Herag who has come to inspect and maintain the witch array," Lorna said softly.

Wendy sat on the sofa, wearing a short skirt, her long legs crossed to reveal fair thighs.

Her hair was styled in a bun behind her head, with strands falling to the sides as she turned to look at Herag, "Quite young, can you handle the task?"

"Lady Wendy, I am a Level 1 Witch Array Master, so these basic inspection and maintenance tasks should pose no problem," Herag replied.

Wendy spoke softly, "Then you may begin. The control core of the witch array is in the basement, and Lorna will take you there."

"Understood, madam," Lorna said before leading Herag to the basement.

Wendy was just observing if the staff had any issues; if she found none, the work could proceed. Otherwise, she would decline Herag's acceptance of the task.

Herag followed Lorna to the basement, which was guarded by two thick iron doors.

Besides, the doors required witch array authentication; Lorna placed her hand on the handle for verification before opening them.

The core of the witch array was a book with a surface covered with numerous yellow fuzz, floating in the middle of a small room.

This book carried all the witch arrays of the courtyard, and through it, one could control the arrays in the garden.

The book was also guarded by witch arrays, with a barrier protecting it, making it generally inaccessible.

After Lorna authenticated her identity, the barrier was temporarily lifted.

Herag stepped forward, channeling magic power into the book, starting to comprehend the various witch arrays.

Upon infusing his magic power into the book, Herag quickly sensed the presence of several witch arrays.

He counted a total of eight witch arrays, each with different functionalities.

There were not only guardian-type arrays but attack arrays as well.

The rune structures of each array were independent, all connected through the book as the core.

Herag quickly reviewed each witch array—every rune was complete, structurally sound, with no issues.

These arrays appeared almost new, indicating regular maintenance had kept them in such pristine condition.

Herag documented the structure of each array, then after confirming there were no problems, retrieved his hand and said to Lorna, "Ms. Lorna, I found everything stable; there are no issues with the witch arrays."

Lorna was unsurprised; most witches array masters they'd hired said the same thing.

"That's good. Mr. Herag, please follow me," Lorna needed to take Herag back to report to Wendy, and if there were no issues, they would proceed with payment.

"Is it done already..."

Herag reflected on how easy it was to earn money as a witch array master, much quicker and easier than alchemy.

If not for the high requirements to become a witch array master, many would aspire to join the field.

In truth, the scarcity of witch array masters made the profession so lucrative.

If there were plenty of witch array masters around, they wouldn't be paying hundreds of magic stones for inspections and maintenance.

"Madam, Mr. Herag reported no issues following his inspection," Lorna reported.

Wendy, holding a peculiar wood carving, continued to inspect it without turning her head, "Then settle the payment with Mr. Herag—three hundred magic stones."

Because the witch arrays were intact, requiring no major maintenance, the reward was the basic three hundred magic stones.

Additional issues would have incurred further charges.

Lorna then took out a talisman stone and transferred three hundred magic stones to Herag.

Herag wasn't focused on the three hundred magic stones, his attention entirely drawn to the wood carving in Wendy's hands.

He perceived a faint aura from the carving, an aura he was all too familiar with.

It was from the Abyss Plane.

A seemingly ordinary wood carving, albeit unusually shaped, possessing the aura of the Abyss Plane, piqued his curiosity.

Herag was full of curiosity, but merely gazing at it revealed nothing substantial.

"Mr. Herag?..." Lorna, noticing Herag's persistent gaze on Wendy, felt slightly displeased but couldn't express it, choosing instead to prompt him.

She had seen countless men dumbfounded by her lady's beauty, so it was no surprise.

Especially with Herag's youth, encountering a woman of such allure as Wendy might indeed stir one's focus.

Yet, staring constantly was impolite.

Were it not for Herag's membership in Serlandir, Lorna might have shown him the door.

"Is there a problem?" Wendy noticed Herag's gaze and inquired.

Herag pondered, "Lady Wendy, perhaps it's impolite, but may I ask from where your wood carving came?"

"A businessman sent it. Why, is there something wrong with it?" Wendy noticed Herag's gaze indeed remained on the carving rather than herself.

She was accustomed to such looks, discerning that Herag truly wasn't looking at her, but at the carving in her hand.

Connecting this with Herag's official member status in Serlandir, Wendy suspected something might indeed be wrong with the carving.

"Hmm... I can't quite tell, but I'd suggest you discard it." Herag felt a bit embarrassed; the aura of the Abyss Plane was not something others could readily detect.

It was because he had been to the Abyss Plane and bore bloodlines from there that he was so sensitive to its aura.

There was no way to explain it to others, as the aura was almost imperceptible unless one used some special sorcerous means.

"Discard it? I do find it peculiar. Even at first glance, it inexplicably drew me to it, and I've been fiddling with it for a long while. Only now, hearing you say that, do I realize there's something eerie about it."

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