by Zhuang Bifan
"I… I want…" Garso gritted his teeth before mustering his courage. "I want to learn magic from you…"
"Oh…" Lin Li nodded his head, but neither rejected him nor gave his consent as he merely looked at Garso. "Tell me, why's that so?"
"Because… because… " Garso kept repeating, but failed to continue his sentence.
"Is it because of today?"
"Not just today, the previous time too, it has always been like this. Every time I get into trouble, Father is always protecting me, but I don't want this to continue. He's old, and I should be the one protecting him instead. Today, when the bandits appeared, I wanted to protect Father and escape, but I couldn't do it… I just couldn't, I'm too weak, they could kill me with one hand…" Garso started tearing up as he spoke.
"It's too late today, go and rest. Come find me in the study tomorrow and I'll teach you some basics. But before that, I have to remind you that magic is tiring and dry, and dangerous too. If you are not mentally prepared for it, then we shouldn't waste our time."
"I'm not afraid of it being difficult, Mage Felic!"
"Very well…"
The next afternoon, Garso came indeed. Magic Shooter Alan was with him.
"Good, both of you are here, have a seat…" Lin Li nodded and grabbed a heavy book on magic from his desk. "Garso, this is a book on magic, go and memorize it. You will recite it to me in a month. If you get a word wrong, you don't need to come back to the Tower of Dusk in the future."
Garso received the book and merely flipped through a few pages before his expression changed. "But, Mage Felic, I don't… I don't know a lot of these words…"
"Oh right, I almost forgot…" Lin Li thought about it, and retrieved another book from a shelf next to him. "Take this too, it's an introduction to the High Elves Print. It'll help you with the words you don't know."
"Oh…"
"Ok, you can go." When Garso left, Lin Li turned around and looked at the young Magic Shooter Alan. "Alan, I need your help with something."
"Huh?" Alan paused. Didn't Gavin say that the President was going to fix my weakness? How come he's asking for my help instead?
Maybe President Felic does not know how to correct it, and is looking for a reason to brush me off? Alan could not help the doubt seeping through from his gaze when he thought of that. To be honest, he did not believe that this young President in his twenties could be capable of changing his bad habit, either. After all, even Mr Basel had not been able to do that.
Alan had been exposed to magic since the age of eight, and that had been over 20 years ago. His habit of controlling his mana was one that he had developed very early on, and it had turned into a second nature for him. He knew it was not a good practice, but he had failed to change it this whole time; hence, he slowly forgot about it.
He could not believe it at all when Gavin told him about this today, but as he thought about it, he decided to make a Hail Mary effort. Even if they did not manage to change it, he was not going to lose anything. Hence, he came somewhat reluctantly.
"I wonder what is it, President Felic?" While Alan doubted him silently, he did not let it show on his face.
"Nothing much…" Lin Li retrieved a crystal from his pocket. "This is a rechargeable crystal that will be needed for the inauguration ceremony two days later, but neither I nor other mages have the time to charge it with mana. Hence, I was hoping you could help me with it. Best do it quickly, it will be needed in a couple of days."
"No problem." Alan looked at it and realized it was indeed an ordinary rechargeable crystal, usually used to replenish a mage's mana. Given his ability, all he would need to do was to pump some mana in, and it would be good to go. Thus, he nodded his head and took it from the young President.
"I'll be troubling you with it, then."
"You're welcome."
After watching Alan leave, Lin Li lazily stretched. "Basel, this old fellow, is becoming muddle-headed. How come he doesn't know how to correct a simple mistake? If you want to deal with a miser, then all you need to do is exhaust his money and leave him starving on the streets for a couple of days. Sigh, it's so boring to deal with all this shady nonsense. My dear Mr Vanskore, when are you ever going to come…"
Nobody knew when Vanskore would arrive, but someone else did arrive pretty quickly…
"President Felic, there is a guest outside who wishes to meet you." Just as Lin Li was feeling bored, Gavin came to knock on the study's door.
"What an arrogant person…" Lin Li muttered to himself as he brushed his nose and opened the door, and then saw Gavin's bearded face before his eyes.
"President Felic, would you like to go take a look?"
"Who is it?"
"He said… he said he's your great Macklin…"
"…" Lin Li's knees gave way, and he nearly fell to the ground as he clutched Gavin and hurriedly asked, "Where is he at?"
"In the lobby."
"Let's go!"
Lin Li nearly jogged over, and saw Macklin's mousy face as soon as he opened the door to the lobby. The old man was smiling as he chatted with Herza, but as soon as he saw Lin Li enter, his smile disappeared, and he started cursing him out. "Damn it, you little a*shole, what an ingrate, it's been two months yet you haven't written a damn letter to me!! I have taught you in vain, you a*shole…"
"I was too busy. After the as*holes of the Supreme Council sent me to this godforsaken place, I have yet to enjoy a day of peace. Someone is here to give me trouble every day. See, I just got rid of a bunch yesterday, why don't you ask Gavin…"
"Damn it, aren't those a*sholes from the Supreme Council being too much?"
"See, if you must, go after the as*holes from the Supreme Council; it's got nothing to do with me. I was even planning to visit you in Alanna these few days…"
The young and old cursed happily. They left Herza speechless since he could never be serious with them. Forget Macklin, he was already bold enough to steal from the Supreme Council's library decades ago, and had left a few Arbitrators with a headache—one would be a fool to try and talk sense with him. Right, and the younger one was no better—for some reason, he was a talented mage that the Supreme Council had high hopes for. Even a few Arbitrators paid great attention to him…
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr Herza, I'm not talking about you…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Herza, we've been friends for decades, why would I scold you? I'm talking about the bunch of a*sholes from the Supreme Council…"
"… "
It would have been better for him not to explain himself, as he only left Herza more speechless now. He decided that what he did not see could not hurt him and fled the lobby, leaving the two lawless fellows to themselves.
"Alright, rascal, what is it you want to talk about? I don't believe you went to such lengths to chase Herza away only to chit-chat with me."
"Heheh, I could never fool you, old man…" After Macklin saw through his ploy, Lin Li was not in the least bit embarrassed, and merely laughed shamelessly before he brought his face closer with an unreadable expression, and continued, "How about we discuss a deal?"
"Tell me about it."
"I've got something on my hands that Alanna's Guild of Magic would be interested in, but given my capabilities now, I can't complete it alone, so I wonder if I can work with Alanna's Guild of Magic instead…"
"The Highlord's Mausoleum?" Macklin was a man of great intelligence, and had already guessed what it was.
"That's right!" Lin Li nodded, and retrieved a new piece of sheepskin from his pocket, presenting it like a treasure. The sheepskin contained the translation of a High Elves Print, done by Andoine after the Pharmacists Guild convention. "This is the blueprint of the Highlord's Mausoleum, all the hidden levers and traps are recorded clearly…"
"Bloody hell!" Macklin was in shock. He was well aware of what the blueprint meant—as long as they had it, Alanna's Guild of Magic could avoid almost half of the casualties inevitable during exploration!
Before Mac
klin recovered from his shock, Lin Li mysteriously added, "Also, I have a soul from the Dark Ages, he supposedly knows the designer of the Mausoleum very well…"
Chapter 360 - Bad News
The two of them only exited the meeting room when it was time for lunch. Nobody knew what they had been discussing this whole time. However, everyone—including Herza and Gavin—saw the two of them linking arms and looking chummy as they exited the meeting room, the smiles on their faces looking slyer than usual…
"Right, I forgot to ask you. The inauguration ceremony is in two days, surely you've more to do besides scolding me since you've come to Black Clouds Town so early?" After having lunch at Black Clouds Town, Lin Li invited Macklin into the study at the Tower of Dusk, and they started chatting away.
"Why, you mean I can't scold you?" Macklin glared at him haughtily.
"Of course you can…" Lin Li brushed his nose. "But besides scolding me, I'm sure there are more meaningful things in your life?"
"Nonsense…" Macklin gave him a petty glance. "I rushed over here from Alanna because I wanted to warn you, rascal…"
Lin Li paused. "What do you mean warn…?"
"The Marathon Family and the Dwarf Kingdom made an agreement last month to build a Forging Workshop in Breezy Plains. The Marathon Family will provide the funds, and the Dwarf Kingdom the skills. Wilhelm's nephew, Gaud, will be sent here to oversee it. Oh, and Wilhelm's second son, Lauren, will be sent here too…"
"Gaud?" When Macklin mentioned this name, Lin Li suddenly recalled the teen who had resembled Matthias back in the Fire Plume Ridge. If there was somebody besides Wilhelm in the Marathon Family that Lin Li was cautious of, it was undeniably Gaud. Back when Argus managed to trap him in a cave, he had only managed to do so thanks to Gaud's advice. He was no fool like Matthias…
"And there's another piece of bad news…"
"There's more?" Lin Li jumped. He secretly wondered if this old man was a jinx of some sort. Does he have nothing better to do besides bringing me all sorts of bad news…?
"Andoine came to me a few days ago, saying that the people of the Brilliance Shrine seem to be asking the Supreme Council about you. While they did not mention any names, the characteristics they provided were similar to yours. Have you offended any of them recently?"
"I don't think so…" Lin Li subconsciously replied, but then he recalled the banquet at Roland City and the young and beautiful Paladin…
It can't be…
It was merely a couple of Undead creatures, did they have to be so extreme? Fancy bringing in the Supreme Council…
"Anyway, kid, you'd better watch out. The Brilliance Shrine is not something to be trifled with, so don't ask for trouble. If those weirdos are annoyed, even the Supreme Council would be worried…" Macklin was well aware of his apprentice's personality—he could not go one day without getting into trouble. Honestly, he would not be surprised if he really did offend the Brilliance Shrine…
"Got it…"
"Hey why don't you ask Englos about it? That fellow is the Archbishop of Brilliance Shrine, after all, maybe he knows a thing or two…"
"Yeah, I'll ask him about it when I see him in a couple of days."
Macklin's news was bad, but Lin Li did not have the time to think about it anymore, as he found out something even worse the next morning—he was going bankrupt!
Never had he been in such a predicament since he arrived in Anril. At the Arcane Magic Potion auction in Jarrosus, he had easily made one million gold coins, and after that, he worked with the Mannes and Saruman Families to run an insanely profitable Pharmaceutical business, earning him 10,000 gold coins a month. It was enough to make any businessman green with envy, and that was merely the start of it—after they got recognition and built up their reputation, as well as managed to settle down and secure major clients, his profits were definitely 10 times that amount!
Logically speaking, there was no way he could be so short on money, as he had always lived simply, not too different from an average civilian. While studying magic might have cost him a bit, he had the Ring of Endless Storm, which allowed him to obtain magical ingredients from another world—ever since he was an apprentice, he had never had any need to purchase ingredients.
Now, it was different, and it was all because of the Tower of Dusk.
Having millions of savings and an income of 10,000 gold coins was a large sum to most, but in the eyes of the Guild of Magic, it was barely sufficient. The Tower of Dusk had cost Lin Li way too much money because he had way too high expectations, and the cost of building the Tower of Dusk was way more than the Supreme Council's budget allowed. They were no charitable organization; hence, most of the excess had been paid by Lin Li, and he soon realized that his pockets were nearly empty…
"Since when have I become so poor?" This was the second time Lin Li found himself desperate for a large sum of money ever since he arrived in Anril.
Well, the Tower of Dusk was built, but quite honestly, it was merely a shell. There were too many areas that had yet to be completed, which would again require a large sum of money. Others aside, even the 20 Crystal Cannons alone were going to cost Lin Li a great deal, and he had to buy them, or else the cannon room that had been built using a large amount of Eternal Adamantine would go to waste.
Thankfully, he was going to receive a large amount of Ice Crystal Metal soon. If he used it wisely, he might be able to solve some of his problems soon.
The next morning, Lin Li went to Doland to look for Kaman, who was busy with his trading shop.
"Mage Felic, you're just in time. I was going to look for you at Black Clouds Town this evening…" Kaman hurriedly set his things down when he saw Lin Li, and welcomed this god of fortune with a smile.
"I have some matters too, but I'm not in a hurry, you can speak first…"
"I received a batch of food from Roland City yesterday. I heard them say that it's for you…" Kaman seemed excited when he said this. He really had good taste, working with such a resourceful god of fortune.
The food was sent by a group of soldiers. They were all armed and well-trained, and probably the best army of Roland City. This god of fortune had to really be resourceful to have such an army send him the food. Could he really have rescued the son of Roland City's castellan from the Syer Bandits?
Kaman felt himself shake with excitement when he thought of this. If he could get to know Roland City's castellan, it would be like striking the jackpot…
"It arrived so quickly? Seems like Roland City is efficient indeed…" When he heard that the food had arrived, Lin Li felt his spirits were lifted. He had heard too much bad news the last few days; finally, there was something good today. "If you're free this evening, get the dwarf over and exchange for the Ice Crystal Metal quickly…"
If it had been in the past, Lin Li would not have been so anxious, but it was different now. He had heard from Macklin yesterday that the Marathon Family was going to build a Forging Workshop in the Breezy Plains. If they knew of the existence of the Ice Crystal Metal, who knew what would happen.
"Alright, I'll do it now."
"Don't rush, I have something else to ask of you…" Lin Li stopped Kaman quickly. "How much do you earn from the mining business in a year?"
"If things are good, about one million gold coins…" Kaman did not dare hide anything from this god of fortune, and told Lin Li everything earnestly. "It depends on luck too. To be honest, I have a group of miners myself, and if I find good mineral veins, I can do the mining myself, then the profits will be bigger…"
"You have miners of your own?"
"Yes."
"That's good, get those miners here, and I'll lead you to a fortune within three days."
"Sure!" Kaman's eyes glowed, and he agreed without hesitation.
When Lin Li left the trading shop, he had already given Kaman a bunch of instructions, of which the most important one was to buy a forging workshop in Doland, but according to Kaman, that would be quite difficult. Rece
ntly, for some reason, the rates of blacksmiths had skyrocketed. They used to be able to hire a low-level blacksmith for one hundred gold coins a month, but now it had risen to two hundred, and even then you might not be able to hire one…
"I can't believe it, no idea which bastard is behind this…"
Lin Li knew which bastard it was—it had to be the Marathon Family. They were building a forging workshop in the Breezy Plains, and while the Dwarf Kingdom would be providing the skilled workforce, they could not rely entirely on the dwarves for blacksmiths. Given their wealth, the Marathon Family could even have hired all the blacksmiths in the whole Doland.
Lin Li was not worried, however, for the number of low-level blacksmiths they had merely determined the amount they could produce, while the fate of a forging workshop ultimately relied on the best blacksmith it had. The Time Consignment Store would hold an auction in a month's time; they would see if the Marathon Family was really able to monopolize the blacksmithing industry of the Breezy Plains.
When Lin Li returned to the Tower of Dusk, it was around evening. Everyone knew that the inauguration ceremony was the next day, and thus nobody went to disturb him—even Macklin. Hence, Lin Li enjoyed a rare night of undisturbed sleep.
Chapter 361 - Arbitrator
The sound of hooves hitting against the ground could be heard as a few carriages flew past, causing dirt to fly in their wake. In one of the carriages was Rina. This young Paladin clad in a silver armor was thinking about what her teacher Englos had said these past two days. It had been more than a decade, but Rina had yet to see him give such high regard to anybody.
Her teacher seemed to be constantly going on about the genius named Felic and the convention held by Alanna's Pharmacists Guild for the past two days. In his words, this genius pharmacist named Felic could achieve the impossible; he had solved a difficult problem for the Pharmacists Guild in merely minutes, and her teacher even thought that this Felic was the only one in the world who could come up with an antidote for the viper's poison.
