The Mountain Range of Magical Beasts was over ten thousand kilometers long, after all. There were many routes by which one could enter. To not encounter any bandits was very normal.
“Let me tell you this. If you don’t want to die, then depart these mountains immediately,” Linley said directly.
“Why? Are there a lot of magical beasts of the fifth rank in the outer regions as well?” The youngster named Tony asked curiously.
Linley calmly explained, “In these mountains, especially in the outer areas, the most danger comes not from magical beasts, but from other humans. The four of you are both weak and inexperienced. I trust that certain greedy people will not let you slip away. I expect that the only reason why you haven’t been discovered yet is because today is your first day in these mountains. Otherwise, the four of you would have been killed by now.”
“The most danger comes from other humans?” Kalan frowned, but shortly afterwards, his face changed.
Kalan respectfully said to Linley, “Milord magus, we just entered these mountains, and only know a little bit about this area. We made a private decision to come here. I hope you can assist us, milord magus, and escort us out of these mountains.”
Linley couldn’t help but frown.
He hated trouble. But if these people were to encounter bandits on their way home, they really would be in for it.
“Milord magus, we beseech your aid.” Alice also begged.
Linley glanced at Alice. Seeing the look of appeal in her eyes, and imagining her being killed by bandits, Linley’s heart softened. Nodding, he said, “Fine. I’m headed back anyways. I’ll take you along with me. But if we really do encounter bandits on the way back, I can only promise to try my best. If you end up getting killed, there’s nothing I can do.”
Kalan immediately joyfully nodded. “For you to be willing to aid us, milord magus, we are extremely grateful already.”
Linley nodded, then immediately headed forwards. His back towards the four of them, he said, “Follow me.” Kalan and the other four began following Linley. Under Linley’s protection, they departed the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts and headed in the direction of the city.
On the road back, Kalan and the others learned Linley’s name. Alice, who was also an earth-style magus, was filled with admiration for Linley. She, too, was only fifteen years old, and she was considered the number one genius at the Wellen Institute.
But despite this, Alice was only a magus of the fourth rank. This sort of accomplishment, at the Ernst Institute, would only be considered average.
A break in the journey. Linley, Kalan, Alice, and the others were all eating. Linley and Alice were seated together.
“Big brother Linley, you really are too amazing. You became a magus of the fifth rank when you were fourteen. I will probably be twenty when I reach the fifth rank.” Alice stared worshipfully at Linley.
“I’m nothing. The number one genius at our institute, Dixie, became a magus of the fourth rank when he was nine, and a magus of the fifth rank when he turned twelve,” Linley said casually. He didn’t disclose… that when he was thirteen, he had also been a magus of the fourth rank. But by age fourteen, he had become a magus of the fifth rank.
In just one short year, he had advanced as much as Dixie had in three.
“A magus of the fourth rank at age nine? I’m fifteen, but I just became a magus of the fourth rank. And I’m considered the top genius at my school. Our Wellen Institute really can’t compare at all to your Ernst Institute.” Alice sighed.
“Big brother Linley, to me it felt like your Earthen Spear Array was very powerful and formidable, even more so than the other magi of the fifth rank at my school. Why is that?” Alice was also an earth-style magus. Naturally, she noticed the differences in Linley’s spell.
Linley smiled faintly. It wasn’t just power. The speed at which it erupted was also very fast.
“The origin of earth-style magic lies in the essence of the world…” Linley began explaining to Alice. To be honest, in terms of understanding earth magic, Linley had a much deeper grasp and understanding than even the earth-style instructors of the Ernst Institute. After all, he had a Saint-level Grand Magus as his personal tutor.
Alice stared at Linley, totally focusing and concentrating on him.
One listened while the other spoke. As they talked, the two of them drew closer and closer to each other. Totally absorbed in magical theory, Linley only noticed after taking a break that their faces were now so close that only a fist’s worth of distance separated them.
Linley was startled. This was his first time being so close to a girl. Being so close, he could clearly see Alice’s two hazy, soft eyes, her pert nose… Linley even thought that he could feel her breath on him and smell the fragrance of her body.
“Big brother Linley, why’d you stop talking?” Alice asked curiously. But moments later, Alice realized what happened. She immediately pulled back, and her face immediately flushed as red as an apple.
Linley forced himself to calm down, and then stood up to face the others. Pretending that nothing was amiss, he said, “Alright, everybody eat up. We’re going to continue to travel soon. Let’s do our best to arrive at the city early.”
43
Violet in the Night Wind
On the Greenleaf Road of Fenlai City, the capital of the Kingdom of Fenlai, a member of the Holy Union, there were many noble manors clustered together. In front of one particular manor, over ten people were clustered together.
“The Debs clan would like to thank you, Linley, for your assistance. If it weren’t for you, this child of ours, Kalan, would have no doubt suffered greatly.” A distinguished-looking old man with flowing silver hair smiled towards Linley. By this old man’s side were Kalan, Alice, Tony, and Niya. Behind them were the servants of the Debs clan.
Turning around, the old man nodded at one of the servants, who took out a small golden sack from within his clothes.
Taking the gold sack, the old man turned to Linley with a smile. “This is a hundred gold coins. Although it isn’t much, it represents the gratitude of our Debs clan. I hope, Linley, you will accept it.”
“No need. It didn’t take any effort on my part,” Linley said quite courteously. “I should be heading off now.”
The old man didn’t persist. Smiling, he watched Linley depart.
“Tony, you three should go home as well. Your parents are no doubt extremely worried.” Smiling, the old man spoke. After bidding farewell, Alice, Niya, and Tony all headed back to their own homes.
When Kalan and the silver-haired old man returned to their own living room, the old man’s face suddenly turned cold. In a voice filled with frozen rage, he barked out, “On your knees!”
With a thud, Kalan immediately fell to his knees. “Second Grandpa, it was wrong of me. This time, I brazenly took three of my friends to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts without clearly investigating all of its associated dangers. Second Grandpa, please punish me.”
“Hmph! Brazen?”
The old man’s cold glare stared daggers at Kalan. “Kalan, you are already an adult. In addition, you are the heir and successor to our Debs clan. How could you make such a foolish, such an utterly moronic mistake? How could you possibly imagine how dangerous the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts is? You dared to traverse it without so much as even informing the clan? Hmph! I’ll let your own father decide what punishment would be suitable. Just let me remind you of one thing – in the future, if you continue to act so foolishly, even if the clan is handed over to you, you will wreck it!”
Hanging his head, Kalan didn’t dare to speak.
The Debs clan could be considered one of the top three clans in the Kingdom of Fenlai. The reason the Debs clan was so powerful was not because it had a high rank of nobility; it was because the Debs clan was the direct trading partner of the Dawson Conglomerate in Fenlai, one of the three greatest trading unions in the Yulan continent.
The wealth of the Da
wson Conglomerate could match an entire kingdom’s wealth. Its business stretched across the entire continent.
Any of the three trading unions on the Yulan continent possessed a terrifying amount of both wealth and power. Here in the Kingdom of Fenlai, many clans wanted to do business with them, because being able to do business with the Dawson Conglomerate meant being able to ride atop a titanic war-machine.
For the Debs clan to be able to do business with the Dawson Conglomerate was an extremely impressive thing.
After all, even the two major alliances and the Four Great Empires had to do their best to watch their step around the trading unions, and to do their best to make them happy.
After departing Fenlai City, Linley took the road towards the Ernst Institute. Bebe was perched on Linley’s shoulders, keeping watch, while Doehring Cowart was also walking side by side with Linley.
“Grandpa Doehring, have you ever felt that this world is a terrifying place?” Linley asked mentally.
Doehring Cowart nodded, but he didn’t speak. He just quietly listened.
“In the past, when I visited Fenlai City, I didn’t notice anything. But upon returning from the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, I’ve learned so much. The ruthlessness and mercilessness of the mountains is naked and open. It’s bloody, without any concealment.”
“If we look at the high-ranking magi and warriors, as well as the nobles, of Fenlai City, on the surface, they all seem to be polite and courteous. They make the entire Fenlai City seem so splendid. But the class system in Fenlai City is so severe, so callous.”
“Even the law itself gives nobles far more privileges than the commoners. Although Fenlai City is very prosperous and gaudy, filled with laughter, its unspoken rules are far more binding than those of the mountains. In the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, there are no such things as nobles or commoners, only the strong and the weak.”
Linley was slowly beginning to understand the world.
In this world, the nobles had all the advantages, while the commoners were trampled upon. No matter how gentlemanly and refined the nobles acted, or how benevolent they behaved, there was no way they could alter the severe inequality that existed in the world as a whole. If you wanted to have status as a commoner, your only choice was to become a powerful warrior or a powerful magus.
If you didn’t strive hard, you would be discarded.
“Human society is far more complicated than the world of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. They just hide the same brutality which exists in the mountains under a beautiful set of clothes. But sometimes, this set of beautiful clothes can be very useful.” From the bottom of his heart, Linley felt contempt for those nobles who pretended to be kind but really were not.
After seeing the cruelty of the mountains, as well as the splendor of Fenlai City, Linley’s mentality had begun to change upon seeing the great contrast.
“Are you afraid of struggling?” Doehring Cowart suddenly asked.
Linley smirked. “Afraid? No. I enjoy it. If there were no struggles in the world, and everything was calm and peaceful, how boring would that be? I like struggle, especially struggle that is exciting. Dancing on the edge of a knife… that’s the sort of life which is the most exhilarating.”
“Squeak squeak!” Bebe let out two cries as well.
They stepped into the Ernst Institute.
After having travelled into the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, and after having witnessed the cruelty of mankind, Linley cherished the genuine friendships he had formed at the Institute even more than before. Upon entering his dorm, he heard these words…
“Boss Yale, Linley still isn’t back yet. Could he have run into a dangerous situation in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts?”
“Shut your stinking mouth, fourth bro. Third bro will definitely come back to us safely. Come on, let’s go eat…” As he raised his head, Yale saw a familiar shadow standing in the doorway. He paused, stunned. George and Reynolds were stunned as well. But then, immediately afterwards, the three of them charged forward towards Linley.
“Haha, third bro, you finally came back!” Yale was the first to reach Linley, wrapping his arms around Linley in a bear hug.
Reynolds also shouted out happily, “Wow, Linley, did you know that Boss Yale and George have been muttering about you every day? They were all worried about you. I was the only one who was totally sure you’d make it back safe.”
“Fourth bro.” George stared at him. “Just now, you were talking about being worried that Linley had encountered something dangerous.”
“Me?” A look of ‘confusion’ was on Reynolds’ face. “Did I say such a thing?”
Seeing his three bros together, Linley’s heart instantly felt warm. Yale immediately waved his arm ostentatiously and said, “Alright, enough chitchat. Third bro’s safe return from the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts is a major event! Let’s go have a good celebration!”
“Second bro, fourth bro.” Linley laughed as well. “Let’s go. We have to all go and have some drinks. My treat!”
“Whoah.” Reynolds stared at him. “Your treat?”
Yale laughed loudly. “Right, Third Bro has to treat us. Don’t forget that a while back, those representatives from the Proulx Gallery contacted us and send us that letter of invitation. Those three sculptures of Third Bro’s managed to sell for over 4000 gold coins. We have to have a good celebration.”
“A letter of invitation from the Proulx Gallery?” Linley was startled.
Yale hurriedly explained, “Third Bro, your sculptures sold for high prices. The Proulx Gallery has already totally recognized your abilities as an expert sculptor, which is why they are now inviting you to start up a private booth at their ‘Hall of the Experts’. Right, let me give you the letter.” Yale immediately ran towards the interior of the dormitory.
Reynolds said in a very secretive way towards Linley, “Linley, you wanna know something? Ever since that guy from the Proulx Gallery came to our school, the news that you’ve been invited to have a private booth at the gallery has spread across the entire institute. Your fame has increased tremendously.”
“It’s been spread across the entire institute?” Linley was somewhat numb with surprise. He himself had just found out, after all.
“Right. In the entire institute, you might be the last one to know about this, actually.” George chortled as well.
“Linley, this is the letter of invitation the Proulx Gallery sent us.” Yale came running out of the dormitory with a white enveloped that had a golden seal affixed to it.
Night time. The four bros of dorm 1987 were walking along a dark, silent street of the Ernst Institute, casually talking about what had happened over these past two months.
“As vicious as that?” Reynolds, amazed, tugged Linley’s shirt aside. Seeing all the crisscrossing scars across Linley’s chest, he couldn’t help but hold his breath. The nearby George also went silent. Only Yale was able to laugh, “Haha, you guys have no experience. When I was a kid, I saw way worse than this.”
“Boss Yale, are you serious?” Reynolds said in astonishment.
Yale smiled cockily. “Of course I’m serious. And I’ve seen more than a few as well. For example, killing prisoners by torture. Or real people fighting against magical beasts with their bare hands. When they fought barehanded against the beasts, they were surrounded by a ring of rich spectators. The sight was really bloody.”
Hearing Yale’s words, Linley was able to picture the scene in his mind.
“It’s good to be on campus,” George sighed.
Linley also nodded in agreement. By this time of night, many couples could be seen walking together on the road, some holding hands, others seated together on the back of a magical beast. Campus life was very leisurely.
“Right. Boss Yale, aren’t you going to go spend tonight with your girlfriend? Why aren’t you getting ready to leave?” Reynolds suddenly asked.
Yale said with dissatisfaction, “Girlfriend? M
y bro has just come back from the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts after encountering so many near-death situations. And I’m going to go spend time with my girlfriend? Reynolds, you have to remember these words: Bro’s are like your arms and legs, while girls are like your clothes. They’re just good for playing with.”
A look of contempt immediately appeared on Reynolds’ face.
“Linley!” A surprised voice suddenly rang out from far away.
Linley and the others all turned their heads and watched as a tall, slender, beautiful young woman with golden hair ran towards them happily. Upon reaching Linley, she exclaimed in surprise, “Linley, you’re back from the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts? This is wonderful. You disappeared for two full months this time. I was so worried. Are you injured?”
“Delia, I’m fine,” Linley laughed as he responded.
Delia was also someone who Linley had met just as he had enrolled in school. They were on very close terms with each other. When he was together with Delia, Linley felt as though he could totally relax, and be without any mental pressure. It was just like when he was with his three dear bros.
“Delia, Uncle’s carriage is outside waiting for us. Let’s not waste any time.” A cold voice rang out.
Turning his head, Linley saw a youth dressed in long robes standing some distance away. It was Delia’s elder brother, Dixie, one of the two geniuses of the Ernst Institute. Dixie’s robe was extremely clean and neat, without a single blemish or stain. His eyes also seemed very clear and tranquil.
“Oh.” Letting out a disappointed sound, Delia looked at Linley. “Linley, father asked me and my brother to go back. Our carriage is outside waiting for us. I have to go back now.”
“Alright, Delia. We can chat when you come back.” Linley smiled as he replied.
“Right. Bye.” Delia clearly felt rather disappointed at not having more time to chat with Linley. Dixie walked over to them as well. He only glanced at Delia, and Delia immediately began walking towards him. But then, Dixie turned to look at Linley. “Linley, I heard you successfully returned from your training exercise in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. Congratulations.”
Coiling Dragon_Book 1 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 39
