Wright patted the non-existent dust from his hands, his eyes sweeping over Ethan. "Where are yours? Going empty-handed?"
His tone and expression practically screamed, "Surely you're not so poor that you don't even have a single helper."
Ethan's mouth twitched.
He raised his palm, and a pale green light surged from it.
As the pale green light poured out, wood-element energy particles gathered, intertwined, and condensed in the air.
Guided by invisible threads, the energy particles quickly wove themselves into a form two meters in front of Ethan.
A few breaths later, a Green Vine Guard stood steadily on the plaza.
It stood three meters tall at the shoulder, with powerful lower limbs composed of four main vines that branched into several smaller ones at the ends, gripping the ground tightly.
Its upper body was woven from dozens of secondary vines, forming a humanoid torso and arms.
It lacked a distinct head; instead, the top of the torso was a tightly woven sphere of vines. In the center of the sphere sat a fist-sized, emerald-green energy core, with fine light slowly circulating within.
Each arm was formed by three intertwined main vines, tapering into sharp, conical points that resembled naturally formed wooden spears.
Wright stared at the Green Vine Guard for a few moments, his clouded eyes scanning it from top to bottom and then back up again. "Oho, looks decent enough. A bit fragile, though."
Ethan looked away. "Doesn't matter. It didn't cost anything, so I won't be heartbroken if it breaks."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the perfectly aligned formation of three hundred mechanical hounds behind Wright, and a slow smile curved his lips.
"I just wonder if someone else will be heartbroken if their mechanical beasts get smashed."
Wright's finger froze in mid-air.
On that wrinkled old face, the mischievous grin stiffened for a moment.
His clouded eyes darted about, and his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed the words.
He withdrew his finger and gave a dry cough.
"Cough, anyway, kid... how many of these Green Vine Guards can you summon?"
"Enough."
"Hmm? You—"
Wright was about to ask more, but before the words could leave his mouth, a hand slapped onto his shoulder.
"Oho, little Wright, you came too."
The voice held a mix of mockery, surprise, and a certain indescribable familiarity.
Ethan's pupils constricted sharply.
Wizard Jade Blood.
He immediately turned, placed his right hand over his chest, and bowed slightly. "Lord Jade Blood."
Jade Blood didn't move an inch, merely giving a faint "Mm."
Then her gaze shifted, falling back onto Wright, as if Ethan were just a stone by the side of the road—once acknowledged, he didn't warrant a second look.
Wright squinted at Jade Blood, his wrinkled face twisting into an annoyed expression.
He didn't bow like Ethan; he didn't even change his posture, remaining in that bored, arms-crossed stance.
"Why wouldn't I come?"
Jade Blood raised an eyebrow, her dark red hair sliding over her shoulder as she tilted her head.
"Your father didn't mention it to me?"
Wright's mouth twitched. The wrinkles on his old face bunched together, and a flicker of extremely complex emotion crossed his clouded eyes—as if she had stepped on a sore spot, or as if he were struggling to restrain himself.
He turned his head and spat on the ground. "He's a load of crap."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undisguised loathing.
On the plaza, several nearby Third-Tier Apprentices turned their heads almost simultaneously.
Some people's mouths twitched, some had their eyelids jump, and others silently moved half a step away.
Their reaction was even more exaggerated than when they had first seen Wright.
Jade Blood blinked in surprise.
She stared at Wright for a few breaths, then laughed.
The laughter held a touch of helplessness, a bit of mischief, and the knowing clarity of someone who should have expected as much.
She reached out and ruffled Wright's gray-haired head, her movements as rough as if she were petting a disobedient old dog. "Hey, that's enough from you. The Headmaster, cough..."
Realizing something, she gave a dry cough and swallowed the rest of her sentence.
She withdrew her hand from Wright's head. "It's fine. Just stay by my side when the time comes; don't go wandering off."
Wright rolled his eyes. He smoothed back his ruffled hair, his lips curling into a disdainful arc.
"I won't."
Jade Blood narrowed her eyes.
In those dark red eyes, the mirth vanished bit by bit, replaced by a dangerous glint.
She stared at Wright for a few breaths, then her lips slowly curved into a smile. "Heh, you don't get a say in that."
The moment the words fell, she lightly tapped her right index finger.
A streak of red light shot from her fingertip.
The light was as thin as a hair, yet blindingly bright.
The red light precisely enveloped Wright, wrapping him tightly from head to toe.
The film of light appeared thin, but it was like a cage forged of solid steel, binding Wright firmly in place.
His clouded eyes rolled in their sockets, and his lips moved as if he wanted to speak, but not a single sound could escape.
Wizard Jade Blood casually plucked the storage ring from Wright's finger. "Oho, this design... this was the gift Blood Fury gave you the year you were born, wasn't it?"
Wright's eyes darted around, his lips moving soundlessly.
Jade Blood pointed her index finger toward the formation of mechanical hounds on the plaza.
A streak of red light shot from her fingertip.
The red light suddenly expanded above the mechanical hound formation, transforming into a massive net of light that covered all three hundred mechanical hounds.
In the next instant, every mechanical hound froze in place.
Their dark red crystal eyes flickered, the gears in their joints let out faint clicking sounds, and then they rose from the ground one by one, pulled by the light net toward the storage ring in Jade Blood's hand.
It took less than three breaths.
The plaza was clean; not even a scrap of a mechanical hound remained.
Jade Blood casually tossed the ring back to Wright. "Little brat, still throwing a tantrum with your Auntie Jade Blood? Once we're on the fortress, I'll have Senior Brother teach you a lesson."
With that, Jade Blood ignored Wright's expression, grabbed him by the back of his collar, hoisted him up, and strode toward the very front of the Blood Bone Tower procession.
The surrounding apprentices automatically cleared a path.
No one dared to look up at her.
And no one dared to look at Wright's face, which was now so dark it looked like it could drip ink.
Ethan stood where he was, watching Wizard Jade Blood's back disappear toward the front of the line.
A wizard's might is truly terrifying.
That was the only thought in his mind.
With this kind of power, it was no wonder people said an apprentice looking at a wizard was like looking up at a high mountain.
No, it wasn't just looking at a mountain.
It was an ant looking up at the vault of heaven.
Ethan withdrew his gaze, but another thought surged in his mind.
The conversation between Wright and Wizard Jade Blood had been packed with information.
"Your father didn't mention it to me?"
"He's a load of crap."
Father.
A "father" that Wizard Jade Blood would mention in that tone, and a "father" that Wright would dismiss so crudely.
Add to that the fact that Wright, a mere Third-Tier Apprentice, could stay in the Blood Bone Tower logistics department for so many years, have a dedicated exchange window that only those with Grade Five Aptitude could see, and make other Third-Tier Apprentices avoid him like the plague.
Then there was Wizard Jade Blood's comment: "This was the gift Blood Fury gave you the year you were born."
Blood Fury, a Second-Tier Wizard and the Dean of Students.
A gift he gave to a newborn baby.
Ethan's mouth twitched.
Hiss... Wright couldn't be the Headmaster's son, could he?
Damn, no wonder the potions sold so well these past few years and no one ever came to cause trouble.
Spirit-Refreshing Potions, Ignis Paste—he refined batch after batch and sold batch after batch.
From small-scale sales at the start to a monthly output of thousands of bottles later on, he had carved out a massive chunk of the entire Blood Bone Tower potion market.
No one had ever tried to force his prices down.
No one had ever come looking for trouble.
There weren't even people trying to dig into his background.
He had originally thought it was just that old fellow Wright backing him.
Now it seemed the one backing him wasn't Wright.
It was the existence behind Wright that the entire Blood Bone Tower didn't dare to look at twice.
A Third-Tier Wizard, the Headmaster of Blood Bone Tower.
It all made sense now.
After this moment of realization, Ethan didn't think much more on it. After all, he and Wright had always just been business partners.
With a tap of his hand, a vine bed wove itself beneath his feet.
Ethan sat cross-legged and took out a bottle of Spirit-Refreshing Potion, tossing it back.
"Gotta love producing and consuming your own stock. No need to feel the sting of the price—this one bottle alone is worth ten magic stones."
With that thought, Ethan entered a state of meditation.
Rate on N.U.
