From the looks of it, it wasn’t a bad result.
“Sorry! I acted on my own!” Leylin admitted and apologised immediately.
“No! It’s nothing! We still have to thank you for your vigilance!” Robin waved.
“That’s right! Who would’ve known that the Demon Hunter was actually so treacherous? He even tried to snatch away small fries like us!” Kesha spoke with a face full of indignation.
“Silence!” Leylin and Robin shouted simultaneously to stop her.
“Towards Morning Star Magi, even if we are enemies, respect must be given no matter what! This is to respect the truth!” Kesha flushed red from embarrassment and lowered her head.
*Rumble!* At this time, a large wave was transmitted from afar. Leylin looked towards that direction in concern.
“No need to worry! The Demon Hunter may be famed for his strength, but you have to believe in our Mentor. He is also very powerful!” Robin noticed the worries on Leylin’s mind and gave him a comforting smile.
“Let’s hope things will be as such!” Leylin replied a little forcefully.
Getting Duke Gilbert out was already his last resort. Apart from this mentor, he could no longer think of any other ways to make the Demon Hunter give up.
Should their mentor be defeated, the students themselves would not have a good ending as well.
“Strength! It still comes down to strength!” Leylin could not help but clench his fists together as his yearning for the Morning Star realm grew.
*Whoosh!* A scarlet ray of light streaked across the horizon and Gilbert’s silhouette emerged before Leylin and the others.
“Mentor!” Robin and Leylin rushed to bow.
“You rascals, look what trouble you’ve gotten yourselves into, you even provoked Cyril!” Gilbert swept his eyes over before a smile surfaced on his bald, bare face. It seems, that in the battle between him and the Demon Hunter, he was not on the losing end.
After realising that, Leylin heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. At least the worst case scenario no longer had a chance of occurring.
“Alright! You must be exhausted after the expedition, just take a trip back on my airship!”
Smiling, Gilbert waved his hand and a small airship appeared on the spot.
Although it was smaller in size than the public airships, it was evidently more luxurious and ornate. The spell formations drafted on it were also more intricate and powerful.
“This is…” Leylin’s mouth opened wide.
Despite its small size, it was still a proper airship! With enough space to fit an airship of this size, surely Duke Gilbert’s space artifacts must have been at the level of magic equipment at least!
But Robin thought Leylin had lost his senses because of the airship. “This is the ‘Black Scale,’ Mentor’s ship. When he advanced to become a Morning Star Magus, the Fayle clan sent it as a gift. It can use any network of channels and will be treated as an honoured guest at maintenance and rest stops!” he explained with a smile.
“What a lavish clan!” Leylin gasped. The family which had control over the central continent’s airship channels, had a lot of inside information as expected.
“Will they send a gift for every Morning Star Magus after they are promoted?” Leylin suddenly remembered and asked.
“That’s right! Basically, after a Magus is promoted, the Fayle clan will definitely send a private airship as a gift!” Robin nodded.
“What a great scale of spending!” Of course, Leylin knew very well that it was probably not the intention of the Fayles. Instead, the Monarch of the Skies was using the chance to get on the good sides of the Morning Star Magi.
The Black Scale’s interior was very luxurious. Comprising a master room, guest room, kitchen, meditation room and a customized living room, the airship was big enough to accommodate dozens of people without seeming crowded. For a private airship, this was enough.
Gilbert sat on a sofa in the middle of the living room while Leylin and the other 3 stood respectfully at one side. A few clear-winged elves carried the teapot and cups and swiftly poured a cup of red tea for everyone.
“Sit!” Gilbert chuckled. “I am also rather interested in your experiences this time round!”
Leylin’s heart stirred. He knew that whatever was to come could not be avoided, but he showed no dissatisfaction about it.
By the sole fact that Gilbert saved him, it was only right to share a large portion of the reward.
“Tiny energy waves are detected! Identified as Bloodline artifacts’ detection technology! Space artifacts are unable to cut them off!”
By this time, the prompting sounds of the A.I. chip had reached Leylin’s mind. In his vision, he distinctly saw a scanning wave sweep past the 4 of them, not even sparing Noah.
The wave was so obscure that even Robin could not feel it scanning his body, it even went on to scan Leylin’s spatial pouch and ring. Despite that, Leylin’s face remained unchanged.
The few people remained silent for a while before Robin took the lead and spoke up, “Mentor, It’s like this…”
“…….” After listening to his narration, Gilbert looked at the imprint of the spell on Robin’s forehead and took a deep sigh, “I didn’t expect that you would ultimately choose this path!”
“This is my choice!” Robin bowed and replied, “If not for this, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even get the chance to look at the realm of the Morning Star!” He spoke resolutely.
“As your mentor, I can only guide and advise you in your pursuit of the truth and the power of the bloodline. As for your final choice, I will not interfere any further.”
Gilbert shook his head and said, “Since you are insistent on doing this, then so be it!”
“Mentor……” On the other side, Kesha was acting like a little girl, on the verge of crying. She spoke about her encounter extremely miserably.
“Arcus and the other two are all dead…… That’s half the strength of my clan…… Mentor…….”
Towards the end, Kesha’s eyes flushed red and she started crying. Tears flowed out like a waterfall. She spoke nothing about her earnings from the extortion of the Green-skinned Barbarian, which was done in collaboration with Leylin.
“Alright! Alright!” Gilbert said helplessly. “After this, I will give orders for your clan to be taken care of!”
“Thank you Mentor!” Kesha’s face brightened up instantaneously, with such speed that it created a pang of admiration in Leylin.
“Leylin, how about you?” Gilbert finally directed his attention to Leylin, with a slight smile of interest in his eyes.
‘What the hell. Amongst you, one is his former student, while the other is a woman. I, the newcomer, am at the greatest disadvantage!’ In his mind, Leylin rolled his eyes but he kept a calm expression on his face. He patted the space pouch respectfully and a few items appeared on the desk.
“A bloodline crystal!” Kesha covered her mouth and let out a gasp as she saw the blood-red stone.
However, Robin’s focus was on the long-root fruit and a few pieces of large, milky white bones.
As for Gilbert, he looked engrossingly at a large egg which sat in the middle of the desk. As he looked at the blood-red runes on it, he appeared to be deep in thought.
“Leylin, you’ve struck it big this time in the pocket dimensions!” Kesha leaned forward, almost squeezing her whole body into Leylin’s embrace. “This sister’s clan is already so pitiful, shouldn’t you help me out?”
“Haha…” Gilbert, however, made a carefree laugh.
“This is the egg of a Blood Vulture! Blood Vultures in the ancient times were originally well-known for searching for bloodline artifacts. Leylin, I suppose you got lucky and found a nest of Blood Vultures?”
“Yes!” Leylin scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed. “After I found the nest, I hid there for a few days before I finally seized the chance and snuck these things out……”
Upon hearing that, a hint of jealousy ap
peared on everyone’s face, even Robin’s. Why didn’t such good luck descend on him?
“These items, I’m willing to offer them all to Mentor!” What Leylin said thereafter turned Robin and Kesha’s minds blank.
“It’s not even possible not to offer…” Leylin gave a sincere look, but he was utterly bitter inside.
After discovering that Leylin possessed these items and did not hand them over, Gilbert would not feel good about it. If that was the case, Leylin’s future life in the Ouroboros Clan would be difficult.
“Haha… Good!”
Gilbert laughed out loud…
WMW Chapter 437
Completing The Project
Upon hearing Leylin’s words, Gilbert stared blankly at him for a while, and then started laughing heartily. “I will accept your gift then!”
“Thank you, mentor!” Gratitude was apparent on Leylin’s face as he bowed.
“Sure! Of course, I wouldn’t simply just want to have your things for no reason; after all, Blood Vulture eggs from the ancient times are still very precious!” Gilbert lowered his head in thought.
“How about this? Aren’t you currently accumulating contribution points to buy the scroll that can inject life into constructs? I’ll make an exchange with you directly then; a sealed fourth-grade magic scroll would be sufficient to make up for these items!”
Gilbert swept his hand across the table top. The numerous bloodline treasures vanished, and a grey scroll covered in simple floral designs appeared.
“Thank you, Mentor!” Leylin received the scroll and expressed his thanks again, this time with more sincerity.
“Besides…” Gilbert glanced at Leylin’s ring and smiled.
Leylin scratched his head and displayed his embarrassment, knowing that Gilbert had discovered the items he had hidden in his spatial ring.
……
After nightfall, Leylin lay on his bed and examined the scroll in his hands, satisfaction written on his face. “Exchanging those items for a fourth-grade scroll is indeed a fair trade, I didn’t suffer!”
He then looked at the ring on his hand and collapsed onto the bed, looking as though he would fall into deep sleep soon enough.
Bu in actual fact, he was sneering secretly. What Gilbert had discovered was actually what Leylin purposely wanted him to.
Inside the ring, there was only a single Bloodline crystal and a few remains from ancient times. Gilbert did not value them exactly because there were only a few items, thus he silently agreed to Leylin’s secret stash.
In actual fact, what Leylin had handed over today was not even ten percent of his real loot, much less the fingerbone left behind by the fifth-grade Lamia from ancient times.
The temptation of such an item was too huge, and even Leylin was not willing to take it out. If not, it would be hard to pass Gilbert’s checkpoint.
No matter what happened then, it would not be a situation that he would want to see. After all, Gilbert was rather nice to him, and he didn’t want to fall out with his mentor and the Ouroboros Clan.
Benefits are the greatest reason why people are divided, and Leylin did not want to use the fingerbone to put the bond between master and disciple to the test. Might as well avoid it for the better good.
Yes, the real loot, including the Lamia’s fingerbone, were not on Leylin himself! Therefore, no matter how strict Gilbert was with his inspection, there was no use at all!
“However, although this journey was dangerous, I finally attained the items I wanted, and the other loot is not bad…” Leylin thought as he lay in bed, quickly falling into deep sleep for real.
The Black Scale travelled at high speeds. Initially, Leylin and company took more than a month to travel from the Ouroboros Clan to Nefas City, but the return journey only required about ten days or so.
After returning to headquarters, Leylin, his mentor and a few seniors gathered together and returned to Onyx Castle to check on the Magus Tower in his territory.
“Welcome, Lord Leylin!” Parker stood in front of the black Magus Tower and saluted respectfully to Leylin. His voice still sounded old as usual, and was strangely mismatched with his youthful face.
“How is the construction of my Magus Tower going?” Leylin stepped forth and gently caressed the black tower, admiring the exquisite runes on it and the faint but powerful energy waves it emitted. A smile spread across his face.
“The entire structure of the Magus Tower has been completed, we’re just left with a few cores and most importantly, the activation of the spirit of the Tower! These are awaiting your completion, Master!”
Parker’s response made Leylin satisfactory. He was serious when working too; the previous task that Leylin had given him was performed well. He had successfully delivered a letter to Duke Gilbert and helped Leylin avert his misfortune.
“Excellent! Leylin nodded, “Bring Snoopy to my lab someday. I haven’t taught him anything new in a long while too!”
He, of course, knew that age was catching up to Parker and he had no ambition, so he placed all his hopes on his grandson Snoopy, whose importance surpassed any reward.
Of course, after hearing what Leylin said, Parker was slightly excited and his bow almost reached a right angle, “Thank you on his behalf, Master!”
“On my way back from this trip, I obtained the Scroll of Life. Under my orders, prepare to begin work. I would like my Magus Tower to be completed immediately!” Leylin gave his orders indifferently.
“Your wish will be executed!” Parker replied. All the preparations for construction were already complete, and the other core materials had already been prepared too. All was left was to wait for Leylin to return and take the lead.
Wandering in his own Magus Tower, Leylin examined every corner carefully.
The interior of the Magus Tower was very spacious. Leylin created all of it according to the highest standards, with a complete set of facilities that looked refined and luxurious.
Leylin looked at level after level, especially the positive and negative energy reactive pools, along with other places such as the laboratory, the binding room, and the ecological garden.
“A.I. Chip! What are the results of the scan?” While looking around his tower, Leylin did not forget to let the A.I. Chip fully scan and record the decorations and spell formations that he saw before conducting an inspection.
1 The A.I. Chip sent feedback faithfully.
As the blueprint of the structure was originally done by Leylin himself, using the A.I. Chip’s perfect deductions, the decorations of the entire Magus Tower were perfect, almost to the point that no fault could be found.
The remaining areas that could be further optimized were only small problems that resulted from improper construction and other reasons. No matter how perfect his plan was, as long as it was executed by humans, accidents were bound to happen. Leylin had long prepared for this.
‘The rest is alright, but the previous ecological garden can be altered a little by adding in the data I collected about the environment in the ancient times while at Quicksand Castle!’ Leylin stroked his chin.
Since the Magus Tower was yet to be completed, he could still take the chance to amend it now. If he waited until the defensive spell formations were activated, especially after the tower genie had been awakened, then he wouldn’t be able to amend anything even if he wanted to.
“A.I. Chip! Design an improved version of the blueprint according to what I said earlier!”
Leylin had always liked to put the A.I. Chip in charge of the nitty-gritty things, while he himself was responsible for directing the big picture.
[Task established, adjusting original blueprint! Adding in simulated environment parameters from ancient times, beginning formation of the blueprint…]
The A.I. Chip operated swiftly and projected a new blueprint in front of Leylin within a few minutes.
Leylin scanned the blueprint many times, satisfied with the blueprint made by the A.I. Chip. “Yes! To maximize the u
se of the original resources and set-up, I just have to add a few items and spell formations! This will do!”
He now had numerous subordinates and a huge number of Stone tribe slaves. Once he handed down the task of amending the place, it would only take a small number of people working in shifts day and night for ten days to complete it.
Leylin stood at the side of the negative energy reactive pool on the lowest level, and examined the complicated spell designs. At the radiance of the pure gold, silver and other precious materials, his face showed no signs of sadness or joy, maintaining tranquility.
[Simulation of the spell formations of the entire Magus Tower complete, 341 dummy runs, number of malfunctions: 0!]
The blue glow of the A.I. Chip flashed in the depths of Leylin’s eyes.
“Begin!” Leylin exhaled gently, and placed a piece of compressed energy crystal that was emitting immense light rays and heat, much like a miniature sun, into a groove at the heart of the spell formation.
*Brr!* The entire spell formation started to shake, and ring after ring of runes appeared out of thin air. Traces of light circulated on the spell formation.
“Start!” Leylin’s spiritual force extended and connected with the spell formation.
In the instant when the spiritual force came into contact with the spell formation, Leylin felt as though he had opened a valve, causing a multitude of energy particles to be frantically absorbed by the spell formation, before passing through a complex conversion channel and flowing into the negative energy reactive pool.
Meanwhile, outside the Magus Tower, Parker, Kubler, Snoopy and Leylin’s other subordinates had all gathered to watch this scene, their eyes all brightly lit.
A huge elemental wave seemed to form a vortex that was absorbed by the black Magus Tower.
One by one, the magical runes on the body of the Tower lit up, bringing about frightening and yet stable waves, firmly connecting to one another.
Only Leylin was in the Magus Tower at that moment. He ran to the top of the Magus Tower at the speed of lightning and saw that the external appearance was almost the same, but the spell formation and storage pool gave off an entirely different vibe.
Warlock of the Magus World 1-596 Page 308