Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Negotiation Signal
With a plan in mind, Lor continued walking towards the hills burning in the distance, but his pace slowed a bit.
He wanted others to return to the base first and inform the young one about his situation.
What happens next depends on how that little guy reacts. If he tries to rally the Elemental Mages against him, then he should prepare for a beating.
...
Half an hour later.
The brown-haired Wizard Apprentice was the first to return to the base and immediately headed to the hall constructed with stones by the Earth Element Wizard Apprentice at the center of the base.
As soon as he approached the entrance, he was stopped by two gatekeeping apprentices dressed in red Wizard Robes.
"Sten, weren’t you with Yajedin and the others on a hunt?"
One of the gatekeeping apprentices, a young man, looked at the brown-haired youth and questioned, "Why did you come back alone?"
"Anel, Ihanuo, I have an urgent report."
Sten said with a bit of fright, "Yajedin is dead, a lot of people are dead. We encountered a terrifying Wizard Apprentice, he..."
He recounted most of the events starting from when he saw the Magic Array Group, omitting only the part about bringing Lor to the base.
"1.4-ring witchcraft?" Hearing Sten’s description, the two gatekeeping apprentices couldn’t help but hold their breath.
They weren’t concerned about the 1.3-ring Multi-Element Faction witchcraft, as they could easily deplete it by linking runes.
But 1.4-ring witchcraft was different, it was a qualitative leap from one-ring low level to mid-level, completely different in significance.
The most crucial point was, according to Sten, that person’s witchcraft was a large-scale spell, perfectly countering their type of single-element Wizard Apprentices.
"Multi-Element Faction, to have a new breakthrough at the Apprentice level."
After a long while, Anel, regaining his composure, fixed his eyes on Sten and asked, "Did he follow you here?"
If that person indeed followed, he would have to discuss retreat... withdrawal with someone.
There was no choice; in terms of sheer strength, they couldn’t win.
"I... I don’t know." Sten was not confident that person wouldn’t come, even knowing that the leader’s grandfather was a Five-Ring Mage.
"Ihanuo, watch him here." Anel turned to his companion beside him and said, "I’ll go and report this to Lord Levan."
"Okay, hurry." Ihanuo nodded.
Anel turned and walked into the stone hall, passed through several corridors, and arrived in a large hall.
There was a stone long table in this large hall, at the end of which sat a child of about eight years old.
The child, looking at dozens of pieces of parchment in front of him, continued to write and draw with excitement.
Seeing Anel’s arrival, the child smiled and said, "Anel, did someone bring back a Divine Power Crystal? Let them in quickly."
As long as someone brought back a Divine Power Crystal, he would get a ten percent share.
Although obtaining these Divine Power Crystals didn’t mean much to him, the sense of gain was addictive.
"Lord Levan, I just heard something recently that I must report..."
Anel’s face was serious; he didn’t take the conversation forward, directly reporting the news he had just heard to Levan.
"What?" Levan’s eyes widened upon hearing the news, "Are you saying there is an apprentice capable of casting 1.4-ring witchcraft in the Divine Kingdom?"
"Yes, Lord Levan, I suggest you secretly withdraw immediately to avoid danger," Anel suggested.
"What about the others? Should they come with us?" Levan hesitated and said, "And what about the Divine Power Crystals?"
If only they could bring Space Rings into the Divine Kingdom, they could pack them up and take them directly.
Space Rings could shield the fluctuations of Divine Power Crystals, which was very convenient.
"No!" Anel shook his head, "Leaving together is too conspicuous; I suggest scattering. As for the Divine Power Crystals in the warehouse, they can be distributed directly to them."
"If we give them the Divine Power Crystals now..." Levan frowned, dissatisfied, and said, "Anel, are you trying to use them as cannon fodder?"
Those people had been calling him boss these past two days, even offering a ten percent share of the hard-earned Divine Power Crystals.
All they wanted was for him to convert other Divine Crystals into contribution points for them when he got out.
Now, with danger lurking, abandoning them and fleeing was something he was quite reluctant to do.
Anel explained sternly, "This is the best method; your previous relationship with them was merely mutual exploitation."
"Them having the Divine Crystal themselves will make them worry about being robbed, but leaving it with you is safe, giving you a ten percent crystal share justifiably."
"Now that they’ve provoked someone they can’t afford to provoke, they shouldn’t hope for you to clean up their mess."
"I should at least do something."
Levan shook his head, "How about this, Anel, you give the order to find him, and I will negotiate with him."
The Divine Power Crystals really didn’t mean much to him.
If he could exchange his share of the Divine Power Crystal for Lor to spare the others, he would do so willingly.
"You cannot negotiate with him personally; it’s too dangerous." Anel immediately objected, "If you insist, I can go in your place."
His sole purpose in coming to the Divine Kingdom was to protect Levan, and he wouldn’t just watch as Levan went to interact with such a dangerous individual.
"If it indeed reaches that point, I can contact my grandfather directly and have him take me out."
Levan sat back in his chair and looked at Anel, saying, "This matter is settled, go find him, Anel."
"Yes." Knowing Levan could contact that person at any time, Anel ceased to argue and left the hall directly.
...
Fifty miles away from the temporary camp.
"It’s been half an hour, and still no one’s gone back to report?"
Lor looked at the motionless camp standing beside the Flame Hills in disbelief, now not far away.
He had let go more than just a brown-haired youth at that time, yet none seemed to have delivered the message to the camp.
The speed of message relay here was truly hard to compliment.
Aside from this, some Wizard Apprentices occasionally passed by him.
Sensing the Divine Power Crystal fluctuations coming from Lor, instead of attacking, they enviously uttered a few congratulations and then walked on without looking back.
"Ultimately, it’s just a group newly formed two days ago, and the various facilities haven’t been popularized yet."
Lor thought to himself, "Comparing it with the systems of later times does seem a bit unfair."
Just as he was hesitating whether to slow down a bit more, a series of Fireballs suddenly filled the sky over the camp by the Flame Hills.
These Fireballs shot outward at regular intervals, seemingly conveying some kind of message.
Every minute, the direction of the Fireballs’ firing extended further from the camp, continually expanding outward.
"A negotiation signal?" Lor raised his eyebrows, surprised by the decisiveness of Speaker Yasen’s grandson.
He had considered the possibility that the kid might flee directly, in which case he would just claim the Divine Power Crystals.
But now, if all went well, he would reap even greater rewards.