It was a little funny, to be honest. No one expected a law-defying wizard to be so hurt with a low-level fireball. No, especially not when the law-defying wizard was Wizard Hutton. Frankenstein was the only one that wasnât laughing when he saw it. His power of the Will was on alert the whole time if someone was to go after Abel.
Wizard Hutton stared at the staff in Bernieâs hands, âWhat are you holding, Bernie? What did you do with that firebolt?â
Bernie wasnât sure either, âAre you saying that something was special about this staff Iâm holding, Mentor?â
It wasnât as if he was completely clueless. As the young master of the richest family on the Holy Continent, Bernie had quite some understanding of this type of gear the wizards used. Still, he asked the question because there werenât any runes on the staff he was holding. There had to be something else to it to have this sort of effect. There was just no other way to explain this, as far as Wizard Hutton could tell.
Once more, Bernie activated the firebolt spell by drawing a rune. He didnât aim at Wizard Hutton this time but towards a tree that was on the side. The tree was lit instantly. He was becoming more certain that there was something special about this staff.
Wizard Hutton screamed, âBernie! Thatâs my purple gold tree!â
It was one of Wizard Huttonâs favorite plants here. He used to talk about how far he had to get it from its original home.
Bernie quickly bowed, âOh, no! Iâm so sorry, Mentor! I forgot!â
Wizard Hutton shook his head, âForget it! Just⌠hand me the staff.â
Bernie tried to offer something, âIâll give it with what Master Bennett handed me just then, if you donât mind.â
Wizard Hutton was almost starting to stomp on the ground, âAre you serious right now? Give me the flask if you want to, but the wine here is all made for you! You know what? You shouldnât even take that big sip just then!â
Even a law-defying wizard like him would have a significant change by taking a drink. Of course, Wizard Hutton would be mad that Bernie was drinking it for the taste. If he didnât tell Bernie early enough, Bernie might drink all of it for fun.
Bernie pleaded as he looked at the container Wizard Hutton was holding, âMentor!â
Wizard Hutton spoke strongly, âOne sip before every daily meditation. That should make it last for several years.â
And no, Wizard Hutton wasnât going to ask for extras. Master Bennett was a resourceful man, but even he must have boundaries.
Bernie became quite upset after hearing the new amount. He was thinking about spending his days indulging in alcohol, but that fantasy seemed to fade away earlier than he would have thought.
Wizard Hutton thought of something else, âGive me the staff, if you will.â
As Bernie reluctantly handed the staff over, Wizard Hutton quickly made a scan with his power of the Will. He was starting to understand what ridiculous power it held.
Wizard Hutton looked towards Abel, âMaster Bennett! This is too high-end for Bernie! Heâs just a level three right now!â
This âleafâ staff could increase all fire-type spells by three levels. âWarmâ was by six. âFirebolt,â âfire enhancement,â âfireball,â and âhellfireâ were by three. This staff was perfect for any fire-type wizard. Although it did lack some buffs of the middle-low tier spells, there wasnât really a limit as to how many times the spells could be enhanced.
On the Holy Continent, even the most ordinary staff would have some threshold as to how many times it could be used. It was why wizards would only use them in the most important times. Not this âleafâ staff, apparently. Not only could it be used for a buff for an infinite amount of time. All the fire element spells could be increased by three. That was including even âcommand flame,â which was basically the same as elevating the entire rank of a fire wizard. Even Wizard Hutton would have no use for his other staff if he were holding onto this one.
Abel didnât seem to mind, though, âI donât need this one, Wizard Hutton. Bernie can use it, so why not let him have it?â
Abelâs nonchalance really made Wizard Hutton think. He wondered why he didnât have a friend like this. There was one thing he hadnât thought of. Abel meant that he couldnât use a low-tier staff like this one. It was why Bernie was using it.
A dwarven wizard appeared outside, âMaster Hutton! The king has sent an invitation!â
Wizard Hutton paused, âWait, what? I have a guest here. Would you mind going to see whatâs happened?â
The dwarven wizard spoke softly, âTheyâve got all sorts of people coming over recently, all to make purchase of the sky ships. The dwarven king wanted some of the senior advisers to go negotiate.â
Wizard Hutton bowed and apologized, âMuch apologies, Master Bennett. Please wait here as I go and have a good look to see whatâs happened.â
Abel laughed, âItâs fine. Donât worry, Iâll just catch up with Bernie here. Itâs been a while since weâve had a good conversation.â
After Wizard Hutton teleported away, Abel, Bernie, and a few others were in the yard.
Bernie smiled at Abel, âWould you like to have a chat in the living room, Master Bennett?â
Abel smiled back, âYeah, letâs take it inside. Frankenstein. Joseph. Go take a post here.â
Bernie sat on a chair as soon as he went in, âItâs been terrible today! All that wine was confiscated. Do you know how I was feel?â
Abel nodded and laughed, âWell, you see Joseph back there? Go contact him if you want more. Heâs going to deliver some to you pretty quickly.â
Bernie laughed, âYouâre such a good friend, Abel! All that wine, and Iâve only had a sip!â
Abel made a quick reminder, âYour mentorâs been good to you, Bernie. Make sure you spend more time with Wizard Hutton. The relationship between mentors and apprentices may well last longer than fathers and sons.â
Bernie understood, âYeah, I know! Mentorâs been good to me. Itâs not like heâs so stingy, too. Heâs given me a bunch of stuff to help with training. Otherwise I wouldnât reach three ranks so quickly.â
Abel couldnât help but think of his teacher Morton. He was starting to miss him when he mentioned this bond thing between mentors and apprentices.
âHeâs the first one to get me to safety when the assault happened,â Bernie continued, then made a firm look on his face, âIâll share half of the wine with him.â
Abel squinted his eyes, âSo youâre giving away my stuff?â
Bernie made a suggestion, âHow about you do the same thing with what you did on the Holy Continent? Offer the grandmasterâs wine to the dwarves. Iâm sure they can pay a sum that youâre satisfied with.â
The dwarves made regular purchases of the grandmasterâs wine for training purposes back on the Holy Continent. The words wouldâve reached over here very earlier, actually, if the dwarven wizards here didnât make the presumptions that nothing from the Holy Continent would meet their demands. By the way, they never bothered asking for the grandmasterâs wine from the same place. The dwarves on the Holy Continent were always very stringent in keeping the alcohol to themselves, so nobody really bothered trying to make them do any outsourcing.
Abel laughed and spoke to Bernie, âAre you afraid that you canât smuggle any for yourself if I made the supply fully public?â
Bernieâs face flushed with that statement. He did have that sort of concern, and while Abel promised to secure a private supply to him, he was worried that most of the stuff would still be confiscated by his good mentor.
Abel tried to make it clear, âYou know, I wonât be brewing every day. Just take the portion and use it sparingly, if you can.â
This wasnât the Holy Continent. There were more dwarven wizards here than anywhere else heâs been. He didnât have the time to make enough for everyone. It wasnât like he needed to trade with the dwarves that badly, either. He could trade potions for whatever he needed. He was actually making a huge surplus with the potions, so much so that he didnât really need to bow down to anyone for any rare resources.
Bernie spoke in an upright tone, âCan I use my portion for a mentor, then?â
It was agreed at the start that the portion would be spared to Wizard Hutton. From there on, Bernie would have to have Abelâs permission to receive however much he wanted. That was a continuous supply, not a one-time supply. They had to be more precise in how much was given to make it last for the long run. So far, things had worked well enough to boost Bernieâs level by three, but they always had to upgrade the number of resources to make it to the next stage. Bernie wasnât a fool. He knew that he would need more for himself and, of course, his good mentor.
Abel nodded and smiled, âHave a private conversation with your mentor, then. Tell him to keep the grandmasterâs wine a secret. From here on, everytime you want Joseph to hand you the wine, bring some from your mentor.â
They could tell that Bernie was slowly integrating himself with the ways of wizardry. This made things easier for Abel. Bernie was one of the few friends he had, and as long as there was nothing too difficult to be done, he would try to make him as happy as possible.
Bernie said dishonestly, âIâll make this a business call, then. Not going to say thanks on this one.â
Abel then left without waiting for Wizard Hutton to come back. He was still feeling tense because of the assault on Iron Furnace Fort. He could sense that the Nation of God was starting to grow desperate. The continuous attack was not only draining them of their divine power storage, but the years of effort theyâve spent on expanding their intelligence network. Basically, every time they launched an attack, the Wizard Union would scoop out more intelligence workers that the Nation of God had sent underground.
From the contact members to suppliers for the large-sized teleportations, then to the circle masters and the relevant staff, the Wizard Union could pick up pieces of information on where the Nation of God had branched out. This was where the sky ships became really useful. Once a base was located, all the Wizard organizations, empires, and other forces would pay much more to have these vessels as expansions of their military might.
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