Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Russell had no choice.

Even though he still harbored doubts, this was already his best opportunity.

Moreover, rather than entering the Tower of Dark Enigma and being tormented to madness, it was better to take a risk here once.

Russell knew very well that if he wanted to find an opportunity to advance as a mage before entering the Sia Tower, he would face life-threatening danger in the Tower of Dark Enigma quite often.

He knew himself well and also knew his sister, Carpenter... If he really had to go in, Carpenter would give this opportunity to him.

Even if it meant he might die, and Carpenter might be married off to another family because of his failure, she would still give it to him.

Because it meant that Russell was certain this was their only chance for survival.

As long as Russell persisted, being the one who could hold him back the most... Family would fade away with time, but at least Carpenter, as a mage apprentice, could live to be at least 100 years old.

If Russell had the chance to send her some magic potions, Carpenter might be able to live even longer.

The alchemical potions in their world were indeed prone to issues, but extending longevity was relatively easy.

It’s just that they couldn’t maintain youthfulness.

Russell believed that his sister would never lose the will to live just because she had grown old and frail.

In life, only life is most important; beauty and youth are merely embellishments of life. Perhaps some people are willing to sacrifice their lives for those external things, but he and Carpenter were rational and wise, never foolish.

Or rather, living in a world where life could be lost at any moment, who wouldn’t value life?

But sometimes, life wasn’t that important.

Russell knew he was bearing the lives of two people, the future of both his and Carpenter’s families, as well as a part of the family’s hopes.

So, even though he always valued his own life greatly, when he placed himself on the left side of the scales, and everything he cherished on the right, at this moment, the scales seemed balanced.

As long as he didn’t have to die immediately, Russell was willing to put himself on the scales.

His resolute determination after weighing the pros and cons carefully was obvious to Hill.

This was also why he suddenly developed an interest in acting like a grandfather... Hill always liked wise people with principles and abilities.

Not ones who acted impulsively without considering the consequences, but ones who made careful considerations after deliberate contemplation.

Hill preferred dealing with such people.

After all, he didn’t enjoy overthinking himself and wasn’t that meticulous in his actions. No matter how much he considered beforehand, in the end, he was somewhat driven by instinct.

Hill really didn’t want to have to analyze the pros and cons, explaining why he wanted to do someone a favor and what that favor would mean to them, when helping others.

Really, encountering one guy like Aesces in a lifetime was enough.

He felt a familiar sense when he saw Russell... Although their identities were different and the pressures they faced were entirely different, Russell clearly bore much more weight, yet Hill truly felt he saw a bit of Lynn’s shadow.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have such strong interest to really help him develop a transformation spell.

Although such spells did exist, enabling an apprentice who could only cast 0-level spells to use them was no easy feat.

Hill slowly walked up to Russell with a thin book in his hand: ”Memorize it yourself! You should know, books here can’t be taken outside.

Also, since the ring is already activated, the small storage space on the olivine can be used.”

Russell respectfully took it, his hands raised high were trembling a little.

In his mind, he was even more certain this was the Archmage of the Defense Tower... People from the Haisenal family generally weren’t very tall, or rather, it was difficult for anyone in this world to grow tall.

After all, with food scarcity and lack of meat, even with some nutritional supplements sold by the magic tower, it was already good enough for their noble families to feed their children a bit before the age of 8.

Of course, as mage apprentices, he and Carpenter had their share, so he was relatively tall in the family, just a little over 170 cm.

But this person before him was definitely a head taller, no, even more.

And although the person might be slender due to being a mage, for some reason, Russell could feel a sense of oppressiveness.

Clearly, the person hadn’t released any mage’s pressure.

In Russell’s memory, this was all his great-grandfather had nagged about... Archmage Johnston had suddenly grown significantly taller after entering the Defense Tower. Though his manner was gentle, he exuded an air of authority.

Even though when he peeked, he couldn’t clearly see the face of this archmage, Russell could just feel that the person was gentle.

In the past, Russell wondered if his great-grandfather had gone senile; how could there be an amiable archmage?

Mage Gilbert treated the family members very well, yet he was cold and distant when looking at people.

Moreover, how could a gentle person possess authority?

But this time, he finally understood what it meant.

Though he thought of many things in his mind, Russell’s response was swift: ”Thank you very much for your help, I will definitely repay you!

”I will also be cautious and careful when using the storage ring, and absolutely will not reveal your existence!”

Russell seemed to hear the soft laughter of the Archmage, and then the black robe lightly flicked and returned behind the layered shelves.

After the initial shock wore off, Russell finally realized... so many books!

Could they all be magic books?

The Tower of Dark Enigma probably doesn’t have as many books, right?

Could this be the collection of the Defense Tower?

No wonder even the Sia Tower had to seek help from other Magic Towers to deal with them.

Russell’s foot couldn’t help but twitch, but he still controlled his impulse and obediently sat at the side of the desk... This is the Mental Sea space, and no matter how many books there are, if the other party doesn’t want him to read them, they’re probably just blank pages, so he’d better behave for now!

But after observing for so long, he was obviously much more relaxed.

At least when he didn’t understand, he would stretch his voice and loudly ask, ”Respected Archmage~ I don’t understand this part, why are you all describing yourself?”

”Only by clearly describing oneself can one lay that fitting membrane outside of oneself; any slight unsuitability would cause the membrane to wrinkle, which would naturally be detected by the outside world.”

”Alright, I understand. Thank you for your guidance.”

Although this is a spell that even a mage apprentice could use, Russell felt that only his spiritual power was at 0-level consumption.

More complex than the 1-ring Array he completed last time.

Fortunately, he was still smart enough.

Russell squinted proudly... Learning such a complex spell in just three days, he naturally has some talent.

However, his pride was quickly dashed by the words of the Archmage who came to check his homework: ”Only learned in three days, huh~ Then I have to lower the intensity of your homework slightly.

Hmm... let’s try converting with 0-ring spells first... I thought we could start from the 1-ring.”

Then the other party seemed to see Russell’s eyes on the verge of collapse and even comforted him: ”Don’t be upset; I’ve been away from interacting with the app... ah, apprentice-level mages for so long, I thought it was simpler than it is.”

By the way, what 0-ring spells do you know now?”

Russell’s mouth twitched slightly... In this comforting sentence, he received even greater harm!

Don’t think he didn’t hear it!

He heard the word the other party took back!

So, his talent is just better in the Protection System compared to other areas, but it’s not that his ability is actually very good, huh?

Russell’s rising pride instantly vanished.

He was a bit dejected but still reported the 0-ring magic he knew.

”Ah, so only the Universal Series, Protection System, and Reading Magic?” Hill glanced at him, ”With only these few spells, you can advance to a Mid-level Apprentice; your aptitude is really quite good.”

Russell thought this archmage really wasn’t good at comforting people... no wonder the original owner of this notebook clearly didn’t dislike him but kept complaining he’s annoying.

If a struggling student heard this type of comforting from the top student next door, they probably would want to punch them twice.

”If you were to enter the Magic Tower, the most important thing to learn now would be Detection Magic and Detect Poison.” Hill said slowly, ”Let’s start with these two.

Besides, Divination Magic actually doesn’t require that high of an aptitude, I’m a little curious why you’ve only learned Reading Magic.”

”Maybe it’s because people from our family aren’t that good at it.” Russell’s mouth twitched, ”Our teachers were only previous high-level apprentices; things they couldn’t learn, we have a little...”

Hill shook his head helplessly.

In his mind, these kinds of magic can be performed just by looking at the runes a few times... Although it sounds quite complex, runes are actually very simple, only a dozen of them.

If one fails to learn, it’s probably due to an inaccurate understanding of runes.

But now he actually knows people with ordinary talents can’t immediately grasp the meaning of these runes at a glance.

So he didn’t say much, only gently remarked, ”In that case, let’s start with the most basic runes!”

Russell felt as if hit by lightning.

He surely understood the implication in the Archmage’s words.

It’s saying he hadn’t laid a solid foundation in magic, not even learned individual runes clearly?

Rapidly, he conjured images of the hardships endured before the age of eight trying to memorize those terrifying magic runes.

Those days accompanied by tears on his pillow seemed to turn into ashes at this moment... So he really hadn’t understood, huh?

Despite such a horrible blow, Russell still managed his emotions: opportunity always outweighs face.