Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Russell glanced at Carpenter: ”You’ve been quite unfriendly to me lately, sister.”

”The fact that I can still talk calmly with you shows my broad-mindedness.” Carpenter sneered, ”I’ve gotten used to the differences in talents and don’t find them troubling anymore.

But why is it that you write faster than me? And your writing is so good?”

Russell hesitated for a few seconds before earnestly replying, ”Maybe it’s because of my good talents?”

An irritated Carpenter suddenly looked up at her brother, her face full of disbelief written as ”what nonsense are you talking about?”

Then, under Russell’s earnest gaze, she gradually collected herself... During the early apprentice stage, meditation time was limited.

Since he had good talents, Russell indeed had more spare time during that period due to not overstraining his mental sea.

Carpenter looked at her brother with an expression as if viewing a madman, ”You actually practiced handwriting? At 8 years old?

Didn’t you have any entertainment time?”

”Writing is great!” Russell replied seriously, ”It calms my mind and is perfect for alleviating post-meditation fatigue.

Besides, doesn’t everyone need to practice basic physical exercises every day?

It’s already so tiring, why go outside?”

Carpenter rolled her eyes fiercely, ”Maybe because I’m innocent and just want to play?”

Russell still couldn’t quite understand, ”If you have so much energy, why not practice more physical exercises?

They’re very helpful for stabilizing the mental sea!”

Carpenter lowered her head and continued copying, giving her brother a disdainful look from behind her cascading hair, ”Brother without a childhood, don’t talk to me.”

Russell blinked, still not fully understanding why Carpenter was upset, but being the sensible one, he chose to keep quiet.

-----------------

Hilbert once again welcomed new visitors.

He certainly knew that upon knowing Russell’s promising talents, people would soon start scheming.

But with Ruth still maintaining an ambiguous attitude, most mages lacked the confidence to take action and chose to wait and see.

Anyone daring to dance in front of Gilbert must belong to the legitimate line of some Tower Master.

Hill had always thought it would be one of Nicholson’s children, likely a biological son type, as their style was always a bit flamboyant and they didn’t usually restrain their desires.

Among the naive kids peeking around the side tower, there were even a few who had to call Nicholson their grandfather, and they had already advanced to official mages.

Given Nicholson Family’s style, they wouldn’t consider it an insult to ask Gilbert such things... so even if they got rejected, they’d still go ahead and propose.

After all, even if turned down, it could be interpreted as Gilbert contemplating the relationship between Ruth and Nicholson, merely proving that Gilbert indeed cared about family as rumors suggested.

Thus, the children could freely interact... after all, they had already given prior notice.

The Nicholson Family was indeed somewhat domineering, but not to the extent of being unrestrained, of course, assuming the other’s status was on par with theirs.

In the world of mages, this wasn’t much of an issue, and it couldn’t be avoided even in a mage tower like Toril.

So Hill kept changing his perception of Tower Master Nicholson, gradually piecing together a complete picture in his mind like a puzzle.

Over the past few days, he had gained slight insight: the connection between Ruth and Nicholson was definitely not as awkward as it appeared on the surface.

The two had always been fiercely clamoring for an alliance which is why the family members of Nicholson, causing chaos in the town, generally didn’t show hostility towards Ruth faction mage families... though, of course, covert antics were plentiful, but blatant attacks were rare.

But behind the scenes, mischief was never absent.

Ruth and Nicholson’s students often openly exchanged cold sarcasm and secretly played dirty, the kind you could guess who was behind it.

The discord in their cooperation added a gunpowder air between the two factions.

Therefore, some students of Kamente Tower were primarily filled into work zones requiring interaction with people.

It seemed like in the tri-polar factional stand-off, they took on the role of a middle pivot and lubricant—the truly indispensable ones.

However, for mages, what really mattered?

Laborious but lucrative jobs or ample time for study?

As for those who wanted to wrest benefits from Kamente Tower’s students, neither Tower Master meddled, though they rarely offered help on their own.

Ruth didn’t bother at all, whereas Nicholson, a few times he did care, was pitted against Ruth’s folks, even being mocked by Ruth in person.

Tsk, these two really played well!

After drawing some base impressions of the two Archmages, Hill doubted some of Gilbert’s ideas... Ruth valued him with Defense Tower inheritance likely not solely due to some exclusive defensive spells he surrendered.

If the Tower of Dark Enigma was this complicated, then what about the Tower of Despair?

What about those similar to the Tower of Despair and the large magical towers, even the Sia Tower wouldn’t display dominance?

So the Hainarson Family could travel long distances from their territory to the Tower of Despair and then to the Tower of Dark Enigma without incident; perhaps it wasn’t just their luck.

The magic towers didn’t need to show goodwill towards this family, only towards the Sia Tower, which could deter other mages from messy dealings with the Hainarson Family.

Hill felt his thoughts might be correct, even solving a bit of his confusion... regarding the mage who contended with Gilbert at the Tower of Despair.

A person who, based on his talents and abilities, could rank among the top apprentices in a methodical way, versus someone who had to rely on excessive, nearly aberrant methods to climb up, a normal magic tower would usually find ways to make the former even stronger.

As long as a little help was given discreetly, no substantial resources were needed.

Apprentices always have various oversights, truly able individuals who can learn well on their own are rare.

There’s always something that, if corrected, can instantly surpass the counterpart Gilbert.

Nevertheless, the Tower of Despair appeared particularly fair, not even displaying dissatisfaction towards Gilbert’s approach.

When Hill thought of this matter, he investigated Gilbert’s memory and indeed some Tower of Despair mages had contacted Gilbert, merely reminding him of how damaging this matter could be for him.

Upon confirming that Gilbert truly wanted that from the heart, the Tower of Despair’s attitude turned out to be quite tolerant.

Such tolerance is a rarity in the mage’s world.

Neither the Talented Faction nor the Struggle Faction quite favored extremist paths... individuals like this genuinely risk veering off course, dragging themselves and the mage tower into demise, which isn’t unheard of either.

In the mages’ world, things are a tad different from Hill’s initial perception.

They aren’t completely brainwashed, just powerless to resist.

Even the Defense Tower potentially gave itself up on the real altar upon discovering that some things were unchangeable.

Otherwise, Hill couldn’t fathom other mage towers’ goodwill towards the Hainarson Family.

Among these mage towers, undoubtedly, there existed a tacit understanding, though not interconnected, they resonated with one another.

Thus... when all the Towers of Necromancy were suddenly taken over by that guy pretending to be an Iron Dragon, it wasn’t all too unexpected... The Red Dragon’s command over those Necromancers was too precise, causing a hint of puzzlement in Hill, who understood giant dragons rather well.

Styx couldn’t possibly orchestrate such fine command, it had to be the Red Dragon itself... but the spiritual power of a Red Dragon?

Laugh, and let it be.

If this Red Dragon truly had the capability, it wouldn’t have been fooled into becoming a Heavy Dragon by Tiamat back then.

So despite being a bit surprised, Hill still welcomed this surprising guest... a student from Kamente Tower, even a Seven Rings.