Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Felis always felt that Russell didn’t genuinely have no idea about his existence.

After all, they spent a few years together in the apprentice dormitory, even though they didn’t study in the same room, but... living in a small building together, how could he not know who he was?

It’s just that for Russell, relatives like him might as well not exist.

Although Carpenter seems to be the one who only befriends useful people, with a heart as hard as iron, in reality, it’s Russell who genuinely doesn’t even glance down.

But he doesn’t lack feelings entirely, he just prefers responding to others, rather than giving himself.

A typical mage personality... you give first, and then he’ll choose whether to respond.

Once Carpenter offered his love and he accepted and reciprocated it, that bit of possessiveness as an elder brother emerged... not necessarily blocking all external emotions, but definitely wanting to eliminate all negative elements for his sister.

And Felis was clearly in the position of ’best to exclude, but if not possible, just tolerate it’.

After all, they were real relatives, as long as Felis didn’t have more favor in Carpenter’s heart than Russell... Tsk~

Not sure if he should feel honored that he’s not completely excluded as a pest.

Feeling the bug slowly disappearing into his palm, Felis curled his lips before lightly touching the small light suddenly appearing in his Mental Sea.

A map gradually takes shape in his Mental Sea.

Felis suddenly froze.

Then he heard that elusive advice: ’When you feel you might be losing your life, remember to escape here, this secret passage is known to those Eighth Ring apprentices under Nana and Archmage Ruth, so make sure to hide in that secret room.

It’s a movable room, it might not stay in the same place, don’t panic.

Only your aura is permitted, do not attempt to bring outsiders in.’

Felis’s first reaction was to curl his lips again: who else could he bring?

Nana’s two sons, who cooperate with him but look down on him?

Felis pursed his lips, suddenly a bit unsure what to do: Russell seems to have a biased understanding of certain things.

The cooperation between Nana and him can only be because he chose the lesser of two evils, but does not mean he willingly accepts it.

The reason the potion ended up in his mouth was also thanks to Nana... she was quite worried that if Felis somehow escapes, this potion would end up being fed to her sons!

No matter whether Archmage Ruth from the Ruth Camp, who is cooperating with Nana, knows this, Russell seemed unaware, no, he certainly didn’t know.

Although Felis isn’t too aware of some past affairs, he knows very well that Gilbert might not have good relations with Archmage Ruth’s other apprentices... peaceful coexistence never means good friendships.

Never fighting, and polite interactions can also be called harmony.

But when a real conflict of interest occurs, such politeness has no meaning at all.

Felis pursed his lips again and suddenly stood up: it seemed like he needed to sunbathe here every day.

Hopefully, Russell could sense his desire to communicate.

Felis carefully observed the surroundings... the opening of that secret passage on the map was under a big stone, 30 meters right of this chair.

He figured out why Russell chose to pass the message to him here: the fly might be intricate for him, but very conspicuous to powerful mages.

But near this passage, there ought to be some Spells cast by Gilbert to block others’ perception... so if one wants to contact the other party, it’s best to stay near the passage entrance.

Also, it’s best not to stay right by that entrance... considering others, even Eighth Ring Mages also know about this passage.

Felis couldn’t help but curl his lips again, stood up, and began pacing in circles in the garden.

Finally, he sat back on the bench from earlier, comfortably relaxing: from now on, this would be Felis’s second home.

Unless he’s not stepping out, he would definitely come here to sunbathe, moon-bathe... unfortunately, not star-bathe.

Dark Enigma Tower nights, when Silvermoon isn’t bright enough, only darkness remains.

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

Felis wandered in that little garden for three days.

The neighbor already sensed something was wrong, probably reported it to his mother... Nana even rarely went directly to Rolando’s Magic Tower, discussing her little brother’s future spell road with him: in other words, the lady showed a bit of wariness towards Felis’s rapidly increasing power, suspecting Rolando was tilting resources towards his illegitimate child.

Thus, she decided to have Rolando get the resources needed for advancing her youngest son to mage status before speaking further.

This excuse is quite applicable, Felis suspects she prepared for this early on and would utilize it anytime... even if the timing wasn’t perfect, Nana would likely use it.

After all, no one knows when Rolando plans to doom himself.

She’s not greedy, just wants what her son deserves.

Rolando didn’t see any issue with Nana’s approach... if he could see, the group of The Wise Ones around him wouldn’t stay silent.

Confident and arrogant, always thinking his own ideas are perfect, almost a label pasted on him.

Once having a fixed impression, unless facts are plastered on his face, others’ conjectures to him feel like fake traps designed for rivalry or interest fights.

At first, Nana had some hope in him, but ultimately, as long as it didn’t affect us mother and child, letting him go his way was decided after a period of struggle.

Of course, Nana’s main purpose was also to observe those two female students.

How should this be put... she knew some matters weren’t resilient enough for detailed scrutiny, especially from a woman’s perspective.

Some nuances, perhaps only the same gender could understand.

Though it wasn’t any major issue, Nana preferred not to have flaws arise from her and her children.

Therefore, she needed to find out if those two women were truly themselves all along... previously, it must be, as it’s hard for a mage to mimic a regular apprentice.

No matter how strong the control, during meditation, suppressing the vibe of nearby Magical Energy is hard.

But once they became mages... with their strength, maybe for life, they’ll only roam in Low Ranks... problems might arise in the future.

Earlier Nana held some hope for Rolando: spending over ten years by his side, he surely recognized them?

But recent experiences made the Female Mage finally raise doubts... Rolando’s arrogance had already suppressed his mage intuition.

Luckily not.

Those two women remained original people, but how should I put this... Rolando’s people easily fell under his influence, obviously becoming much more arrogant.

Nana previously, when visiting Rolando, would see those two hide in their rooms, but this time, they arrogantly sat by Rolando and leaned on him now and then.

Nana didn’t even need to think, knowing Rolando, believing his future would be radiant and brilliant, certainly offered them special promises.

Even if there’s another in control behind them, after sticking around Rolando so long, their attitudes seemed to have shifted significantly.

Likely also being commanded from there, one was due to the other party’s power being too overwhelming for Rolando to oppose... initially, Nana thought it was someone from Prutt’s group, but now it seems more likely that Kamente Tower directly issued the orders.

Odd, could Dark Enigma Town be that crucial to Kamente Tower?

Nana, unsure, decided to throw this query to Aislin.

An additional consideration is they also carried out a lot over these years, completely controlled handle is in the hands of the person behind the scenes, hence they lacked the guts for disclosure... Rolando doesn’t sympathize due to others’ predicaments.

Nana emerged from Rolando’s Magic Tower with a face pale green, suddenly considering, fortunately, Rolando’s permanent Side Tower was fairly large... after all, in an outskirts mage dense area, his status allowed him almost five times the space of other mages... the little tower hosting apprentice lodgings was somewhat distanced from Rolando’s place.

She began to doubt, convinced Rolando harbored some kind of dim Halo.

Those two women dared to expose such provocative expressions to her... mad? She, Nana, is a Fifth Circle Mage!

Two people unable to cast even Third Ring Spells, eager to meet death?