Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Oliva didn’t care about Gilbert’s attitude, since that disapproving glare wasn’t directed at him.

But in that moment, he understood why Aislin always treated Gilbert as a rival.

He and Aislin, as the two main apprentices under Ruth, actually had a division of labor for certain matters.

Over on the apprentice side, due to Aislin’s old habits, everything was basically under his management... And then with the resources related to apprentices and the connection with the outskirts mages, they also fell under his domain.

Although he delegated these matters to his own students, for someone like him who was more inclined to progress further in the path of mage, this was sufficient.

Anyway, this work ensured he could meet Master Ruth every now and then... Ruth was a rare Archmage who had to be well-informed about the future strength of his faction.

His degree of focus on apprentices was the reason why the Ruth Faction never had any significant disputes.

After all, in the Magic Tower, fair resource distribution is enough to let most mages live quite comfortably.

In reality, Oliva was quite satisfied with his domain of power, but Aislin was not willing to accept it... If that woman’s paranoia could be directed at discerning handsome faces, wouldn’t so many problems have been avoided!

Instead, she applies it to the least useful places, if he truly wanted to compete with her... huh~ given that situation where she has offended more than half of the junior apprentices, Oliva could absolutely seize the authority over the distribution of high-level resources as well.

But for Oliva, other than the title sounding impressive, there really isn’t much... maybe not entirely nonexistent~ some scrap value can still be salvaged.

But such small amounts have some value for mid-level mages, what does it count as for him?

However, if any issues arose from this... being an Archmage Ruth’s student, though they rarely sought their teacher normally, doesn’t mean they couldn’t find him in times of need.

Aside from gaining an impressive title, and some respect from ordinary mages, what else could Aislin derive from all that effort?

If it were him, he would’ve long since delegated these trivial jobs to fellow apprentices who wished to lend a hand, why be so defensive?

Yet Oliva wasn’t completely without understanding of Aislin’s choice... due to emotional complications, Aislin felt somewhat insecure.

Thus, she sought a sense of presence from the person she respected and trusted the most.

That’s why she made such a grave mistake with the apprentices, and why Archmage Ruth merely handed those apprentices to others for teaching rather than stripping her of other powers.

Then, as Aislin experienced failure in love time after time... the bizarre thing was, even her kept paramours turned out to be overly ambitious and wicked... her dependency on power and control grew ever stronger.

To the extent that Aislin even relied on this unparalleled willpower, along with her reasonably adequate talents, to achieve a promotion speed similar to Oliva’s.

Oliva watched Aislin relying on this inexplicable willpower to reach the eighth ring... with things like this happening, Ruth was all the more unlikely to take action against her peculiar power thirst.

Though among the eighth ring mages, Aislin was perhaps the most useless, because she couldn’t quite grasp which law resonated with her... so, she couldn’t even be expected to participate in summoning meteorites or anything serious.

But nonetheless, she’s still an eighth ring.

Ruth is still quite cherishing of her.

Moreover, no matter how fond of strong individuals or clever students, students like Aislin who practically offer their future with open hands, Ruth couldn’t possibly dislike them.

At most, occasionally she’s a bit helpless.

On the other hand, Oliva, who has summoned meteorites a few times, is more focused on his own future... He’s the type of student Ruth naturally favors, yet unfortunately, he’s somewhat more self-centered.

If the teacher gives a command, he would comply, but otherwise, Oliva is more focused on himself.

Nonetheless, it’s because of Oliva’s perspective of detached observation that he could instantly understand why Aislin harbored animosity towards Gilbert... Growing up in the world of nobles, Gilbert excelled in interpersonal and complex affair management.

Indeed, he didn’t need to do much himself, there are those low-rank mages and apprentices in the Hainarson clan who are very skilled in internal affairs!

Their capability far exceeds Aislin’s group who can’t even figure out the likes of Prutt and Rolando.

And Gilbert is very likely to get involved in the power distribution within the Ruth Camp for the Hainarson family’s future.

With his temperament, if he wanted, he would directly speak up... And considering Master Ruth’s favoritism towards Gilbert, it’s entirely possible for him to assign internal and external intelligence analysis, negotiations, and such affairs to Gilbert.

Then, what else could Aislin do?

Carefully distribute those high-level resources?

Though Oliva doesn’t think Archmage Ruth would handle it this way, for they all understand that this is Aislin’s fundamental standing... but Aislin herself actually knows nothing.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have yet figured out her eighth ring spell.

She hasn’t even mulled over what she should learn... Anyway, she hasn’t mastered any shaping spells.

When it comes to law-related matters, others can’t help, even Ruth who has touched upon the ninth ring is no exception.

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Of course Aislin didn’t understand what Oliva’s complex expression meant, she just became furious.

Even knowing beforehand that Gilbert wouldn’t let this matter slide easily once he came out, she still felt offended beyond her tolerance level.

Well... judging by her superficial grasp of human nature, she thought Gilbert would just say some harsh words to her, warning her not to get involved with the Hainarson-related people anymore.

But it was definitely not this kind of insinuation in front of the teacher... no, it was almost blatant ridicule of her lack of brains, even daring to roll his eyes at her!

She was an eighth ring!

An eighth ring capable of doubling the power of seventh circle spells!

But Aislin understood very well that more important than her anger right now was the answer Ruth wanted from Gilbert.

That’s why Gilbert dared to openly challenge a stronger mage.

As long as Aislin comprehends the situation, she couldn’t possibly go after Gilbert at this moment.

And once Gilbert finished and Ruth realized the enormity of Aislin’s mistakes... naturally, he would take her back for a good scolding.

Once everything settled, she couldn’t possibly go back to harass Gilbert after not blowing up on the spot.

Unless she wanted Ruth to abandon her... Actually, Aislin understood her teacher’s bottom line quite well.

The reason she dared act recklessly in the past was naturally because Ruth cared only about the faction and emerging talents, not about the fate of any particular apprentice.

Aislin’s face turned grim, but surprisingly she kept quiet.

Only to earn a clearer cold laugh from Gilbert.

”So, Gilbert, can you talk to me first?” Ruth said with a bit of inevitable helplessness, sitting down softly, ”Indeed Aislin made another mistake.

Considering she... is truly somewhat dim-witted, and almost turning into a recognized joke inside and outside the Magic Tower, just temporarily let this matter go...”

”Teacher!” Aislin shouted discontentedly.

”What are you shouting about... why do you think I came late despite having something to attend to?” Ruth said irritatedly, ”You misjudged, allowing the Kamente Tower to have enough reason to write me a sincere explanation letter.

Though in the letter he criticizes Prutt’s stupidity and betrayal, but you should grasp the real meaning between the lines, right?

He’s asking me how to view the ”achievement” from your latest endeavor where you did everything yet achieved nothing!

Aislin’s face instantly paled.

Hilbert couldn’t help but laugh: ”That’s not quite right, nothing was gained, given the number of test subjects!”