Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Hillbert glanced at Koyl again. ”What’s that got to do with me?”

”Relax, I definitely won’t drag you into any trouble, I promise~” Koyl rushed to say the key part, afraid that if he was a second late, he’d be thrown out by that cold‑blooded guy across from him.

”And it’s not just me. Even those people who are a bit too impatient won’t come looking for you either.” Only then did he smile mildly. ”All of Teacher’s students know very well that if you wanted to, you could easily replace Aislin in Teacher’s eyes.”

”Don’t talk nonsense.” Hillbert let out a cold laugh. ”I can’t be bothered with your mess, but you’d better be smarter about it and stop trying to sow discord between me and Aislin.

I don’t buy that kind of crap.

And besides, rest assured, I’ll definitely figure out a way to make sure Aislin doesn’t buy it either.”

Having failed yet another probe, Koyl shrugged. ”Alright~ I was overthinking it.”

He turned his head to glance at Aislin, who stood slightly to the left in front, coldly barking orders... It seemed the Eldest Martial Sister’s problem probably wasn’t related to that Soul Elixir.

That was what worried Koyl the most.

Even though everyone said a Soul Elixir was at most useful to a Seventh Circle Mage, most people still didn’t quite believe Prutt had taken the bait for such a simple reason.

That guy really was a boot‑licking piece of trash, but without enough benefits on the table, he absolutely wouldn’t move.

No matter how great the compensation Sia Tower promised after the fact, it wasn’t enough to make Prutt openly go against Aislin, and even offend their own teacher, Kamente Tower, because of it.

Don’t say his targets were only apprentices and peripheral forces from both Factions: Rolando doesn’t count—Prutt clearly doesn’t think the aftereffects of the Soul Elixir are any big deal.

For someone like Aislin, who’s extremely sensitive about her own domain, even if she just chopped down the saplings in her own yard, nobody is allowed to casually touch a single blade of grass on her courtyard wall.

If you make a move on those under her protection while she’s on watch, you’re absolutely making a mortal enemy out of her.

So what exactly did Prutt get... That’s what the High-level Mages of the Tower of Dark Enigma want to know the most.

What if there’s a Soul Elixir that works on an Eighth Ring Mage too?

Koyl, unlike some others, had no interest in that kind of Potion with endless hidden dangers. After all, he was still young, and he’d climbed to Seven Rings by relying on his own abilities.

His Talents weren’t as freakishly good as someone like Gilbert, but at the very least he was among the top of Ruth’s students.

What he wanted now, naturally, was to pile up enough resources—before his own rapid progress stalled—to let him try out all sorts of new directions in Spells.

Oliva was actually walking that path. Through certain channels, Koyl had learned how much resources Oliva burned every time he tried to carve out a new path for himself... ”Jaw‑dropping” was basically describing him back then.

In the past, even though Koyl had plenty of ideas, he was still progressing at high speed and hadn’t reached a dead‑end situation... so going head‑to‑head with a slightly Madman like Aislin just wasn’t worth it.

Even if he managed to push Aislin to the point where she had no choice but to step back, so what? That woman really would dare drag him down with her.

Besides, Koyl strongly suspected that he’d be the only one ending up dead... while Aislin’s ultimate punishment would be nothing more than getting locked up by their teacher.

It wasn’t like she’d never been locked up before.

It’s just that back then, the people she screwed over were all from other Factions or simply from other Magic Towers. After a while, once Ruth cooled off, he’d let her out again... and she could even continue being the Eldest Martial Sister.

If he was the one who died, Koyl had serious doubts that at most it would only cost Aislin a hundred years... Even if it was spent locked in an underground chamber, she’d probably still have food, drink, and even a Meditation Chamber.

He wasn’t a Madman, nor was he someone like Gilbert who wasn’t afraid of death. How could he possibly offer up his life just to bring light and heat to someone else... If Aislin really started killing her own people, then even if Ruth did let her out, he would never let her keep her original position again.

With that kind of personality, if Aislin really took a Soul Elixir that stripped away emotions, she’d be far more dangerous than before.

The old Aislin was already pretty terrifying... and it wasn’t about her views on romance, but about how she handled people—vicious, underhanded, and completely unrestrained.

She only set herself a safety line out of consideration for Ruth’s wishes.

But with that Soul Elixir, who knows what other side effects it really has, yet when it comes to emotional loss there’s absolutely no doubt.

Since Koyl wanted to do something, he naturally needed to confirm a few things first.

That was why he’d come to Gilbert to dig for information.

Not because only Gilbert had access to such intel—Oliva and those few Seventh Circle students around Oliva definitely knew too.

But only Gilbert would be willing to tell him.

Gilbert might not have the best temper, but as long as you got a read on his bottom line, he was actually much easier to get along with than those Mages who insisted that whatever they got had to exceed and come earlier than what they gave.

Of course, you absolutely couldn’t take advantage of him and then give nothing back... You could give less, but never nothing.

Koyl chuckled softly. ”As long as Teacher doesn’t come after you, I think you should be able to get what you want.”

He was very clear why Gilbert could be this straightforward with him... Koyl had to ensure that once he gained power, no one would try to drag Gilbert down with him.

Annoying as it would be to fend off those idiots’ probing hands, it was still better than Gilbert losing his temper and stepping in personally.

Koyl figured that the few who were actually capable of competing with him wouldn’t be stupid enough to go after Gilbert... even if Gilbert, out of boredom or some utterly inexplicable reason, lent Koyl a hand.

Compared to Aislin, this one man’s sole advantage was that his head worked properly, and his bottom line for doing things was set a bit higher.

But if he really snapped, they were about equally crazy.

Of course, the main reason was still that they all had Ruth’s indulgence behind them.

But Talents and time spent together formed a knot that couldn’t be untangled; someone as rational as Koyl simply wouldn’t waste his mind on that kind of problem.

He was someone who only cared about himself.

Both Hill and Gilbert were willing to deal with someone like Koyl.

Hill was actually a bit better; after all, he’d mixed around at construction sites for many years... he’d seen more than enough of those overflowing desires and utterly bottomless human nature.

Although his identity and Profession allowed him to live without getting a speck of dust on his sleeves, he could still understand those who had no choice but to go with the flow... there are always people who, even if they can only live in Darkness, still want to keep on living.

That was probably also why, although he didn’t agree with what the Evil Faction did, he wouldn’t start shouting for blood as long as his own interests weren’t harmed first.

But Gilbert was different.

He had indeed relied on his own intelligence to carve out a place for himself in a chaotic place like the Tower of Dark Enigma.

But he’d endured it in great pain.

Hill could understand that kind of torment.

It was almost like throwing a model, top-of-the-class civil engineering student straight into a shell project that had changed hands six times from top to bottom as the supervisor, and he was also drowning in debt, not even allowed to resign.

Trying to only get a bit of mud on yourself instead of being dragged into the mire before the project turned into an abandoned site and went completely bankrupt—it really meant either going insane, or having the resolve to die together with everyone else.

With a big family behind him, Gilbert couldn’t truly go mad.

Koyl was already one of the very few in the Tower of Dark Enigma he could stand to look at... Gilbert likewise didn’t care whether someone was genuinely good or genuinely bad, but people who understood the simple truth that you shouldn’t provoke those you can’t afford to offend were somehow a rare species too.

That was why Hilbert had been willing at the time to step in and help keep an eye on that student’s life and death.

Oh, it seemed to be that kid trailing behind Koyl.

”Gilbert.” Koyl looked at him with a smile. ”This is my student, Stein Laurie—the one you know about.”

”What for?” Hilbert said carelessly.

”Sia Tower will definitely have them learn some tower-exclusive Spells in the future.” Koyl spoke lazily. ”After all, we old guys—our personalities and vision are almost impossible to change now.

Only the young still have the value of being reshaped.

I won’t bother with useless courtesies... if the three of them end up in the same place and something happens, I hope they can give each other a hand.

At the very least, pass on a message.”

Hilbert glanced at the child with the calm face... he did look a bit more pleasing to the eye than back then.

Looked like Koyl had put in a lot of effort.

He gave a slight nod. ”We’ll talk about it when the time comes.”

The student behind Koyl shifted uneasily, earning a sharp glare from his teacher.

Koyl knew very well that getting this kind of answer from Gilbert was already the greatest goodwill the other man could offer. If he said anything more and Gilbert actually agreed, Koyl would have to worry that Gilbert only believed he wouldn’t live that long, which was why he could afford to be so generous.

Koyl glanced with a touch of envy at the two children standing behind Gilbert, who, despite clearly hearing a conversation related to themselves, still hadn’t moved at all.

Even that girl whose Talents were a little weaker had no expression other than a smile.

Then he turned back to the original topic. ”So, why are you in a bad mood?”

Hilbert raised the ring in his hand, not intending to hide anything. ”Cat’s Eye Stone. In a Gold Green Gemstone Mine, the Cat’s Eye Stones produced generally have a yellow base—you know that, right?”

Koyl nodded in surprise... although Gold Green Gems that mutated into purple were extremely rare, they shouldn’t be anything unusual to Sia Tower, should they?

”Back when the Hainarson Clan was still in the Defense Tower, the Gold Green Gemstone Mine they owned produced mutated purple.”