Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Aislin was a bit curious. ”When I went to his place earlier, it didn’t seem to smell like this.

Gilbert, are there many different kinds?”

”The Defense Tower used to be quite fond of using those herbs that refresh the mind and soothe spiritual power.” Ruth glanced at her. ”The top-grade ingredients all went into the herb teas the Archmages drink regularly; the scraps and leftovers were probably used to make incense.

The Hainarson Clan, after all, used to be glorious too; it’s normal for them to have some stock.

Back then, it must have all been given to Gilbert... The people of that family each have their own little schemes, but when it comes to resources, they won’t, and don’t dare, be stingy.”

Mages of noble birth, though selfish, self-serving, and able to screw people over without batting an eye, also understand cost–benefit very well; they know what can be preserved and what can’t.

Their biggest flaw, if you think about it, is that they give up quickly. But conversely, the reason they can survive longer in the Magic Tower is exactly because they can cut their losses cleanly and decisively, and will never cling sentimentally to a price that must inevitably be paid.

Aislin of course understood this very well.

In those few love affairs she had back then, she actually wanted to wipe out the other party’s whole family... but those nobles always managed to find an angle vicious and precise enough that she had no choice but to pick the benefit she wanted more.

Compared to a momentary thrill, she wasn’t so stupid that she didn’t know how to choose a better future.

The people who actually let her vent her anger as she pleased were, conversely, all from commoner backgrounds or Junior Mage families.

But Aislin... was just bad-tempered, not truly completely irrational.

Though she had countless dead souls under her hands, she would never genuinely kill wantonly... Even if the reasons she forced onto it were flimsy, they were still reasons.

Aislin looked at her teacher, who was flipping through the dozen or so incense candles at her feet. After learning she was only a false mask, she understood even more clearly why she was so attached to Ruth.

She might not know whether her Soul was real, but she indeed always felt the emptiness of life.

The reason she followed the tastes of that True Soul to pursue those rather abnormal, meditation-unfriendly romances... was precisely because she always had that feeling of being like a candle in the wind, with nowhere to lean, nowhere to find.

So, even though Master Ruth had failed several times to correct her bad habits yet still never gave up on her, and would still stop her before she did something worse... even though the days locked in the Meditation Chamber were hard to endure... he was the straw she subconsciously clutched at to save herself.

Indeed, Ruth later treated her better and better because she, Aislin, behaved more and more respectful and devoted, to the point of not really wanting to anger him.

But without his earlier shelter and tolerance, how would the feelings she developed later have ever arisen?

At the start, Aislin truly believed what that ”Aislin” had said: that she was a false Soul born from the fusion of a false mask and the Laws of this world, and that as that other self awoke for longer and longer periods, she would grow ever weaker until she vanished into nothing.

”Aislin” herself firmly believed in this principle, which was why she was willing, so long as she didn’t risk exposure, to give Aislin a bit of free time.

Once the people from Sia Tower came, she would just show up again.

To that ”Aislin,” whether the main body’s schemes would fail because of this choice was nothing she cared about.

From that choice alone Aislin could see exactly what kind of existence this fellow was: the sort of creature that would even screw over herself.

However, when she smelled that soul-penetrating aroma at Gilbert’s place today, she suddenly realized something was off: her Soul, which had been tottering on the verge of collapse, had actually grown a bit more solid!

Though she wasn’t some exceptionally capable Mage, she at least understood the basic principle that once something false began to dissipate, it was absolutely impossible for it to condense again.

So Aislin started to harbor a bit of doubt about her true identity... In the end, was she the inner Soul being clutched at by countless little claws伸 out from the outer mask that refused to completely destroy her, or was it that the inner Soul had developed its own will, but for fear of being exposed and crushed to dust by that terrifying existence, chose instead to cling desperately to that mask?

Precisely because she had this suspicion, when Oliva repeated everything they had done and said at Gilbert’s, she responded to the questioning look Ruth gave her with a confirmation.

Of course, what she actually wanted more was help.

However, Aislin knew very well that even if that so-called True Soul was asleep, any excessive emotional fluctuation on her part would quickly awaken her.

She had run several experiments on this using Gilbert.

For some reason—perhaps because that foul-mouthed, inherently obnoxious guy Gilbert was naturally good at making people irritated—once ”Aislin” realized her target was him, she always seemed quite willing to cooperate.

Rosero was not someone she could order around... No, to be precise, Rosero wasn’t even someone she was allowed to meet.

Even around those Junior Mages, she had to do her best to avoid them.

This was the decision she and ”Aislin” had made together: once violated, she would no longer be allowed to appear independently.

So no matter how many thoughts she had, she would absolutely never break this promise.

”Gilbert doesn’t want these anymore?” Though her mind was turning a thousand times over, Aislin could only ask seemingly trivial questions in a calm tone.

”For others, this stuff is just something to enjoy when they’re bored. For him, they’re all symbols of those pains.” Ruth couldn’t help sighing. ”I’m guessing it was that Richard Dreyfus...”

He drawled the name of a certain Ninth Ring Mage with a tone laced with a hint of disdain and a hint of hostility.

Although Ruth was indeed at a disadvantage before Sia Tower, when his opponent was just one ordinary Ninth Ring among them, he had no need to be afraid at all.

You could even say that so long as he didn’t go too far, in order to make the Tower of Dark Enigma into the model for other Magic Towers across the continent, that powerful Tower Master of Sia Tower would let him do as he pleased.

If Ruth had still been unsure about this at first, the ”Aislin” by his side, already half exposed yet still left in his care, proved everything.

Clearly, what ”Aislin” had exposed was only what they wanted her to expose... Most people in Sia Tower probably suspected this girl was a ”Kamente Tower” creation by the White Faction.

After communicating with Kamente Tower himself, Ruth more or less understood a bit of what they’d gone through: at first they were indeed quite glorious, but the further it went, the less their Souls belonged to themselves. They were clearly doing things others wanted them to do, yet what they felt was that these were ideas arising from their own hearts.

They had set out purely in pursuit of benefit, yet in the end had almost reached the point of throwing themselves into the fire for Sia Tower.

Kamente Tower had all kinds of mentalities, but the one thing he absolutely would not do was sacrifice his own interests and give up his own benefits.

That was why Ruth was acting as he was today.

If he had felt himself surrounded by danger, he would never have suddenly left this heavily monitored area to go to that remote corner where Gilbert stayed... He truly had no idea how ”Aislin” had managed to find such a remote place in such a huge blank zone.

Ruth shook his head with a cold smile and went on, ”That guy probably reminded him of a lot of the past.

You know Gilbert’s personality is rather extreme. The angrier he gets, the more he likes... to recall those brutal experiences from the past.

He’s already used to using that method to drive himself to grow stronger.”

”Then Gilbert is still Gilbert, right?” Aislin asked slowly.

”He’s still himself.” Ruth nodded solemnly.

Though the reason he’d gone to see Gilbert could be justified well enough, Ruth didn’t think it would be sufficient to satisfy those watching... so he simply voiced the suspicion in his heart he least dared be sure of.

That Flying Eagle was done too well, so well it made one wonder if Gilbert had swapped out his brain.

And then, thinking back, ever since Gilbert recovered physically and met him again, it seemed that he’d never had the opportunity to directly call him teacher.

Though it was because he’d been constantly bickering with Aislin, it was still indeed a suspicious point.