Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Russell and Carpenter, under Hill’s earnest guidance, are diligently learning the basics of being a mage...although, this concept of basics seems a bit too advanced.

Or rather, Hill’s teaching of them almost falls within the realm of learning for a Middle Ring Mage.

Of course, although Russell and Carpenter know that their teacher likes to mix various courses together, and sometimes the lessons slightly surpass their level and strength, as long as the spell learning progresses step by step, they have no idea how advanced their progress has become.

But for Hill, all of this is fundamental.

As for the magic level... once enough energy is accumulated, naturally new things can be learned without spending much effort.

In his past life, even with its ups and downs, he never encountered any difficulty learning spells.

Therefore, his teaching is really hard to bear for those who are not talented enough.

But Carpenter has long been accustomed to the situation where halfway through the lecture, it becomes incomprehensible, turning around to grab her notebook, writing vigorously, and striving to record words and symbols she can remember and understand.

Once she has digested the previous knowledge, Carpenter can seek out Russell, who surely has already learned and understood it, to learn the latter part.

Looking at her half-understood runes, Russell can see where she started to have gaps in understanding.

And bearing all of Carpenter’s expectations, Russell is even less likely to consider unnecessary things... being able to gulp down the teacher’s teachings whole has already taken all his willpower.

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The construction of a Magic Tower cannot be accomplished overnight.

Even though there are a few students working fully with Ruth on this side... mainly those assigned near his Main Tower.

Although some mages prefer to live independently, there are always those willing to follow a stronger mage for the sake of the future.

Especially Ruth’s Main Tower, which must have a sufficiently powerful Energy Pool... that is, massive energy that allows the Side Towers connected to this Main Tower to live well without consuming too much.

In that case, the energy gems originally allocated to them for building the Elemental Pool can become their capital for advancement.

Moreover, most importantly, only by connecting with Ruth’s Main Tower do they have the qualifications to exist near Ruth managing daily affairs.

Ruth has never been stingy with rewarding students who have worked hard for him.

In the past, because the Tower of Dark Enigma consisted of three Main Towers, and each Main Tower had only three Subsidiary Towers...with one each occupied by Aislin and Oliva, not to mention, another was left vacant by Ruth rather than choosing any student to live in.

There were rumors that if it weren’t for the serious injuries Gilbert sustained, that tower would have belonged to him... but Gilbert indeed wasn’t fortunate enough, was he?

Of course, everyone understood that after having two disciples he could completely trust to finish his daily work, Ruth would only choose the student with the best talents thereafter.

At least better than Gilbert.

No one could argue this, nor did anyone feel any dissatisfaction... goals unreachable by everyone are tantamount to nothing.

Therefore, Ruth’s students, despite having many ambitions, pressed them down because of these external conditions.

But this time, perhaps because the pressure from Sia Tower was too great, Ruth actually chose to build five Subsidiary Towers outside his Main Tower!

Aislin and Oliva each naturally have one, no one could contend with this.

However, the most threatening Gilbert actually got directly kicked to the corner because of a temporary defiance by Aislin.

And Ruth obviously didn’t intend to slap Aislin in the face over this minor issue.

In the evident disinterest shown by Gilbert in Ruth’s legitimate inheritance... if he had proposed to stay with Ruth by giving up his Magic Tower, even if Aislin was dissatisfied, it wouldn’t matter.

So, that’s how the other students of Ruth reacted: Gilbert was always the type to walk his own path; even after his Mental Sea restored and Ruth’s attention on him increased, he still did not change.

Moreover, Aislin dared to do so only because she knew this.

Also seeing Gilbert and Aislin put together... even those Ruth students who did not intend to enter power circles felt a bit chilled.

That truly was a matter of unknowingly being hurt by collateral damage: neither of them was the type to notice if people around them get affected.

Furthermore, as talented as Gilbert was, it was within the ever-declining Tower of Dark Enigma... and even the least of the new apprentices at Sia Tower probably wouldn’t be much worse than him.

Even if Ruth still valued Gilbert greatly, in the eyes of many, as long as an apprentice appeared who satisfied Ruth tremendously, Gilbert’s sense of presence would naturally diminish.

Why, Aislin, who stayed by Master Ruth’s side, genuinely did not have a good relationship with him?

Some tried to establish a good relationship with Gilbert back then, yet facing this sudden situation, most began to observe from the sidelines.

Anyway, because of the rivalry between these two, a subsidiary tower location instantly became available.

Even if Ruth wants to leave the best students for later, one, no, two towers!

They still have the chance to contend for control over one of these towers!

So, when Archmage Ruth was preparing to build the towers, he unexpectedly received rounds of flattery from over a dozen Seven Rings students.

Even though he was mentally prepared, Ruth didn’t expect there would be so many!

You know, he always thought that his students didn’t really like staying around him!

Was the intimidating power of Aislin together with Oliva really that great?

Though he didn’t quite understand the sudden enthusiasm from these people, Ruth decisively chose two: one was naturally Koyl.

And the other, considering Aislin might not be able to handle everyday tasks later, Ruth straightforwardly chose the only female mage, Jenny Rojas.

Coincidentally, Oliva didn’t want to mentor a female apprentice... Although Ruth’s eye for people was quite sharp; regardless of whether those he chose had issues, they were not the type to constantly seek help or try to depend on others for survival; but women being unpredictable was indeed an eternal mark in his heart.

Thanks to Aislin’s sincere assistance, someone like Oliva, who could be swayed easily, would never fall for women’s tricks.

Besides, at that time, Ruth had already begun to rarely accept apprentices.

But now, at Sia Tower, Ruth knew he couldn’t have as many choices as before... Initially, there would inevitably be mutual probing, with sensitive attitudes on both sides; he couldn’t reject suitable apprentices entering his Magic Tower at this time.

Four students, along with mages accompanying them, made the construction of Ruth’s Magic Tower much smoother.

So, when Nicholson led his group to Sia Tower, and after experiencing a hearty welcome, he was extremely surprised to find his old friend, Archmage Ruth, was almost about to move from the airship into his Magic Tower!

Though there were still five subsidiary towers slightly lower in construction.

”I say, Ruth...” Nicholson frowned at Archmage Ruth hosting him in the empty Magic Tower hall, ”Did you choose the Pentagram Array for the sake of building the Magic Tower sooner?

But this... what you will have to invest later will far exceed...”

”Nicholson.” Ruth shook his head helplessly: Though he didn’t have many trustworthy students, compared to Nicholson, he found making choices easier.

”The Elemental Pool here at Sia Tower accumulates energy quickly.

So, time is more valuable than resources.” Ruth chose to mention another advantage Nicholson could understand, ”Moreover, we don’t need to be like the past...”

”That won’t do!” Nicholson responded swiftly, ”You won’t ditch me.

I’m building the Pentagram Array too!”

”Do you have enough trustworthy people?” Ruth sighed and said lightly, ”You need at least three subsidiary towers to be inhabited!

Otherwise, building the Pentagram Array would be meaningless.”

”Rest assured, I have no other skills, but getting them to fight internally until only those I want remain is no problem.” Nicholson puffed his chest.

Does the Prophecy Technique, which could only prove useful in such pointless scenarios, truly have any significance?

Ruth would inevitably have this contemplation every time he faced similar situations.

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”Master, Mage Koyl is visiting.” Carpenter’s crisp voice rang in.

Sitting in the hall of his Magic Tower, admiring the elegant interior done by Carpenter to his liking, and enjoying his mint wine, Hill blinked in astonishment: This one surprisingly came to find him, whom seemed like a ’loser.’

Tilting his head in thought, Hill took out a bottle of crystal-clear light green mint wine and placed it on the table, smiled and said, ”Let him in!”

The alcohol here in this world is all brewed from herbal plants, and though referred to as liquor, the alcohol content was nearly zero... yet it also surprised Hill that even in such a resource-scarce world, alcohol was still essential for people to relieve emotions!

However, what he drank, though similar in taste, was brewed by himself: For an existence like Hill, as long as he had a brew recipe and a product for observation, there wouldn’t be any significant difference.

Even if he couldn’t detect any issues in the wine, Hill definitely wouldn’t drink mint wine made with the materials of this world.

But since it wasn’t suitable for others to drink either, Hill could only take out the Hainarson Clan’s treasured collection.

As Koyl walked into the hall, he was greeted with a cool invitation: ”Your timing couldn’t be better.

Want a drink?”