Chapter 44: Chapter 44: A Precious Opportunity and a Mentor
Lor summoned the Lava Eruption Witchcraft Model and High-Temperature Amplitude Model from his Sea of Consciousness, taking a step forward.
"Boom——"
A terrifying eruption of magma erupted from beneath the earth, covering a kilometer radius and shooting straight into the sky.
He wasn’t worried about any traps; before absolute power, traps were futile.
The commotion quickly caught the attention of the Fire Element Mages scattered around the camp.
They immediately stopped sending signals and returned to the camp.
After a while, Lor, aided by the light of the Flame Hills, saw vaguely that more than a hundred people hurriedly left the camp, heading towards him.
He stopped in his tracks, waiting for the group to approach.
Before long, the crowd halted within a mile of Lor.
By that time, Lor could already see their leader walking at the forefront, a child of about eight or nine years old.
At the sight of the child, Lor couldn’t help but smile, "What a surprisingly smooth outcome."
Up until now, he hadn’t done anything, yet the plan was already half successful.
Soon, the group stopped ten meters away from Lor.
"Stranger, I am Levan Dempsey."
Levan spoke first, looking at Lor, whose figure was obscured by the Adaptive Rock Barrier, "I apologize on behalf of my subordinates and am willing to offer enough compensation in the hopes of earning your forgiveness."
He surrendered simply and directly.
There was no other way; he couldn’t win in a fight.
"Lor Rox."
Lor nodded, speaking in a flat tone, "Because of the great Speaker Yassen, I am willing to stand here and negotiate with you."
"Now present your compensation. If it’s insufficient, I won’t kill you, but the others and the Divine Power Crystals you’ve gathered, you won’t be able to protect."
Hearing this, the more than one hundred Fire Element Mages behind Levan were filled with anger.
But, considering the power disparity, that anger turned into a profound sense of helplessness.
They all knew that Lor was telling the truth.
"I... I will give you all my share of the Divine Crystals. How about that?" Levan said somewhat bashfully.
Truthfully, his share was only ten percent, not quite significant.
But his grandfather had once said that negotiations require both sides to make concessions to gradually reach an agreement.
Starting with a low offer and gradually increasing it isn’t unfeasible.
"How much is your share?" Lor asked curiously.
In his view, Levan’s established force, being the only safe zone for placing Divine Power Crystals in the Dark Divine Kingdom, would justify taking a fifty percent cut as fair and reasonable.
Considering this guy’s apparent kindness, it should be thirty percent?
"Ten percent of the Divine Crystal total," Levan confessed, his voice getting smaller.
"Hmm?" Lor suspected he misheard, asking again, "How much did you just say?"
"Ten percent."
This time, Levan’s voice returned to normal, but Lor fell into silence.
With just ten percent, yet he’s willing to compensate that share. What a big... huge-hearted person?
Speaker Yassen truly spoiled his grandson, which is... quite wonderful!
Lor suddenly felt he might not need to negotiate with this foolish kid Levan anymore; it seemed more worthwhile to deal directly with Speaker Yassen.
...
Seeing Lor silent for a while, Levan hurriedly spoke again, "If you’re not satisfied with this compensation, you can request more, and I’ll try my best to meet it."
"No need." Lor said with a hint of amusement in his voice, "Little Levan, can you contact your grandfather?"
"I can, but what do you need with my grandfather?" Levan was baffled by Lor’s words.
The negotiation had just begun, so why suddenly bring up my grandfather?
"Hmm, can you let me speak with your grandfather?" Lor was too lazy to answer Levan’s questions; he preferred to consider how to negotiate with Speaker Yassen.
His excellency didn’t teach his child well, and as a peer voluntarily taking up this task, wouldn’t charging a tuition fee be justified?
"Is this your second request?" A flash of cunning appeared in Levan’s eyes, "I can agree to three requests from you, and you can make one more."
From his experience in council sessions with his grandfather, he learned that once the stronger party makes a second demand and it is met, they typically won’t dwell on the first condition.
"Huh?" Lor was a bit confused, what’s this little guy babbling about?
He didn’t dwell on it, nodding with a smile, "Alright, let me contact your grandfather first."
"Sure." Levan agreed immediately, then closed his eyes, beginning to communicate with a wisp of fire in his Sea of Consciousness using Spiritual Power.
In just an instant, he contacted his grandfather and recounted all his experiences and grievances in the Divine Kingdom.
...
At the top level of the entirely fiery red Wizard Tower in the center of Murphy Continent.
After listening to Levan’s account, Yassen took out a palm-sized steel plate, engraved with a magic array for communication across the continent, deep within the Lor Lab.
He gently activated the steel plate with Fire Element, and a light screen was activated.
Yassen maneuvered on the steel plate, and within seconds, a tall figure appeared on the light screen.
"Nelson, go find the information on a Fire and Earth Apprentice named Lor Rox from your Wizard Tower."
"Yes, Speaker Yassen." Nelson bowed respectfully before ending the communication.
In less than two minutes, a complete document with text and images was transmitted to Yassen’s light screen.
"Improvising witchcraft by instinct, a 0.5 ring witchcraft power span, interesting, I never thought I’d stumble upon a treasure by accident." Yassen’s lips curled slightly.
To achieve this as an apprentice means that as long as nothing unexpected happens, the little guy named Lor Rox has a seventy percent chance of becoming a Fourth Ring!
A Fourth Ring Multi-Element Mage, those who are strong enough can even rival the power of a Fifth Ring Single Element Mage.
This is top-secret information at the level of the Wizard Alliance leaders, and besides the leaders and those talents themselves, no one is qualified to know.
One reason this secret is kept so tightly is to protect these true geniuses, and the other is to facilitate early alliances.
After pondering for a moment, Yassen thought to himself, "Since this little guy has the idea of teaching Levan, let’s make him Levan’s mentor."
Compared to direct investment, he prefers to bind emotionally, then look for opportunities to provide some training experience.
With the decision made, Yassen closed his eyes and immersed his consciousness into the Sea of Consciousness.
...
Outside the hilly area of the Dark Divine Kingdom.
When Levan opened his eyes again, his entire demeanor transformed dramatically in an instant.
All the innocence and naive qualities in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a sense of wisdom and age.
"It is an honor to meet you, great Speaker Yassen."
Lor immediately withdrew the Adaptive Rock Barrier from his body and bowed respectfully to Levan, who was being controlled by Yassen.
The hundred-plus Fire Element Apprentices behind Levan were stunned.
Had their Tower Master really come?
And now stood right before them?
Without much time to think, everyone quickly bowed to Levan, no, Yassen in unison: "Greetings, Tower Master."
"Hmm, you can all go back now." Yassen waved his hand to those behind him.
"Yes, Tower Master." The Fire Element Apprentices dared not hesitate for even a second, each casting a Floating Technique, running back to the camp without looking back.
"What an interesting little fellow."
Once everyone left, Yassen turned to Lor and smiled warmly, "I understand your purpose, tell me what you want?"
Just based on a few words from Levan, Yassen had guessed Lor’s purpose.
The reason he could not manage his grandson well wasn’t because he couldn’t, but because he couldn’t bear to.
And now, it’s handy to leave it to this little genius.
"I want the opportunity to consult you on some difficult problems." Lor asked without hesitation.
He certainly wouldn’t ask for physical items, as that would turn it into a mere transaction.
This was an incredibly precious, incredibly fortunate opportunity that ordinary wizards might never encounter in their lifetime.
An opportunity to establish a connection with a person standing at the pinnacle now and in the future.
As long as he builds a good relationship, what should come, will eventually be his.
"Hmm, that’s very fair, from now on you will be Levan’s mentor, teach him well."
Yassen looked deeply at Lor and laughed, "As for how to contact me, Levan will bring it to you."
He did not impose any questioning limits because he trusted that this clever little guy knew his boundaries.
In the next moment, Levan’s demeanor changed again, returning to a state full of innocence...
Lor was bewildered at this moment.
He could swear to the heavens that his initial thought was just to have Levan by his side, and to teach this kid some life skills along the way.
But Yassen actually directly made him Levan’s mentor?!
"What a loss, having this relationship, why bother building another one? Wouldn’t it be nice to ask for some good stuff?"
Lor lamented inwardly, but then suddenly had some realizations, "If I had really asked for some good stuff just now, I probably wouldn’t have become Levan’s mentor, right?"
"Sigh~ These old folks, their twisted minds are really hard to decipher, I need more practice!"