novelhk Chapter 625: Do You Want Grace, or Do You Want Death?
Chapter 625: Do You Want Grace, or Do You Want Death?
After Locke left, Witch Yekaterina looked toward Douglas, who had been brought out of the wizard prison by a Second Circle demon hunter and escorted into her office.At the sight of Witch Yekaterina, Douglas's eyes lit up, like a person on the edge of despair catching a glimpse of hope.
Witch Yekaterina said, "I have reviewed your interview materials. Unfortunately, your abilities still do not meet Golden Crown Mountain's requirements, and so you have been placed in the wizard prison."
"However, out of consideration for the fact that you helped my student, I am willing to give you one chance. You will be allowed to render service to atone for your crimes, working here at Golden Crown Mountain as my teaching assistant."
"This way you can be released from the White Wizard Association's wizard prison. Are you willing? Do you want my grace, or do you want death?"
At that moment, Douglas could only feel that fate was a cruel and capricious thing. Over the past week, he had first been brought before the wizard tribunal and subjected to the judgment of its Divine Masters, and then sent to that wizard prison that was little better than purgatory.
He had no desire whatsoever to return to that terrifying magic-suppressed prison environment. He had been on the verge of despair, nearly convinced that he would spend the rest of his life confined within those walls, and Wizard King inhabiting him had shown not the slightest reaction during all of it. Then, just when he was about to give up all hope, Witch Yekaterina had suddenly dispatched demon hunters to the wizard prison and pulled him out.
This left Douglas, at this moment, feeling an enormous surge of gratitude and reverence toward Witch Yekaterina, a powerful Throne wizard.
Douglas's eyes burned with an ardent light as he bowed to Witch Yekaterina. "Lady Throne, you may not be able to trust me, but I am genuinely willing to work for you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do so."
"You have rescued me from the wizard prison. You are my benefactor."
Witch Yekaterina said, "What put you in the wizard prison was the law of the Divine Masters, and your own past foolishness."
"But let me make one thing clear from the start. Even a Throne wizard at Golden Crown Mountain cannot disregard the orders of the wizard tribunal. You are currently serving a sentence. If you perform well going forward, I can arrange for your punishment to be lifted and allow you to start fresh with a clean slate."
"But if your performance is unsatisfactory, you will still have to return to the wizard prison."
A trace of genuine fear crossed Douglas's face.
Ever since the Third Circle Wizard King had taken up residence within him, things had gone his way without exception. No matter what trouble arose along the path, it always ended with others suffering while he came out ahead.
He had come to believe that with the help of a Third Circle wizard, he had developed a degree of arrogance that had no place in him. He had even begun to feel a misplaced sense of familiarity and confidence toward those high-circle wizards.
But now, having been through this ordeal, he finally understood what it truly meant for circumstances to change without warning.
Only now did he feel a genuine and deep sense of awe toward high-circle wizards.
At this moment, with Witch Yekaterina having sent people to bring him out of the wizard prison, he even found himself thinking, "It's fortunate that Lady Throne seems to be rather approachable. Otherwise, given that I failed Golden Crown Mountain's interview, I would certainly have ended up in the wizard prison exactly as previously stated."
When he was escorted out and led by the demon hunter to his post as a teaching assistant, he still had the surreal feeling of waking from a dream.
"I just joined like that, Golden Crown Mountain, the most prestigious wizard academy?" Douglas marveled inwardly. "Lady Throne is truly a good person."
"If I hadn't met this good person, I would certainly have been doomed. Compared to black wizard mentors, Lady Throne is already far more conscientious. From now on, I must work hard for her and repay her for recognizing my worth."
At that moment, the Second Circle demon hunter glanced at him and let out a cold laugh. "Little black wizard, count yourself lucky. If not for Lady Throne specifically granting you this mercy, you'd still be serving time in the wizard prison right now. There's no way someone like you would ever become a teaching assistant at Golden Crown Mountain."
"Starting today, you will be working in Group 6 of the Origin Academy, assisting the researchers there with whatever they need. Whatever demands they make of you, you will fulfill them. Going forward, your future will be decided based on your work performance. Remember, you are not here to work. You are here for community service to atone for your crimes. Keep that in mind."
Douglas's expression dimmed.
It seemed he had been celebrating too soon. Witch Yekaterina might be magnanimous, but the Second Circle wizards working under her were under no obligation to treat him well.
Douglas reflected inwardly that there were far too few wizards like Lady Throne, wizards without prejudice against black wizards who were willing to give young people who had strayed down the wrong path chance after chance.
All Douglas could do was bow to the Second Circle demon hunter before him and say, "Understood, sir. I will work hard."
The Second Circle demon hunter tossed a document over to him. "This lists the sentence that was originally handed down. According to the law, you are required to serve one hundred and fifty years of unpaid labor as punishment. All of that punishment can now be converted into work performed at the Origin Academy, with those years of sentence serving as the wages paid to you."
"Once you have earned enough in wages to offset your crimes, you will be a free person." The Second Circle demon hunter looked at him with displeasure. "Of course, when it comes to black wizards like you... I would rather you rotted away completely. Ruined beyond all recovery."
"Honestly, I don't believe people like you deserve a chance to turn over a new leaf. Quite a few of my classmates, and my students, have died at the hands of black wizards like you..."
"You say you were just a nameless nobody in the black wizard world? Ha. The way I see it, not a single drop of blood flowing through any black wizard's veins is clean."
The Second Circle demon hunter roughly shoved a magical ring onto Douglas's right thumb. "This is a demon hunter's tracking ring. No matter where you run, we will find you."
"The ring constantly siphons your magical power. Your magical power will be suppressed at all times. If you dare attempt escape, this ring will kill you. If it weren't for Lady Throne specifically asking me to warn you about this, I wouldn't have bothered telling you."
Douglas could only smile bitterly. He had never imagined that coming to Golden Crown Mountain to watch a sports competition would end with him being arrested.
If he had known it would come to this, he never should have listened to Wizard King that day and tossed that emerald cat's eye stone to Locke Augustine.
The Second Circle demon hunter looked toward the door and a brief expression crossed his face. "Witch Mason, this is the person assigned to do work for your group. Take him back with you. If he dares attempt escape, you are authorized to kill him on the spot."
"I have already transferred control of the magical ring on his thumb to all the researchers in your laboratory."
Witch Mason bowed respectfully to the demon hunter. "Understood, sir."
After the demon hunter left, Witch Mason looked at him with cool detachment. Unlike the warmth she showed toward Locke, the gaze she directed at this black wizard carried a mixture of curiosity, wariness, caution, and disgust.
"Follow me. We have a very heavy workload. As it happens, our small sub-group is a research team built around Locke Augustine as its core. Our team currently has three Tier 2 funded projects that need to be concluded as soon as possible. I don't feel right asking our leader to step in and help us with something like this. We should handle our own small matters ourselves."
"So yes, you will have a great deal of work to do."
Douglas felt thoroughly aggrieved. He lowered his head and followed behind Witch Mason as they walked down the corridor.
At that moment, the voice of Wizard King Laghemaon finally appeared in his ear. "Douglas, you have finally managed to make your way into Golden Crown Mountain."
Douglas's body went rigid for a moment. From a week ago onward, he had been completely unable to reach Wizard King Laghemaon, and had begun to wonder if Wizard King had abandoned him.
Suppressing his surging emotions, Douglas thought, "Teacher, where did you go this week? Why did you stop appearing?"
The voice of Wizard King Laghemaon responded, "Over this past week, Witch Yekaterina maintained a certain level of attention on you at all times. I was not certain whether she would be able to detect me, so I dared not appear in her presence. Now that she has finally withdrawn that extra scrutiny from you, I can speak to you again."
"But rest assured, everything you experienced this week, I have already read from the memories within your soul. I know what happened. The wizard prison... it bears some resemblance to the supernatural purgatory of our era. It seems that no matter the age, these things will always exist..."
Douglas was overwhelmed with excitement. "Teacher, this is wonderful. Now that you're here, I know what I need to do. And to think that Lady Throne had been watching over me this whole time. That's truly reassuring. She must be willing to give me a chance..."
Wizard King Laghemaon fell silent for a moment. "Mm. If that's how you choose to interpret it, there is indeed only benefit and no harm for you in thinking that way. You may understand it however you like."
Wisely, Wizard King Laghemaon chose not to explain that Witch Yekaterina's handling of Douglas was simply an act of deliberate benevolence on her part.
In truth, during Douglas's interview, Wizard King Laghemaon had still possessed the ability to help him pass the evaluation. But partway through, he had suddenly sensed that the future ahead looked bleak and dark, and it jolted him into clarity. If he truly helped the young man pass the evaluation, Douglas would certainly die.
The only way to avoid both death and the wizard prison was to display a certain level of value while still leaving Witch Yekaterina with an opportunity to extend her grace.
Only by doing this could that powerful witch come to trust Douglas and believe he could be cultivated as a loyal subordinate.
Otherwise, that powerful witch might conclude that this conveniently acquired student had already grown beyond the point of being shaped, impossible to truly win over.
The moment he came to this realization, Wizard King Laghemaon immediately began feigning death.
Wizard King Laghemaon marveled inwardly. "No matter the era... there are always powerful wizards in pursuit of eternal power. These wizards are often the ones who shape and manipulate the currents of their age, wielding enormous influence over it. Having encountered Witch Yekaterina, I seem to be able to see in her certain qualities I once observed in the powerful Wizard Kings of old."
Wizard King Laghemaon said to Douglas, "Douglas, no matter how you came to join Golden Crown Mountain, you are here now. Since you have ended up here by a twist of fate, you must seize the opportunity with both hands. Right now you are indeed a solitary prisoner, but in the future you can become a dazzling rising star of Golden Crown Mountain."
"Do not be discouraged by the awkward circumstances of the present moment. Believe me. As long as you seize your opportunities, you will rise again sooner or later!"
"Douglas, I will help you. And engaging with the foundational research of this era will benefit me as well. Don't forget, you have a Third Circle wizard as your golden finger. With my help, you will shine brilliantly in foundational research!"
Douglas grew thoughtful, and a look of bright anticipation for the future came into his eyes.
Indeed, with a Third Circle wizard lending its assistance, he would likely stand out very quickly in foundational research.
...
At Dragon Blood Market Castle, Locke entered the Golden Peach Garden and found Trader Bruce, purchasing sixty European beech trees for three hundred and sixty thousand magic stones.
Trader Bruce looked at Locke with curiosity and said, "Mr. Augustine, I watched your competition as well. You are truly a capable wizard. But what are you buying so many European beeches for this time..."
Locke smiled but didn't answer.
The previous situation had been exceptional, and he couldn't possibly use the Queen's Chessboard every single time he needed to develop a new Type 2 Tyrant Element cell combination. That would be far too costly and entirely unnecessary.
Using sixty European beeches was more than sufficient to cultivate a usable quantity of the corresponding Type 2 Tyrant Element cell combination.
This would save him a considerable sum of magic stones.
The value for cost was much better.
What's more, of these sixty European beeches, at least half could likely be incorporated into his Forest Sanctuary in the end.
There was no need to discard them all.
Locke said to Trader Bruce, "Take me to collect the goods."
After they had finished collecting everything, Trader Bruce mentioned, "Mr. Augustine, a new batch of luxury magical plants has arrived in the hidden showroom recently. Would you like to take a look? Each one is quite practical..."
Locke waved his hand. For where he currently stood, he genuinely had little need for them. "Not for now. When I have a need for something in the future, I'll reach out to you directly."
He left the shop and made his way to a store in Dragon Blood Market that sold wearable magical mirrors, a shop specializing in magical eyewear.
Locke glanced at the First Circle vaporization-stage witch proprietress who came to receive him, then took out the letter of introduction Witch Yekaterina had written for him. "I would like to see your proprietor..."
The witch proprietress instinctively said, "The proprietor doesn't see outside visitors."
But when she looked at the crest on the letter representing Witch Yekaterina, her expression shifted to one of surprise, and she gave Locke a small nod, saying, "My apologies, dear guest. So you are a student of the proprietor's dear friend."
"Please follow me. The proprietor has said that if the visitor is a student of that great personage, no appointment is necessary, and they may enter the lounge directly."
Locke followed her into the lounge that was normally restricted to staff, and waited for a while. About half an hour later, he finally got to see a golden-haired elf witch walk in, wearing a single monocle over her left eye and an extravagantly exaggerated pointed wizard's hat.
The witch seemed somewhat absentminded, and her wizard's hat still had a bird feather stuck to it. At that moment, the proprietress couldn't help herself and reached out to remove the feather from the hat.
The witch looked in a daze at the bird feather in the proprietress's hand. "How terribly embarrassing. I certainly wouldn't want Yekaterina teasing me over something like this."
"I clearly tidied myself up before coming out."
The proprietress said respectfully, "Proprietor, it was probably when you went to deal with that bald-tailed phoenix just before stepping out that the feather landed on your hat."
Witch Victoria said, "Ah, that must be when it fell on my hat then."
Witch Victoria gave Locke a wink, as though trying to bribe him. "Little one, could I ask you not to tell my dear friend about this embarrassing moment?"
Locke bowed respectfully to this Third Circle alchemist. "My Lady Victoria, you jest. You are my elder, and the very first moment I saw you, I felt deeply impressed by your distinguished presence."
Witch Victoria blinked for a moment, then broke into a somewhat delighted smile. "I never expected Kajya's last accepted disciple to have this kind of personality. How truly fascinating. Kajya's students are usually very serious. Well... that's probably because Kajya herself is rather intimidating. Even back when we were schoolmates, I already thought she was a very serious person."
Witch Victoria recalled the memory and said, "Whenever Kajya was around, the atmosphere would involuntarily become solemn. Kajya very rarely jokes with people."
Locke surmised that "Kajya" was the nickname Witch Yekaterina went by among her close friends.
Witch Victoria looked at Locke and said, "By the way, what was Kajya's purpose in sending you to find me?"
Locke promptly replied, "Teacher wanted me to come and purchase a Zephyr Contact Lens from you."
Witch Victoria's expression turned serious in an instant. She extended her left hand and took the letter of introduction from Locke, reading it carefully. "Since it is her recommendation, there is naturally no reason for me to refuse."
"I can sell it to you at cost price. Two million magic stones per piece. Though I should note that cost price doesn't include labor fees. And if the magical artifact is damaged later, there probably isn't another alchemist outside of my laboratory who would be capable of repairing it."
"Do you know what a Zephyr Contact Lens is?"
Locke shook his head honestly. "I don't, Witch Victoria."
Witch Victoria reached into her star realm ring and pinched out a small, delicate contact lens. "Try placing this on your right eye. It's fine, you may try it."
Locke hesitated briefly, then opened his right eyelid and placed the contact lens over his right pupil.