Greya suddenly removed her joking manner and whispered to Angor, “So you’re acquainted with these nightmare creatures?”
“No. I’m safe from them until now all thanks to the professor.”
That was Angor’s only answer. He responded to Greya’s following inquiring attempts with absolute silence.
Greya feared that Sunders would come back soon and stopped trying. “Well, I know you two got lots of secrets. Okay, fine, I’m an outsider, I’ll just forget about this.”
Angor left Greya and approached the room’s door where Nausica was waiting. He then tossed the bloodline vial to her.
Nausica thought about rejecting, but Gragg yelled at them, “Hey, that’s my stuff! I still need it when I get a new body!”
Sunders appeared at the door with an unconscious young man grabbed in his hand.
“Didn’t you say you would give it to her and threw the vial away yourself? It’s too late to change your mind.”
“But that’s... a trick! I just needed to lure her closer! It doesn’t count!”
Sunders tossed the man he was carrying onto the floor. “Is that so? Then I can do the same.”
Gragg halted his protest and inspected the man brought by Sunders. This one was a pure mortal with an above-average talent, which suited bloodline users. Gragg realized that using this body was a good choice right now.
Goddammit, I fell for it today! But I WILL tear off that deceptive facade of yours someday! Gragg clenched his teeth while cursing in his mind. “Alright, alright! That vial is all yours. Bring that body to me now! I can’t hold it any longer!”
Sunders walked closer. “The oath. Now.”
While Sunders and Gragg did their work, Angor smiled to Nausica to reassure her. “See? My professor means to give it to you. Just keep it. You won it from a battle of wit.”
The vial of Nether Demon Bloodline was a priceless treasure to all apprentices.
Shan already accepted a bloodline, which meant she needed to pay a great price to cleanse her current one to receive a new one, while Angor already possessed the “projected bloodline” of Shava, even though it did not allow him to use any particular talent abilities yet.
For now, letting Nausica use the bloodline was the best choice.
She was a level-2 Bloodline Art apprentice without a proper bloodline, which prevented her from benefiting from certain skills and cantrips that she was supposed to learn. She managed herself just fine due to her superior physique, but this wouldn’t help her forever.
Accepting the bloodline meant finally “unlocking” her true potential.
On condition that the bloodline fusion was successful.
There were known tactics to improve such chances. And unlike Sailum’s Azure Bloodline, there were records regarding the usage of Nether Demon Bloodline. Nausica didn’t need to worry about failing as long as she did not proceed unprepared, which was unlikely for her.
Nausica put away the item while trying her best to suppress her excitement, but her twitching lips gave her out.
At the center of the room, Gragg successfully transferred the very root of his soul into the body of the young man Sunders brought back while mercilessly killing the “rightful owner” of the body.
The young man opened his eyes.
The first thing he did was to look at his old body, which was being dragged into the void portal by the golden strings. He then moaned in sadness.
But the negative emotion only lasted for a brief moment. Gragg was a “former” wizard who had developed a very strong and tenacious mindset. He made a quick decision to give up his old body, and he would not cry over his past.
While it was true that he had a sly and deceptive character, he was still a true wizard.
When Gragg’s old body completely vanished, he looked down to examine his new, younger body.
And he was quite satisfied.
A chest badge shaped like an imp suddenly dropped from the sky as he caught it in one hand. This was his personal space storage. He received it from a Master Alchemist from Floating Mech City about a century ago. He had been using it to hold most of his valuables.
Losing his old body meant losing the ownership of the storage. In other words, everything inside was currently free to take.
“You’re not going to take it?” “Young Gragg” looked at Sunders.
“I’m not interested. And I certainly will not waste such a great chance granted by the oath just to take your things. Now listen up, because I’m going to tell you my request right now.”
Sunders waited for a moment until Gragg began to look VERY worried.
“Do you know Flora?”
“Yeah. ‘Blood Witch’ Flora. Everyone knows her.”
“I’m asking you to become her disciple while swearing to Hendra’s Oath.” Sunders grinned devilishly.
Hendra’s Oath was usually used by teachers when they accepted new students. The oath did not inflict many restrictions on their students. The only thing worth mentioning was that the oath forbade the promisee from betraying their teacher. Otherwise, the power of the oath would obliterate their soul immediately.
Sunders basically asked Gragg to abandon all resources and relationships he had developed in Edge of Night and start a new life.
Gragg looked hesitant about this. However, he did not have a choice when bounded by the Dinya Merkel’s Oath, and Sunders’ order did nothing to restrict his personal freedom.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
Gragg suddenly felt hopeless. Just now, he thought about “ripping open the gentleman’s facade”. But how could he do it when studying under Sunders’ student?
“Bid farewell to your past then. From today, ‘Little Imp’ Gragg does not exist,” said Sunders.
The man in a boy’s body nodded in defeat. “Gragg is not my real name anyway. Call me Spivet.”
The others were quite surprised to hear this name.
Spivet was a name known by every wizard in the southern wizarding region. The name suggested a legendary figure from 5,000 years ago—Spivet, the wizard of unrelenting deceit.
A great wizard who reached the rank of “legendary” by cheating his way there.
Greya sent Sunders a voice transmission, “Good job. You hoodwinked ‘Little Imp’ under your league so easily. He’ll make an exceptional student.”
Sunders smiled in contentment. He did so because he knew Gragg had what it took to regain the power of a true wizard. He might even become a truth-finder wizard if this man would use more “legit” means of progressing instead of returning to being the “wizard of unrelenting deceit”.
Both Sunders and Greya knew what it meant to obtain a guaranteed wizard under one’s name, and Greya felt jealous about it.
“Now that we’re settled, it’s time to leave this place.” Sunders joined Greya while Spivet followed him.
“You know how to get out?”
Sunders nodded. He just learned the means of escaping from Angor earlier.
“Wonderful. Shall we check around the city and take some stuff with us?” Greya smiled and rubbed her hands. She was thinking about the same thing as Shan, which was to loot the city while they had the chance.
“No, we’re leaving now.” Sunders shook his head. “Tarrying means inviting trouble. Even at this moment, the size of the interlayer is expanding. We’re doomed if we get trapped in there.”
No one protested against the gentleman’s decision.
They walked to the south gate of the city and gazed at the dark mist ahead with a complicated mood. Even though they knew they would make it out, seeing Sleepless City fall like this was not pleasant.
“Let’s move,” Sunders asked Angor to lead the way.
With everyone watching him, Angor gently told the spotted puppy to be their guide again.
The animal woofed happily and dived into the mist.
“Come with me, please.”
The group followed closely behind Angor, while Spivet and Greya gave Angor several curious looks.
Greya had been asking Sunders where the animal came from, but Sunders never told her. It wasn’t that Sunders did not wish to tell her—he was busy asking Angor about the same question through their Spirit Bond.
“Telling from what I heard from Froggy and Fox, Yorkshire brought the dog over from the Nightmare Realm when it isn’t supposed to do so. The dog’s owner is someone called ‘Minister Dim’,” said Angor.
“Minister Dim?”
“There is someone back at Padt Manor named Dim. A blacksmith. I think ‘Minister Dim’ is his projection.”