358 Business at the door

"The one who wiped out the whole Shadow's Nest in one go was this Felic…" Loke's face paled as he recalled what happened, including that hellish sight by the Black River. It was a nightmare to him, and even though it had already been a couple of months since that incident, the nightmarish scene continued to haunt him, replaying in his mind every time he closed his eyes.

The frozen Black River, the snowstorm that covered the place, as well as the familiar faces frozen in ice…

Shadow's Nest was the strongest force in Jarrosus City then, and with Patriarch Merlin's help, they had been able to take over the Demon Fall Valley, attack the Emerald Tower, and heavily injure the Archmage Gerian. The 10 greatest families as well as the six greatest underground forces quivered before the blade of Shadow's Nest. Loke had even thought back then that barging into the Castellan Mansion and replacing the castellan Isaac would not have been a difficult feat!

Then, the nightmare began…

And this was all because of the young mage named Felic. The first night he'd returned to Jarrosus, he had managed to rein in the 16 ambitious forces, and the next day, he brought a group of people to attack the Demon Fall Valley. He had carried out a great massacre on the banks of the Black River, and wiped out the hundreds of members of the Shadow's Nest, leaving only a few who managed to escape the tragedy.

Loke was one of the lucky few as he had been heavily injured at the start of the battle. He'd thought he was going to die, but after the Shadow's Nest had fallen, nobody took notice of him, and thus he lay in a bush as he witnessed the chilling massacre. The mage in the black cloak was like the legendary Grim Reaper, wielding both ice and fire as he brought deathly fear to the masses…

"Loke, are you f*cking kidding me…?!" Vanskore stood up suddenly. Under the yellowish light, the scar on his face made him seem all the more ferocious. "I think you must be scared silly if you can't think properly, that's why you're spouting nonsense. Wiping out the whole Shadow's Nest alone? Is he a Sword Sage or a Legendary-mage? Shadow's Nest might've been a small bandit group, but surely you had at least a few hundred people; even if all of you just stood there, he would have to spend the whole day killing all of you one by one…"

"Boss, listen to me—"

"That's enough Loke, shut the f*ck up!" Vanskore glared angrily at Loke. He had thought this kid was smart, and wanted to groom him, but to think he would be such a coward, afraid because of a young mage. Such nonsense, what do you mean he destroyed the whole Shadow's Nest alone? Who would believe such words?

But after he had angrily scolded Loke, Vanskore did not mention anything about presenting Black Clouds Town with a bloodbath anymore.

Of course, the leader of one of the largest bandit groups in the Breezy Plains was no boorish fool. While Vanskore did not buy the story about wiping out the Shadow's Nest alone, he knew he had to find out more about this mage Felic's background. Whatever it was, he was definitely from Jarrosus' Guild of Magic, and definitely had some status there. If Vanskore were to really kill him, the people from Jarrosus' Guild of Magic might come to him for revenge…

While he was not afraid of Jarrosus' Guild of Magic, he could not help thinking it was not worth it. He did not have any deep hatred for him, after all, nor was he losing anything. It was merely a matter of getting even…

Vanskore thought about it, and decided to let the matter rest for now. He would have to find out more about Felic before doing anything else.

Just when Vanskore thought he had handled this matter very prudently, another middle-aged man came in through the door. This man in his forties was one of Vanskore's most trusted men; a group of militiamen had followed Vanskore to set up the Syer Bandits after the plague, and he was one of them. Over the years, Vanskore had trusted him deeply, and sent him to Doland these few years so that he could build up a relationship with the officials and nobles there. Usually, he would not return to the Dragon Mountains unless something was up.

"Gabri, why are you back?" Vanskore turned solemn at seeing the middle-aged man enter. Compared to carrying out a bloodbath at a small town or killing a mage, this was a more serious matter.

"Boss, I got another deal at Doland…"

"Oh?" Vanskore's eyes lit up. Gabri had been overseeing some underground business while he socialized with wealthy merchants and nobles in Doland. After all, the Syer Bandits had over a thousand men, and they definitely needed more sources of income than just robbery. Hence, they did everything the wealthy merchants and nobles could not do, like kidnapping, blackmailing, and assassinating. Gabri was the one to oversee these dealings; they had allowed the Syer Bandits to enjoy large revenue for the past few years.

Vanskore had always trusted Gabri in his work, and when he heard that they got another deal, his face lit up.

"Two days ago, Lasorick approached me…"

"Lasorick…" Vanskore frowned at the mention of him before surprise was seen on his face. "You mean the castellan's son, Lasorick?"

"Yeah, that's him, he wants us to help him get rid of a guy…"

At this point in time, Lin Li was at the Tower of Dusk, handling the level certifications of the dozen members who had just joined earlier in the day. This was not usually the President's work; unfortunately, the Tower of Dusk was severely lacking in manpower, and there was only Gavin helping him out.

Gavin recorded down the changes in brightness in the crystal ball as he asked Lin Li worriedly, "President Felic, will we be in trouble after provoking Vanskore?" Honestly, he could not decipher what the young President was thinking. He was clearly able to kill all of them, but he deliberately left a bandit alive to bring a taunt of a message to Vanskore. Wasn't he afraid of trouble?

They were one of the strongest bandit organizations in the whole Breezy Plains, and if they really carried out an attack, perhaps even the castellan of Doland City would be uneasy. The Tower of Dusk only had a dozen mages now, so how were they going to go against the Syer Bandits? Gavin was really curious as to what the President was thinking…

"I'm afraid they won't come for revenge…" Lin Li smiled, but gave no further explanation. Gavin was right; he was intentionally provoking Vanskore. Well, the Syer Bandits were tricky to deal with, and if they had to bring the fight to the Dragon Mountains, even Lin Li couldn't guarantee that he would be able to escape unscathed.

But, if the fight was at the Tower of Dusk, it would be a different story. While they did not have the Magical crystal cannons, nor the Eternal Furnace, they did have the All-Kill Array set up…

"But…" Just as Gavin was going to press further, the light on the crystal ball vanished, and he had to pick up his pen to record the result of the level certification. "Alan, level-14 Magic Shooter."

"He's got potential…"

Gavin nodded. "Yes, Mr Basel said that Alan has the best potential out of us all."

"A pity he's somewhat off."

"Huh?" Gavin was shocked. If it had been any other day, he would have brushed that off as nonsense. Alan had improved the fastest out of all the mages at Doland's library, and even Mr Basel had said that he would definitely become an Archmage within a year. How was that "off"?

But Gavin did not dare say that now…

This young President's abilities could only be described as beyond one's expectations after the spectacle he had pulled at the door of the Tower of Dusk that afternoon. Not only could he easily unleash a Death Frost, he could control it precisely and miraculously leave a young bandit unscathed. Gavin had been confident in his own abilities for a long time, but now, he felt as insignificant as a speck of dust in front of this young mage…

Alan might really be somewhat off…

"He's too caught up in controlling his mana; he was controlling it even when he had to release mana into the crystal ball for the test on mana strength. That is not a good practice, a good mage should know when to control their mana and when not to."

"That is indeed a problem of his…" Gavin pondered over it, and had to agree. Alan was fond of controlling his mana, and if a spell required 80 percent, he would never use 90. Even Mr Basel had said that this was a stingy method, and if he continued to be so stingy with his mana, he would definitely suffer later on. Unfortunately, this was a bad habit Alan had had for over a decade, and it was not easy to change. See, he did it again during the mana test…

"Actually, it's not difficult to change this bad habit. Have him come look for me tomorrow, I'll give him some tips…"

"That's great, President Felic. I'll thank you on his behalf."

The level certification of the mages was only completed at midnight, but Lin Li was in a good mood. At least he was now aware of the capabilities of the first batch of members the Tower of Dusk had. Including Gavin, there was a total of 17 mages. They were two Archmages—one level-15 and one level-16—and 15 Magic Shooters, of whom Alan was the strongest, having reached the peak of level-14. If all went well, he would definitely become an Archmage within a year.

It seemed like this group of mages sent by Basel was carefully selected by him—every one of them was of pretty decent standard. If Lin Li could make them loyal to him, these mages would definitely serve as a great source of strength for the Breezy Plains Guild of Magic in the near future.