Chapter 646

“Ray Shack, 23 years old, second son of Baron Shack’s younger brother. Aspired to become a knight since young, but had never been strong enough to receive any knight training. Had since followed an old thief who had been captured and assimilated, who taught you the skills he had. Became an adventurer five years ago; skilled at playing with daggers and crossbows, also quite accomplished in picking locks, appraising values, as well as hunting and tracking activities, but has standard skills in dismantling mechanisms, disassembling traps, and pickpocketing, and is relatively poor…” Sui Xiong completed this introduction in a casual manner, then asked, “Am I right?”

The thin man, Ray Shack, who was kneeling on the ground, registered a shocked expression. Then his shock transformed into relief and admiration. Sui Xiong could see very clearly that in Ray’s heart, he must be shouting things like, “Indeed, this is a master! So impressive!”

Has it ever crossed his mind that I might possibly be some kind of spy?

Sui Xiong was somewhat speechless as he secretly sighed again. Then he asked, “Everything should be going perfectly well for you since you are the child of an aristocratic family. While we can overlook how you ran off to be an adventurer, how could you even think of becoming a thief? That is a little embarrassing.”

“Other than this, what else could I be?” Ray Shack said with a bitter expression. “To become a knight, I must undergo specialized training. I am not strong enough, and my family is not willing to waste any money for me to receive any training. As for the warriors, paladins or the likes of them, they are not any better than being a wanderer…”

“Wanderer?” Sui Xiong was slightly taken aback. It was only then that he realized why Ray’s skills were configured in such a manner—every profession had subcategories of different tendencies. Among the thieves, there were assassins who specialized in assassination, treasure hunters who specialized in discovering and cracking mechanisms, highly-skilled thieves who specialized in pickpocketing and swindling, and also those like Ray Shack, who specialized in combat and had some other auxiliary skills. But he was a wanderer who was not skilled in treasure-hunting or stealing.

To put it bluntly, wanderers were the kinds of thieves who were more inclined to face-to-face combats and collaborative adventures. They had strong survival abilities and were able to adapt quickly no matter where they went. At the same time, they tended to exhibit more positive behavior and thus were less likely to attract trouble or enemies. As for Ray Shack, a child from nobility, this was indeed a better choice.

“Then, what do you want to learn from me?” Sui Xiong cut to the chase and asked directly with a smile.

This time, it was Ray Shack’s turn to freeze.

In fact, it was only after he saw how Sui Xiong could be so ominous and well-informed that immediately, intense envy and admiration arose within him. Without thinking through carefully, he had rushed over to ask Sui Xiong to be his teacher. As for what he should really learn? The moment Sui Xiong raised this question, he was placed in a quandary.”

From his point of view, this master must be someone extremely modest. He should be highly skilled in magic, or his skills might even have reached the acme of perfection. There were so many people in the tavern, and yet no one had noticed when or how Sui Xiong had actually switched positions with that official spy, or when he had subdued that man and changed that man’s appearance into that of his own. If Ray could acquire such a skill, his capability would improve by leaps and bounds, which would be a great help regardless of whether it was for exploration or for combat.

But what this master was truly skilled in, was it really only magic? And… If he was the best at using magic, would he be willing to impart his own special abilities so easily?

Ray Shack thought carefully and recalled the difficulties he went through back when he was learning skills, and he also recalled that old man—the old thief who imparted techniques to him—who taught him with a draggy and dodgy attitude. He could not help secretly worrying.

That was when he started feeling that he might have been a little too reckless. Maybe he should have felt out Sui Xiong’s opinions or feelings first? Or maybe…

“Are you done thinking?” Sui Xiong asked, interrupting Ray’s thoughts. Once again, Sui Xiong raised the question, “What do you want to learn from me?”

Ray Shack was shocked. Suddenly, his wandering mind was pulled back from its preoccupation. Subconsciously, he replied, “Magic.”

“Magic?” Sui Xiong asked with a little surprise. “You want to learn magic from me?”

“Yes. The magic skills you previously displayed were simply beyond my wildest imagination. So I hope to learn magic from you. Of course, so long as you are willing to guide me or impart anything to me, I am willing to learn any technique. I’m not greedy to the extent where I must learn magic and nothing else but magic,” Ray Shack replied.

Sui Xiong looked at Ray very carefully, ascertaining that he spoke the truth, and then thought for a moment before saying, “Of course you can if you want to learn magic. But I cannot just impart you with skills for no reason… Let’s do it this way. I shall give you some tasks. Then based on how well you fare, I will impart you with an amount that matches your performance level.”

Ray Shack heaved a long sigh of relief and felt a little more assured. Yet at the same time, he started to feel a little apprehensive. The tasks given by this master would most probably not be easy to accomplish…

“I’m very curious about the situation over at the Great Marsh. It’s said that the Lord of that place, Viscount Samat, was sealed with a title after he made a meritorious contribution at war, so I’m also curious about what actually happened,” said Sui Xiong. “These two things will be the main topic that you are to collect information about. I will decide how much I will impart to you based on the level of detail and reliability of the information you gather.”

Ray Shack nodded vigorously and then asked, “So, do I still come here to look for you?”

“Yes, I will not check out. Even if I’m not here when you return, you just need to wait for a few days.”

After this thin man left hurriedly, Sui Xiong sat within his room and could not help laughing.

Ray Shack had limited capabilities, and naturally, his level of judgment was not ideal. As a matter of fact, what Sui Xiong executed was not magic, but rather some method that was very much more high-end: First, he used the technique of Hold Person to control the gray-clad man; then he executed the Transposition Technique to swap their positions. Lastly, he used two advanced Phantom Spells to change their respective images—all of these things were carried out using two special skills, respectively, “Invisible Spellcasting” and “Speedy Spellcasting,” to achieve such a magic-like effect.

In fact, he had an even simpler way, which was to directly execute the power of gods—for instance, temporarily creating a God’s Kingdom out of the entire surrounding area, then using one of the techniques within his Divine Power, “May Your Wish Come True,” he could easily achieve the same result.

But that would be too conspicuous, so Sui Xiong preferred to take the more troublesome way out.

The spells he used might have all been driven by his Divine Power and were therefore much more powerful than ordinary spells, but at least, he did not directly make use of his Divine Power.

Ray Shack was completely oblivious to all of these things. If he could differentiate any of this at all, he would definitely not have said that he wanted to learn magic. Out of all the spells that Sui Xiong cast, only the advanced Phantom Spells could be counted as magic spells, while the techniques Hold Person and Transposition Technique were not. And as compared to the advanced Phantom Spells, the super magic skill, “Invisible Spellcasting,” was even more profound. As for using the Speedy Spellcasting skill four times consecutively, that was powerful to a level of breaking through the limits of the horizon. It was powerful beyond one’s wildest imagination, so powerful that it reached a stage that a majority of spellcasters in the world would never dream of achieving.

Not taking other things into consideration, just the fact that he could execute Speedy Spellcasting skill four times in a row, within the same instant, was already a phenomenon that was totally beyond all reason. The “speedy” part referred to things that could be completed at extreme speed, but within a certain period, it could only be executed once. In other words, within the same instant, it would be right that this Speedy Spellcasting skill could only be used once.

Using Speedy Spellcasting four times in a row instantly… Even if it was cast two times in a row, that would already be considered a legendary skill. If a mage had such an ability, he could basically beat up anyone of the same level. As for those like Sui Xiong, who could execute the same skill four times in a row within the same instant, that was simply powerful, invincible, nature-defying… and the list could just go on.

But all of these things did not matter to Ray Shack at all. And for the time being, they also had nothing to do with Sui Xiong.

At present, the most pressing issue for Sui Xiong was to give himself a crash course. He had to research and improve his magic ability, so when Ray Shack finished his tasks, he could impart some skills to him…