Chapter 3082 Troubled Apprentice (Part 2)

Chapter 3082 Troubled Apprentice (Part 2)

"Then I'll make sure once we find him, your father realizes the vital role you played in his survival, Lord Neth." Strider nodded. "If he has been lured into a trap, it will be thanks to you if he comes back alive."

The Wyvern rubbed his chin, pondering the implications of those words and the advantage that overlooking Jaya's slight might give him in the upcoming battle for succession.

"Don't thank me. Thank my sister." He said with a warm smile that didn't extend to his eyes or voice.

"I'm not Lith, but if you ever need a new teacher, this is my contact rune." Solus felt guilty for Jaya's predicament and was afraid that the moment they left, Tanat would make her pay for her fangirl behavior.

"Thank you, Lady Verhen." Jaya took out her communication amulet to exchange runes.

Now she could call for help and if something happened to her, Solus would know.

'Gods above and below, she's no Tiamat but she still is the mother of his child.' Tanat thought, falling victim to the common misconception caused by Elysia's streaks and the fact that Lith and Solus shared the same last name.

'If Jaya leaves our home for Verhen's, she would still enjoy his protection and share with his wife the secrets of the Wyvern bloodline. I'd better wait for the old lizard to return and deal with Jaya himself.'

The group left the volcano and traveled back to the lair of the regional beast Lord of the Council, to leave a trail of her movements and reach their next destination with a single Warping array.

"Why did you do that, Solus?" Lith asked as soon as they were at a safe distance. "Are you really willing to take in an apprentice with all the obligations that it entails?"

He wasn't referring to the housing costs and responsibilities but to the many secrets they had to keep from the rest of Mogar.

"To save her life, dummy!" She replied. "And no, I'm still too weak for an apprentice."

She sighed, taking a brief pause.

"Also, I never said I'd be her teacher. I just told Jaya to contact me if she needed a new one. I'm sure that Faluel, Ajatar, Athung, and anyone with half a brain we know would pay Jaya's weight in gold for an apprentice who can use Origin Flames."

"Well, you win some and you lose some." Strider sighed. "Guess we can rule these guys out for now. The timing of their departure matching the disappearance of the other Forgemasters is probably just a coincidence."

The three returned Awakened had accepted being searched and they carried nothing illegal on them. Not for a lack of trying, mind you, but the Zouwu had no way to know that.

They had also agreed to not leave their homes and remain available for further questioning. With only four people working on the case, Strider had no reason to waste time on an apparently dead lead.

Not when there were more promising ones available.

After traveling through the three great countries and talking with the disciples of the missing Forgemasters, a pattern emerged.

"This is interesting." Strider said. "All of them have been contacted during the past month by an unknown client who paid them upfront and arranged for a covert means of transportation the apprentices know nothing about.

"The missing subjects left their homes on different days but their circumstances are nigh identical. Also, depending on how much of their lifespan they have left, all the missing Forgemasters are in the 'it's just a matter of years/decades/centuries before they become a Ruler of the Flames' ballpark."

"At least according to their students." Ryka pointed out. "It could have just been brown-nosing"

"No, they honestly believe that." Strider shook his head. "It's the reason I arranged for us to speak with the main disciple first and then with the rest of the apprentices. They all praised their mentors while they were alone with us.

"The future heirs had no reason to blow smoke up their master's ass when there was no one to pat their heads and give them a tasty treat. It would explain why the three returned Forgemasters had nothing to do with our case."

"Yeah." Solus nodded. "Those guys were just average. None of their artifacts was even as good as Jaya's hammer."

"Good gods, Solus. Can you really tell the quality of an artifact just by looking at it?" Ryka was flabbergasted.

'Me and my big mouth!' Solus inwardly griped.

"No, not really." She actually said. "I just looked at them with Life Vision and appreciated the craftmanship."