Chapter 554 - Battle
Vidas clearly remembered his elders telling him that humans were the most shameless of all in Anril before he left Emerald Forest. Hence, he had to think of a way not to let the human go back on his word.
“Castellan Arathor, please help us arrange a suitable place to begin the battle. On top of that, Mage Felic, I hope to let the audience witnesses our battle. So, why don’t we allow them to be the spectators of our bet?” Vidas knew that apart from having poor integrity, humans also placed great emphasis on their pride. Hence, if there were lots of spectators, he wouldn’t have to worry about Lin Li going back on his word.
Actually, the elves were not the only race that saw humans as sly and scheming beings. Even the demons who often tempted humans into selling their souls racked their brains for the sake of the soul contract because they did not want to let humans take advantage of them.
Hence, every young member of a tribe or race would often be warned against evil humans by an elder before they left. Actually, Vidas was not considered young, even though the elves had extremely long lives. However, he still belonged to the first batch of greenhorn elves; hence, he would inevitably receive pointers from his elders before leaving the Emerald Forest.
“Vidas, don’t you think that nothing can threaten you just because you possess Legendary power. Those sly and cunning humans are best at pulling scheming tricks and devising conspiracies to increase their strength. They will pretend to be your friend, win your trust, and convince you to do dangerous things for them. At last, they might event stab you in your chest from the back while pretending to rejoice and celebrate your success with you.
“Don’t believe their promises. Even if they swear to the gods, they might just turn their backs on you and go back on their oaths in the blink of an eye. They have no respect for the gods at all. They only believe in maximizing their own interests, and they will not hesitate to betray even their own brothers for the sake of their personal benefits.”
The elves who had always considered themselves elegant and refined actually sounded so callous and harsh when describing human beings. Their choice of words was so crude that even listening to them speak was a torture. Vidas was even made to repeat his elders’ words several times before they finally felt relieved enough to let him leave the Emerald Forest.
Vidas was confident that he would be able to deal with a young human chap with his Legendary-realm power even if the latter came up with some conspiracy. He felt that no conspiracy would be able to withstand the test of genuine power, and that it would make all of Lin Li’s efforts futile. However, throughout his stint in the human world, he had read a lot of historical documents about the human race, and he also knew that the words told by the elders were not groundless. In the history of humans, it was rather common for nations to turn against each other right after signing a treaty.
Vidas was not afraid that Mage Felic would go back on his word, because there was no way the dead could do so. However, he heard from Arathor that Mage Felic was also the owner of the Tower of Dusk and the President of the Guild of Magic of the Breezy Plains. Although he did not regard the Tower of Dusk seriously, the Supreme Council was in great support of the Tower of Dusk. Hence, he requested for more bystanders to be the witnesses of the battle.
Although the elves were arrogant, they were not conceited to the point of ignoring everything else and thinking that they were above all. Apophis of the Supreme Council was a strong figure of the Sanctuary-realm. The elders of the elves, including the elven queen, dared not offend the Supreme Council for no reason.
Vidas did not wish to cause the queen and the elders any trouble because of such an insignificant human magician. Hence, his purpose of roping in so many bystanders was to prove to the Supreme Council that the battle was fair. In that case, the Supreme Council would not be able to say anything else to object. Although the bystanders were all humans, Vidas was not afraid that they would get into cahoots with them, because everyone knew that internal conflicts were the most rampant amongst humans.
Upon hearing that the two people settled the bet just like that, Arathor began to get a little anxious. They’d initially thought that Mage Felic was a smart person, and felt that there would be no need for a battle, since he had enough money to buy the auction item. However, no one expected him to take on the bet despite having already bought the item.
C’mon, you don’t seem like a retarded person! Couldn’t you tell that Vidas was giving off a Legendary aura!?
Arathor was put on the spot. Things would perhaps not be that terrible if it were another Legendary figure. However, the issue was that Vidas was not just a Legendary-mage, but was also an elf. Elves had always harbored animosity for humans.
If the other party of the bet was replaced by someone else, such as those mercenary commanders downstairs or the leaders of various organizations, forces, and associations, Arathor would feel less conflicted. However, Mage Felic was someone who those leaders could not compare to even though the Tower of Dusk was not that famous yet. After all, the latter still had the support of the Supreme Council which helped them with their establishment. Although the Breezy Plains Guild of Magic had only been founded less than a year ago, Lin Li was still the President of the Guild of Magic, and if anything were to happen to him in Roland City, Arathor would have a hard time explaining it to the Supreme Council.
Regardless of whether the Supreme Council would be concerned or not, Master Felic was not only the President of the Guild of Magic of the Breezy Plains, he was also a pharmacist. William’s attitude towards him was clear evidence of how important he was. The very fact that the potion that he had prepared was auctioned at a sky-high price of 10,000,000 gold coins meant that he was obviously not an ordinary pharmacist.
He then stared at the senior pharmacists around him, and wondered, Are these senior pharmacists crazy? Plenty of major forces can’t even recruit them no matter how hard they tried, yet they’re staying with a small force that had just been established? Arathor was sure that William had to know something that he did not. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have arranged for Lin Li to sit in the VIP room at the expense of possibly offending the other VIPs. William was almost sucking up to the young mage, and not just intentionally getting close to him.
There were only very few people William would suck up to, and Arathor was definitely not one of them. Although he had a good reputation in the Breezy Plains, he was well aware of his own status and identity. However, the problem now was that he was completely helpless because he could persuade neither of the parties.
“Master Felic, we can all sit down and talk about what’s going on. There’s no need to get into such disharmony. You may not know this, but Master Vidas has some ties with the Emerald Forest. You just want the branch for the sake of herbs, right? Master Vidas can definitely get you any herbs you want from the Emerald Forest,” Arathor said in a bid to persuade him. He was also trying to hint that Vidas was a Legendary-mage.
However, Lin Li not only knew that Vidas had Legendary strength, but also had seen through his facade, and knew that he was an elf disguised as a human. In fact, if it weren’t for the Legendary-realm power that Vidas had exhibited just now, Lin Li wouldn’t have bothered with him. The bet was too lame and pointless by his standards, and he felt that it was a complete waste of time. However, Lin Li did not wish to miss a learning opportunity since he had already found out that Vidas was a Legendary-mage. It was a rare chance to have a duel with a Legendary-mage.
Moreover, Lin Li was also very interested in Vidas’s bet and his treasures. No one would turn down more treasures, though people often said that one ought not to rely too much on the help of external forces in the pursuit of genuine power, especially in the Legendary-realm, where one had to genuinely be enlightened in order to understand the Rule power. However, the effects of treasures could not be ignored, because they could at least allow one to pursue the true meaning of power with greater assurance that would help one keep going. Moreover, what could be considered a treasure by the Legendary figures often contained an immense Rule power, which was also the reason for the user’s increased enlightenment.
Of course, Lin Li didn’t think that the value of the treasures that Vidas had mentioned could really be compared to that of the branch, which was absolutely valuable because it was one of the seven pieces of the debris of the stars. It was the treasure that grew together with the Tree of Eternity at the beginning of the world. If there were any treasures in this world that could compare to it, it would be one of the other six pieces of the debris of the stars.
Lin Li smiled nonchalantly after hearing Arathor’s attempt at persuasion. Like Vidas, he told Arathor to arrange a suitable venue where they could carry out the battle. He believed that there were plenty of guests who had nothing better to do and would be willing to be the witnesses of the battle. As long as the news of the battle was announced, they would definitely swarm towards the venue.
Seeing that the other party didn’t seem to hear what he said, Arathor knew that his efforts would be futile even if he were to continue persuading Vidas or Lin Li. Although he did not hear of Vidas’ status in the Elven Kingdom before, he knew that the Legendary-mage Vidas was definitely a big shot in the Elven Kingdom.
Arathor could already almost guess the ending of the battle. If Mage Felic had made his achievements in pharmacy while having mediocre power, it would be easy to deal with the matter. However, the problem was that Mage Felic was a real piece of work; he had killed a Legendary Lich as well as a Humerus Wyrm, after all, regardless of what method he used. Even if he were not a Legendary-mage, he was a very powerful powerhouse.
If the two powerful parties were to go toe-to-toe against each other, things would definitely get heated in no time, especially since Vidas was an elf, and elves were known to detest humans. It was obvious what would become of Mage Felic in the end.
“Alright, in that case, please wait a moment while I arrange a venue.” Arathor sighed, for all he could do now was pray to the heavens that he wouldn’t have to clear up the mess.
Filled with anxiety and nervousness, Arathor headed downstairs. The first thing he did was to instruct his subordinates to arrange a venue for the bet before looking for William. After all, he reckoned that William would definitely know Mage Felic better than he did. He thought that William would perhaps have a way to stop the battle.
This mysterious treasure that appeared as the finale really did live up to its high expectations, and actually set a sales record of 15,000,000 gold coins. It was the highest set record in the entire land of Anril, and not just in the Time Consignment Store. After the deal was sealed, William suppressed his excitement and announced the end of the auction.
However, just as everyone in the audience was about to get up and leave the venue, they unexpectedly saw Castellan Arathor running to the stage anxiously. Upon sight of that scene, everyone couldn’t help but stop. Although they didn’t come forward to listen to what Arathor and William were saying, they didn’t intend to leave, for they were all curious and waiting for something to happen..
“What… What!?!” William was overwhelmed with dejection after hearing Arathor’s words as his joy vanished instantly.
“Master William, could you think of a way to persuade that Mage Felic?” asked Arathor, who was staring at William with hope in his eyes.
William glanced down at the audience, who were waiting to see a commotion, after which he pulled Arathor to the side of the stage and said softly yet resentfully, “Arathor, you should know the rules of the auction. How could you take someone to look for Mage Felic? Aren’t you creating trouble for me!? You should have seen the scene when the potion was auctioned just now. Mage Felic is not an ordinary mage. There are a lot of distinguished VIPs at this auction. Why did you think I arranged for him to sit in the VIP room?”
Smiling wryly, Arathor said, “Why couldn’t I tell that? Things have already come to this. You should have heard what happened upstairs just now. No matter how impressive Mage Felic may be, he’s only in his twenties, after all. You’d better help to persuade him.”
Persuade? How!? Mage Felic has properly used his money to purchase the items, and he has really spent 15,000,000 gold coins. Do you want me to persuade him to give away something that he has bought with his own money to someone named Vidas, or simply forfeit this auction and sell the item to Vidas!?