Chapter 357: Vanskore
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Of course, Lin Li noticed Gavin’s fear. His previous actions had to have worried the ambitious Archmage…
However, Lin Li had no intention of explaining himself. He lived in Black Clouds Town and was far more aware of what kind of group the Syer Bandits were as compared to someone who spent their time in Doland’s library. They were true bandits who engaged in arson and robbery, and there was no crime they had yet to commit. They attacked villages and robbed merchants for years, and everyone of them had at least a dozen lives on their hands, most of which were defenseless civilians!
This was what truly infuriated Lin Li!
In Lin Li’s eyes, they were inhumane for harming civilians. Thus, killing them was no more than exterminating magical beasts, and he did not feel guilty about it at all. Moreover, they harmed Old Salatt, who was his neighbor for two months, an Old Salatt who gave him a share whenever he made something to eat. Lin Li could not forgive them based on that alone…
Of course, Lin Li had no intention to tell Gavin this.
“Gavin, get people to clean this up and bring the one who’s still alive to me.”
“Ok, President Felic…” Gavin was still in fear, but nodded his head regardless, and carried out the young President’s orders immediately.
Gavin was in awe and fear after seeing what the young President was capable of—in awe because Lin Li possessed such power at such a young age, and in fear because he might end up in their position. Hence, when Lin Li had him clean up after the fight, he agreed without hesitation.
Gavin quickly called a few people from the tower, but as they started cleaning up, he suddenly thought of something: the young President said to bring him the one who was still alive…
Did he hear wrongly…?
Gavin was a level-16 Archmage himself, so how could he not know the power of Death Frost? That was the most powerful level-16 magic one could use in a small area. At absolute zero, the frost became sturdy ice and froze all enemies who attempted to come near. It could also freeze the enemies’ hearts and blood in a split second. Even a magical beast would find itself in a similar state if it was ever caught in the Death Frost.
The Death Frost had clearly frozen all the bandits, so where was he going to find one still alive?
What do I do? Should I let President Felic know?
The thought was dropped by him as soon as it appeared. Wouldn’t that be questioning President Felic’s orders? Gavin had no intention of doing that…
“Crunch…”
Just as Gavin was hesitating, he heard a faint noise.
“How’s that possible?” Gavin could not believe his ears. The faint noise had definitely come from the cracking of ice!
Gavin froze.
How could ice at absolute zero crack?
Gavin unconsciously looked over toward the source of the noise.
Then, the expression on Gavin’s face froze…
He clearly saw a crack in one of the ice figures—it started out as a thin crack, but as the crunching noise continued, the crack became bigger and bigger until it resembled a deep scar.
“Crunch…” After the last noise sounded, the sturdy ice formed by the Death Frost really cracked open and shattered like glass. Through the fog, Gavin saw a pale face—the man looked really young, probably in his twenties. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Gavin recalled that he was one of the bandits. When everybody had brandished their weapons and tried to pounce on President Felic, for some reason, this guy had remained on his spot…
Could that be why he had been spared?
This sudden thought scared Gavin out of his wits.
That’s impossible, impossible, it was most likely a coincidence…
The Death Frost was a true level-16 magic, and even Archmages near the Legendary-realm had trouble executing it, yet President Felic could do it with precision and spare one person while instantaneously freezing over a dozen others. This alone was driving Gavin crazy from shock; to think that Lin Li had even had the time to take notice of who had not picked up their weapon…! Gavin really could not find it in himself to believe it!
Coincidence, it must be a coincidence!
Gavin desperately tried to convince himself, but for some reason, a voice in his brain kept telling him that there was no such thing as a coincidence in the world of magic…
“Mr Mage, have mercy!” The young bandit’s cry attracted Gavin’s attention. Although his lips have turned blue from the cold, he still knelt in front of Gavin when the ice cracked and hugged Gavin’s legs. “Mr Mage, please spare me, I was really forced into doing this, that bastard Pierre forced me to come here…”
“Stand up and come with me. President Felic wishes to meet you. As for whether he will let you go, I’m afraid it depends on your luck.”
The young bandit’s luck was good indeed. After a near death experience, his life was really spared. The terrifying young mage allowed him to go after asking him a few questions on the condition that he brought a message to his boss.
“Tell Vanskore that if he wants to meet me, he has to come to the Tower of Dusk himself. Also, I’m not happy with what happened today. If anybody else from Black Clouds Town is harmed, I won’t mind tearing down his hiding place in the Dragon Mountains.”
Lin Li’s message was given to Vanskore word for word, and the former militiaman of Syer Town and now head of the Syer Bandits was livid. He could not believe that there would be such an arrogant person in the world. Did this mage called Felic really not know what was good for him? He killed one of his men the previous time, and Vanskore had yet to settle the score with him for that, yet he killed another dozen of his men this time and dared to threaten him about tearing down his hiding spot in the Dragon Mountains? Who does he think the Syer Bandits are?
“Loke, gather all our men. I want a bloodbath in Black Clouds Town tonight. Let’s see whether this mage Felic is really capable of tearing down our place here in the Dragon Mountains!” Vanskore was fuming, but after shouting his command, he realized his most trusted captain, Loke, didn’t move. This made him even angrier, and he thrust his leg into Loke’s abdomen. “What the hell are you still standing there for?”
“Boss, that Felic… Mage Felic you speak of, is he from Jarrosus?” Loke had only joined the Syer Bandits two months ago, but he was quite capable and witty. Hence, he had quickly earned Vanskore’s favor and rose to the position of a captain. With a hundred men under him, he was quite the figure amongst the Syer Bandits.
However, for some reason, he had been dazed and pale after the news from Black Clouds Town was passed on to them, even stuttering when he spoke.
“How the hell would I know?”
“Then… then is he in his twenties, and always having a polite smile when he speaks?”
Vanskore frowned, and finally realized that something was wrong with the man he had groomed personally. While he had only joined them two months earlier, he was far more capable than any of his previous captains. He had to have his reasons for asking these questions. Unfortunately, Vanskore had never seen this mage Felic; hence, he turned around to look at the young bandit who was tasked with passing on the message.
“Yes, yes, yes, that’s so…” The young bandit hurriedly nodded his head.
“It is him indeed…”
“Why, do you know him?” Vanskore frowned. He might be quick to anger, but he was no rash fool, or he would not be able to lead the Syer Bandits till today. He knew there had to be more to it after hearing Loke’s words.
“Of course I know this executioner…” Loke’s face was pale, and his eyes were filled with fear. “Boss, do you remember when I told you that I was from the Shadow’s Nest before I joined the Syer Bandits…?”
“Mm-hm.” Vanskore nodded his head. Of course he knew Loke’s origins; this rascal was a high-ranking bandit from Jarrosus, but his little group had offended an important figure, and their group was extinguished. Only a few of them escaped, including Loke.
Vanskore could not help laughing when he heard this as he had guessed what Loke was about to say. He certainly wanted to tell him that this mage Felic knew some important figure, but so what? The Shadow’s Nest was the Shadow’s Nest, while the Syer Bandits were the Syer Bandits. The former had merely had a few hundred men, while the strongest of them was only level-15. How could they ever compare to one of the top 10 bandit groups in the Breezy Plains?
So what if the mage Felic had an important figure backing him? Was he really going to destroy the Syer Bandits completely in one go? What a joke! Could that important figure be more powerful than the castellan Arathor of Roland City? Moreover, Syer Bandits had come a long way from the past, and he had recently found a new backer, one that could shake up the whole of the Breezy Plains with a nudge of his leg…