Chapter 357: The Real Manipulator
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
A person suddenly appeared a dozen yards away on the east side of the conference room. It was Entos. He had escaped with Instant Transportation Magic. He was stunned to see the strong fire in the conference room. The magic shield he had released disappeared. There were a few black spots on his gown, which was obviously burned.
The door of the conference room was shattered into pieces by the pressure of the fire. Anfey’s outline started to show in the flames. He walked in slow motion on the stone stairs. Countless flames were revolving around Anfey. It looked like they were caressing him and unwilling to leave him. Besides the Black Dragon and Gold Dragon of legends that could ignore magic, no one else could walk in the fire without any protection. Everyone saw that Anfey did not have any protection.
When Anfey stopped at the door of the conference room, the fire dimmed and went out. Gusts of white and black smoke flew out of the conference room. Everyone was looking at Entos. Anfey’s control over elements had turned magic principles upside down. They could not evaluate Anfey’s fighting ability, so they hoped to seek out an answer from the more-knowledgeable Entos.
Magic is a double-edged sword. There were many incidents in which mages got hit by their own magic spells or hurt by their own magic. A mage could release a firewall, but it did not mean he could stay in the firewall. Outside of legends, no one could do what Anfey did.
"Anfey, attack me with big fireballs." Entos had woken up. This time he looked very serious. He not only released a magic shield, but also two layers of a magic dome to cover himself.
"I have used up my magic power," Anfey said with a shrug.
Entos almost fell to the floor. He stood there, shocked for a moment, before he suddenly asked, "You had that chemical…" There was no comparison between small fireballs and big fireballs. Anfey had made huge progress. Entos suddenly remembered the chemical Archalchemist Jacob had made.
"Yes, but I only had a very little bit of it. I only wanted to see what changes it could bring in me," Anfey said.
"Don’t you think it is kind of a waste?" Entos smiled bitterly.
"Don’t worry, Bro Entos. I am just testing it. I have to save the rest for the little unicorn." Anfey changed the topic with a smile. "Oh, right, Bro Entos, did you see Niya?"
"Niya?" At the mention of Niya, Entos could help but have a weird look on his face. It was a mixture of love and helplessness. "She is still in Violet City."
"She should be fine, right?" Anfey asked.
Entos gave a chuckle, then said, "In fact, Niya only left Sacred City for a short time. She did not come with us. She was good. Most of time she stayed in the garrison residence and did not go anywhere else. At most, she only fooled around with Shally and the little unicorn at the worst."
"That is good, otherwise Riska and others would have no control over her." Anfey felt relieved. "Bro Entos, the Transmission Portal…"
"Professor asked me to do it so I dared not wait or make any mistake with it," Entos said. "If I was not busy with the Transmission Portal, I could have come earlier. The professor was worried about you. Even the king has asked me about you a few times."
Christian was touched. It was said that royal families do not really care about each other. This was nonsense. The king was a human being with emotions. The only difference was they are better at controlling and hiding their emotions. On the other hand, a robot-like emotionless king would not necessarily be a good king.
Entos looked around and found he knew everyone except for Alice. He asked slowly, "Anfey, would you like to introduce this young lady to me?" He stared at Alice. One couldn’t blame him, since Alice had showed off her talent too earlier.
Anfey looked at Alice and found her a little nervous. He stayed quite and realized what Alice was worried about. He had saved Alice, but he was just a mercenary group commander, quite different than other politicians who had so much power that they could change the whole direction of a country. Anfey had showed his moral principles and bottom line at times. Alice had this hatred in her and wanted to find a person or a group to rely on. Anfey was Alice’s only choice. Both Anfey and Alice knew it was not possible for Alice to start her own organization or try to use Anfey as a stepping stone. Alice would rather take blame than do any petty action, while Anfey would rather be wiped out than see anything happen to Alice. They understood what attitudes each had towards the other.
Alice wanted to work for Anfey, and did not have any desire to work for others. The cruel lesson she learned still hurt. She did not dare to trust anyone else. She felt like someday she might be tossed away when she was not useful anymore.
"Bro Entos, well…" Anfey thought and said slowly. "If you want to know about her, you’d better ask her. It will be her decision if she wants to tell you who she is. I think I need to respect her for that."
Alice smiled. Despite trying hard, she had never been able to understand Anfey. She understood Suzanna, Christian, and Blavi. When everyone thought she was good, she would become one of them in the end, and then she would not be dumped, as Anfey would never leave Suzanna, Christian and the others. Even when someone tried to do something to Anfey, Suzanna, Christian and others would not let that happen.
Of course, Alice was smart enough to know she had to do things for others first to show her sincerity. In fact, Alice’s unconditional trust in Anfey allowed the whole group to have a good vibe. However, Alice herself did not know that Anfey and the rest of his group did not totally trust each other at one point. After many difficult times, they became close companions. Entos called Christian "your majesty," even though Blavi never did. They had developed a bond that was similar to family members.
"Ok." Entos was angry but found it funny at the same time. "Blavi, would you like to introduce that young lady to me?"
"Me? I know nothing." Blavi immediately waved his hands.
Entos laid his eyes back on Christian. Christian smiled uncomfortably and shook his head. He had a different experience than Anfey, so he viewed things differently. Anfey cared about Alice’s loyalty, while Christian saw Alice working very hard every day, as Moramatch had been experiencing changes every day. The weapons dwarves and gnomes made were getting better and better. Alice contributed to these changes. He agreed with Anfey. Alice had done so much for them that they needed to respect her wishes.
Entos was shocked for a second. He squinted. Christian had grown up and had his own secrets now. Thinking about how shy Christian had been when he was little, Entos was amused by it. He could not help breathing a long sigh.
At the same time, a dwarf excitedly ran over. When he was still pretty far from them, he started to yell, "Master, we made it, we made it."
Anfey raised his eyebrows and looked excited. "Let’s go. Take us to have a look. Christian, can you show Bro Entos around the town. I will be back soon."
Christian nodded. "Sure."
Seeing Anfey, Suzanna, and Alice walking in the distance, Blavi suddenly asked, "Bro Entos, do you think if Anfey can control magic?"
"Can you do what he did?" Entos asked casually.
"I cannot, unless I release a magic shield to protect myself, otherwise I would be burned to a crisp," Blavi said.
"What you asked did not make sense." Entos paused. "As a senior magister, I do not want to see a person on Pan Continent who has the ability to control elements. However, if he were Anfey, I would like to see how far could he go."
"Anfey’s magic attacks were fierce, but his weakness was also obvious. He used up his magic power all at once and did not have the power left to continue the fight," Blavi said.
"Don’t forget, Anfey is also a good swordsman." Entos broke into a smile. "Can you used up all your magic power at once?"
"No." Blavi suddenly remembered a problem, and he broke into a cold sweat. Theoretically, he could use up his magic power at once, but the strong element surges would tear his telepathy and even his body into pieces. Anfey acted like nothing had happened to him. How strong could his telegraphy be in that case?
"You thought about it, huh?" Entos raised his eyebrow and asked with a grin.
"Yes." Blavi could not help sighing. He wondered how Anfey could reach this level, since they were about the same age. How could Anfey’s telegraphy could be strong enough to control element storm?
"You guys are lucky, really lucky," Entos said slowly.
Blavi did not understand Entos, while Christian got some of it. If Anfey could become a legend, they would be witnesses of this legend and be part of it. It would be such an honor for them.
Anfey stopped walking and frowned. "Alice, what do you think?"
"Me?" Alice had a beautiful smile on her face as usual.
"It is not a good thing to let others know about your talent too soon. I think you should have known that," Anfey said casually. "No matter whether you were trying to test me to see if I could protect you or for some other reason, please don’t do that again."
"I am sorry," Alice said
As Alice apologized to Anfey, she admitted her real purpose. Anfey suddenly turned around and wanted to scold her, but found she had an even brighter and more sincere smile than usual. He swallowed whatever he wanted to say and sighed, "Let’s go."