Taking a Disciple

The next day, at Sparge Mansion, Frankland felt a sense of unease.

The men he had dispatched to assassinate Victoria had not sent back a single word after an entire night, as if they had vanished into thin air.

He had already confirmed that Gandalf had not intervened, nor had any news of Victoria's death surfaced. Frankland couldn't help but wonder if the men he sent had discovered the treasure and fled the imperial capital overnight.

Ever since Frankland discovered in his ancestor's journals that the ancestors of the Victoria family and the Sparge family were close friends, he knew their rise to prominence stemmed from a shared fortuitous encounter. The Sparge ancestor had obtained their family heirloom, while the Victoria ancestor had obtained a strange statue; from then on, both their strengths soared, eventually leading them to become Saint-level powerhouses.

Although Frankland had never seen his family's heirloom, he knew that the reason his family had been able to endure was precisely because of it.

Based on various records, he speculated that the strange statue obtained by Victoria's ancestor must still be in their ancestral home, which was why he had been trying every possible means to locate this treasure.

Having failed to find it for so long, he was naturally suspicious of this bizarre turn of events.

No one knew that the unfortunate mage had been knocked unconscious by Olivier and dumped in a corner of an inn.

The reason Olivier had not made a scene was that he did not want Victoria to be affected; he intended to wait until she woke up before addressing everything.

In the days that followed, Olivier remained as he always was, but Frankland grew anxious. He kept trying to find a way to confirm whether the treasure had been stolen, while simultaneously keeping an eye on Victoria's situation, but with no leads, he took no action.

Five more days passed in this manner, marking the thirteenth day of Victoria's recovery.

Victoria finally woke up.

Everyone was overjoyed.

Her condition was excellent. Olivier was unsure of the exact extent of her soul's power, but he could feel that it was incredibly formidable—conservatively estimated at the ninth rank or even the Saint level.

As a triple-element soul mutant, this intensity was not surprising.

With sufficient talent and such a powerful soul, it would be easy for her to become a Saint-level powerhouse, and it likely wouldn't take long for her to reach the God level. Olivier could foresee that Victoria would absolutely shatter the records of the Yulan Plane.

He also felt a sense of relief; if not for him, this young girl would have perished.

At the same time, he sighed. Across the various material planes and divine planes, geniuses were countless, yet those who could actually grow to maturity were one in ten thousand.

The girl was extremely bright, even surpassing Linley at the same age, possessing wisdom far beyond her years.

"Big Brother, are you going to take me as your apprentice?" Victoria stared at Olivier, thinking he didn't look very old, and asked.

After she woke up, Olivier hadn't rushed things, allowing her to spend time with Lady Mary and her family. Lady Mary had already told her about Olivier's intention to take her as his apprentice.

"Yes, do you agree?" Olivier smiled slightly, replying with great patience.

"But I have to take care of my mother. If I learn magic from you, there will be no one left to cook for her," Victoria said. Usually, when her mother and brother went out to work, she stayed home to cook; otherwise, there would be no food for them when they returned.

"You can cook?" Olivier asked. He hadn't expected an eight-year-old child to be able to cook.

"Of course! I've been cooking since I was six," Victoria said proudly. Cooking for her mother and brother was the thing that made her happiest.

"Don't worry. Once you become my apprentice, I will hire someone to help your mother with the cooking. Of course, you can also continue living with your mother and still cook for her," Olivier said. This girl was filial and had a kind heart.

"Oh, that's great!" In her eyes, mages were noble figures, and the girl was very eager to learn magic. Hearing that her biggest worry was resolved, she readily agreed.

"Do you have any other questions?" he asked, seeing Victoria's hesitant expression.

"Big Brother, if I become your apprentice, will I be able to become a Saint-level powerhouse like you?" Victoria asked. She knew that Saint-level experts were incredibly powerful and assumed it must be very difficult to reach that level.

"Of course. My disciple will definitely become a Saint-level powerhouse," Olivier thought to himself, If you could only become a Saint-level powerhouse, I wouldn't even bother taking you on.

"Really? That's wonderful! I must become a Saint-level Magus so that I can protect my mother and brother," Victoria said happily, as if she were already a Saint.

"You certainly will." A young girl thinking about protecting her mother and brother—this was the logic of a strong woman, he supposed.

Olivier felt he was about to take on an extraordinary apprentice.

Lady Mary, standing to the side, beamed with joy upon hearing Victoria's words.

Victoria's lively eyes darted around.

"Greetings, Teacher." Without needing to be prompted, Victoria took the initiative to bow to Olivier.

"Good. From today on, I am your teacher." Olivier was very satisfied with Victoria; the girl not only had great talent but was also filial and well-mannered.

"Teacher, who is stronger, you or my brother's teacher?" After bowing, Victoria began asking questions.

"Naturally, I am stronger."

"Teacher, can I become stronger than my brother?"

"With me teaching you, you will surpass him very soon."

"But my brother is already a first-rank mage!"

"You will overtake him in no time."

"Teacher, do you have any other disciples?"

"No."

"Teacher, since I am your only disciple, do I get a gift?"

"Uh..."

Victoria had a hundred thousand "whys," making Olivier's head spin.

This apprentice was not going to be easy to handle.

"Victoria, I just remembered something very important. I need to step out for a moment, I'll be right back."

Olivier remembered the middle-aged mage who had attempted the assassination and felt it was best to change the subject and seize the chance to slip away.

Very quickly.

Olivier returned, dragging the middle-aged mage along with him.

"Lady Mary, this man is the culprit behind Victoria's coma," Olivier said to Lady Mary, then turned to ask Victoria, "Victoria, do you still remember him?"

"I remember. He came to our house with someone else, demanding our family's treasure. He threatened me, and then I passed out," Victoria said. Recalling how they had struck her and threatened her, she felt a wave of fear.

"This man is from the Sparge Family. The other person was Frankland, the second young master of their family. They wanted to steal your family's heirloom," Olivier finished.

Lady Mary was very surprised.

"My Lord, but our family has no heirloom," Lady Mary said. Since marrying into the family, she had never heard her husband mention any such treasure. Their family had already fallen into decline; if they truly possessed an heirloom, they would not have ended up in such a destitute state.

"Think carefully about whether there might be one."

Olivier did not care much about the treasure, but to avoid future trouble, it was better to get to the bottom of the matter.

"Our home is only this big; if there were any treasure, it would have been discovered long ago," Lady Mary said. She feared Olivier might not believe her and was perhaps after the treasure himself.

"Since that is the case, how do you wish to deal with this man?" Olivier asked, handing the initiative over to the mother and daughter.

"Master, can I beat this bad guy up?" Victoria asked. The young girl was very angry.

"Of course you can." Victoria produced a stick from somewhere and began to pummel the middle-aged mage. Olivier had sealed the mage's magic, leaving him with only the strength of a first or second-level individual, so the blows from an ordinary stick were quite painful.

"Ouch! Ahhh..." The screams were incessant.

"That's for hitting me! That's for hitting me..." she shouted while striking him.

Olivier broke into a cold sweat. With such a fierce apprentice, he wondered if she might have violent tendencies.

In truth, Olivier did not know that Victoria often snuck out to hang around with Hank, picking up some of the habits of a street urchin—specifically, the need to settle scores.

"My Lord, will the Sparge Family seek revenge?"

Lady Mary asked, filled with worry.

She had heard of the Sparge Family; it was a very powerful clan, and she was in no position to provoke them.

"Please rest assured, Madam. Since I have taken Victoria as my apprentice, for the sake of her future safety, I might as well use this incident to make an announcement and issue a warning to certain people." Hearing Lady Mary's concerns, Olivier decided to take a high-profile stance to prevent anyone from harming Victoria.

Sparge Mansion

Frankland had not received any news from his subordinate for a long time. He was not worried about the middle-aged mage's safety; he was only concerned about the whereabouts of the treasure.

"The Imperial Capital is protected by magic arrays; it is impossible to slip out without a trace. Therefore, it must have fallen into the hands of the other party. It shouldn't be Gandalf, so could it be him?"

Frankland pondered.

"To be able to subdue a seventh-level mage without a sound, the person must have at least ninth-level strength. Where did this guy crawl out from? Ruining my plans—I won't let him off."

However, Frankland also knew that dealing with a ninth-level expert was nearly impossible with his own resources; his threats were merely empty words.

"This is troublesome."

Frankland could not immediately decide how to handle the aftermath.