Responding

"I have a few friends. They helped me a lot when I was first learning the Rock Bear Potion."

Malena nodded in agreement. Ian had not simply abandoned his original partners; that kind of character made him worth cooperating with.

"Here, this is some Fairy Honeyflower Tea from my collection. It's good for spiritual power."

After discussing business, Malena eagerly took out her prized tea leaves, brewed them, and poured Ian a cup.

"Thank you." Ian raised the cup and took a sip.

The scorching tea entered his mouth, yet a cool sensation surged into his mind. His spirit jolted, and he felt his spiritual power slowly increase by a trace.

Ian closed his eyes and savored the feeling. After a while, he opened them.

"What fine tea. Is this also a specialty of the Elf Race?"

Malena nodded lightly. "Wizard Alivia gave this to me. I'll give you some later, though I don't have much myself!"

Malena seemed somewhat reluctant to part with it, showing just how extraordinary the tea was.

"Thank you, Manager. Then I'll shamelessly accept it."

Naturally, he would not refuse something capable of increasing spiritual power.

"Don't call me Manager. It makes me feel old. I'm not that much older than you, really. Just call me by my name from now on."

"Alright." Ian went along with it, lowered his head, and drank tea for a while before returning to his residence with a packet of tea leaves.

In the courtyard, an Eye of Vigilance floated overhead.

Ian had been living comfortably these past few days. During the day, he brewed potions and practiced wizardry, while at night, he maximized his meditation time.

He used three Rock Bear Potions to repay the eight hundred magic stones he owed Malena.

Unfortunately, the peaceful days were shattered by news brought by Kenna and the others.

"What? The Shadow Society's upper ranks have all disbanded, and the lower members have scattered and fled? It's completely finished?!"

Ian froze. The situation had changed too quickly for him to react at once.

"Yes. In just a few days, chaos has erupted outside. Fights are breaking out everywhere, and even low-level apprentices don't dare go out casually."

Wade was extremely frustrated. They had only enjoyed a few good days. It was all that damned Shadow Society's fault!

"One of my friends said that an Advanced Apprentice from the Shadow Society named Nolan is desperately looking for someone. It's Simon, the man you killed."

Ian sighed inwardly. The other shoe had finally dropped.

The man he had killed had not revealed his identity at the time, but judging from the fact that he had appeared alongside Simon and from his appearance, Ian could almost confirm that he had been related to Nolan, likely as a brother.

Although Ian felt the danger drawing near, he did not panic or lose his composure.

With his current strength and the potion shop's backing, he was no longer some little wizard anyone could bully.

Still, he needed to go out less for the time being, lest someone ambush him from the shadows.

As long as he stayed inside, an Advanced Apprentice would never dare barge into a Formal Wizard's potion shop to kill someone.

"Wade, ask your friends to help me investigate Nolan's general situation. This is dangerous, so make sure they act carefully."

After saying that, Ian handed him ten Awakening Potions.

Wade accepted them and nodded. "The information we dig up might not be true. You should be prepared for that as well."

He had many friends, so gathering ordinary information was manageable. But investigating core secrets was beyond his ability.

"Mm. I understand." Ian nodded, then turned to Kenna.

"Because of me, you had a direct conflict with Simon. You need to be even more careful. Don't go home either. It would be best to hide somewhere for a while."

Ian's suggestion was not excessive caution. When Advanced Apprentices came to this outer area, some of them behaved with extreme brutality, let alone members of an organization like the Shadow Society.

Ian's words made Kenna and the others look grave.

After they left, Ian had intended to begin purifying the Rock-armored Demon Bear's blood, but his heart was restless, and he could not calm down no matter how hard he tried.

He knew that if he did not handle this crisis properly, he truly risked losing his life.

Nolan was no simple opponent. Wade had said that when fighting over potions in the ruins, Nolan had killed no fewer than ten Advanced Apprentices.

And Ian had never even heard of many of the methods used by dark-element wizards, making them difficult to guard against.

Ian paced around the room once, then suddenly grabbed several potions and hurried outside.

He went to the place in town where Kenna's group was staying and told them all to leave and hide, not to take any chances.

If they encountered an emergency and needed to contact him, they were to send word directly to the potion shop.

Ian also wrote an urgent letter home and had Kenna mail it.

The letter plainly described the trouble he had encountered and told them to make preparations. His father had been an earl for so many years; he would surely make the appropriate arrangements.

After Ian left, Kenna and the others saw how tense he had been and recalled the Shadow Society's past methods. Their expressions changed.

After discussing it for a while, they hurriedly packed their belongings and headed straight out of town.

Ten days later.

Nolan stood before Ian's former house, his face gloomy.

By then, Ian's house and Kenna's house next door had both been completely destroyed by Nolan, leaving the area in ruins.

"Reporting to Lord Nolan, there are no signs that Kenna from next door has returned for a long time either. He seems to have run away as well."

A Shadow Society member stood behind Nolan and reported in a low voice.

"Then it was them. What nerve, killing my younger brother."

Nolan's tone was icy. His brother's death did pain him, but what angered him more was that the formula he had gone to great lengths to obtain had been lost.

He had spent a price to buy that Bloodline Potion Formula from a declining wizard family. Once they agreed on the price, Gavin only needed to retrieve it.

He had planned to find someone to brew it immediately after receiving the formula, making up for the weakness in his physique.

During the breakthrough to Formal Wizard, one's life force would burn and be consumed at a frenzied rate, transforming into spiritual power to break through its limit and shatter the barrier between realms.

Many Advanced Apprentices whose physiques were not strong enough fell at this stage. When breaking through to Formal Wizard, there was no retreat—only death!

That foolish younger brother of his had relied on Nolan's influence all along and acted with the same unrestrained arrogance.

Yet he lacked the ability to back up that arrogance. Now he had died without a sound and ruined Nolan's great plans.

"If I hadn't been preparing for the ruins at the time, I never would have entrusted this matter to an idiot like you."

He had gone to inspect the place where Gavin died. Too much time had passed, and not even a bone remained, only scattered scraps of clothing.

However, there were still faint traces of wizardry. Judging by the power, either an Advanced Apprentice had acted or someone had used a wizard tool of equivalent power.

Nolan had always been ruthless, and he had no idea how many people he had offended. He investigated many enemies without finding anything, until he finally traced the trail here.

He had not expected these little rats to be so vigilant that they had fled in advance.

"Hmph! Do you think you can escape?"

Nolan rose and headed toward Nightfall Town, issuing orders to his subordinates behind him.

"Spread the word. Post bounties in the black market and double the magic stone rewards for Kenna and the others."

The subordinate trembled, silently mourning Kenna and the rest before quickly replying, "Yes!"

The bounty on each of Kenna's group had now reached a staggering sixty magic stones.

None of them was an Advanced Apprentice. It was a lucrative task with little danger.

"And that Ian. This began because of him. I'll deal with him personally."