Poison Fang's Request for Help

Through the Eye of Vigilance, Ian sensed a familiar yet unfamiliar chill.

"Poison Fang?"

The visitor was actually Poison Fang, which surprised Ian somewhat.

He had interacted very little with Poison Fang. On the way to Forge, Poison Fang had always lingered at the edge of the group, his gaze gloomy and his words few.

Other than the tasks Captain Hank assigned him, he barely spoke to anyone else.

Between them, Ian and Poison Fang had exchanged fewer than five sentences in total.

"Knock, knock knock."

The rhythm was short and hurried, carrying a trace of barely perceptible tension.

Ian's eyes flickered. He straightened his robe and opened the door.

Poison Fang stood outside. He was half a head shorter than Ian and thinly built.

He was wrapped in a slightly oversized dark gray cloak, his face nearly bloodless.

"Poison Fang?" Ian's tone remained calm as he stepped aside to make room. "Come in."

Poison Fang nodded without speaking and slipped into the room with agile movements, like a shadow drifting past.

After entering, he quickly swept his gaze around the room. His eyes paused briefly on the alchemy table before lowering again.

Ian shut the door and casually activated a simple soundproofing barrier, a small trick he had learned from Old Tobacco Pipe.

"Sit." Ian pointed at the room's only chair while leaning against the edge of the alchemy table himself.

"You came so late. Is something wrong?"

Poison Fang did not sit. He stood in the middle of the room, clenching and unclenching his hands awkwardly.

After several seconds of silence, he finally raised his head. His voice was somewhat hoarse, but his words came quickly.

"Ian, I need your help."

Straight to the point, without any pleasantries. That fit his usual style.

"Oh? What kind of help?" Ian asked without showing anything.

Poison Fang licked his dry lips and looked directly at Ian.

"You know. During the drawing earlier, I was chosen."

Ian nodded and continued listening.

Poison Fang paused, took a deep breath as though making up his mind, and said, "Potions. I need potions that can increase my strength.

"You're a potion master, and I know your potions... are excellent! The two kinds of potions you brew are noticeably more effective than the others in the warehouse. Those of us who use them often know it well."

Ian raised an eyebrow slightly. He had not expected Poison Fang to be so observant. His mastery of those two potions had indeed reached the control stage, making them far more effective than the others'.

Poison Fang continued, speaking even faster. "I need potions that can unleash great strength. Something that can temporarily boost my power at a critical moment, or improve my ability to survive."

After speaking, Poison Fang stared intently at Ian. Within those gray-black eyes were pleading and a trace of the panic belonging to a young apprentice.

At that moment, Ian suddenly realized that beneath Poison Fang's gloomy, mature-looking face, he might not actually be very old.

Living alongside curses and poisons for so long had perhaps made his temperament prematurely cold and mature.

Yet when faced with a life-and-death crisis, the unease of youth still showed through.

Ian did not answer immediately. His fingers unconsciously tapped against the edge of the worktable.

He was weighing his options quickly.

Poison Fang's strength and special abilities could be useful to him in the camp.

The fact that Hank had entrusted him with handling "special situations" showed that his curses and poison techniques were truly extraordinary.

If such a teammate, skilled in covert methods, could lend a hand at a crucial moment...

There was another point. Poison Fang's words had reminded Ian of something.

Poison Fang often went out on missions. He might be a good source for magical beast essence blood.

"A potion for a temporary burst of power..." Ian pondered, his gaze shifting toward the temperature-controlled case, where several enhanced Rock Bear Potions rested.

"I do have one kind of potion," he said slowly, watching Poison Fang's eyes light up at once.

"It is not merely a potion for temporary explosive power. It is a bloodline potion capable of permanently improving one's physique and strength."

"Permanently?!" Poison Fang's breathing hitched, and then his expression dimmed again.

"A bloodline potion... requires a neutralizing potion, doesn't it? This is the front line. I can't buy one here."

Poison Fang was clearly not ignorant. As an advanced apprentice, he still knew some basic knowledge.

Ian nodded. "I used a special method and paid a great price to brew this potion. Its effects are much more violent than the ordinary version.

"Without a neutralizing potion to assist it, the user will very likely..."

He made a gesture of a body swelling and mutating. The meaning was obvious.

Poison Fang's face turned a little paler, but the desire in his eyes did not fade.

Risk and opportunity went hand in hand. That was the norm on a wizard's path.

"A neutralizing potion..." Poison Fang muttered. Then, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly looked up.

"Wizard Sterling! He is a powerful potion master. He must have high-quality neutralizing potions!"

Ian's heart stirred. Sterling even had powerful Molten Heart potions, so he should have neutralizing potions as well.

It would mean exposing his true talent in potion-making, but that was not a major problem.

Poison Fang gritted his teeth. "I can go beg the captain! He is a leader Sterling trusts, so there may be a chance. Even if the price is steep..."

There was a desperate determination in his tone. As long as he could survive the brutal mission, he was willing to give everything he had.

Looking at the urgency and hope in Poison Fang's eyes, Ian suddenly felt that this outwardly cold curse wizard might possess a completely different nature within.

"You specialize in curse magic," Ian said, changing the subject. "I heard that some secret techniques can secretly assess an opponent's approximate strength?"

A sharp glint flashed in Poison Fang's lowered eyes. Then he looked up at Ian.

"I know your strength... is very great. Greater than Captain Hank's!"

He was a curse wizard, and he did possess secret techniques for judging an opponent's approximate strength.

From Ian, he had secretly sensed a threat far stronger than Captain Hank's—a terrifying threat capable of killing him!

Ian sighed inwardly. He could not underestimate any advanced apprentice. No matter what strange secret techniques existed in the wizarding world, he would not find them surprising.

The fact that Poison Fang had come to him tonight instead of Hank had already given him some guesses.

He walked to the temperature-controlled case, opened it, and took out an enhanced Rock Bear Potion.

Within the blood-crystal-colored potion, dense golden strands writhed and shifted constantly, active to the point of near frenzy, like extremely fine insect bodies.

Even from a distance, Poison Fang could sense that surging bloodline power, heavy and solid like rock.

"This is the Rock Bear Potion. It has many benefits, but it has one major flaw: its upper limit cannot break through to the level of an official wizard."

Ian handed Poison Fang the box along with the potion. "The effects are violent. Be extremely careful."

Poison Fang accepted the potion with trembling hands, as though holding onto a lifeline.

"I understand! Thank you... Ian." He spoke the final two words with particular solemnity.

"No need to thank me. I hope you return alive. You can pay for the potion later with essence blood—preferably the essence blood of a Rock-armored Demon Bear."

Ian stated the terms of his deal. Giving it away for free was impossible.

Poison Fang nodded without hesitation. "No problem! As long as I return alive—no, even if I don't, Captain Hank will help me pay the compensation."

"Good." Ian showed a faint smile. "Then I wish you success in your mission and a safe return."

Poison Fang carefully tucked the box into the closest place against his chest and thanked Ian heavily once more.

Then, just as silently as he had arrived, he pulled open the door and melted into the darkness outside.

Ian closed the door. The soundproofing barrier dispersed, and the smile on his face slowly faded, leaving his eyes dark.

Poison Fang's arrival and request were like a stone cast into still water, stirring his thoughts.

He was not particularly reluctant to part with the enhanced Rock Bear Potion. As long as he gathered enough essence blood, he would only have more in the future. He could not keep hiding them away forever.

If he could use Poison Fang as a connection to draw out Hank and the others' network of relationships, it would greatly help his future plans.

He might even use that momentum to approach Wizard Sterling, gain his permission, and rapidly gather resources here.

As long as he handled it properly, it was not impossible.

He was gradually displaying considerable talent in potion-making now, giving him some standing to negotiate.

But at present, another matter weighed more urgently on his mind.

Ian's gaze turned toward a direction beyond the window. There lay the area where the family wizards had gathered.

"The Osborne Family..."