Parting Gift

The town, once as silent as death, grew noisy again because of these people's actions.

People gradually began leaving their homes and gathering in the temple square, turning the deserted square into a chaotic din.

They naturally noticed Lohr standing in the square, but none of them found it strange. They assumed he had simply arrived early.

The red-robed wizard had also returned to the edge of the square, followed by Baron Radev's family, two knights, and four militiamen.

"Good. Clysis is all right." Through the crowd, Lohr spotted Clysis among the militiamen and relaxed.

It was hardly surprising. The wizard still needed people to help him complete his task. How could he possibly slaughter people at random? He had probably only meant to intimidate them.

The red-robed wizard looked at the disorderly square, his brows slightly furrowed, then glanced at Baron Radev behind him.

"Quiet down, all of you!" the plump, lavishly dressed baron immediately shouted.

The baron usually carried considerable authority, and as soon as he spoke, the noise in the crowd diminished considerably. Everyone turned to look at him.

Once the voices had completely died down, Baron Radev took a deep breath and said:

"This gentleman standing before me is a wizard even more noble than the gods. He has come to Radov Town to give you an opportunity to become wizards."

"You must learn gratitude and respect this wizard as you would respect the gods."

"Now, form a line and come before the wizard one at a time..."

At that point, he suddenly stalled.

Because he did not know what came next either, he could only turn a pleading gaze toward the red-robed wizard.

"G-Gods?" Someone rubbed his ears in disbelief, suspecting that he had misheard.

"Is what the baron said true?" Someone stared fervently at the red-robed wizard before the baron, half believing and half doubting.

"How is that possible? The gods are supreme! The baron has betrayed the gods—we must kill him!"

More than thirty fanatics were also utterly enraged. They shattered the order that had only just been restored and charged at the baron and red-robed wizard with their bare hands.

"Waaaah—"

Yet the red-robed wizard merely swept his gaze over them. Their bodies turned crimson as they collapsed to the ground, crying out in agony.

One second later, their bodies withered and their hair spontaneously ignited.

Two seconds later, their skin began to burn, exposing their charred internal organs.

Three seconds later, their organs and bones burned together, turning into clumps of black ash.

"I said I am more noble than the gods. Who else objects?" The red-robed wizard's gaze swept across the crowd, his expression indifferent.

The crowd instantly fell silent as cicadas in winter.

Outside the town, atop a mountain.

Two Temple Knights, one old and one young, stood in magnificent blood-red armor and gazed toward the town.

"Wizards—"

The young Temple Knight clenched his fists and glared at the red-robed wizard who controlled everything within the town, grinding his teeth as though he were about to charge down at any moment.

"Rosa, impulsiveness is unacceptable. It would serve no purpose other than getting us killed." The elderly knight offered a word of comfort before continuing, "Now that the people of this town have accepted the wizard's rule, they are no longer the gods' people. We no longer need to protect them."

"What we must do now is collect the God of War's gift, find the other knights and join forces with them, then wait for an opportunity to take revenge on the wizards."

Rosa pointed at a hazy phantom hidden among the clouds above the town. "Anjek, I want to begin my revenge here."

"If you insist, it is not impossible." Anjek looked toward the wizard airship among the clouds. A flash of red light passed through his eyes before vanishing. He turned to Rosa and said, "I placed a mark on it. If it passes through places where powerful Temple Knights are stationed, surprises will be waiting for it."

"As for now, we should leave. Our most important task is to find a concealed place, absorb every last bit of the gods' final gift, and grow stronger."

"Fine." Rosa nodded, and the two Temple Knights disappeared into the forest.

Town square.

Seeing that no one spoke, the red-robed wizard nodded in satisfaction and took out a crystal ball.

"Since no one objects, form a line and come before me one at a time. Touch this crystal ball."

Radev immediately instructed the militiamen behind him, "Go help out, quickly."

"Yes, my lord." The four militiamen bowed and headed into the square.

The crowd also began to move, and with the militiamen's help, they slowly formed a line.

"Lohr, don't stand here. Follow me later, and I can put you at the very end of the line."

Clysis noticed Lohr still standing motionless in the square and immediately stepped forward.

In his view, anything involving this wizard could not be good. The later Lohr touched that crystal ball, the better.

"Clysis, you needn't worry about me."

Lohr patted Clysis on the shoulder, took a piece of illustrated parchment from his robes, handed it over, and said with a smile:

"After today, we may have to part ways. This is my farewell gift to you. Keep it safe."

The parchment recorded methods for curing salted fish, with both illustrated and written instructions. It had been prepared with great care.

He did not think Clysis possessed meditation talent. Such a thing was truly rare—one in ten thousand.

With this parchment, Lohr believed Clysis's life would be much better in the future.

"Lohr, don't do anything rash!"

Clysis glanced at the parchment and immediately understood what it was. He instantly grabbed Lohr's shoulder and quietly urged:

"If you die at that wizard's hands, the God of Wealth may not necessarily guide you into his Divine Kingdom."

He had clearly assumed Lohr intended to make a suicidal charge at the wizard, just like those fanatics.

To defend the gods' dignity even at the cost of his life.

"No, you misunderstood."

Lohr shook his head with a helpless smile and explained:

"Actually, I was the first to arrive at the square. The wizard had not yet gone to the castle then, so he let me touch that crystal ball first and told me to wait here for him."

"I-Is that so?" Clysis released him and looked at him with lingering doubt.

"Goodbye." Lohr rose onto his toes and patted Clysis on the shoulder, then headed toward the red-robed wizard without looking back.

"You there, why aren't you lining up? What are you doing over here?" Seeing Lohr approach, Baron Radev immediately barked.

Lohr immediately stopped and turned a "pleading" gaze toward the red-robed wizard.

"Did I give you permission to speak?"

The red-robed wizard coldly swept his gaze over the baron, his family, and the knights behind him. "Why are you still standing here? Go line up!"

"I... th-this... yes, Wizard."

Baron Delaf stood there tongue-tied, not knowing what to say for a moment. In the end, he could only lead his family and the knights protecting him obediently toward the back of the line that had already formed.

Heaven knew, he had only wanted to curry favor.

Judging from the wizard's reaction, he seemed to value that little fellow greatly.

No, when he got back, he had to find out whether that little fellow had any family or friends.

Treating them better in the future should avert some trouble. After all, he had only shouted at him once and had not offended him too badly.

"Come over. Stand behind me." Once the baron had left, the wizard turned back to Lohr, his tone gentle.

"Yes, Wizard."

Lohr bowed. Under the disbelieving, utterly shocked gazes of the town residents lining up obediently nearby, he slowly walked over and stood behind the red-robed wizard.

"He wasn't lying to me."

Clysis was dumbfounded when he saw that the wizard had even driven away the baron, yet allowed Lohr to stand behind him.

Only after a long while did he regain his senses. He carefully tucked the parchment he had been clutching into his robes and continued maintaining order, silently marveling to himself:

"As expected of him. Though he didn't become a knight, he is about to become something even greater than one."

About half an hour later, once the line had mostly been organized, the red-robed wizard looked at the middle-aged man at the front and said:

"Come here. Put your hand on the crystal ball."

The middle-aged man did as instructed.

After waiting a second and seeing no reaction from the crystal ball, the wizard immediately said, "You may leave. Next."

"Next."

"Next."

As time slowly passed, the red-robed wizard's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

When he had tested Lohr at the beginning, Lohr had given him a tremendous surprise.

He had thought that if a random person tested in this town possessed Fifth-Level Meditation Talent, there was still hope of finding one or two people with high-level meditation talent.

Yet after testing more than a thousand people, let alone high-level meditation talent, he had not found even one person with any meditation talent at all.