Xiya's little white-robed mage and "Aislin's" unfortunate attendant were certainly not stupid enough to stand still in the face of the incoming talons.
Yet, to their horror, they discovered that a sticky web had already pinned their feet firmly to the ground.
The two young mages looked utterly hopeless... they had not felt a thing.
Of course, they had heard that although Gilbert's spellcasting talent was not quite top-tier, his aptitude for wondrous items and magic arrays amazed even Archmage Rute.
Was this what they called not top-tier?
Then what did top-tier look like?
The Fourth-Circle Mage from Sia Tower found this reality particularly unacceptable... why had he dared to get involved in this internal struggle at Black Mystery Tower?
Naturally, it was because he had never thought much of Gilbert's supposed talent.
The fact that Gilbert had needed to fight desperately even for a place in Despair Tower made him seem beneath the notice of someone who had earned his way into Sia Tower through his own ability.
Although Gilbert was already a Seventh-Circle Mage, they had dared to appear before him so confidently, and even lingered brazenly after showing him the way instead of flying off at once, because they were relying on a protective wondrous item a certain lady had given them.
With that wondrous item in hand, and facing an ordinary mage who had only recently advanced to the seventh circle and probably had not learned more than a few spells, Xiya's little Fourth-Circle Mage had dared to behave so outrageously.
Of course, word that they could "cooperate with Lady Aislin to a reasonable extent" had already circulated privately within the White-Robed Faction.
Otherwise, however greedy he was, however much he wanted the benefits Aislin offered, he could never have dared to defy his faction leader's