Mania

At Zhao Si's insistence, the five of them signed a contract in five copies, one for each person, and stamped their fingerprints on it.

Azur and Lusat could not leave fingerprints, so they left their own unique magical marks as identification instead.

Afterward, Thops pulled Zhao Si aside, full of admiration. "You really have some nerve."

"What do you mean?" Zhao Si did not understand.

Thops sounded shaken. "Aren't you afraid they'll kill you?"

"No. Killing me wouldn't benefit them, and they still need me to make those things." Zhao Si was a little blindly confident.

Thops looked worried. "They aren't the sort to give in to threats. Your ideas may be interesting, but that doesn't mean those ideas will keep them in check."

"What do you mean?" Zhao Si blinked, not taking it to heart.

Thops grew anxious. "They aren't as patient as I am. If they don't see results soon, they might just abandon the research and kill you. After all..."

He looked around to make sure no one was there before whispering, "After all, they aren't even human anymore!"

True, having a glintstone head did make someone look less than human.

"Sometimes people who aren't quite human and don't have feelings are actually easier to get along with," Zhao Si said with a smile.

Thops scratched his head. "This doesn't feel like confidence to me."

"Then what does it feel like?" Zhao Si asked.

"Like..." Thops looked at Zhao Si and gathered his courage. "Like arrogance. Even I could tell just now that you had no guarantees at all. You were just bluffing your way through with words, weren't you?"

Zhao Si nodded despite himself.

Thops said, "In that case, if they get upset and kill you, there's nothing you can do about it."

"They wouldn't do that, would they?" Only after hearing this did Zhao Si feel a chill down his spine.

"I told you, they only compromised for now because they found your ideas interesting and wanted to try them out." Thops looked worried. "You remember the graveyard in the academy, don't you?"

Zhao Si nodded. Of course he remembered. The graveyard was behind Cuckoo Church, where a conspicuous, enormous waterwheel could even serve as a lift. Each platform could hold four or five people.

"They cast spells on the bodies buried there so they could be used as part of the security," Thops told Zhao Si quietly.

"Oh..." Zhao Si thought back. "You mean they can crawl out of their graves and grab people, like zombies?"

Thops nodded repeatedly. "Yes, exactly! I've only heard about it, never seen it. You've heard about it too?"

"Of course. There are plenty of rumors about the Academy of Magic." Zhao Si laughed and brushed it off.

On the way back, he passed Shrimp-Meat Boy's stall and bought some more shrimp.

Taking the opportunity, Shrimp-Meat Boy said mysteriously, "A strange fellow came to town recently. He looks just as strange as you."

Zhao Si froze, then felt his helmet. He had never known he looked strange.

"How strange?" Zhao Si asked curiously.

Shrimp-Meat Boy thought for a moment. "Judging by his clothes, he's a warrior from the Land of Reeds. That's nothing special, but he wears an old man's mask over his face. It looks pretty weird."

"Dressed like a warrior?" The first person Zhao Si thought of was the warrior he had seen during the Tarnished selection at Stormveil Castle. Back then, he had not even noticed Blaidd? because that warrior had drawn all his attention. Japanese lamellar armor among a crowd of Western plate armor was quite eye-catching.

Shrimp-Meat Boy nodded. "He looks like he's searching for something."

Thops looked worried. "Could he be here to cause trouble for the academy?"

"Probably not." Zhao Si looked back at the castle-like Gothic academy. "You'd have to have a death wish to come looking for trouble here."

Thops discreetly pointed at Zhao Si, his meaning obvious: Zhao Si was the one with a death wish.

Shrimp-Meat Boy understood Thops's gesture and leaned closer, curious. "What did he do wrong?"

Annoyed, Zhao Si grabbed Shrimp-Meat Boy by the back of his collar. "Why is wrongdoing the only thing in your head? What could I possibly have done wrong?"

"Hey, hey!" Shrimp-Meat Boy grabbed Zhao Si's wrist but could not break free. "I was just curious! You don't look like someone who stays out of trouble."

"Do I really look that dangerous?" Zhao Si found it increasingly hard to believe.

Thops and Shrimp-Meat Boy answered in unison, "You look very dangerous!"

Zhao Si rolled his eyes and headed back with the shrimp in his arms. Once he returned to Thops's secret base, he excitedly told Helena what had happened that morning. He had expected her to share his delight, perhaps even celebrate with him. Instead, Helena was worried too. "That sounds dangerous."

"I've heard the word 'dangerous' plenty of times today already." Zhao Si sat down in a chair, feeling discouraged.

"Because you really aren't on equal footing with them." Helena took Zhao Si's hand. "Even the Two Fingers have trouble getting those sorcerers to do their bidding, let alone you."

Cooperation required equal footing. There was no such thing as cooperation built on charity, much less getting something for nothing.

Helena counted off on Zhao Si's fingers. "You're providing neither labor, money, nor materials. You offer a single idea and expect other people to work for you. Where in the world would you find such a good deal?"

"Isn't that exactly what the Fingers do?" Zhao Si pulled his hand away and challenged Helena.

"The Two Fingers hold an exalted position. They can communicate with the Greater Will and summon the Tarnished. Can you? You can't." For the first time, Helena dealt Zhao Si a blow.

Zhao Si felt angry. He had never expected Helena, who always spoke gently and supported him, to tear him down like this.

The pride of believing he had accomplished something great clouded his heart. At the same time, a burning sensation flashed across his eyes. His mind sank into confusion, and he began to lose control of himself.

"Can't you stand seeing me do well?" Zhao Si lost control of his temper and shouted at Helena, "Are you afraid that if I keep getting better and stronger, you and the Fingers won't be able to control me anymore?"

"Why would you think that?" Helena did not understand why Zhao Si had suddenly become angry.

"Because the Fingers sent you to watch me!" Zhao Si said. "Isn't a Witch someone who watches a Tarnished to see whether he follows the path the Fingers laid out for him, or strays and joins another faction?"

Helena froze. She had never imagined Zhao Si would say such things about her.

Her lips trembled. "Watch you? You actually think I'm spying on you?"

"What else? Why do you follow me wherever I go?" Zhao Si's words were beginning to lose all logic.

Beside them, Thops frowned deeply and tried to reason with Zhao Si. "You're going too far. Miss Helena is only worried about you

."

"Worried about me?" Zhao Si scoffed. "She's afraid I'll join forces with the academy, get in touch with Ranni, and betray the Fingers."

He was truly talking nonsense. He had even forgotten the relationship between the academy and the Carian Royal Family.

Thops tugged at Zhao Si. "Don't say things like that! What's gotten into you?"

Zhao Si shook Thops off and kept ranting. "This is the most successful thing I've done in all these years. Well, that's not quite right. The battles I fought before went pretty well too. In any case, this proves that my life is a success. It's fine if you aren't happy for me, but you can't throw cold water on me at a time like this!"

At those words, Helena's face turned white, drained of every trace of color.

"And let me make this clear: I won't be a dog for the Greater Will and the Fingers. You're nothing but a collar..." Before Zhao Si could finish his cruel words, Thops interrupted him.

"You're far too agitated." Thops pulled Zhao Si toward the door. "I think you need to clear your head. Agitation is the worst enemy of learning. You have to guard against both arrogance and impatience."

Thops was surprisingly brave this time. He actually dragged Zhao Si out of the house and led him all the way into the Wetland.

Feeling the damp chill around him, Zhao Si frowned deeply, utterly displeased. "What are you doing?"

"I should be asking you that! Why did you hurt Miss Helena?" Thops was displeased with Zhao Si too. "Everything she said was true. I told you as well that nothing good would come of cooperating with those two masters like this. You just wouldn't believe me. I don't understand where you get your confidence."

"My confidence?" Zhao Si touched the ghostflame mark on his wrist. "Of course I have reason to be confident."

"Even without the White Wolf around, you're still this arrogant."

Suddenly, a man's voice came from a tree. Zhao Si hurriedly looked up and saw a warrior sitting among its branches.

The warrior wore distinctive lamellar armor, and his face was covered by an Old Man Mask carved in the likeness of an elderly man. His voice, however, belonged not to an old man, but to a middle-aged one.