The one who caught Saul was the steward, Hope.
He helped Saul through the main gate, then glanced up at the sky.
Just now, the mist had surged, but now a small patch of sky above was visible.
In that patch of sky, a colorful butterfly was fluttering in circles.
The moment Saul stepped into the Wizard Tower, he immediately felt the drowsiness lift somewhat.
From a state where he could fall asleep standing up, he transitioned to simply yawning incessantly.
Following the stewardâs gaze, he looked up as well and saw the same butterfly.
Only, behind the butterfly in the sky, a thin veil of cloud had formed a blurry human face.
âA Dreammaker?â Saul murmured.
But even such a soft voice was met with a response.
âYes.â
The voice echoed from inside his brain, making one wonder whether they had already fallen asleep without realizing it.
âI want your Nightmare Butterfly.â
Just as Saul was about to speak, the voice cut him off again.
âDonât lie to me. I saw it.â
The words stuck in Saulâs throat. He pursed his lips, quietly considering his options.
The worst-case scenario had arrived faster than expected.
âSeems I underestimated the power of a Third Rank wizard.â
âHand over the Nightmare Butterfly, and Iâll recognize your claim to Rhine Lake. If you donât, Iâll make you become Rhine Lake.â
The voice carried no strong emotionârather, it sounded drowsy, like the remnants of a yawn.
It didnât feel like a threatâmore like the mutterings of a dreamer.
Saul furrowed his brows.
He could hand over Penny.
After Clark left, he could use the diary to summon the Nightmare Butterfly back.
He only needed to feign ignorance afterward, blaming Pennyâs disappearance on Clarkâs negligence.
But he couldnât be sure Clark wouldnât cast some binding sorcery the moment he got Pennyâor worse, destroy her outright.
The other party wanted Penny likely for some magic, not to keep her as a pet.
âIf the worst comes to worst, I might have to burn a golden page again. But I know almost nothing about Clarkâit could take dozens of deaths just to find a way to survive.â
Just as Saul was weighing which card to play first, the steward Hope beside him suddenly spoke.
âThis is the Glare familyâs Wizard Tower. May I ask the esteemed Dreammaker what business brings you here?â
At the mention of the Glare name, the face in the sky turned its gaze toward the steward.
This time, Saul didnât hear a voice in his mind, but the stewardâs expression changed slightly, as if he had heard something.
After two seconds, he calmly replied, âMy current master indeed isnât of Glare blood. But his mentorâmy former masterâis currently at the Wall of Sighs. Should the Black Tide break out, you may get to meet him and fight alongside him.â
The face in the sky stopped drifting.
A moment later, Saul once again heard a voice in his mind.
âYour master is Gorsa?â
It seemed the other party had deduced Gorsaâs identity from Hopeâs explanation.
Though Saul didnât know how the connection was made, this was no time to keep secrets.
âYes,â Saul answered.
The cloud-formed face slowly blinked.
âTell your mentorânow he owes me.â
The butterfly suddenly fluttered its wings and flew off into the distance. The cloud face dispersed with the breeze.
Gray mist once again enshrouded the island at the lakeâs center.
With the drowsiness gone, Saul stepped outside the Wizard Tower.
âDoes Clark have some grudge with my mentor?â
Behind him, Hope shook his head. âIâm not sure, Master. I simply thought to state our identity first. If the other party insisted on becoming an enemy, then weâd still need you to step in.â
Perhaps Hope was just trying to save Saulâs pride.
But since there were actual benefits gained, Saul didnât care much about appearances.
âDidnât think Master Gorsa actually knew the Dreammaker. He never mentioned it before.â
When Gorsa had suggested Saul enter the Borderland, he hadnât mentioned any contacts. Saul had assumed either his mentor had no connections hereâor that his popularity was just as terrible as it was back in the Western Region.
Whoâd have thought this big name could actually be wielded against a Third Rank wizard?
As for the favor now owed⊠well, the Dreammaker said it was Gorsa who owed it.
Had nothing to do with Saul!
Feeling completely justified, Saul walked over to the prone Old Witch.
âOld Witch, wake up. The enemyâs long gone.â
The Old Witch opened her eyes, clear and alertânot like someone whoâd just woken up.
She sprang up from the ground, glanced at the sky, then at Saul beside herâher expression not very surprised.
âI knew you had to have some backing,â she said proudly, as if
she
had driven Clark off. âBut what exactly did you two say? Who is your master? Whyâd even Clark run off?â
Saul didnât answer her questions. âI donât think Clark was scared off. He probably just weighed the pros and cons and decided it wasnât worth it.â
âLetâs head into the tower. Donât let your guard down. Clark left for now, but he may return. After all, my master isnât actually here.â
Perhaps Clarkâs intrusion into the Purity Wizard Tower had made too much noiseâsoon, the incident spread from a secret among a few people to a new rumor across the Borderland.
Many of Dodge the wizardâs old clients had heard that Rhine Lake now had a new masterâone even recognized by Dreammaker Clark.
After all, the man had lived through Clarkâs visitâthis, to outsiders, was equivalent to being acknowledged.
And Saulâs ability to heal pollution began to spread in limited circles.
Jiajia Gu clearly didnât want to lose such a miraculous healer, so he only shared Saulâs information with those he deemed trustworthy.
In the Borderland, Jiajia Gu was far from the only one threatened by pollution and facing potential death at any moment.
Unless they had no choice, wizards were reluctant to expose their vulnerable bodies and mental realms to others.
Thanks to his masterâs name, Saul won himself another month of peace and quiet to develop and upgrade his Wizard Tower.
Steward Hope added new furnishings to each floor of the tower.
And after experiencing its protection once, Saul finally began to feel a strong connection between himself and the tower.
He took out most of his experimental equipment and potions from his storage and placed them on the third floor of the Purity Wizard Tower.
With a drop of Black Tide and two bottles of pollution sources from the Borderland, Saul resumed his research.
A month laterâ
Agu finally awoke.
The diary flipped open.
Agu: Master.
Saul, tinkering in the basement, stopped what he was doing and turned his attention to the particularly intact black page in the diary.
âAny new feelings?â he asked casually, setting aside the carving knife he had been using for the formation.
Agu: I⊠canât quite say.
âBut why did it take you so long to merge your other two soul fragments?â
Saul picked up a detector from the lowest shelf and began walking around the room.
Agu: I had been separated for too long. During the fusion, it almost felt like those were two different people, so it took a long time to accept their experiences and beliefs.
âBack when An secretly went to absorb a strangerâs soul, it didnât take nearly this long. Did you run into some difficulty?â
An: Wahhh, Master, I was wrong! That wasnât absorption, it was devouring! I only devoured Dumorâs energy and select memoriesâI spat the rest back out!
âOh, is that so.â Saul paused, looking over his other black pagesânone as intact or smooth as Aguâs.
âSo that means even Hermanâs soul, which I extracted directly from his corpse, wasnât that complete⊠Is that because my techniqueâs lacking, or had Hermanâs soul already been harvested by someone else?â
Then again, maybe he accidentally shattered it during that mental realm battle with the wraith Morden.
âWell, whatever the caseâglad youâre awake.â
Saul walked a few more steps, arriving at a corner of the Wizard Towerâs basement.
At that moment, the detector pointed to a number that was highly similar to what he had just calculated.
âThis is the spot.â After a few minor adjustments, Saul locked onto the precise location.
Then he raised his hand to call the steward over.
âYou said the Wizard Tower can be further expandedâwell, I want to dig downward here, create a new chamber at least five meters high.â
Hope smiled respectfully. âYou possess the heart of the Wizard Towerâyou may communicate with it directly.â
Was Hope referring to⊠the black iron coffin?
(End of Chapter)
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