Mystery: A Spark

"..."

"Ahem, so what are your plans for the future?" The voice abruptly changed the subject.

Upon hearing this question, the puppy's expression turned serious.

"I plan to advance to the level of a magic master, and then work hard to continue advancing. I don't want to be able to just stand by and watch helplessly when something like this happens again."

“My master is right. It’s better to rely on yourself than on heaven or earth.”

"Oh? Has your apprentice finished digesting the potion?" the voice asked with some surprise.

"It's already digested." Arthas wagged his little tail smugly.

Just as the puppy was whispering to itself, Arthur finished his bath and came out.

After coming out, he went into the kitchen and started cooking the ingredients.

Seeing this, Arthas used a spirit portal to arrive in the kitchen.

"Arthur, I have good news for you." Arthas perched on Arthur's shoulder, licked his face, and said.

"What good news?" Arthur asked while preparing the ingredients.

"Hehe, the good news is that I can become a Master of Tricks!" Arthas whispered in Arthur's ear.

"You've advanced to Master of Tricks? Have you finished digesting your potion?" Arthur asked, somewhat surprised.

"of course."

"Well, I have a question..."

Arthur washed his hands and dried them.

Then he lifted the puppy from his shoulder to his face and asked:

"When did you secretly start acting, you little rascal?"

"Oh dear, how can acting be considered secret? Someone as gifted as me can easily digest the potion with just a little effort." Arthas said with an air of confidence.

"Really? So you're this talented, Xiaobai?" Arthur said in amazement.

"Hmph, of course!"

"So, talented little novice, how long did it take you to play the apprentice?" Arthur asked with a curious look on his face.

"Uh... well, it'll only take two or three days."

"Two or three days..."

Arthur nodded, as if he believed him.

However, just as Arthas breathed a sigh of relief, Arthur raised his hand and flicked it on the ear.

He said unhappily:

"You little brat, do you think I'm easy to fool? Two or three days? You're kidding me."

"Ugh... Stinky Arthur, don't flick my ear." Arthas scratched his ear with his furry little paws and muttered.

"Fine, you don't have to play it, but then you'd better tell me honestly, were you just putting on an act the whole time?" Arthur shook the puppy in his hand and asked angrily.

He had thought the kid was genuinely lazy, and had previously racked his brains trying to get him to study harder.

But now it turns out that this little brat has been acting against him all along, how can Arthur not be angry?

It's not uncommon for people to digest potions in two or three days, but that always requires meeting many conditions.

For example, one might be naturally compatible with a certain sequence of potions, or, like Arthur did before, one might aim to become a high-sequence extraordinary being.

Although, according to Bishop Raman, Alsace possesses a vigorous vitality and extraordinary spirituality, which makes its ascension much easier.

However, to say that it can digest the apprentice's potion in two or three days is still a ridiculous thing.

So there's only one truth: this little brat's laziness is probably just a facade; it's definitely putting on an act behind the scenes.

As for why it had kept it from him before, but now confessed, Arthur had his answer.

However, Arthur did not intend to say it aloud, because some things are better left unsaid; it would be too boring to say them out loud.

"Oh dear, I'm not acting at all! Look at my sincere expression, do you think I'm the kind of dog who would lie?" Arthas tried to get away with it by being cute.

"Heh, I think you shouldn't be a dog, but a fox. Forget it, I'm too lazy to argue with you anymore."

Arthur didn't want to argue with the little brat any further, so he let it go.

"However, although you have finished digesting the potion, you have not yet collected all the ingredients for the magic master's potion. You are still missing one main ingredient."

"But it won't be long, it should be in the next few days."

In the last Tarot session, he, Derrick the Sun, and Alger the Hanged Man made a three-way deal.

Judging by the timeline, Little Sun should have already obtained the extraordinary weapon that Alger promised to provide him and is on his way to hunt down the Soul Eaters.

So in a few days, Arthur will probably be able to get two hot Soul Eater stomachs.

"Oh, oh." Arthas nodded his little head, without asking where his potion ingredients came from.

After dinner, Arthur carried the chubby puppy to the study.

He placed the puppy on the table, then took out a blank diary, filled his pen with ink, and began to write.

"Hmm? Are you writing in your diary, Arthur?" Arthas looked at him with some confusion and asked.

"I'd say it's a diary," Arthur replied as he wrote.

"Hey~ Didn't you say that people who write diaries aren't decent people?"

Arthas's little face immediately showed a look of disgust.

“This isn’t a diary I wrote for myself,” Arthur said calmly.

"Huh? Isn't a diary something you write for yourself?" Arthas was a little confused.

Arthur tapped the puppy's head lightly with his pen and explained:

"Besides writing a diary for yourself, you can also write it for others to read."

After a pause, he continued:

"Not only that, you can also write in someone else's voice and then show it to another person. That's the beauty of a diary."

“Oh… I think I understand why you said that decent people don’t keep diaries anymore,” Arthas said with a sudden realization.

It glanced at Arthur, who was writing, wagged its tail, and seemed a little guilty.

It was actually secretly writing a diary, mainly recording Arthur's embarrassing moments.

But then Arthas comforted himself, thinking that since he was a dog and not a human, it didn't matter whether he was serious or not.

"So who are you writing this for?" Arthas asked, twitching his ears with curiosity.

Upon hearing this question, Arthur's lips curled into a smile, and he said:

“Our dear poet classmate is leaving in a few days, and I am preparing a farewell gift for him.”

A gift he will never forget.

"Hmm?" Arthas was somewhat confused.

The little guy's curiosity was piqued by this sentence, and it moved closer to Arthur, wanting to see what he was writing.

After watching for a while, Arthas's expression gradually became somewhat strange.

It glanced at Arthur, then at what he had written on the table, hesitant to speak, yet still wanting to.

Finally, Arthas couldn't help but say:

"Arthur, there's something I'm not sure if I should say."

"Then don't talk about it."

"No! My conscience won't allow me to remain silent about this," the puppy said righteously.

"Oh? If that's the case, then go ahead and tell me." Arthur put down his pen and looked at the little guy in front of him with amusement.

Arthas took a few steps back to the edge of the desk and said with a grin:

“Arthur, I think I’m just a fake dog, while you are the real dog.”

After saying that, the puppy nimbly twisted its body to avoid Arthur's outstretched hand, and then disappeared into the spirit world.

It traveled through the spirit world to the windowsill, but before it could say anything, it found Arthur already standing in front of it, grabbing it in one go.

"Hehe, come on, what else do you want to say? Keep talking." Arthur grabbed the puppy and looked at it with a half-smile.

After practicing using ghost vision for a long time, he can now control this ability with ease.

If Arthas uses long-distance spirit travel, then Arthur really has no way to catch up, since he can't catch up.

However, Arthur could vaguely see some traces of these short journeys.

With the added ability of the Flash Ring to teleport, he could easily catch this brat who was now getting a little carried away with his antics.

However, despite being captured, Arthas showed no fear whatsoever.

It spoke with an air of righteous indignation:

Even if you capture me and coerce me with force, I will still speak the truth with an indomitable voice.

“I think you’re much better than me when it comes to dogs.”

"Heh, an indomitable voice, is that it?" Arthur sneered.

“That’s right, I love my master, but I love the truth even more. You can’t kill all the people who speak the truth. Even if I die, there will be others who will follow!” Arthas said with his head held high, looking very serious.

"Okay, sure!"

Arthur held the puppy in one hand, and a ball of fire rose in the other.

He looked at Arthas, who was beginning to panic, and said:

"Since you want to uphold the truth, then I'll show you what power really is."

"How about letting you experience the agony of being burned at the stake, just like those predecessors who upheld the truth?"

"Wait, don't be impulsive, move the fire further away." The puppy flapped its short legs, trying to break free.

"If you're willing to take it a little further away, then are you still going to uphold the truth?"