Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

Kevin chatted with him about his experiences at the aristocratic gathering, his eyes never leaving the pot. Everything about tonight—the simple camping picnic, the wonders of magic—was extremely appealing to this adventurous young nobleman.

Lyle brought hay to feed the horses, who had been working hard all day, and also had to soothe them from time to time when they were frightened.

"Lyle, what happened? Why is there such a commotion over there?"

"It's okay, I might have been a little rough and scared them."

Kevin shrugged at William and then covered for Lyle, saying, "He's always been like this. Back when we were in college, Lyle was clumsy in everything except medicine. Sometimes I don't even know which of us is the pampered aristocrat."

Lyle calmed the horse, walked to the side, opened his clothes, and scolded Nia, who was tucked into the lining of her clothes.

"You scared those horses."

In the darkness of the clothes, Nia opened her big eyes, and a small tentacle slid across Lyle's clothes.

"Nia is hungry."

"Hungry? You want some of the horse feed too! Didn't I just give you dessert?"

Nia's tentacles clenched into tiny fists and gently punched Lyle's waist. "No, no, an hour has already passed! It's time for Nia's dessert!"

Lyle took out a small piece of cake and tossed it to Nia, who then contentedly tucked it into her sleeve.

Medusa climbed onto Lyle's neck, her eyes a beautiful dark green in the darkness.

“Lyle, why are you still hiding Nia? Those two boys are already your friends, aren’t they? They’ll find out about Nia sooner or later, and they pose no threat to us.”

"Yeah! Why should I hide? I can't scare those two guys to death anyway."

……

"Lyle, what are you doing here... Holy crap, what is this?!" Kevin scrambled to William's other side, while William, after a moment of surprise, grabbed his wand.

"Lyle?"

The firelight illuminated Lyle's tall, slender figure, revealing the bloated flesh and blood with numerous tentacles crawling behind him.

Lyle raised his hands, signaling them to relax.

“This is Nia, my talent. Don’t worry, she’s my… clone. Although she looks a bit scary, she’s actually a good girl. You’ve met her, William, back in the City of Wanderers, that slime, Shui Shui, is Nia now.”

William simply stretched his wand forward. "Lyle, how can I be sure you're not being manipulated by this monster?"

Nia clearly hated being treated as a monster, and a monster that threatened Lyle.

She spoke in a childlike voice about the secret William wanted to forget.

"When you were being swindled by the succubus Anna to the point of losing your underwear, it was me who used Gooru's gold coins to buy back your clothes!"

William's wand fell to the ground, his face blank with shame, much like the strange expression Kevin was giving him.

The vast forest was pitch black, but William felt as if many eyes were staring at him, and his dark past made him feel utterly ashamed.

He knelt on the ground, head bowed, muttering to himself.

“Lyle, tell me this isn’t true.”

Lyle looked at him with pity, but couldn't help but smile.

"Nia once marked your underwear with indelible yellow paint... the portrait on the Oriu gold coin."

William raised his head, tears of resentment welling in his eyes, and muttered to himself.

"Your Majesty Nero..."

Chapter 158 Lucky Kevin

The number of creatures eating dinner increased from three to four.

"What a wonderful taste," Kevin exclaimed to William, but William only managed a forced smile, seemingly quite taken aback.

Nia not only finished her own food, but also put her tentacles into Lyle's bowl. Fortunately, Lyle wasn't hungry, so she ate her fill.

“William, where is your hometown? This taste is so different from what we Cassandra taste like. You must be from a very far place.”

William scooped up the soup haphazardly, his eyes fixed on the starry sky.

“My hometown is indeed in a very far place. As for its name, there’s no need to mention it, because it has perished. When I was very young, my hometown suffered a devastating disaster. The place where the city once stood was just a huge crater, left behind by a terrible magic. And I am probably the only survivor.”

He pulled a scroll with a red string from his clothes. "I still vaguely remember when I was a child, when I was learning etiquette from my family, I was probably a nobleman. But now, all that's left is this scroll, a family heirloom that records magic."

Kevin's passion had diminished considerably, and Nia's scrambling sounds with food had also quieted down.

My condolences, William.

"I've done many things to survive: fraud, theft, robbery, I've done them all. I've worked in circuses, shops, and farms. The only thing that sustains me is magic and the belief in my heart. I want to become stronger, investigate the disaster that happened in my hometown, find my possible enemies, and make them pay the price."

Lyle sensed the faint magic emanating from William due to his emotional breakdown, which was much stronger than when they last met.

"William, you've been locked up again too?"

"Second Ring? What's that? Is it a unique rank designation for you necromancers? We mages usually call this rank the Second Ring." William Lu rolled up his sleeves, revealing two concentric rings on his wrist. "When we advance, we recall the pattern of the rings in our minds and draw a magical ring to restrain the magic that escapes during the advancement, making it our new ability."

What are your abilities?

"The first ring is the perfect one. The talent for learning all elements will be equal to the magical talent of my strongest element. I was born with a very strong talent for fire magic."

"Second Ring is Elemental Concerto. As you can see, after I use one elemental spell, I will use another elemental spell on top of it. This is because my Second Ring ability allows me to stack the power of spells when I use different elements. Water, fire, wind, earth. So it can reach up to four times the power."

Lyle listened carefully to William's introduction, but a sense of unease gradually settled in his heart. It seemed that all the mystics were incredibly strong-willed.

Most importantly, William, whom he once thought was far superior, now has almost the same magical power as him. You have to understand that the hardships he went through to advance to the second lock are hard to replicate.

"William, what extraordinary encounter did you have? Why is your magic power increasing so quickly?"

"It's probably because of my talent. My talent is inherited bloodline. I study magic much faster than the average person. I didn't have any extraordinary encounters. In fact, I just did some magical research and then I advanced."

Is this what they mean by "comparing yourself to others will only make you miserable"?

The skills I painstakingly developed were barely enough to match the results of someone else staying at home.

Kevin, listening from his two mysterious friends, was completely bewildered.

"Lyle, what is talent?"

“A talent that people are born with, but most people don’t awaken to it. It’s a very strange trait, like William’s inhuman magical learning ability, or like me. My talent is Nia.” Lyle reached out and touched Nia’s big eyes with the back of his hand. Her tentacles swayed comfortably like sea anemones, and she made comfortable humming sounds.

William was also amazed by Lyle's talent. He joked, "Lyle, necromancy, unorthodox creatures, medical research. You've done almost everything the Church forbids. You're already a qualified heretic."

"Of course, he would be tied to a cross and burned by the church more than three times."

Lyle smiled and said, "You probably don't know my identity as a Purifier. I get along very well with the Holy Light."

Kevin pinched his chin, his face completely buried in his blond hair. Then, he peeked out, his expression very serious, and spoke with a firm tone.

“Lyle, I might also have the talent you’re talking about.”

Lyle looked at Kevin, who was sitting very straight, then glanced at William, and then picked at his ear.

"Kevin, your talent is very rare among ordinary people."

“No, Lyle, I’m sure I have the talent.”

Lyle showed enough patience with his friends.

"Kevin, talent isn't just a matter of confidence; it's something tangible that affects us. If you have talent, can you explain it in detail?"

“Of course,” Kevin puffed out his chest and said confidently, “My talent is luck!”

"Huh?" Lyle slapped away the tentacles that Nia was playing with in his hair. "Kevin, why do you think you have a lucky talent?"

Kevin smiled and spread his hands. "Am I not lucky enough?"

Mr. Kevin, the eldest son of Baron Cassandra Boleyn, was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Handsome and always indulging in pleasure, he was indeed a lucky man in life.

"Moreover, I've become friends with you and William. I have a magician and a necromancer friend. Isn't that lucky enough?"

"Thank you for the compliment, Kevin, but I'm afraid it's just your imagination."

Kevin decided to bring in some crucial evidence.

"Okay, actually I can make life go the way I want it to. Probability events always seem to work in my favor."

“Want to give it a try?” William took out an exquisite gold coin, a special one. “It’s an heirloom from my ancestors. I call it the Dorgit’s Lucky Coin. It always brings me good luck. Let’s have Kevin try guessing heads or tails. We have nothing else to do anyway.”

"Ok."

William displayed the gold coin; one side depicted the head of a man wearing a long, narrow felt hat with feathers, while the other side showed a scroll and a quill pen. "The head is front, the other side is back. Start guessing, Kevin."

"Front." Kevin chose front without hesitation.

William tossed the coin and caught it in his hand.

front.

"You guessed right on the first try, Kevin. You have a real talent for games. Keep going."

"front."

William tossed the coin again, this time with a different technique. The coin landed in his hand, and William quickly slapped it onto the back of his other hand, flipping it over one last time.

front.

“Quite lucky, Kevin. Let’s start round three.”

"Still positive."

This time, William wasn't going to leave everything to fate. He used some old cheating tricks. A subtle technique controlled the coin's rotation; yes, it would spin seventeen times in the air before landing in his hand, and it would definitely land tails.

The spinning coin landed in William's hand. As expected, as long as he opened his palm, Kevin would lose.

William couldn't help but look at his face, only to find that Kevin's eyes were fixed on his palm, his face as calm and composed as ever.

William lingered on Kevin's face for so long that he didn't even notice his hand was reaching too far, almost touching the burning pyre.

"Ah!" The burning pain in his fingers startled William, and he couldn't help but loosen his grip.

The coin spun in the air before falling to the ground.

On the coin, the man's smile remains as gentle as ever.

Face up.