Chapter 89: Iron Dragon (2)
Lucius grew serious.
"I’ve been trying to figure out exactly who the Iron Dragon is for a long time. I admired you greatly back then, so I invented a new form of the Iron Dragon, very similar to the one on display in Gaia."
"Are you from Gaia?"
Lucius ignored his question and continued. "Over time, as I investigated, I discovered that there was a single person whose ranking hadn’t changed in 250 years... Upon further investigation, his origin was unknown. His whereabouts were even more so. Only the Ranking gave me the clue that he were still alive and had remained so for more than 250 years..."
"In the early years, he was a standout ranker. But at some point, he plateaued. He managed to climb a few spots after that, until he couldn’t climb any higher."
The Iron Dragon frowned... that sounded very familiar.
"Toolmaker, First-Tier Ranker of the Water and Thunder type. Zephyr Vaelen, Rank #353," Lucius whispered, looking him straight in the eyes. "It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Iron Dragon Zephyr."
Their gazes burned with strange flashes of lightning between them. The thunder outside continued to roll in; it seemed endless.
The Iron Dragon’s long black-and-silver hair was tossed about by the strong breeze that swept in.
But he couldn’t keep his eyes on a young student; he had to look away.
"I never thought the first person to discover me would be a high school student." He scoffed at himself. "So? What are you going to do with that information? Selling it will make you a lot of money."
"Hey, do I look like I’m about to kill myself?" Lucius joked. "I don’t plan on doing anything. I just want your protection."
"Oh? My protection? That costs way too much."
"I think you can give it for free."
"Tsk, you think too highly of yourself, kid." Zephyr laughed. "Even though you’re a Rising Star, you’re still just a kid. Even with your extraordinary background, you seem to have lost your power. I could kill you with a single blow. Don’t forget that I’m a Top Global."
"I know the Global Top very well, and I know just how close I am to dying right now," Lucius said.
"So?"
"If I haven’t died, it means you have no intention of killing me. The Global Top doesn’t sit around weighing the pros and cons of killing someone—especially someone like you."
"Tsk. You’re good."
Lucius smiled slightly. "Though I am curious. You’re a native of New Creation. Why don’t you reveal your Rank and prove that your cherished Island can also produce Top Globals? That way, you could prevent all the powerful Islands from looking down on it and raise a new, powerful generation."
"Because it’s none of my business," Zephyr replied.
"You were expelled, weren’t you?"
Zephyr turned to look at him. "Vaelen was expelled."
"Your wife?"
Zephyr made a face. "I don’t know if you’re just too smart or if you’re a god. How do you know that’s not my last name?"
Lucius laughed. "I was just guessing. You revealed it to me yourself."
"..."
Faced with his silence, Lucius burst out laughing again.
Zephyr realized he’d fallen into the trap, so he changed the subject.
"In any case, I don’t intend to be the anchor that takes this island to the highest level, because they don’t deserve it. They could have had a Top Global in their ranks, but they chose to make me their enemy. That’s why they’ll never reach the World Top." He replied coldly.
"Despite that, you protect it from certain dangers," Lucius whispered.
"Ugh..." Zephyr sighed. "My son still lives here."
"Oh? Son?"
"He’s not my biological son," he said immediately.
"Adopted?"
"Something like that."
"Who is he?"
"Aren’t you good at guessing? Give it a try."
Lucius grumbled. "I’m not the genie in the lamp. There are over 100 million people here—how the hell do you expect me to guess?"
"Then stop asking silly questions." Zephyr turned around and looked down the hallway. "They’re coming. Let’s go for a little walk."
Suddenly, the entire scene from before vanished as if it had been an illusion. The broken glass, the cracked floor, the lightning, the thunder, and the heavy rain... it was all gone.
Just like that, Lucius and Zephyr disappeared from the hallway.
"An illusionist who uses water and thunder magic... You’re such a complicated guy. No wonder you’re stuck," Lucius said, surprised.
"That’s my ability. What does my ability have to do with me being stuck?"
"You have too many variants all at once. Obviously, it’s related. You can’t make the most of all of them, but you manage to combine them to make them top-tier. That’s your strength, but also your weakness."
Zephyr frowned and looked at him. "Have you been in the Global Top before?" he asked.
Lucius shrugged. "Why don’t you try to guess?"
"I don’t try to guess things!"
"And I don’t try to reveal my secrets."
"You..."
Lucius frowned and looked around. They were surrounded by people, but no one was paying them any attention.
"Scrap Street?" He read the atmosphere and realized it.
"Yeah. It’s a nice street to walk down at this time of day."
"Tsk, the Global Tops are scary." Lucius clicked his tongue.
"Are you scared of yourself?" Zephyr looked at him in surprise.
"Heh, good joke."
Zephyr sighed, realizing he wouldn’t be able to get any information out of him on the subject, so he started walking.
Lucius walked beside him.
"So? Where are you living now?"
"On the ground," Zephyr replied.
"That sounds nice."
"Why?" Zephyr turned to look at him, curious.
"When I go to the Main Academy, I plan to spend a lot of time on the ground. So it would be nice if you could help me out then," Lucius replied.
"I don’t offer protection for free."
"It doesn’t matter. I have a way to pay you."
"I’m not interested in money."
"I’m sure of that. If you were, you wouldn’t be a Top Global."
Zephyr walked over to a store without answering him. He looked at a few things and then paid a high price for them before buying the entire store and taking it with him.
"Are you a junk collector?" Lucius asked.
Zephyr turned to look at him and handed him one of the items he’d bought. "Sometimes there are good things. Haven’t you ever come across anything top-notch among the junk?"
"That’s right. I’m a junk collector myself." Lucius laughed and pulled out something he’d bought earlier.
"Wow, this has potential," Zephyr said with genuine interest.
"I know. There’s an old guy who’s always bringing in junk, and I usually buy it from him. Even though he works for me, he still dares to sell to me."
Zephyr laughed. "That’s how old guys are."
"You’re one, too."
Zephyr shrugged at such an unsubstantiated claim.
"How do you plan to pay me, by the way?" he finally asked, no longer interested in continuing the conversation about junk.
Lucius stopped at a store, took a look, and then kept going. At a street intersection where there were no longer any people, Lucius looked at Zephyr.
"Rank #353. Illusionist, Water, and Thunder. With just two of these traits, you’d already have a hard time adding more than 45 Marks, but since you have three, it’s even harder.
Each Mark will be three times harder for you to obtain and add, especially once you reach 40 Marks. So I’m 90% sure you don’t have your complete set. And that’s why you’ve hit a plateau." He said.
An S-Rank Mage has the ability to add what is called a "Complete Set"... better known as "The 60 Marks of the Mage."
A dream for most. Even among the Global Top players, there aren’t many who possess them.
Zehpyr didn’t respond, and his expression gave nothing away.
"If my assumption is correct, what I can offer you is the ability to break through that plateau. I know where you could obtain Mana Marks suited to you and your three attribute traits."