Chapter 35: Sever Cause and Effect
Ian turned his head with interest toward the small package in front of him. "Small," only in comparison to his hand—he could grasp it easily in his palm. The contents inside had cost him every bit of the contribution points that he earned.
"If Captain Barseagle saw this, he would probably be envious. As for Kate..." Ian couldn't help but feel sorry for his old team. He had already arranged things that he could do with his current power to help them.
With his current status as an Honorary Elder, it was easy for him to arrange enough resources for them. But he didn't have the mindset of spoon-feeding them. He wasn't a babysitter. He just made sure that they had utilities that would make their adventures a lot easier. For instance, had their healing potion, blood potion, insect-repellant potion, endurance potion, etc... covered. As for weapons? He even arranged for them to receive higher grades.
Now, it could be considered a parting gift to them. After all, with his ambitions and rocket-speed growth, it was inevitable that they would be unable to keep up. They'll just become his burden in the future for his enemies to exploit. Unless they had a fortuitous encounter that could raise their upper limit beyond that of a Grand Elder.
Ian had the confidence to surpass the level of Grand Elder with his Body Customization System. Why not? His level of existence was still that of a Lesser Vampire, yet he had already possessed the capabilities to battle Elders who had lived for a thousand years. How about him? He wasn't even a hundred years old yet...
As early as he could, he decided to sever the cause and effect with his old team. The bond he had with them. It wasn't as if he felt no reluctance. Without them, he wouldn't have managed to gain a foothold in this world and adapt faster.
'There's no point thinking about this... If they're in danger, it's not as if I could remain unmoved.'
A sigh escaped Ian's mouth. He's not like those old monsters, yet with a heart as cold as ice or as solid as rock. It wasn't reasonable for him to suddenly become a ruthless man in such a short time. After all, he's not in a novel to have such unreasonable character development all of a sudden. He understood that a gradual process, as years pass and the more he experienced the darkness of this world, he would gradually develop a stronger mindset.
For now? In terms of psychological quality or ruthlessness, he was no match for the old monsters of various dark races.