Chapter 142: No Way
If you truly anger a Grandmaster, they might even sign away their freedom to a top-tier faction—just for the chance to make you regret it for the rest of your life.
Especially now, when this Grandmaster can stand toe-to-toe with Archmages. That alone is enough to kill any such ambitions...
"Alright, I understand..." William Merlin realized, almost with a jolt, that he'd unwittingly made a brilliant move for the Merlin Family.
Originally, he'd only surrendered out of sheer frustration after repeated setbacks—just giving up and bowing his head to his Grandmaster cousin.
But who could've guessed that this act of surrender would actually land the Merlin Family the Nether Iron Ore deal.
Thinking back, if he'd stubbornly refused to yield and instead ran off to Auckland for reinforcements—like Raven Watson—he'd have wasted so much time that the Watson Family could've reached his Grandmaster cousin first.
William Merlin knew well—his Grandmaster cousin had no sense of family loyalty. The only reason the Nether Iron Ore went to the Merlin Family was pure luck: he was first in line.
If it had been the Watson Family ahead in line, with the right attitude and price, William Merlin was sure his Grandmaster cousin would've sold them the Nether Iron Ore without hesitation.
And then, the outcome would have been a world apart...
That realization sent a chill down William Merlin's spine. Thank the gods he'd surrendered so quickly—otherwise, he'd have been the one getting snatched up like a helpless chick...
"So, Cousin William, you'd better focus on training those tier-five mages. By next month at the latest, I'll set up a special training ground for them."
"A special training ground?"
"Yeah, a place crawling with undead." Leon finished, then turned to leave the Gilded Rose, heading for the Alchemist Workshop to check on the progress of the Mining Golems.
This time, Leon had spent over a month in the prince's tomb. The cooldown for the Plane Path had long passed; the only reason he hadn't left yet was because he needed this batch of Mining Golems.
"Wait, cousin..." Just as Leon was about to leave, William Merlin called out to stop him.
"What is it?"
"Here's the thing. On my way over, I ran into a mage named Solon. He said he's Salomon's disciple from Sage's Spire, and that Salomon is urgently looking for you—he wants you to make time to see him."
"Salomon wants to see me?" Leon touched his nose, thinking, 'Speak of the devil.' He'd just been wondering how to use Salomon to connect with Cloudspire Tower and borrow that Essence Relic.
He hadn't expected Salomon to come knocking himself...
"Alright, I'll head over now." Leon nodded, stepping out of the Gilded Rose. Before leaving, he reminded William Merlin, "By the way, Cousin William, if you have time, check with the Alchemist Workshop and see when those Mining Golems will be finished."
"Sure, no problem."
Leon hailed a carriage at the door and soon arrived at Sage's Spire.
"Merlin, you finally made it..." When Leon arrived, Solon had been waiting at the entrance for quite a while, looking visibly anxious.
"What's going on?" Leon was a bit surprised. Solon had always been steady and composed—even when Leon first advanced to Grand Mage, Solon only lost his cool for a moment. But today, he was acting like a nervous rookie...
"Come on, let's talk as we walk. The master has been waiting a long time..."
"Let's go."
The two of them entered Sage's Spire, climbing the winding stairs until they reached Salomon's study.
"Good morning, Merlin." Leon had just stepped into the study when Salomon rose to greet him.
"Haha, morning, Archmage Salomon." After some polite exchanges, Leon sat down with Salomon, though inwardly he couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Leon remembered clearly: back at the Blackhorn Auction, when the two major mage factions were deadlocked, he threw in hundreds of thousands of gold to help Salomon bid for the Oblivion Inferno spell—essentially saving Sage's Spire's reputation. Yet even then, Salomon only greeted him with a smile in the private box, never actually rose to welcome him...
But today, Salomon actually stood up to greet him...
In other words, whatever favor Salomon owed today might be even more important than Sage's Spire's reputation.
Sure enough, once they sat down in the parlor, Salomon skipped the small talk and got straight to the point: "Merlin, I won't hide it from you. I asked Solon to bring you here because I need your help with something..."
"I'm not sure what I could possibly do for Archmage Salomon?" Leon's words sounded respectful, but in truth, he wasn't promising anything.
Salomon chuckled. After standing atop Seaview City for decades, he'd seen all kinds of people. Hearing Leon's reply, he knew he had to get to the point—otherwise, he wouldn't get anything out of this young Grand Mage. "Merlin, do you remember, a few months ago, you were in the Sage's Spire Library reading Vanrison's Formulas?"
"Vanrison's Formulas? Oh, right..." The mention jogged Leon's memory. When he'd first arrived in this era, he spent ages in the Sage's Spire Library, sometimes flipping through random books to pass the time. Vanrison's Formulas was one of them.
"About that, I owe you an apology." With those words, Salomon actually stood up and bowed—leaving Leon and Solon stunned.
"Archmage Salomon, you don't have to do that!" Leon hurried to steady Salomon. This was no joke—Salomon had been the guardian of Seaview City for decades, practically a living legend. For him to bow to Leon could easily anger the masses.
"No, no, Merlin, listen..." Once Leon helped him back to his seat, Salomon was wracked by a fit of coughing. It took a while before he could continue: "Back then, Solon told me a tier-one mage was reading Vanrison's Formulas. I thought it was interesting, so without your permission, I cast a Time Reversal spell."
"Haha, Archmage Salomon, you're too polite." Leon smiled. Back then, he was just a tier-one mage—privacy didn't mean much to a mage of Salomon's stature. If not for his current status, he'd never have heard such an apology.
"At the time, I saw four data points from your lips..."
"So that's what happened..." Leon couldn't help but find it amusing.
No wonder Salomon was so interested in him...
It turned out, while reading Vanrison's Formulas, Leon had casually spoken those four data points aloud. In the future, those numbers would be common knowledge among mages—used in jokes and cold humor only they understood.
Leon practically grew up hearing those jokes. So when he saw Vanrison's Formulas, he blurted out the numbers without thinking.
He hadn't expected Salomon to catch it all.
"Afterward, I wrote to my teacher. He's been studying Vanrison's Formulas for years. Not long after, he replied that there'd been a major breakthrough—thanks to those four data points."
Leon wasn't surprised. The key to Vanrison's Formulas was always those four numbers—once you had them, everything else was just detail.
"By the way, Merlin, I forgot to introduce my teacher—Star Sage Joey of Cloudspire Tower." Salomon must have noticed the young Grand Mage's polite but distracted attitude.
So, after some hesitation, Salomon finally dropped the bombshell: "He recently wrote to me, hoping you could join Cloudspire Tower and help research Vanrison's Formulas."
After saying that, Salomon leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixed on Leon, waiting to see how the young Grand Mage would react.
Would it be stunned disbelief, or wild excitement...
But after a long wait, all Salomon got was Leon's blunt reply.
"No way."
"Huh?" Salomon's face froze, staring blankly at Leon, unable to process it for a long moment...
Not shock, not joy—just a flat-out no!
How could it be a no?
Salomon was completely baffled...
This was Cloudspire Tower! This was Star Sage Joey!
Was Leon so excited he misspoke?
Didn't he know Cloudspire Tower was one of the two great mage powers in the Kingdom of Andalusia? Joining it was a shortcut to magical greatness! Didn't he know Star Sage Joey was Salomon's teacher—a Title Archmage beyond mortal reach?
How could he just say no to all that?
For a moment, Salomon even wanted to reach out and feel Leon's forehead—was the young Grand Mage delirious with joy?
That answer just didn't make any sense!