Chapter 301 — A Servant

Gao Yang did not let the old mage go on imagining things alone. Though it did seem rather entertaining, he had not logged on simply to play. After confirming that this Typhon man named Daniel was quite capable of facing reality, he waved a hand: "All right, relax a little. We can sit down and talk this over at our leisure."

A small round table and two chairs appeared out of thin air upon the water's surface, smooth as a mirror. Gao Yang sat down first, and after a brief hesitation Daniel carefully took the other seat—yet he did not dare relax for an instant, keeping his eyes fixed on Gao Yang's every move.

"How long have you been an Eternal?"

Daniel froze, not having expected this inhuman being to actually strike up a conversation with him. Still, he answered quickly enough: "It was over ten years ago... that I came into contact with them."

"Because you ran into problems in your magical research in the real world?" Gao Yang looked at the old mage with a faint, ambiguous smile. "Losing yourself in dreams is no way to solve problems."

"...Mortals are creatures limited by their natural gifts," the old mage said, shaking his head bitterly. "My gifts brought me to the end of the road early in my pursuit of truth."

"Are the Eternals a kind of salvation to you, then?"

"...You might put it that way."

"Interesting," Gao Yun said, tapping lightly on the table. "Then I'd very much like to know—if some greater salvation were placed before you, would you betray the Eternals?"

Daniel stared blankly at Gao Yang, looking rather at a loss.

"I need a servant," Gao Yi said with a smile, deliberately making himself seem unfathomable. Since those Eternals with their rich inner theater had woven him such a compelling persona, he hardly minded making use of it. "I am not omniscient or omnipotent. There are many things I cannot conveniently do myself—so I have chosen you."

In truth, he had picked him at random.

"Chosen... me?" the old mage said hesitantly. "What is it you wish me to do?"

"To be my eyes and ears—my eyes and ears within Typhon, my eyes and ears among the Eternals," Gao Cen said, his gaze fixed intently on the old mage's eyes. "Of course, you will receive equal compensation in the process. I am a great believer in equivalent exchange."

Though Daniel did not dare hope for any benefit from this encounter beyond mere "survival," he still asked instinctively: "You mean... compensation?"

"To you, it may well be that greater salvation," Gao Rong said with a smile. "It is knowledge—knowledge that will let you continue forward on the road to truth."

Daniel's breath caught in his throat.

...

Mary watched her mentor's every move with taut nerves; she had held this posture for a very long time now.

After that eerie utterance, the mentor had gone rigid as though turned to stone, frozen there with a look of terror still stamped on his face, not stirring in the slightest. She wanted to step forward and give him a push, or call out to him, but in the end she restrained the impulse—the mentor had most likely fallen victim to a magical backlash, and to touch him rashly at such a moment would not be a good idea.

Yet no matter how carefully she examined the blood-red runic arrays surrounding them, she could find no trace of any spell running out of control.

Should she call the other apprentices in? Should she summon the old steward? Or rather... should she seize this chance to unlock the shackles around her own neck?

Countless thoughts clashed violently in the low-ranked sorceress's heart, tense and terrifying, and she felt her hands and feet begin to tremble; an urge to risk everything on a single desperate gambit was gradually gaining the upper hand. But just before she could make the worst decision of all, she saw her mentor's eyes suddenly blink.

It nearly made her cry out in alarm.

At last the old mage in the black robe awoke. His rigid muscles slowly loosened, and his clouded eyes cleared once more. He saw the female student standing before him, and she wore a look of utter tension and fear.

The old mage did not know how long he had been unconscious, but clearly this student had not fled.

Mary spoke, her voice trembling: "Mentor... are... are you all right?"

"I struck a bargain with a dreadful being," the old mage said in a hoarse voice.