By the ti Lynn returned ho, the sky was already completely dark.
He went straight to the study and began examining the design diagram of the Dulan Defensive Ring he had just acquired.
After stumbling his way through it, he finally finished reading. Joy filled his heart, though he couldn’t help letting out a quiet sigh.
He was thrilled because the Dulan Defensive Ring was an impressively powerful magical tool. Yet he sighed because he still couldn’t make one, at least not for now.
If he could reliably craft this device, then aside from the profits from the White Shadow Mushroom trade, he would gain an entirely new source of inco.
The thought also reminded him that once he saved up more funds, perhaps he should consider buying so magical tools himself.
Beyond one’s abilities, magical tools were also an important part of a wizard’s combat strength.
However, whether spell or tool, both consud ntal energy when activated. That ant there was an optimal number that could carry more tools, but it didn’t necessarily an more power.
What’s more, in Eraldwood City, tools were relatively expensive due to the lack of wizards skilled in magical arrays and the city’s remote location.
For Lynn to buy himself a proper set of tools, he would likely have to save magic stones for quite so ti.
By the ti I’ve saved enough, I’ll probably already be able to craft the Dulan Ring myself, he mused, carefully putting away the knowledge he had gained.
...
The next day.
As usual, Lynn arrived at the underground array hub of the Green Vine Restaurant.
But there, he saw soone he hadn’t expected.
Faruga stood with his back to him, silently by the array core. When he heard Lynn’s footsteps, he spoke in a low voice without turning around:
“You finally ca, Lynn.”
Lynn frowned and had no intention of talking.
He turned to leave.
He didn’t consider himself a man of many virtues, but perhaps his one strength was that he knew exactly what he should and should not do.
Unless he abandoned magical array studies, quit the Golden Shadow Society, or Faruga willingly sacrificed his interests, the conflict between them could never be resolved.
Therefore, now that he had already acquired the first part of the array knowledge, any pretense of civility with Faruga was nothing but a waste of ti.
Faruga hadn’t expected Lynn to leave so decisively. His prepared words stuck in his throat, and he turned back in irritation:
“If you walk away now, that maid Adeline will be in serious trouble.”
Lynn halted mid-step. His expression instantly grew cold.
Seeing him stop, Faruga sneered inwardly.
“Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been using Adeline’s authority to study the restaurant’s arrays all this ti. According to the rules, that’s enough to have her stripped of her position as a server… or even executed!”
“And what evidence does Lord Faruga have for such a claim?” Lynn’s eyes were icy as he stared down at him.
Because he was standing on the staircase above, his gaze carried a natural dominance.
The mory of that night flashed in Faruga’s mind, stirring humiliation and fury.
But before he could retort, Lynn went on:
“Compared to your baseless accusation that I’ve been using Adeline’s access, the real fact is this: you have never given the permissions I was due under Society rules, nor fulfilled your duty to guide .”
There were no surveillance chanisms at the hub, and after studying arrays for so ti, Lynn understood the truth: at best, Faruga could check the usage records.
Most likely, he had rely inferred Adeline’s involvent from those records, with no solid proof.
And even if he did have proof, it wouldn’t matter.
Lynn wasn’t an outsider; he was an array maintenance worker, entitled to that authority.
Strictly speaking, Faruga’s withholding of permissions and failure to fulfill his duties was the far greater offense.
Of course, Faruga had his backers, and he only sneered:
“Feel free to report it to the Society. Let’s see who gets reassigned, you or ?”
Lynn said nothing because he knew Faruga was right.
Array knowledge was notoriously difficult. Most wizards only began to study it after becoming full-fledged wizards.
Thus, there weren’t many apprentices capable of handling arrays.
As long as the Society needed people like Faruga, and as long as he didn’t cross a clear line, he would never be easily replaced.
To truly get rid of Faruga, Lynn had only two options: kill him outright or master arrays well enough to take his place.
If Lynn reached that point, others would deal with Faruga without him needing to lift a finger.
Faruga opened his mouth to speak again, but stopped as Lynn slowly descended the stairs and ca to stand before him.
He thought Lynn was finally bowing his head.
Then he heard the faint swish of air.
The next mont
Brown strands of hair drifted down in front of his eyes.
Only then did he realize sothing was wrong. In panic, he hastily cast a defensive spell and touched his forehead.
The hair above his brow had been neatly sliced away.
Faruga’s face turned ashen, his expression twisting with shock and rage.
But Lynn no longer looked at him. He turned toward the stairs again, quietly marveling at how Faruga had been so absorbed in arrays that he had neglected his strength, unable even to react to such an attack.
As he climbed, his calm voice drifted back:
“Lord Faruga, if I hear Adeline’s na from your mouth again, next ti it won’t just be hair that’s cut.”
Faruga’s lips trembled. He could only watch Lynn leave, unable to utter a word.
He didn’t believe Lynn would kill him for the sake of a re maid.
But he didn’t dare to believe.
In this world, strength was everything.
Another day passed.
Lynn once again arrived at the underground array of the Green Vine Restaurant. This ti, Faruga was nowhere to be seen.
When Adeline ca and loaded the permissions for him once more, Lynn quickly noticed sothing different.
Using Adeline’s access, he could no longer view the detailed structure of the array.
It was obvious Faruga had tampered with it.
“What’s wrong, Lord Lynn?” Adeline asked softly.
“Nothing,” Lynn shook his head lightly and continued his careful inspection.
Thanks to his recent studies, it didn’t take him long to spot Faruga’s handiwork.
A small restriction had been added. It looked rather crude overall, but it was still quite effective.
Lynn frowned at it for a while, then suddenly froze. A mont later, a smile crept across his face.
Compared to the original Green Vine Array, he found Faruga’s added restriction easier to understand!
If studying the Green Vine Array had been like an apprentice chanic trying to understand a car, then this restriction was like studying a bicycle.
Watching a car was certainly helpful, but for a beginner, a bicycle was far easier to comprehend and far more suitable as a starting point.
From Faruga’s perspective, if Lynn wanted to remain, the only path forward was to take shortcuts, learning the simplest form of array maintenance first.
Those routine maintenance procedures weren’t hard to grasp.
The other three array maintenance mbers of the Golden Shadow Society had already mastered them.
If Lynn yielded, Faruga would have taught him the sa.
For ordinary upkeep, that knowledge was already more than enough.
So, to keep Lynn from cutting corners, Faruga had set up this restriction blocking him from probing deeper into the Green Vine Array.
But he never imagined that Lynn had already chosen a different path, studying the very fundantals of arrays themselves.
In the end, Faruga’s move only backfired!
From then on, Lynn used Faruga’s restriction as a point of reference, continuing to study the fundantals of arraycraft.
He gradually realized that many of the structures within Faruga’s added limitation had direct counterparts in the basic knowledge he was learning.
And because of this, his progress advanced by leaps and bounds.
A week later, even without using Insight, Lynn successfully unraveled Faruga’s restriction.
At the sa ti, a new entry appeared on the light screen’s skill list
[Magical Arrays · Fundantals (Initiate)]
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/AetherTL
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