Chapter 14: Precious Gifts
Claire definitely wasn’t a kind hearted person. That old man Cliff currently wanted Claire so much that his eyes turned red. It was a pity that he didn’t discover this point. Jean slowed down, waited until the two were in front, and then followed behind.
“Why would I want to become your disciple?” Claire frowned in a reluctant manner.
“If you become my disciple, you could walk sideways1.” Cliff stuck out his chest ostentatiously, looking like an upstart. Well, of course this was true! Not only was Cliff perverted, but he was also very protective. Even if his disciples were in the wrong first, he would still side with them and protect them like a mother hen would to her chicks from the eagle2 whenever they needed it! Of course, becoming his disciple wasn’t easy, it was actually very hard. So far, he had only two disciples. Claire was going to be his third.
“What’s so good about this?” Claire looked disdainful, “I don’t see anything good. Get something more realistic.”
Cliff opened and closed his mouth and rolled his eyes, but he was actually very happy. The little beauty saying those words meant there was a chance!
“Here you go, little beauty. Once you crush this, you can summon the spirit of a two-winged angel to protect you.” Out of nowhere, a necklace appeared in Cliff’s hand. The pendant was translucent, shaped like a teardrop, glittering in the sun. He had gotten this when he won a bet with that disgraceful, despicable, vulgar geezer. He had won so much in that bet that it made up for the fact that none of his disciples were as good as the geezer’s disciples.
Claire grabbed it with one hand without the slightest trace of modesty. Looking at Cliff who didn’t look pained at all, Claire knew this valuable item was probably nothing to him.
“Now can you call me master?” Cliff asked, with a little heehee.
But Claire swung the necklace about and said, “You can only use this once, and it disappears after you crush it, right? What happens if the other person is very strong and instakills the thing that I summon? Then wouldn’t I be dead anyways? Your disciple, the princ.i.p.al of the Sunrise Inst.i.tute, gave his disciple the Breeze Bracelet.” Claire swung the necklace around in the air disdainfully. But to herself she thought, this guy is a Wizard Sage, so he should have a lot more good stuff. And he wants to fool me with this?
Cliff blinked his eyes, not looking guilty at all, and suddenly started laughing craftily. “What’s good about that! Here, I’ll give you this and this.” With a wave of his hand, more items appeared out of thin air. Claire knew that Cliff must have the legendary s.p.a.ce Storage to pull things out of nowhere. But whether it was a s.p.a.ce Ring or a s.p.a.ce Bag she couldn’t know for sure.
“What are those?” Claire asked, staring, baffled at the inconspicuous items in Cliff’s hands.
“This is an Invisibility Cape. It can make you invisible, but only for ten minutes. This is a Transportation Bracelet, but because it is such an advanced spell, it is impossible to carve the complete magic loop into the bracelet, so it can only let you transport backwards fifteen meters. But, it’s already enough to escape in times of danger. And, this little bow is a magical weapon. All you need to do is to infuse it with magic and a magic arrow will appear, and according to the nature of the user the bow will shoot a magic arrow. You’re of the Fire element, so when the arrow hits there will also be a flame explosion.” Cliff started to laugh craftily, knowing that these devices were very valuable, much more precious than Lashia’s Breeze Bracelet. The first item was very very very valuable! If a treasure like this fell into the hands of an a.s.sa.s.sin, even for ten minutes, it could be deadly. As for the second item, what does transporting backwards fifteen meters in a second mean? All magicians try to avoid physical combat, because to them, the further away from the opponent the better. The last item, the little bow, was very beautiful, with engraved golden flowers that released a faint magical aura. Carving the magic loop into the engravings was very elegant and thoughtful of the builder.
“Yes, thank you.” Although Claire accepted all gifts like she was ent.i.tled to them. She felt very satisfied with the perverted old man’s generosity.
“Hehe, little beauty, now can you call me master?” Cliff said, grinning from ear to ear with his eyebrows raised.
“Yes~ Well~” Claire’s face suddenly became serious. “I’ve told you that I already have a teacher. He is my first teacher, and if you want to become my master, then you have to be my second master, ranked behind him. This is my only condition.”
Cliff’s bubbly expression finally changed. Second master? He had never heard of this kind of t.i.tle. He, a Wizard Sage, was ranked behind someone else? Was this a joke?
“Is that person also a Wizard Sage?” Cliff asked sulkily.
“No.” Claire shook her head, her face unusually serious. “This is my only condition, that I’m not willing to compromise.”
“Okay.” Surprisingly, Cliff straightforwardly replied because he already had planned to. Then, Cliff looked at Claire cheerily, “Now can you let me hear you call me Master?”
“Master.” Claire called out straightforwardly.
“Haha, hahahaha… Good! Good! Good!!!” Cliff laughed heartily to the skies, laughed so hard that he almost fell off his horse. Finally, this time he could hold his head up in front of that foolish geezer!!
Jean, still trailing a long way behind, saw Cliff laughing so hard he was convulsing and almost fell off the horse. Jean understood what happened immediately. Cliff took Claire as his disciple? Heavens! Such an unimaginable thing really happened?! Just what was so extraordinary about Claire that he himself didn’t discover? Why would a legendary figure like Cliff be so fond of Claire? Jean was totally baffled. But, he must report this news to the Duke immediately. Also, to that person…
“My darling disciple, why are you going to Gale Gorge?” Cliff blinked and looked at Claire’s bosom pervertedly.
“To dig up medicinal herbs and earn money. Also, killing some low level magic beasts to gain experience,” Claire said casually. Claire didn’t want too many people to know anything about the spiritual arcanum, moreover, this was her first master Emery’s treasured a.s.set. Also, Claire saw the drastic change on Cliff’s face when she told him he was the second master, so it would be wise not to mention the first master before the second.
“Oh. Well, that knight is pretty strong, probably already a Grand Swordsman. With him as company you won’t be in any danger. I still have other business to settle, and need to go visit some people. After you complete your mission come see me at the Magician Council. I will try my hardest to teach you everything I know.” Cliff said all these in a relaxed manner. Now that he had successfully taken Claire as his disciple, he really needed to hurry back and settle that business.
Claire was very surprised. First because of what Cliff said about Jean, and second, something that could make Cliff so worried was definitely not anything small. Wasn’t Jean just a Grand Warrior? Why would Cliff say that he’s a Grand Swordsman? Jumping up two levels at once? So Jean has been hiding his strength all along? And it was obvious to Claire how important she was to Cliff. But, as her master, Cliff didn’t follow along and give her instructions, and instead hurried back to the city. It must be something of really big importance.