Chapter 64: Coveting
Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Coveting
’It seems the families behind those four are still after the Divine Blood in me.’
Andre was starting to understand. He finally realized why Selena had suddenly come looking for him, and why she had always been showing up around him before.
Their one and only goal was the Divine Blood he carried.
As for why they had locked onto him?
The reason was simple. After Selena and the other three had returned to their respective families, they must have undergone some tests.
The results, of course, would have shown no trace of Divine Blood in any of them.
Meanwhile, Quint had been chased and attacked by Magical Beasts in the Secret Realm.
Others might think he’d been cursed, causing his luck to turn sour. But how could the families behind these people not know the real truth?
Quint’s aura had caused the Secret Realm to reject him, which was why the Magical Beasts within it were so hostile toward him.
Under these circumstances, it was basically impossible for Quint to have obtained the Divine Blood. That left only him.
But because of his teacher’s status, they couldn’t move against him openly. They could only probe him indirectly.
And among the four of them, Selena, who had prior contact with him, was the perfect candidate.
Because Selena was a descendant of Vice-Dean Krell’s family, and he himself was the vice-dean’s personal disciple.
With such a close relationship, Selena had a natural advantage over the other three. It was only logical that the families behind them would push her forward to test whether he had obtained the Divine Blood.
However, because he spent all his time at the academy, he rarely had a chance to get injured. Therefore, they couldn’t possibly obtain a sample of his blood from within the academy.
In that case, the best and least suspicious method was to get him to re-enter the Secret Realm.
And once he was back inside the Secret Realm, the Four Great Clans would be in control of the situation.
Outside, with his teacher’s protection, they wouldn’t dare do anything to him.
But inside the Secret Realm, the Wizards who were already there would find a way to extract his blood to test whether he possessed the Divine Blood.
The method for obtaining his blood would even be incredibly simple. They could just have a few Magical Beasts attack him. In a state of panic, it would be very easy for him to get injured.
Once he was injured, they could quietly and naturally obtain a sample of his blood to take back for testing.
In a situation like this, the methods used by the Four Great Clans would be completely undetectable, unless a great Truth Great Wizard of the Path of Time named Stone, or a Great Wizard of the Fate Prophecy Element, helped him turn back time.
Even if others could guess what had happened, they wouldn’t be able to prove it without direct evidence.
After deducing Selena and her group’s next move, Andre mentally laid out the chain of events and how they would unfold.
Soon, he had also devised a countermeasure.
The Secret Realm... he wasn’t about to walk into it just like that. He had more important things to do right now.
’It seems the rarity of this Divine Blood is even greater than I imagined.’
’Fortunately, I can now choose whether or not to reveal the Divine Blood within me.’
’Even if I get injured, the blood I shed can’t be detected by any instruments.’
He had tested this with a Potion back in the Black and White Forest.
He’d done it out of concern that there might be other methods in the Wizard World capable of bypassing the System’s restrictions and detecting the Bloodline in his body.
"So, you plan to re-enter the Secret Realm to help Quint heal his injuries?"
Andre’s brow relaxed slightly as he asked tentatively.
Selena nodded, then extended an invitation to Andre.
"Will you come?"
Faced with this invitation, Andre felt an overwhelming wave of malice wash over him.
"I’m not going. I have my own things to do."
Andre shook his head, pointing at the materials on the table.
"Making Potions... surely that’s not so urgent!"
Selena turned her head to look at the various raw materials Andre had laid out on the table and asked in surprise.
Andre shook his head at Selena’s confusion.
"I was talking about those books!"
Andre’s hand, which had been pointing at the materials, slowly rose and landed on the books behind the test tubes.
"Books!" Selena’s eyes widened. She never would have thought Andre’s reason for not going to the Secret Realm was because of books.
"You need to read?" There was a hint of doubt in Selena’s voice. The excuse was too flimsy.
"No, no, no. I’m reading to solve the problems I’ll face when constructing my Ladder of Truth."
"Besides, I discovered a King of the Stone People while I was on a mission. My teacher helped me capture it and said it would be my gift for when I become an Official Wizard. I’m still looking forward to that, you know."
Andre spread his hands and shrugged, putting on an act. He made it seem like his reason for not going to the Secret Realm was his desire to break through as quickly as possible, become an Official Wizard, and claim the King of the Stone People from Radak.
"Just for that!" Selena’s face was filled with utter disbelief.
"Is that more important than going to the Secret Realm?"
Selena posed a moral challenge to Andre.
"Sigh, how can I compare to you? You have two Morning Star Great Wizards backing you, and your family is incredibly prosperous."
"But I have no one behind me. I have to rely on myself for everything. My teacher can help me, but how much help can he really provide?"
"I can’t just depend on my teacher’s help forever, can I!"
Hearing Selena’s moral challenge, Andre’s eyes darted slightly as an idea came to him. A wry smile appeared on his face as he laid out his difficulties.
And with those two sentences, he completely shut down any hope Selena had of dragging him into the Secret Realm.
"You..." Faced with Andre’s reality-based bluntness.
Selena was momentarily at a loss for words.
If she were to say, "Isn’t a friend’s safety more important than you becoming an Official Wizard?"...
...Andre would very likely just nod and tell her.
"Yes, it really isn’t as important as my own breakthrough to Official Wizard."
He would even have a whole slew of other retorts to shut her up.
For example: Quint’s family is so powerful, yet even they can’t heal his injuries. What could a mere High Level Witchcraft Apprentice like him possibly do to heal Quint?
Selena only had to think for a moment to come up with seven or eight different arguments Andre could use to shut her down,
and every single one of them would leave her with no reason to continue pressing the issue.
’Trying to find a loophole in the words of someone who studies Demon Pattern Study is just too difficult.’
Selena complained inwardly. But now she was in an awkward position: she couldn’t leave, but she couldn’t stay either.
If she left, she would have failed to bring Andre to the Secret Realm. If she didn’t leave, she had no reason to stay here any longer.
For a moment, Selena could only stand there, watching Andre take the processed materials out of the centrifuge.