One-Eyed Monster

"He refused the Leader's proposal?" In a corner of a tavern in Luona, a man dressed in a black robe asked Hughes, who had just emerged from the Twin Star Grand Hall in the Imperial Capital.

"He says the Leader isn't sincere. That old fox is too cunning." Hughes drained the ale from the table. The feeling of being manhandled and thrown out of the Grand Hall was not pleasant at all.

"Sincerity?" The black-robed man squinted. His entire body was enveloped in the robe, as if he were trying hard to hide something.

"That's what the old fox said. He probably thinks the conditions we proposed aren't generous enough."

After hearing Hughes's words, the black-robed man drew in a sharp breath. He remained silent for a moment before saying in a hoarse voice, "We have been careless."

"Careless? I don't understand what you're thinking, Boss. In my view, why not just seize the old fox's son and then negotiate? Wouldn't all our problems be solved? We wouldn't have to suffer such humiliation!" Those few words from the black-robed man—"We have been careless"—plunged Hughes back into his resentful thoughts of being manhandled and thrown out the main gate.

"Young man, you need to learn to think before jumping to conclusions," the black-robed man said profoundly.

"I just don't understand why we have to be so respectful to that old fox. Can we really not establish ourselves in Luona without him?"

"Everything has two sides, just like this robe." The black-robed man pinched a corner of his robe. "You often only see the prestige on the outside, ignoring the mending and patching hidden within."

"Uh? I don't quite understand what you mean, Boss."

"Haven't you always wanted to return to the Wizard Alliance?"

"Yes, indeed. But how does this relate to what you just said?"

"Of course, it's related. You're still too young and can't see through the intricacies."

The black-robed man's words were cryptic, and Hughes could not understand them.

As a wizard, Hughes used to be proud of joining the Wizard Alliance. At that time, he felt that his life's greatest ambition was to become the Supreme Chief of the Wizard Alliance.

But being a wizard wasn't as glamorous as it appeared. Behind every spellcasting incantation lay a collection of dry terminology. One not only needed to understand the meaning of these words but also had to deeply etch these arid and difficult phrases into one's mind. Furthermore, wizards needed to be familiar with the various flora existing on the continent, knowing which were ingredients for potions and which were mere weeds.

Once one entered the path of a wizard, it was an endless cycle of recitation and memorization.

After joining the Wizard Alliance, Hughes grew to detest its traditional learning methods. He despised reciting those spells because, no matter how many times he did, he could never grasp their true meaning. Moreover, regardless of how many he could recite, he couldn't advance from a Black Robe to a Gray Robe...

Equally tedious was distinguishing potion ingredients. Two images that looked almost identical could, because of a single extra leaf, become two entirely different things—it was simply absurd. And as for the plants listed in the thick atlas, Hughes wondered how many he would ever see in his lifetime. A conservative estimate was less than a tenth.

Hughes had initially thought he would quickly advance from a Black Robe to a Gray Robe after joining the Wizard Alliance. But once inside, he discovered that the Alliance promoted rote memorization, which was completely different from what he pursued.

He had imagined that upon joining the Wizard Alliance, he would rise quickly, his strength increasing dramatically. With enough power, he could move unhindered throughout the Empire, without having to defer to anyone.

However, things were far from being as simple as he had imagined. There were no shortcuts from Black Robe to Gray Robe in the Wizard Alliance, only old-fashioned methods. These old methods were even less effective than some of the tricks figured out by rogue wizards.

Thus, Hughes began to seek out the secrets of rogue wizards.

Word that a member of the Wizard Alliance was seeking the secrets of rogue wizards quickly spread throughout the wizarding realm.

Upon hearing this, Wizard Rolin, the chief of the Luona branch of the Kayne Empire's Wizard Alliance, promptly stripped Hughes of his membership without another word.

Wizard Rolin gave a simple reason: he said the Wizard Alliance was a home for wizards to share resources and pursue common progress, not a place for those with ulterior motives to seek power.

Hughes naturally scoffed at this reasoning, finding it absurd to be expelled from the Wizard Alliance on such grounds. Who in this world didn't pursue power? Consider the Kayne Empire, the Mantai Empire, and the Wensi Empire—the Three Great Empires. Which generation of their monarchs hadn't invested heavily in pursuing power? The Kayne Empire's Alchemy Workshop, the Wizard Alliance itself—weren't these institutions all formed as monarchs pursued power? To expel him on such grounds was truly unjustifiable, he felt. Hughes believed the real reason Chairman Rolin had expelled him was because he had exposed the Wizard Alliance's shortcomings, leaving it humiliated.

Imagine, a member of the esteemed Wizard Alliance actually seeking help from rogue wizards—wasn't that a clear declaration that the Alliance was nothing but a hollow shell?

When Hughes left the Wizard Alliance, he felt no sorrow. Instead, he felt a wave of relief. He thought he would finally be free from reciting those boring and tedious spells and charts with those old fossils.

His thirst for power led him to successfully contact rogue wizards. Soon, various tools, incantations, and potions from rogue wizards entered his world. His body began to grow thinner, and he started squinting in the daylight.

His strength indeed improved due to the rogue wizards' methods. However, having left the Wizard Alliance, he had no way of knowing what color robe his current level of strength corresponded to.

Also, because he had left the Wizard Alliance, he found it difficult to freely access the Empire's archives and potion rooms, and even visiting certain Politicians became quite challenging.

These small changes made him start to miss the Wizard Alliance. Even if the Alliance was just a hollow shell, relying on its empty reputation certainly made things easier.

Thinking this through, Hughes gradually began to understand what the black-robed man had said earlier.

The hidden mending and patching within the robe probably referred to the stumbles and setbacks on the path of pursuing power.

He knew that offering the Invisibility Cloak to that old fox Rostov had taken considerable effort. He mused that if he were still a member of the Wizard Alliance, he wouldn't have had to go to such lengths to disguise himself as a merchant from a chamber of commerce, nor would he have needed to curry favor with the portly head chef of Luona Mansion...

"The Leader is truly far-sighted," Hughes sighed, finishing the last of his ale.

"Understood now?" The black-robed man didn't even lift his eyes.

"More or less. We can only do as the old fox says."

"Hmph, that's nothing. With our current strength, bringing that little fox Hustace back within half a month is no great feat. I just don't know if the Leader has any other plans. It seems the Leader has already sent Wizard Reed to Guru Mountain. That place looks destined for turmoil," the black-robed man mused.

"My heavens, so there really are White Cloud Fruits on Guru Mountain!" Hughes exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Wizard Reed's name.

"I've already sent out the Mail Bird. Now we just wait for the Leader's instructions. We should get news from that little fox Hustace soon enough."

"Indeed. That Invisibility Cloak has been revealing his whereabouts. Even if he flees to the ends of the earth, we can still drag him out!"