129 Running (1/2)

Raven snorted and thought to himself, 'Sure enough, he doesn't dare to offend the Watson Family.'

Hearing this ”hold on”, a sneer appeared on Raven's face. His family was one of the five Families of Okland, the peak force of the Kingdom, and the only one able to use a magic staff and a sword as their crest. Setting oneself against the huge Watson Family with this small Gilded Rose in the small Thousand Sails City was simply courting death.

'You are regretting it now? You are afraid? But I don't plan on giving you a chance.'

Raven didn't turn back and kept walking towards the exit with a sneer on his face as he was counting in his head. Raven was sure that Mafa Merlin would take the initiative to hand over the Nether Iron Vein before he reached ten!

'One, two, three... nine, ten!'

When Raven reached ten, he stopped, but he didn't turn around. He was now waiting, waiting for this Mafa Merlin to hand over the Nether Iron Vein.

In the end, Raven had waited… for a Flame Imprint.

Lin Yun's Spiritual Magic Staff was already pointing at Raven when the latter stopped, causing a flame to swallow him from behind.

A miserable shriek echoed out on Victorious Return Street.

Even if he was a 9th Rank Great Mage, Raven couldn't withstand a Flame Imprint unguarded. The raging flames exploded with a bang, covering the young Great Mage. Besides crazily rolling around on the ground to extinguish the flames, Raven was also yelling his lungs out.

This Flame Imprint burnt for no less than ten seconds before Raven managed to extinguish it.

But he didn't look human anymore. There wasn't a single place that had escaped the flames, his hair burnt into a mess, his eyebrows different sizes. A burnt, black face as well as a robe that one would see on a beggar. His arms and chest were now covered with quite a few blisters, making anyone who could see his appearance shudder.

”I told you to hold on and you still thought of escaping, you thought you could run away?”

After Lin Yun cursed, he had William help Faleau to the laboratory to treat his injuries. As for the cooked Raven, Lin Yun simply ignored him.

”...” Raven lay down there on the ground, not understanding what had happened to him. 'What was that ”hold on”... It's not like he wanted to kill me, or else he wouldn't have used a mere Flame Imprint.'

But here, Raven remembered something.

'... Flame Imprint…?'

Raven finally understood. Flame Imprint was the 3rd spell he had cast after entering the Gilded Rose. Two Tornado Impacts and one Flame Imprint.

When Mafa Merlin appeared, he had used a Tornado Impact to knock Raven away, but he hadn't had the opportunity to cast that Flame Imprint.

In other words, that ”hold on” was only to let him know that he still needed to take a Flame Imprint back!

'Fuck, would you die if you said a bit more?'

At this moment, Raven truly felt like crying. 'Can't you be a bit clearer with your words? It's fine if you want to return the Flame Imprint, it's only a 3rd Tier Spell. Could I, a 9th Rank Mage, not understand getting back at someone? But that ”hold on” caused me to think you were begging for forgiveness, I was still feeling satisfied, waiting for you to apologize…'

He wanted to howl at the injustice of it all.

'Fuck fuck fuck, this is bullying!'

Raven was inwardly crying and cursing as he limped away from Victorious Return Street...

...

At this time, Faleau was being treated inside the alchemy laboratory. It was determined that he would probably be fine after recuperating for a few days.

”Cousin William, how is it going with the fifty 5th Rank Mages?” After treating Faleau's injury, Lin Yun started inquiring about William's work.

”Not bad, they completed many team assignments for the Mercenary Guild and their combat strength increased a bit. I estimate that the talented ones will reach 6th or even 7th Rank in half a year.”

”Half a year is too long…” Lin Yun shook his head. These 5th Rank Mages were his only troops. They would definitely be the core of the rebuilding of the Gilded Rose's mercenary group. 6th or 7th Rank Mages might be able to handle ordinary team assignments, but that was definitely too weak to protect the growing Gilded Rose...