Chapter Forty-Three: The Profound Bond Between Master and Disciple

Freddy, having just dodged the enormous fireball, looked uneasily at the area before him. Many of the dreamscape’s buildings had been vaporized outright by the blast; the power of this fireball was worlds apart from the ones Fina had conjured at the outset.

Fina lifted her head slightly, gazing in a particular direction. There was only one person she knew who could control a fire blast spell with such precision, but that person shouldn’t possibly be here—he should still be in the alchemy workshop, serving out his punishment.

Natasha followed Fina’s gaze. In the blistering air, a figure gradually materialized, holding a strangely shaped staff and clad in a slightly tattered robe. To the uninitiated, he looked more like a vagrant than a mage.

“Master Blaze!” Fina cried out, delighted.

Blaze nodded at Fina, then fixed his gaze on Freddy. The situation hadn’t yet reached the danger level that warranted his intervention, but Freddy’s words had seriously irked him. His temper had been simmering lately, and now he had finally found someone to vent it upon. Blaze decided he wouldn’t wait any longer.

Taking down the young, now the elder appears?

Freddy licked the blood off his iron claws; the fear he’d squeezed from deep individual dreamscapes now surged through him via the dream channel, instantly stabilizing the collective dreamscape.

“You old fool, I told you not to play with fireballs—look at how you’ve burned yourself…” Freddy hadn’t finished his sentence when another massive fireball came hurtling toward him.

No sense of fair play! How can you attack before I’ve finished speaking?!

Freddy was forced to dash about frantically within the dreamscape. Blaze’s upgraded fireball spell, the explosive fire blast, was cast with no pause whatsoever; his overwhelming mental strength allowed him to anticipate Freddy’s location after each teleport, making the bombardment spectacularly effective.

For half a minute, the relentless barrage continued. Fina’s eyes sparkled with admiration—it was so commanding; she wished she could do the same, if only her abilities allowed it.

Natasha, meanwhile, hid behind Fina. If this suddenly appearing mage realized she’d been more of a hindrance, would he incinerate her with a single fireball?

Within half a minute, the town-sized collective dreamscape was destroyed three or four times. Freddy dared not stop repairing it; without the dreamscape’s boost to his teleportation, he feared he wouldn’t last a few seconds. But the excessive extraction of accumulated fear had caused many deep individual dreams to collapse, their inhabitants now stranded in the collective dreamscape.

Each newcomer, seeing Blaze’s awe-inspiring magic, silently retreated to a corner—none dared make a move.

Blaze let out a long breath, feeling thoroughly satisfied. No need to worry about asset losses; the destruction was sheer pleasure.

Freddy paused as well, gasping for breath; in his view, the mage’s mana should be nearly depleted.

But before he could utter a taunt, Blaze tapped the air lightly with his staff. A colossal magic array enveloped the entire collective dreamscape—space anchor, lock successful!

From this moment on, spatial magic was forbidden here unless Blaze permitted it.

With Freddy now unable to escape, Blaze raised his staff high. In the dreamscape skies above Elmtown, dots of azure light began to appear, each one a fire blast spell in the making. This was one of Blaze’s signature spells—Meteor Fire Rain.

Freddy stared at the scene, so frightened that his snark vanished. He broke into a run toward Blaze, intending to cut off the source directly.

Natasha prepared to help, but Fina pulled her back. “Don’t worry, that nightmare is courting death. Before my teacher became a mage, he was a mid-level knight.”

A mid-level knight? Natasha glanced at Blaze, who released his grip on the staff, brushed its end, and a slim sword appeared in his hand.

Goodness—so the staff was actually a multifunctional item, and its casing served as a scabbard!

Freddy was momentarily stunned, but unable to stop himself, he plunged straight into the swirling sword lights before Blaze, where he was shredded into fragments.

In the next instant, the Elmtown dreamscape contracted, and Freddy was reborn at its edge. He looked up at the meteor fire rain poised to strike.

He couldn’t win up close, nor at range—escape was his only option!

“Teacher! Catch him alive! The captured ones are worth more!” Fina shouted.

Blaze paused, adjusted the trajectory of the meteor fire rain, targeting the dreamscape itself. In one fell swoop, he crushed the small dreamscape, even causing ripples in the nearby human collective dream network.

Once freed from the dreamscape, Guda and Des quickly restrained their subordinates. All had witnessed Blaze’s power—having barely survived the dream, they weren’t about to die for being the most troublesome.

Fina trotted over to Freddy’s remains, her marking device deploying a containment line to collect him.

“Fina, don’t be too greedy. When facing an enemy, always consider the potential gains last…” Blaze walked over and instructed her quietly. Before he could finish, Fina bounced up, showing him her score. “Teacher! I’ve accumulated lots of points—I can help pay off your debts!”

“I checked the score guide: a single point can be exchanged for plenty of high-purity mana crystals! If we do this a few more times, you won’t have to stay in the alchemy workshop anymore!” Fina’s face was radiant with joy. “Oh, right—teacher, what were you saying just now?”

Blaze was at a loss for words. In adversity, true friendship shines. He’d always been so solitary, but in his darkest hour, someone had come to help him—a stroke of luck from above.

He placed a hand on Fina’s head, gently ruffling her hair. “No rush, Fina. Mage Kieran has already overturned part of the council’s punishment. You should use those points to stabilize your advancement; breaking through in battle without proper consolidation can easily cause you to regress.”

Fina examined herself as she listened. “Ah! I’ve advanced to a full-fledged mage!”

“Yes. In a moment, I’ll send you the spell model for the miniature fire element pool. It can serve as your cornerstone for becoming a mage. If you want to use models from other schools or elements, I won’t be able to help you with those,” Blaze said. The knowledge in his head was now his most precious asset.

“I think our school is quite nice,” Fina smiled, then remembered something and pulled Natasha over. “Teacher, this is my friend, also a member of the Ouroboros Society. Could you help us with some detection potions? The ones in the shop are too expensive.”

Natasha was a little nervous, not expecting Fina to be so reliable as to bring her straight over. Blaze glanced at her, then produced a stack of detection potions from his personal space and handed them to Natasha. There were even some for niche professions—more than enough for her needs.

“Come on, Fina. I still have some free time; let me describe the road ahead for you,” Blaze said, taking Fina’s hand and teleporting away.