Chapter 226 Looking Back: Joy Turns into Sorrow
Dika also realized the seriousness of the matter and immediately joined in.
As a new surge of magic was injected, Moduo's pressure suddenly decreased significantly, and the storm's power increased by several points, even showing some white spots of light.
However, the advantage only lasted for a few seconds before a emerald green magic array rapidly formed in front of Aaron.
Boom!
The two hurricanes collided, and the huge impact sent the three of them staggering back.
"This is impossible," Moduo murmured in disbelief. "A mid-level Magician can't be this strong."
"Nothing is impossible in this world." Aaron only managed to stand firm after retreating a few steps. "For me, challenging those above my rank is not a difficult task."
"But the gap between Young Master and us is not small; it can't be explained by challenging those above your rank. Something must be wrong," Dika said, calming down. "We've been working together for over ten years; united, we can even fight an ordinary Grand Magister. There's no reason we should be evenly matched with Young Master."
"You two are very strong, no weaker than a HogwartsProfessor; I can't deny that," Aaron said with a somewhat embarrassed smile. "However, your vigilance is a little lacking. Haven't you found the problem yet?
A small hint: I did go all out just now, but you two didn't hold back either."
Hearing this, Moduo realized something and his eyes suddenly widened.
He secretly checked his body; his stamina was very sufficient, but his magic power seemed to be suppressed.
Casting spells felt like several chains had been added, and he himself might not notice it, but the power he exerted was less than 30% of his usual strength.
Dika was also slow to realize, a bitter smile appearing on his lips. "Young Master, you've learned how to poison!"
Moduo's face was grim. They considered themselves battle-hardened, yet today they were outsmarted by a child, a blatant slap in the face.
Even if the one who slapped them was their young master, their future object of loyalty, they still felt somewhat displeased.
"When? How did Young Master do it?
We didn't eat anything in that restaurant, didn't even touch water, and didn't smell any strange odors."
"Could it be... the Leaky Cauldron?" Dika patted his head. "Those two drinks."
"That's why I said I hope you won't blame me," Aaron said shyly. "But rest assured, what I used isn't really a poison. It has no harm to the human body; you could say it's a unique sedative!
It has miraculous effects on people who forcibly stimulate their potential, sacrificing everything in life-or-death battles, allowing them to delay their death by a few minutes.
If a normal person uses it, they'll just feel weak for a dozen hours, but they won't perceive this weakness themselves."
"Young Master, your consideration is truly... thoughtful!" Moduo said with a wry smile. "This Potion must be very precious, isn't it a bit wasteful to use it on us two?"
"Not wasteful, not wasteful at all," Aaron shook his head. "'If not used, even the most precious treasure is junk.' This sentence is clearly written in the ancestral teachings.
Facts prove that this sentence is quite correct, otherwise I would have been invited back by you two by now.
Moreover, this Potion isn't that precious. I have a PotionMaster as a teacher, and an ancestor who particularly looks after me. Lant's botanical garden has all sorts of herbs, so I easily concocted it."
"Young Master is truly gifted!" Dika's mouth twitched. "He even concocts his own poisons."
"I don't want to either!" Aaron spread his hands. "Who would want to learn so many things if they could take it easy? Isn't this all forced upon me?"
Dika and Moduo exchanged bitter smiles, feeling frustrated with their Young Master for not appreciating his good fortune.
Then the two stood together, adopting a fighting stance.
They understood clearly that although their strength was greatly limited, taking down the Young Master was not impossible; it would just take more time.
"Why bother?" Aaron said, somewhat speechless. "You might be very confident, thinking we're evenly matched now, but if I wanted to, you wouldn't be able to defeat me."
If he withdrew his thought form, Aaron's strength would instantly surge to that of a High-level Magister, allowing him to suppress these two guards in minutes. But this was a last resort; he wouldn't abandon the thought form cheat unless absolutely necessary.
But even under equal circumstances, Aaron was confident he could take on two.
They were battle-hardened, true, but he wasn't to be underestimated either. After this period of diligent training, while intermediate magic arrays weren't yet cast instantly, they were very close.
Furthermore... "It's our duty," Moduo said seriously. "We failed once last year. If we fail a second time, we'll have no face to show."
"That's right," Dika nodded in agreement, pointing his magicwand at his Young Master. "Lord Gines has been brooding over last year's failure. If we let you get away, it would truly be inexcusable."
"Alas!"
Aaron sighed deeply, profound syllables emanating from his throat.
His purple backpack suddenly burst open, and a white shadow shot like an arrow towards Aaron.
Abey nervously glanced back at the two stunned men, then patted his pocket as if to take credit. "I've put all the money in; we can run anytime."
"Don't worry so much. Their strength is greatly reduced now; together, they can only fight me to a draw.
But add a Dragon to this fragile balance, and the situation changes drastically. The advantage is mine!"
Hearing this, Abey immediately became smug, turning around and gesticulating wildly at the two, looking like a small person who had achieved success, especially his gaze towards Moduo, which was full of contempt.
"Uh..." Aaron opened his mouth. "It's saying, 'You two have your day too!'
Oh, and Moduo..."
"No need to say anything, Young Master," Moduointerrupted with a forced smile. "I think I can tell."
Abey immediately flew to Aaron, flapping his wings and pointing at Moduo, begging his master to translate for him this one time.
"I don't think you can tell," Aaron said, looking at the High-level Magister with some sympathy. "Its meaning is: 'Weren't you very arrogant just now? Why are you so weak now?
You, come here!'"
Mockery, blatant mockery, undisguised mockery.
Boom!
A volcano erupted in Moduo's heart, his rage soaring, breaking through the sky.
"Calm down, calm down!" Dika immediately advised. "It's just a pet; you mustn't lose your composure."
"Is that an ordinary pet? That's a highly intelligent Dragon!" Moduo said indignantly. "Don't tell me you didn't see its provocation."
Dika looked at Abey's raised paw and was speechless, because a sharp claw in the middle of the paw was incredibly clear in the sunlight.
"But it is Young Master's pet after all."
"So what?
If I don't teach it a lesson, I can't swallow this anger. At worst, I'll get scolded when I go back. The boss won't hit me because of it, right!" Moduo said, looking meaningfully at Aaron. "Young Master, if you stand up for it afterwards, I'll accept it."
"Don't worry, I am fair and just.
I will never indulge this bad behavior of its, otherwise, who knows how much trouble it might cause me in the future!"
"Then I'm relieved."
Abey's arrogant and haughty demeanor was immediately doused with cold water, and he timidly hung his head.
"Hey, as a partner of many years, I still want to remind you to calm down.
Abey is not just Young Master's pet; the patriarch and madam also like it very much, and they'll be back soon."
Hearing this, Moduo's face twitched involuntarily.
Because Abey now had two glittering golden amulets on him, almost blinding him.
"I'll give you face this time."
"No need to be so polite. If you go deal with that Dragon, I'll have to face Young Master directly.
Winning isn't something to be proud of, but losing would be tragic."
Moduo:...Give me back my emotion.
"The main business is important. If we mess this up, I don't need to tell you the consequences, right!"
Moduo snorted, facing the man and the Dragon opposite him. "Young Master, forgive my offense."
"Still, I won't blame you, but you shouldn't blame me either."
The two exchanged glances and attacked simultaneously.
Two dazzling white lights shot from the tips of their wands, swirling and intertwining in mid-air, forming a white-blue ball of light, its power more than doubled.
"Abey, Dragon... bah, Holy Dragon Roar."
Abey roared, undergoing its first stage of transformation, becoming a one-meter-sized young Dragon.
Fierce flames spewed from its mouth, colliding with the spells released by Dika and Moduo, but the disparity in strength was quite obvious; the Dragon's breath was quickly suppressed.
Aaron shrugged, seeing this, and etched a green magic array, mobilizing the wind elements in the air.
With the wind fueling the fire, they could barely hold their own against the spells.
"Is it still a bit lacking after all?" Aaron murmured. Only now did he truly witness the combat power of these two guards. Even with their strength significantly reduced, they could probably still directly confront a Archmage.
"Young Master, that's enough. You have no chance of winning," Dika shouted.
"That's what you think. I know more than just this!" Aaronsaid, adding runes in front of the green magic array, evolving it towards a high-level magic array.
The wind power slowly increased, and the crimson Dragonflames gradually swallowed the white orb of light.
Boom!
The spell exploded, and the two were blown back more than ten meters by the scorching hurricane before landing on the ground.
"Cough, cough!" Moduo got up, clutching his arm. His face was slightly charred, and half of his sleeve was burned to ashes.
Dika was in better condition, but still looked particularly disheveled.
This was still because Abey had promptly shut its mouth at the last moment; otherwise, they would probably have had to visit a hospital.
"Thank you, Young Master, for showing mercy," Dika said helplessly. "We lost this time. You have enough time to leave before our condition recovers."
Moduo nodded with a complex expression. Although he felt a bit unconvinced, neither of them were sore losers and wouldn't make excuses for their failure.
"Thank you," Aaron said with emotion. "I won very fortunately this time. I have to admit that if it were just me, I really couldn't beat the two of you. Luckily, I have a reliable helper.
Honestly, Gines not coming with you two was his biggest mistake this year.
Well then, see you next year. Of course, if you can find me, the meeting time isn't impossible to move up."
As Aaron said this, Moduo and Dika both showed strange smiles, their eyes filled with schadenfreude.
"Young Master, why don't you look back?" Dika said, stifling a laugh. "There's a surprise."
"Oh, come on! Don't try to trick me now. I stopped using that kind of trick ten years ago."
"No!" Moduo said very seriously. "Pledging everything for the rest of our lives, including money, reputation, dignity, and even life, we absolutely are not deceiving you."
"Don't say such things. Unless a contract is signed, anything can be false," Aaron said lightly, quickly turning his head back.
"See, I knew there was nothing."
"Perhaps Young Master didn't look carefully enough."
Gines's voice came from the side, and Aaron couldn't help but shiver, turning his face with difficulty.
Gines gave Aaron a warm smile, then stepped aside, revealing a man and a woman behind him.
"Dad, Mom," Aaron said awkwardly. "Weren't you not supposed to be back for a few more hours?"
"Perhaps for Muggles," Lisanna said, picking up Abey and smiling. "But we are Wizards, and Apparition can save a lot of time."
Aaron's heart sank slightly. "Then when did you two arrive?"
"Maybe a little earlier than you thought," Vico said, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "After getting off the train, Gines told me you had learned Apparition, and three and four were also looking for you.
So I eagerly brought your mother to watch the show. I have to admit, it was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
Meticulous, seizing every opportunity, unscrupulous, yet knowing your limits, with decent strength, capable of challenging those above your rank.
You are indeed my son. Your grandfather would be very happy if he knew."
"You two..." Aaron looked at Dika and Moduo, indignantly saying, "You're not playing fair! Don't your consciences hurt for inviting such high-level external help?"
"Young Master, this is a huge misunderstanding," Dika said. "We didn't do anything."
"They indeed didn't do anything," Vico explained. "As the patriarch of the Gaius Family, one must have some privileges. I can know where you are at any time if I wish.
Don't misunderstand, Gaius values its bloodline greatly. This magic takes effect from your birth, but its fundamental purpose is protection.
Unless necessary, I would never use this magic in my lifetime."
"Then last year?"
"I wasn't home last year. Even if I were, if you left home by your own ability, I wouldn't interfere," Vico said nonchalantly. "But this year is different."
Hearing this, a bitter smile appeared on Aaron's lips.
No wonder none of his ancestors thought highly of him; it turned out his location was just a precise coordinate in Vico's eyes.