“You’ll need to work for three years! I’ll allow you to live here for a month,” Steven was certainly no saint.
On the way here, Zoey had told him about the residual energy in this place and how it could help a Soulmancer improve their strength.
Now, Maplewood Town could be said to have surpassed any secret realm, becoming a sacred site for Soulmancers to enhance their power.
If one were to wait another month, the residual energy here would probably dissipate.
“Deal!” Lucien didn’t hesitate.
His current strength was already comparable to the peak of an intermediate Soulmancer, and it was unlikely he’d be defeated even when facing the strong within the intermediate Soulmancers, but advancing further wouldn’t be easy.
Without some stroke of luck, his progress would probably stop here in his lifetime.
Now that such a stroke of luck had appeared, he couldn’t possibly give it up.
As for pursuing Alice, it was only a matter of a month—he could wait.
Only by becoming stronger could he better win the girl’s affection.
William was just a novice Soulmancer with a lifespan not exceeding a hundred years and aging rapidly. In a few more years, he would be even less suitable for Alice.
Steven then looked towards Tristan, but Tristan said, “If Alice also enhances her abilities here, I am willing to serve the 13th Bureau for three years, and I would also like to improve my abilities here.”
Not everyone could perceive William’s residual energy,at least, Tristan felt nothing.
All he knew was that the moment the Sword Spirit appeared, it seemed that the restrictions on his ability to mobilize his own energy loosened.
Whether he could break through his current strength here was unclear, but he knew that by staying close to Alice, he would definitely learn something.
Steven squinted at Alice, as this was his ultimate goal.
Given Alice’s strength and talent, she must have already felt the residual energy here.
Enhancing her abilities in this place, her strength would increase rapidly.
If Alice could also serve the 13th Bureau for three years, then in these three years, the world would surely be more stable and prosperous.
William, however, knew that Alice had mediocre talent and couldn’t possibly perceive the residual energy in this place like Lucien could.
After all, she had been following William for so long, and no matter how much he tried to suppress it, he would inadvertently leave some residual energy behind.
The painting that William had previously given her was a case in point; Nelson had rapidly broken through his strength limitations just by receiving a few magic runes. Looking at his own disciple, she was incredibly dull-witted,she hadn’t even broken through the intermediate Soulmancer level yet.
Fortunately, the Soulmancers of this era were rather weak. If this had been during the era of the gods, taking such a disciple would have been an utter embarrassment.
Imagine the gods saying to William: “Mr. Johnson’s favorite disciple has been under your tutelage for a month now; she must have reached the strength of a demigod by this time?”
And William would have to tell those gods that his disciple had just reached the level of an intermediate Soulmancer.
Those gods would probably die laughing.
“I won’t stay then,” said Alice, not willing to be in the same place as Lucien. Besides, wasn’t it better to be by her master’s side?
Surely, her strength would improve much faster being with her master!
Weren’t all the residual energies here left by William?
Having a living person by her side was much better,why would she go to a remote place to enhance her abilities unless her brain was broken?
Steven had never expected Alice to refuse, saying, “Alice, are you sure about this?”
Alice affirmed, “Yes, I won’t enhance my abilities here.”
What good does increasing abilities do?
She wasn’t actually very keen on enhancing her abilities,she just hoped to hang around William every day, mooching off meals and drinks, and was quite content with running errands for William when there was nothing else to do.
“Alright!” Steven also didn’t expect that he would misjudge the situation.
Following suit, Tristan said, “Then I won’t enhance my abilities here either.”
Residual energy, that intangible and invisible thing, without Lucien’s kind of talent, even ten years here might not yield any progress for him.
“Then let’s go,” William naturally wouldn’t bother staying to enhance his abilities.
He had lived for so long without ever specifically working on increasing his strength.
“Hold on!” Lucien suddenly shouted, staring intently at William, and said, “Steven, William is from your 13th Bureau, right?”
Steven nodded: “Lucien, do you have some misunderstanding with William?”
“No misunderstanding, I just want to challenge him to a match!” Lucien declared, “I can’t calm my mind to enhance my abilities without settling this.”
Unwittingly, William’s existence seemed to have become an obsession for Lucien.
The guy wasn’t strong, and he spoke in a scholarly manner, but for some reason, Lucien was really irked by him.
He couldn’t settle down to meditate without having a match.
Steven chuckled: “Lucien, you must be joking. William is just a novice in Soulmancer strength; wouldn’t it be bullying if you challenged him?”
“We won’t use any energy, just our fists, a pure test of martial skills!” Lucien’s eyes were fierce as he insisted, “That wouldn’t be bullying him, right?”
“This…” Steven slowly turned to William and asked, “William, what do you decide? If you don’t wish to compete, no one can force you.”
Lucien was from a prestigious family, and even just his physical combat skills were certainly impressive. Even without using his own energy, an average novice Soulmancer wouldn’t be his match.
But Steven also felt that there might be secrets hidden within William.
William thought for a moment, then said, “Don’t hold back. Use your secret arts and show all your skills, and I’ll just use a magical artifact. That should be alright, shouldn’t it?”
Lucien burst into laughter: “You, the turtle hiding its head, finally not hiding behind a woman, huh? Use whatever magical artifact you want; I’m curious to see what impressive items you can bring out!”
Speaking of magical artifacts, William’s space storage ring did indeed contain quite a few. However, whichever one he took out would surely shock the world.
“Alice, lend me your sword,” William turned his head to Alice and said.
“What!!” Lucien nearly exploded with anger, “Can you be any more shameless? Borrowing Alice’s divine sword? Don’t you have your own magical artifacts?”
“Didn’t you say I could use whatever magical artifact I wanted? All of my magical artifacts are of too high a quality; I’m afraid I’d scare you if I took one out. So, I thought I’d just make do with Alice’s sword. Is there a problem?”
William stated confidently, without a change in expression, leaving Lucien momentarily at a loss for words!
“Ah! In my whole life, I’ve never seen anyone as shameless as you!” Lucien was truly almost angered to the point of spitting blood. To say that the magical artifact brought out was of too high quality and might scare him, that damned William’s most valuable possession is just that mobile phone.
“Are we fighting or not?” William said, “I’ve already agreed.”
Steven and Tristan standing by also felt this guy was too shameless, borrowing a divine sword for a duel,who could beat him then?
“Fine, we’ll fight! I don’t believe this Sword Spirit will listen to you! A divine sword in your hands won’t change the fact that you’re worthless!” Lucien was fuming to the point of losing his senses.
William once again partially unsealed the Sword of Soulbreaker, allowing the Sword Spirit to condense into a solid form before him, and then said to the Sword Spirit, “Don’t kill him,just leave him breathing.”