Chapter 13: Ten Days and Ten Nights
After returning to Ernst Magic Academy, Linley only took a bundle he frequently used and then directly stepped into the back mountain of Ernst Magic Academy. Inside this bundle were clothes, a magic crystal card, and a flat carving knife.
"Second, Fourth, you two keep an eye on Third." Yale instructed.
George and Reynolds both nodded. They were also a bit worried about Linley.
"Big brother, what about you?" Reynolds said.
A cold light flashed in Yale's eyes. "Me?"
"I'm going to investigate. Why that blind woman Alice abandoned Third. Just who is that bastard who dares to steal my brother's woman." Yale said as he stood up. "I'm heading to Fenlai City now. You two take good care of Third."
"Got it." Reynolds and George nodded.
Then Yale, along with several family guards, directly left Ernst Magic Academy and headed for Fenlai City. As for Reynolds and George, they braved the snowy weather and made their way to the back mountain of Ernst Academy.
******
Riding a fine horse, Yale galloped through the snow with several guards. Soon they arrived at Fenlai City. After entering the city, Yale went directly to a family estate in Fenlai City.
It was a nine-story building, a famous luxury hotel in Fenlai City.
Behind the hotel were some independent small buildings not open to the public. Yale charged straight into one of the red two-story buildings. Five middle-aged men in elegant attire immediately emerged from the building. Seeing Yale, they all said respectfully in unison, "Young Master Yale."
"Walter, where is my second uncle?" Yale said directly.
Among the five middle-aged men, the one named 'Walter', also the only one in a black robe, said respectfully, "The master returned to headquarters seven days ago. For now, I am in charge of affairs here in the Sacred Alliance."
Walter knew very well that ever since the family's second young master 'Yale' became a student at Ernst Magic Academy, his status in the family had risen significantly.
Yale was different from ordinary members of the family because he was a direct descendant. Even Walter's direct superior, the 'second uncle' who managed all affairs in the Sacred Alliance, would not dare to slight Yale.
"Young Master Yale, please give your orders without hesitation." Walter said respectfully.
Yale pondered for a moment, then directly instructed, "Go and investigate for me. On Ganmo Road in Fenlai City, there is a girl named 'Alice'. She is sixteen years old this year. She is also a student at Welling Magic Academy. Recently, she got involved with some man. Bring me all the information on Alice and that man."
"Yes, Young Master Yale." Walter smiled slightly. "Is Young Master Yale interested in this Alice? If so, I could..."
"No need." Yale's face turned cold. "I need that information as soon as possible. Understand?"
"Yes." Walter realized that this Young Master Yale seemed very angry this time.
......
That evening, candlelight flickered faintly.
Yale sat with a grim face at the dining table, slowly drinking wine. But his mind was clearly not on the drink.
A hurried sound of footsteps was heard. Walter walked in quickly, accompanied by an icy-looking woman in her twenties. Entering the dining room, Walter immediately bowed respectfully and said, "Young Master Yale, the information on Alice and that man has been found."
"Speak." Yale said coldly.
Walter looked at the icy woman beside him. The woman said respectfully, "Young Master Yale, that Alice had two boyfriends. The first one is named Linley Baruch, born in Wushan..."
"Stop. Talk about the second man." Yale frowned.
"Alice's current boyfriend is named Kalan Debbs, born in Fenlai City. He is seventeen years old this year, a student at Welling Warrior Academy, and a fifth-rank warrior! His Debbs family is a major family in the Fenlai Kingdom, and Kalan Debbs is the heir of the Debbs family."
"Kalan Debbs, the Debbs family?" Yale frowned. "A small family in a kingdom?"
Walter beside him said with a hint of flattery, "The Debbs family is considered a major family in the Fenlai Kingdom, but of course, on the Yulan Continent, they are just an insignificant small family."
"Oh, I want to punish this Debbs family. Do you have a way?" Yale looked at Walter.
"That's very simple!"
Walter laughed. "Young Master Yale, you may not know this, but the Debbs family is actually a partner of our Dawson Chamber of Commerce in the Fenlai Kingdom. In our business dealings in the Fenlai Kingdom, we take the lion's share, and the Debbs family gets a small portion. Over the years, this has fattened up the Debbs family."
"Oh, this Debbs family is actually a partner of our family's chamber of commerce in the Fenlai Kingdom?" A sardonic smile appeared on Yale's face.
Walter nodded and said, "Yes, Young Master Yale. As you know, our Dawson Chamber of Commerce doesn't try to monopolize all profits. We have some partners in the four empires and dozens of kingdoms. After all, we have to let them earn a little something."
Yale nodded.
He knew this. The 'Dawson Chamber of Commerce', controlled by the Dawson family, was one of the three major chambers of commerce on the entire Yulan Continent. Even the four empires and two alliances dared not underestimate them. This was also the reason Yale could get into Ernst Academy through the back door.
Ernst Magic Academy was backed by the Radiant Church, which publicly declared that admissions were absolutely fair.
Being able to go through the 'Radiant Church's' back door was not something an ordinary family could manage.
The Dawson Chamber of Commerce's business philosophy was 'everyone makes money together'.
In the four empires and the various kingdoms and duchies of the two alliances, the Dawson Chamber of Commerce had some partners, letting those partners take a small share of the benefits.
Following the Dawson Chamber of Commerce was like boarding a giant warship. Look at the Debbs family. The Dawson Chamber of Commerce's business in the 'Fenlai Kingdom' only let the Debbs family have a little 'soup', yet that was enough to make the Debbs family one of the wealthiest in the Fenlai Kingdom.
"Young Master Yale, many families in the Fenlai Kingdom want to replace the 'Debbs family' as our chamber of commerce's partner in the Fenlai Kingdom region. It's just that because the Debbs family has cooperated well with us, we haven't given other families a chance." Walter said with a smile.
Yale understood Walter's meaning.
"Replace the partner in the Fenlai Kingdom immediately. Suppress that Debbs family!" Yale's voice was icy.
"Yes, Young Master." Walter immediately acknowledged the order.
A partner in a kingdom was nothing. Even Walter, the 'second-in-command' of the Dawson Chamber of Commerce in the Sacred Alliance region, had the authority to replace them, let alone Yale, a direct descendant of the family.
"Poor Debbs family." Walter thought to himself.
******
In the back mountain of Ernst Magic Academy, continuous snowfall had covered the entire area in a silver coat. Among the dense woods, there were occasional large boulders. On a clearing in the back mountain, Linley stood with his eyes closed, quietly facing a huge boulder.
The shadowmouse 'Bebe' was beside him in the snow, silently guarding Linley.
Nearby, George and Reynolds exchanged puzzled glances.
"George, what is Linley doing? He's been standing in front of that boulder for a whole day and night. We called him, but he didn't respond. And for a whole day and night, he hasn't eaten or drunk anything. How is this going to end?" Reynolds said anxiously.
George slowly shook his head and said, "Don't worry. Third is a sixth-rank mage and also a warrior. His physical condition is very strong. With elemental energy replenishing him, he can go without food or drink for several days without issue. Let's just watch for now. I believe Third is not the kind of person who can't handle a blow."
Reynolds nodded slightly.
They had no way of knowing the state Linley was in right now.
In fact, Doehring Cowart was also nearby, but Reynolds and George couldn't see him. Doehring Cowart watched Linley, inwardly shocked. "This Linley seems to have entered a new realm." As a master sculptor, Doehring Cowart could guess Linley's current state.
Linley stared at the huge boulder before him. The boulder was over two meters high and three to four meters long.
Gazing at the lines and patterns of the boulder itself, the stone's natural textures were very chaotic. However, during Linley's prolonged contemplation, some of those patterns seemed to be extracted, naturally gathering in Linley's mind.
These patterns vaguely resembled five human figures.
In a trance, these five figures transformed into five 'Alices'. Various scenes continuously surged in Linley's mind. In his mind, the boulder was naturally carved and stripped away, eventually becoming five female stone statues.
"George, look! Third is moving!" Reynolds said in surprise.
Linley took the flat knife from his bundle, held it in his right hand, and stared at the huge boulder. Then Linley's entire body moved, and the flat knife turned into a blur of blades. Stone chips flew into the air.
His heart merged with the earth, merged with the wind.
Linley's heart could clearly feel the internal texture of the entire boulder. The swinging flat knife was like drifting wind, cutting into the boulder. Every stroke seemed to have been precisely measured, neither too much nor too little, accurate to the extreme.
The flat knife sometimes moved quickly, sometimes slowly and carefully tapped, sometimes drifted to leave a line mark, sometimes heavily chopped off a piece of rubble...
"I still remember the pitiful look you had under that bloodthirsty war boar."
Linley's mind was completely filled with the scene of his first meeting with Alice. That emotion from the depths of his heart was completely infused into the flat knife. The snowflakes around Linley began to swirl around him. His heart merged with the earth and wind like never before, causing earth and wind elements to continuously pour into his body.
Linley had no other thoughts. He was now pouring out that emotion.
Gradually, the leftmost fifth of the boulder was carved into a female human form. The rough shape of the stone statue emerged. Linley, without eating or drinking, continued carving without stopping. Sometimes he swung the knife dozens of times in an instant, sometimes he spent several minutes carefully carving out a graceful line.
......
Completely immersing his feelings for Alice into the flat knife, Linley did not realize that this state was the most focused he had ever been since learning sculpture.
In the past, no matter when he carved, Linley never immersed himself one hundred percent.
At the very least, in the past, Linley would spread a single sculpture over many days. He could stop at any time and continue the next day.
But this time was different. Linley was completely immersed in the passion of pouring out his past feelings and carving. He was unaware of the need to stop, unaware of the need to eat or drink. This state of absolute immersion also allowed him to merge with nature like never before.
In that state of absolute harmony with nature, Linley's spiritual energy grew at a terrifyingly fast rate...
At this moment, the speed of Linley's spiritual energy growth was a thousand times faster than that of an ordinary person.
"Completely in harmony with nature, reaching the state of 'selflessness'. Truly delightful." Doehring Cowart's eyes lit up.
Day after day passed, Linley was completely immersed. Earth and wind elements continuously poured into his body, replenishing his energy consumption.
In the blink of an eye, Linley had been carving for a full ten days and ten nights.
"Boom!"
The snowflakes centered around Linley splattered in all directions. Holding the flat knife, Linley calmly looked at the giant stone sculpture before him. This sculpture was the one Linley had put the most effort into, the largest he had ever carved, and also his most successful work.
This sculpture consisted of five female figures, modeled after 'Alice'—
The pitiful look she had when in danger,
The cute look when whispering on the balcony,
The shy look when she first fell in love,
The moving look when she was deeply in love,
And the ruthless look when they parted!
"One year. It all feels like a dream. And now, the dream has finally ended. This work, I'll call it 'Dream Awakened'." Linley looked at this sculpture and felt an unprecedented lightness in his heart. It was as if all his past feelings had been entrusted to this sculpture.
The sculpture 'Dream Awakened' was thus born!