Secret

In the Bear Tavern, Felicia had cooked part of the Alpha Wolf, as promised. In exchange for her kindness and cooking, Drake gave her a few pounds of fire weeds, which were beneficial to fire-elemental acolytes such as Felicia. Since the products were very popular, it was actually the first time Felicia got her hands on such a small treasure like that.

Drake was savouring the delicacy of Felicia's masterpiece-like cooking.

[Beep! Extremely nutritious ingredients have been ingested! Spirit +0.005, Strength and constitution +0.006]

[Beep! Extremely nutritious ingredients have been ingested! Spirit +0.005, Strength and constitution +0.006]

[Beep! Extremely nutritious ingredients have been ingested! Spirit +0.005, Strength and constitution +0.006]

However, just as he thought he was in heaven, someone entered the tavern. It was pretty odd, since most people avoided the Bear Tavern, since it was just an ordinary tavern with an ugly barmaid. Furthermore, since no one visited the tavern, rumours spread about the building being haunted. In an era where curses and dark magic are real, these rumours utterly crippled Felicia's business.

Only Drake and Evangeline still frequented Felicia's. It was a bit sad, considering that she was a rank 2 acolyte, though she seemed to have sustained harsh wounds in the past. Drake didn't notice before, but now that his spirit had increased over 6 points, his perception had increased, along with his thinking speed. As a result, the data that his biochip could gather had also improved considerably.

Although Felicia was a rank 2 acolyte, her body was in a constant struggle of life and death. Her spirit was polluted and if not for the consumption of rare medicinal herbs, she would have been a goner already. That's why she had handed medicinal herbs without thinking too much when Drake returned injured after sparring with Rey, and why she was so touched when Drake handed her rare fire weeds, which were likely to stabilize her spirit and eliminate part of her spirit injuries.

The uninvited guest was a woman as well. Her eyes were full of rage.

"Are you Drake Moonlight?", she asked.

"Yes, indeed", Drake replied.

The more he thought about it, the more bizarre it felt. Drake knew very few people in Helios. And sentinels had very few contacts with acolytes. So this person in front of him was a complete stranger, and it wasn't like he was famous. Although he was a grade 5 acolyte, few actually noticed it. And he didn't accomplish anything grand, besides completing a patrol mission.

While returning to Helios with two magical beasts was an extraordinary feat for his current level, there were dozens of acolytes doing so on a daily basis, either because they were in teams, or because they had reached rank 2. With plenty of strong spells at disposition, taking care of rank 2 magical beasts was pretty easy.

"I am Alycia, rank 1 acolyte. We saw each other once in the library in the Magical Theory section."

Drake ran a search in his database, and indeed, she was right, though they neither spoke or even glanced at each other.

"What do you want?", Drake asked, feeling something was fishy.

"I am Franklin's subordinates-"

Drake and Felicia's hostility instantly covered the room, making Lewis and the two immaculate soldiers extremely uneasy.

"I don't mean any harm! I came here to help you and warn you about a scheme!", she said, "They are going to threaten your family so that you advance so that they can advance the duel. Franklin and rank 1 lord Prio fear that you are growing a bit too fast and since they invested a lot in the bet, they want to assure their victory."

Drake pondered for a while. It indeed seemed likely.

"But the Count Prio, Lord Prio's father, who will attack the Moonlight Territory, are unlikely to be sufficient to wage an all-out war against your household. They most likely want to scare you and pressure you into accepting their offer."

Drake had heard news of his father recovering through letters, and even though Gallan had healed him thoroughly, he was lying low while faking injuries to attract enemies and utterly crush them. Who would have known that his scheme would have deceived Drake's own enemies into entering a wolf's den?"

Thanks to this woman, Drake could warn his father. If it was indeed true, then his father might defeat the Count using the element of surprise and benefit greatly. The worst part in the story was that the Magical Court wasn't allowed to intervene in such internal conflicts. At best, the acolytes and their closest acquaintances would return home and support their families, but they wouldn't be able to summon a Magus for instance or hire other acolytes to defeat Porfield nobles. It was against the rules.

Acolytes were not like knights. Although they could release terrifying spells, their stamina was extremely limited at rank 1. Usually, a spell cost one to two points of mana. Even if they were strong, they would only be able to cast up to 8 spells in battle, unless they had mana potions, which were beyond valuable. Although 8 spells would kill dozens, it wasn't enough to turn upside down the tides of war, though a rank 3 acolyte might.

"Why would you tell me that?", Drake asked. It didn't seem right though. Why would an enemy tell him such an important scheme? Betrayals required motives.

"Franklin…is a violent man. In the years I followed him, there wasn't a day I wasn't hurt, either verbally or physically. It's just a way for me to pay him back", she said in a tragic tone.

Drake squinted. After receiving the biochip's confirmation though, he believed her. He looked into her eyes, and he could see that she wanted nothing but revenge.

[Beep! Target lying probability: 1.8%.]

She was either trustworthy, or she was an excellent liar.

Drake had no personal vendetta against Franklin to be honest, and if he wanted to torment his subordinates, he had no say in it.

However, for him to aim at his family…

'I will definitely destroy them'

It was no longer about the bet. It had gone personal. And Drake would do anything in his power to defeat them.

After finishing his meal, Drake headed to the Sentinel's casern. Since the duel was taking place earlier than expected, he'd better train harder and more efficiently. To be honest, with the consumption of magical beast meat and his progress in his spell studies, even if the duel would take place three months earlier, Drake was confident in winning.

Furthermore, there was no way for Franklin to expect Drake to master a spell in merely three months, as it took Franklin years to learn a single spell.

Grinning, Drake was happier than ever. He was going to strike it rich!