Chapter 83: Changes

While the First Elder and the other elders glared at one another from across the room, Darkya was growing more and more pleased with herself.

She was already imagining all the ways she could deal with Kent once he lost.

Before long, she could no longer resist saying it aloud.

“Kent, tell me something.”

A mischievous smile appeared on her face.

“If you lose, how do you think I should treat you?”

She tilted her head slightly.

“I think you should just admit defeat now. If you surrender early enough, perhaps I can even put in a good word for you with Father and ask him to spare you.”

“So stop wasting everyone’s time.”

Kent blinked.

“Father?”

He stared at Darkya in surprise.

To be honest, Kent had wanted to teach this troublesome woman a proper lesson for quite some time.

From the very beginning, she had been the one constantly provoking him.

Even so, the Sky Eye was far too valuable to reveal casually.

Kent had still been considering whether he should simply gamble on his luck in the third round.

But Darkya’s casual mention of “Father” completely distracted him.

Who exactly was this woman’s father?

And why would she need to ask him to spare Kent?

“The First Elder.”

One of the dwarves beside him quietly supplied the answer.

“What the hell?”

Kent practically jumped where he stood.

At last, everything made sense.

No wonder the First Elder had treated him with such hostility from the moment they met.

So that was it.

Darkya was his daughter.

And this troublesome woman was even less innocent than Kent had thought.

The moment Kent admitted defeat, the magical contract would take effect.

After that, would he not be completely at Darkya’s mercy?

If it were only the First Elder, Kent doubted the old man would lower himself enough to personally torment him.

But Darkya?

The delighted smile on her face told Kent everything he needed to know.

If he fell into her hands, there was absolutely no chance anything good would happen to him.

Kent immediately abandoned the idea of gambling on the third round.

“Who said I couldn’t understand it?”

He suddenly exploded.

“You father and daughter really are something!”

Kent pointed directly at Darkya.

“The daughter loses a wager, so the father steps in to fight the next one for her?”

“Have you two no shame at all?”

The entire room went quiet.

Kent, however, was only getting started.

“Too bad you ran into me today.”

He jabbed a finger toward Darkya, looking extraordinarily arrogant.

“You troublesome woman, go clean yourself up and wait.”

“Once this is over, I’ll show you exactly how I plan to deal with you!”

In truth, Kent had never had any serious grudge against Darkya.

But this was different.

If two children quarreled, that was one thing.

If an adult stepped in to help his own child win the fight, that was another matter entirely.

At this point, Kent no longer cared whether revealing the answer meant exposing part of the secret.

The First Elder remained silent for a long time.

Finally, several words emerged from his mouth.

“Then tell us.”

His face had gone pale.

The fact that Kent dared curse them so openly meant that he was almost certainly confident in his answer.

Even so, the First Elder still wanted to gamble.

Ancient Elven script was not something just anyone could recognize.

And Kent was merely a human boy.

What chance could he possibly have?

What the First Elder did not know was that the scroll contained far more than its written text.

Had he not been so overconfident and had instead simply written down a few obscure ancient Elven characters for Kent to identify, Kent would have been completely helpless.

But how could the First Elder possibly have known that the scroll contained such hidden mysteries?

Had he known about the spiritual imprint sealed within it, no amount of persuasion would ever have convinced him to hand the scroll to Kent.

And if he ever learned in the future exactly what Kent had obtained from it...

he might very well die of rage on the spot.

Kent glanced around the room.

Everyone was watching him with intense curiosity.

The other dark elf elders, meanwhile, could barely hide their satisfaction.

If Kent answered correctly, the First Elder’s reputation would suffer an even heavier blow.

Kent slowly walked toward him.

Then, in complete contrast to his earlier shouting, he spoke calmly.

“First Elder, there are two things you should never have done.”

“First, you should never have blindly listened to Darkya.”

“From beginning to end, the wager between her and me was little more than a joke.”

Kent glanced toward Darkya.

“If I had truly intended to enforce it seriously, do you think she would still be wandering around freely?”

Darkya’s expression changed slightly.

Kent then turned his gaze back to the First Elder.

“And second, from today onward, you should remember a saying.”

“There is always someone greater beyond the one you know, and always a heaven beyond the heavens.”

His tone remained calm, but every word landed heavily.

“This ancient Elven script is indeed extremely obscure.”

“I doubt more than a handful of people in this room can recognize it.”

He paused.

“Unfortunately for you...”

“I happen to be one of them.”

The First Elder’s expression stiffened.

Kent continued.

“This scroll records an exceptionally valuable alchemical formula.”

“The creation described within it is called the Sky Eye.”

The room instantly fell silent.

Kent did not explain further.

Instead, he looked directly at the First Elder and gave a faint smile.

“As for how the Sky Eye is refined and what exactly it is used for...”

“I don’t think I need to say any more.”

His smile deepened.

“I’m sure you don’t want me revealing the details to everyone here either, do you, First Elder?”

“You... you...”

The First Elder’s face had turned an ugly shade of purple.

“I lost.”

The moment he heard Kent’s answer, all the strength seemed to drain from his body.

Yet the way he looked at Kent was complicated.

There was bewilderment in his eyes.

And, surprisingly, a trace of gratitude.

What he could not understand was how Kent had managed to recognize the ancient Elven script when even he himself could not fully decipher it.

But at the same time, he was grateful that Kent had not revealed the actual contents of the scroll.

After all, the Sky Eye was one of the secrets of the dark elf race.

Had its details been exposed publicly today, the First Elder would have been in very serious trouble.

“Darkya, let’s go.”

Kent walked over to Darkya, who was still standing there in a daze.

“What are you waiting for?”

Before she could react, he wrapped an arm around her slender waist and pulled her close.

The gesture looked almost like a public declaration:

She’s mine now.

The grin on Kent’s face was shamelessly smug.

Unfortunately, there was one small problem.

Darkya was actually taller than he was.

Standing like this with his arm around her waist was not nearly as comfortable or impressive as Kent had imagined.

Then, just as he was about to leave, Kent suddenly turned back.

“Oh, right, First Elder.”

“If you ever manage to gather all the materials needed to refine a Sky Eye, I can make one for you free of charge.”

Kent smiled broadly.

“After all, we’re practically family now, aren’t we?”

The magical contract between Kent and Darkya had already taken effect.

Darkya clearly did not want to leave with him.

Unfortunately for her, the contract would not allow her body to simply ignore its terms.

No matter how unwilling she was, she found herself following Kent.

Kent kept one arm firmly around her waist as he led her toward the door.

And even then, he did not forget to throw one final remark over his shoulder just to irritate the First Elder.

The words, however, left everyone in the room stunned.

Free of charge?

Kent could actually refine the Sky Eye?

No one quite knew what to make of that.

“Hahahaha!”

“Hahahahahaha!”

Not long after Kent left, the dwarves, gnome, and humans gradually departed as well.

Soon, only the dark elf elders and City Lord Hel remained inside the hall.

For several moments, everyone simply looked at one another.

Then the First Elder suddenly shut the door.

He ordered the guards outside not to allow anyone to enter.

And then—

he burst into laughter.

Loud, delighted laughter.

The other elders stared at him as though he had gone insane.

“Has the First Elder finally lost his mind?”

The Third Elder looked thoroughly baffled.

The Second Elder was just as confused.

He studied the First Elder’s suddenly radiant expression and replied uncertainly,

“Could be.”

“If you were defeated by a boy barely in his teens in front of that many people, how would you react?”

“Bullshit!”

The First Elder immediately rounded on them.

“I made a fortune today, you pack of fools!”

The elders froze.

The First Elder sneered.

“You really thought I would casually take out something like that scroll and use it in a wager?”

“Let me tell you something, you idiots.”

“This was arranged by Her Majesty the Empress.”

The room fell silent.

The First Elder’s expression turned serious.

“If we dark elves ever want to return to the surface one day, that human boy you just saw may very well be our hope.”

The elders’ expressions changed at once.

The First Elder continued.

“The alchemical formula recorded on that scroll is something even Her Majesty cannot refine.”

“And what did that boy say before he left?”

“He said he would refine it for me free of charge.”

He gave a cold snort.

“Hmph.”

“Forget me.”

“Compared with that boy, none of you are worth much either.”

The other elders’ expressions immediately became unpleasant.

But the First Elder did not care.

“That boy is only a Level Two mage.”

“And officially, he is still nothing more than a low-ranking alchemist.”

“Yet with that level of strength, he helped wipe out hundreds of thousands of kobolds.”

He swept his gaze across the room.

“Tell me.”

“Which one of you could have done the same?”

No one answered.

“And then there are the Bread Trees.”

The First Elder’s voice grew heavier.

“You really think Bread Trees can survive simply because you pour Water of Life on them?”

He shook his head.

“Without wood-element mana, they cannot properly grow at all.”

Several elders stiffened.

The First Elder continued before they could interrupt.

“And there is something else.”

“Keta’s second awakening.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Do you know how that happened?”

The room went completely silent.

The First Elder had already been irritated by the Third Elder’s earlier mocking remark.

Now that the doors were closed, he no longer bothered restraining himself.

He cursed freely, then proceeded to reveal one shocking fact after another.

Only now did the others finally understand.

The First Elder had been acting.

At least part of everything that had happened had been deliberate.

The argument.

The wager.

The mysterious scroll.

All of it had served another purpose.

The Third Elder’s expression became extraordinarily complicated.

After a long silence, he finally asked in a low voice,

“Don’t tell me... Keta’s second awakening was also because of that boy?”

“Exactly.”

The First Elder nodded.

“It happened because of him.”

“The moment I arrived in Muan City, Keta personally told me everything that happened.”

His expression turned grave.

“But the full details must be reported to Her Majesty immediately.”

“If you want to know more, go ask Keta yourselves.”

He paused, then gave the elders a warning look.

“But listen carefully.”

“Not a word of what I’ve told you today is to leave this room.”

Then he took out a Message Stone.

“This was sent by Her Majesty herself.”

With that, the First Elder hurried away.

Judging by the speed of his departure, he was clearly going to report back to the Dark Elf Empress at once.

The remaining elders stood in silence.

Their expressions were miserable.

Just moments ago, they had thought the First Elder was finished.

They had believed they were witnessing his reputation collapse in front of everyone.

But now...

it turned out the entire affair had been planned from the beginning.

The Third Elder watched as the Second Elder finished examining the Message Stone.

He could no longer restrain himself.

“What does it say?”

The elders exchanged looks, all of them suddenly feeling far less pleased with themselves than before.