Chapter 164: Joy
The already famished crowd eagerly accepted the tribe-style food and hot water from the barbarians. They guzzled the hot water while gnawing on the scalding food. Ace watched the lively crowd and felt joy once again.
Giving them a little help also brought him great pleasure. He needed more positive energy and positive emotions to suppress the negative influence of the Abyssal Whispering.
While the crowd was eating, Bayen, wearing a gray robe, covered in dust, and looking weathered but spirited, walked toward Ace.
He bowed to Ace, taking out the replica Grimoire, and said:
“Respected Torch-Bearer, following your guidance, Emissary Bayen has fortunately fulfilled the mission, assisting you in guiding everyone to the new home. I now return the Grimoire to you.”
Saying this, he held the Grimoire flat with both hands and presented it to Ace.
“My Emissary Bayen, you have done well.”
Ace took the replica Grimoire and praised Bayen slightly. He had already noted it in his heart; without needing many words, Bayen would receive everything he deserved in the future Wizard Tower and magical society.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Ace led them into the settlement, which was full of tribal characteristics.
The houses here used wood as skeletons, compacted mud dried in the sun, and then covered with thick thatch on the roof. A layer of fertile mud was brushed over the thatch. After being exposed to the sun, rows of barbarian-style mud huts were built.
The crowd had no time to appreciate this primitive barbarian style. Exhausted, they entered the huts, collapsed onto the thick velvet grass on the mud beds, and fell fast asleep.
Late at night, despite the lively singing and dancing outside, the Wizard Apprentices were all sleeping soundly, showing no signs of waking up.
Although the mirror image had already used the quasi-spell effect of Magical Trickery to discover and eliminate the traitors, adhering to the principle of caution, Ace took advantage of their sleep to use Suggestion + Hammer of Oblivion on each of them again, finally confirming that everyone was indeed safe and reliable.
This surprised him a little. Several suggestions and will checks confirmed that someone like Sulu had not betrayed them.
But upon careful thought, Sulu’s nature was selfish. As a selfish person, cooperating with the Divine Descendants who were hostile to Wizard Apprentices did not align with his interests.
Because he was selfish, unless there was a better alternative or the Wizard faction was completely hopeless, he would remain the loyal Sulu.
Ace ordered people to wake up the apprentices one by one, bringing them to participate in the singing and dancing performance full of primitive customs, relaxing their tension and fear from the journey.
They walked out of the rooms and found the barbarians of the new settlement singing and dancing around a roaring bonfire. Through Ace’s Suggestion and the explanations of the barbarian leaders, they believed that this group of Wizard Apprentices were all disciples of the most powerful Shaman, Ace.
This made them even more respectful and fearful of Ace. They had never seen such a powerful Shaman with nearly a hundred disciples. Privately, they began to call Ace the Grand Shaman.
Because barbarian Shamans were mostly unpredictable, they dared not get too close.
They could only follow the will of Grand Shaman Ace, holding traditional festivals in the open space by the river, singing, dancing, and performing around the bonfire. Although it was a performance, with so many people and such a lively atmosphere, it truly became joyful.
“Only by learning to please oneself can one better study and research.
Combining tension and relaxation can fully mobilize one’s enthusiasm and initiative. Please forget the fatigue of the journey, forget the difficult math problems, forget the runes you can’t analyze, forget the damned Spell Models, and enjoy this primitive joy to the fullest!”
Ace spoke with a joyous tone, combined with his signature spell Suggestion, making all the Wizard Apprentices “voluntarily” join the singing and dancing team.
Watching the crowd immersed in the ocean of joy under his manipulation, Ace smiled happily.
This was the humanity he wanted: controlling the self, possessing great power, considering everything from his own perspective, manipulating others to bring about change little by little, while constantly pleasing his own body and mind.
After this, he spent effort and time hypnotizing the joyful apprentices, barbarians, and the apprentices’ families and friends, and collectively held a magical covenant ritual with the barbarians and the apprentices’ families—the Loyalty and Secrecy Covenant.
According to the covenant, these people would pledge loyalty to Ace and were forbidden from revealing any information about Ace himself, the Wizard collective, the future Wizard Tower, and the magical town. Otherwise, the power of the covenant would harvest their souls.
As the night deepened, the joy by the bonfire gradually ended. Ace looked at the silent settlement, his gaze profound.
Early in the morning, the birds in the valley sang crisply. In the lush primitive jungle, Ace led the group of Wizard Apprentices along the edge of the murmuring stream, walking upstream.
In front of a spacious and quiet clearing, Ace stopped the apprentices.
He chanted in a strange cadence, using a language the crowd didn’t quite understand: “Withered Branches and Grass · Return · Spread Flat · Divide · Transform · Cashmere Rugs.”
Accompanied by the strong mental projection of Ace, whose mental power was infinitely close to the Hero level, and his hands waving with the Mana rhythm, all the surrounding withered wood and grass flew to the clearing, quickly spreading into a thick layer.
Then, they slowly squirmed and merged into a single block, then divided into small pieces. Under the influence of Mana and Ace’s will, they transformed into over a hundred small square rugs, almost covering the clearing.
“Apprentices, please sit.”
Ace stood by the river opposite the rug array, pointing to the rugs in the clearing and speaking to the apprentices.
The Wizard Apprentices sat down in the clearing, somewhat confused. The blonde, twin-tailed Betty was slumped forward in disappointment, her delicate face completely fallen. She hadn’t recovered from the scrapping of Apprentice Model 1.
Warren stared at Ace with great interest. The freckles on his face flushed slightly with excitement. He had a premonition that the Torch-Bearer was about to start lecturing again.
“How does everyone feel about our new home? You can speak freely and relax.”
Ace said warmly, additionally using his customary Suggestion spell to induce the apprentices to speak their true thoughts.
“It’s so desolate here.”
“It has some primitive tribal style, but overall it’s quite barbaric.”
“Very backward. I feel a sense of loss.”
“Are we going to live in this wilderness forever?”
“I really want to go back to the civilized world…”
The apprentices spoke the thoughts from the bottom of their hearts one by one, but they were completely unaware of it.
Ace smiled, listening to their complaints. A new world was essentially a wild land. Having a sense of loss was normal.
“Very good. Everyone is very honest. Sincerity is the foundation of communication. You should maintain this good habit in the future.
You may think this valley is a desolate wilderness, with only a few thousand barbarians who don’t speak the language and are somewhat dull living here, and that our future is to associate with these barbarians in the wilderness.
I want to say, you are wrong!
To you, this is a wild, primitive jungle, but to me, this is a blank canvas!”
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