Chapter 57 - 57 Testing 1
There was a reason why these five men would team up.
They all shared one thing in common in their behavior: they all seemed zany and silly.
They were easily driven by petty interests, they tended to bully the weak and fear the strong, were quick to concede, and seemed gutsy and brainless.
In a nutshell, they were not like the true fifth-level qualification geniuses at
Link, however, didn’t underestimate them because of this.
One person acting like a fool could be due to poor family conditions, developing such a personality from a young age.
TWO people behaving like fools were also possible, as coincidences could occur. But having five people act foolish together was unlikely unless some of them were pretending to be fools.
From beginning to end, the person who interacted directly with Link was always the same.
What did that tell us?
It showed that there was a clear division of work or ranking among the five.
The real fool wouldn’t easily recognize someone as his leader, if he does he will stick to it, loyally.
Whatever the leader says stands.
Even if there were any objections, they would only be expressed in private.
When Link first met these five men, he noticed that the one who spoke out was not the real boss.
After all, the real boss wouldn’t consult his subordinates about anything, his word is final.
So, Link reasonably guessed that these five guys had teamed up for some reason, to stick together for warmth.
There was no leader, everyone was an equal, holding equal status.
They discussed things together and pointed their guns to the outside world together.
It just happened that when they turned outwards towards Link, they were lectured and threatened.
If things ended there, it would have been fine.
They could simply avoid further contact.
If they can’t offend someone, they can avoid them.
However, the five gentlemen ended up digging a hole for Rives Francis and robbed him of his Magic Stone under Link’s threat.
This was like getting caught with your pants down, getting into an awkward situation.
And now, not only has trouble occurred, but they were also reported for being close to Link.
Under the circumstances where the president of the “New Blood Mutual Aid Association” suffered a loss of one vice president and one core member, he will have to do something to emphasize his authority.
The five guys had bad luck, they took a beating because they happened to be in the way.
This undoubtedly damaged the reputation of the five.
Given the behavior exhibited by the five in their daily life, it would not be surprising if they did something shocking.
For example, going to Link, bowing their heads to him, and then encouraging the newly sworn leader to reclaim his territory.
Based on many factors, Link concluded that this was a multilevel test from various parties.
First was the president of the “New Blood Mutual Aid Association”.
Since Link enrolled, he has always been low-key, burying himself in his studies.
Even after being threatened and intimidated by Rives and Erick, he did not retaliate.
This calm lasted for several weeks.
Suddenly, one day, the president was told that his trusted aides, vice president Rives and core member Erick, had been incited by Link and got into trouble. They had internal disputes, fallout, and physical conflicts.
One was locked up by the academy and the future punishment was unknown;
One was burned to become disabled, and the wound was difficult to heal. Not long after, the disabled person failed to retaliate and was killed by Link. At this rate, the president had to be suspicious.
He might suspect that Link joined the archenemy organization of the “New Blood Mutual Aid Association”, or he might suspect that Link wants to forcefully enter the “New Blood Mutual Aid Association” to seize power…
Anyway, no matter what the president suspected, he needed to test Link to see if he could discern Link’s intentions.
In this way, the president could decide the strategy for Link: to hit, to pull or to directly ignore.
The underworld was not just about fistfights; it was a world full of human sentiments.
Next were the five brothers.
Every time they faced Link, he was very dominant. He was the third person to report to the academy for promotion among the new bloods, and his performance was amazing.
Unlike the first person who reported to the academy for promotion, who became arrogant with flattery and didn’t even make it to the top 20 in the midterms.
The five relied on the banner of the “New Blood Mutual Aid Association”, with their high qualifications, life was very enjoyable.
Now they’ve been beaten up by the president and there is no hope to continue under the banner of the “New Blood Mutual Aid Association”.
No matter how high their qualifications are, they are just potential.
If the potential is not realized, it will always remain as potential and will not become strength.
Depend on their current strength; they are not strong enough to do whatever they want among the same batch of new bloods.
Therefore, under someone’s reminder, the five thought of relying on Link.
After all, in the eyes of outsiders, Link is also a tough guy among the fierce ones.
He dared to kill and could be very sinister.
Finally, there was the person who gave the idea to the five, a hidden hand.
This person hides in the shadows and acts mysteriously.
Previously, he did not act against Link, but after the test scores were published, he took the opportunity to plot against Link.
Soliciting the five to join Link was definitely malicious.
Regardless of whether Link agreed to accept five as followers, the other party’s goals had been achieved.
Link guessed that the other party intentionally made him a target so that more new bloods would focus on him.
As for the follow-up, there would definitely be more.
After some thoughts, Link felt that he still couldn’t mess up his own steps; it would be better to remain calm.
Let others be strong, he would be like a breeze blowing on the hillside.
Let others be proud, he would be like the moonlight shining on the river.
As long as Link himself remains stable and does not make mistakes, the opponent will have to make more moves if he fails.
The more moves the other party makes, the more mistakes they will reveal.
By then, Link would be able to find the person behind the scenes who might be targeting him because of the two-section grand competition following the clues.
“That’s settled then.”
Link clapped his hands, having thought things through, and moved on from
the matter of the five coming to “surrender.”
He walked straight into the study and took out all the notes he had taken since enrolling.
After some filtering, Link selected all the content about Runes, Magic
Blueprint, long-term maintenance of Magic Blueprint, Pseudo Destiny Witchcraft.
The practical training benefited Link greatly, not only reflected in the improvement of proficiency in Pseudo Destiny Witchcraft.
It also made Link ponder how to further develop the application of Pseudo Destiny Witchcraft in daily life, academic research, and battle.
He had a vague idea.
This idea flashed in his mind, it might also be the “Talent for Spellcasting” of
“Philius Flitwick” at work.
That was, whether it was possible to embed Pseudo Destiny Witchcraft one or more times when normal casting is about to be completed, to achieve the effect of “Double Casting” or even “Multiple Casting”.
Take the Water Shield Spell for example.
What Link practiced today was “Continuous Casting”, one water shield followed
by another, continuously.
He didn’t practice “Parallel Casting”, that is, several water shields surrounding
him at the same time, guarding all around.
And “Double Casting” was embedding one water shield into another, improving
the Instant Defense Intensity.
This idea was worth exploring..