"Who could kill them?" Old Tony's hands trembled slightly as he held *The Mystery of Magic*.

"It was Ainz Ooal Gown's people," Barrett answered for EeDeChi.

"The king of the Sorcerer Kingdom, that demon god?" Old Tony seemed to realize something. "No wonder you believe in the existence of 10th and 11th Tier magic. Even bards spinning myths only dare to go up to 9th Tier magic."

He placed *The Mystery of Magic* on the oak table, the heavy, ancient book causing ripples in the red tea-filled porcelain cups. For the top-tier human mages, whose combined wisdom produced this book, in the shadow of Ainz Ooal Gown, it felt as insignificant as toilet paper.

"Give it up; you can't learn 10th Tier magic," Old Tony said softly. "That's the realm of gods, untouchable by mortals."

Many mages had approached the ruins of the war between the kingdom and the Sorcerer Kingdom with skepticism, investigating the blurred lines of legend and reality. After confirming the terrifying magic Ainz Ooal Gown unleashed was indeed real, he had transformed in their minds into a god of magic, a cruel and merciless deity.

"On what grounds do you say I'm not a god?" EeDeChi leaned back in the wool chair, asking.

"Don't kid around; you a god? You're just a bit more talented," Old Tony mocked. "Would a god sit in a soft chair with us? Roast by the fireplace? Drink red tea? And not even notice the tea has been expired for a month?"

EeDeChi paused, while Barrett quickly spat the tea he had just sipped back into the porcelain cup.

"Why'd you spit it out?" Old Tony complained. "I put freshness magic on the tea. Barrett, do you believe your teammate is a god?"

"Me?" Barrett glanced at EeDeChi. To him, this quirky and unlikable leader displayed power that far exceeded the realm of "human." While EeDeChi looked and acted like any other human, Barrett leaned towards believing she was an ancient dragon transformed into human form.

Dragons masquerading as humans in human towns, though rare, are not just a figment of imagination. Barrett once teamed up with a half-dragon for an adventure.

The half-dragon's backstory was quite tragic. His father was a juvenile black dragon who transformed into human form. Out of curiosity, he traveled to human cities, and during his journey, he forcefully raped a tavern maid. Fifteen months later, the maid gave birth to the half-dragon but died during childbirth.

image [https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ca3797_c0312bb23e6747a69f952221f8b269d8~mv2.webp/v1/fill/w_1024,h_1024,al_c/ca3797_c0312bb23e6747a69f952221f8b269d8~mv2.webp]

In the adventurer community, there's a half-true, half-fake story about a group of orichalcum-level adventurers who went dragon hunting and found a cute little girl in a valley near a dragon's lair. The girl claimed she was kidnapped from a nearby village by the dragon and had escaped while it slept, so the adventurers let her guide them.

However, under the full moon that night, the girl spread her wings and transformed into a dragon. With a fierce breath of fire, she burned the sleeping adventurers alive, leaving only one who had wandered off to relieve himself to escape, creating a chilling tale that circulated among adventurers.

After spending time with EeDeChi, Barrett didn't believe she was a brutal dragon. While she exhibited many dragon traits—like impatience, decisiveness, arrogance, and self-importance—she wasn't at the level of breathing fire just yet, which gave Barrett some peace of mind.

After a moment of thought, Barrett said to old Tony, "I believe she has talents that far surpass ordinary people. She might be an ancient dragon."

"I'm a genuine human, not a dragon," EeDeChi frowned.

Old Tony stroked his goatee and replied, "The magic we use is classified by its rules and power into tiers: 1st Tier, 2nd Tier, 3rd Tier, and so on, which is why we call it Tier Magic. But before Tier Magic, the world was ruled by the Wild Magic of the dragons."

His voice suddenly took on a long, echoing quality, tinged with a sense of nostalgia. "When I was young, I was once captivated by ancient legends, longing to find lost magical incantations, even venturing into the ruins of the Eight Greed Kings desert. The secrets buried in those old parchment scrolls consumed me.

"Legend has it that over five hundred years ago, eight emperors descended upon the world and, with their unmatched power, altered the rules of magic. From then on, Tier Magic flourished while Wild Magic faded away, leaving only the Dragon Lord able to wield the real Wild Magic.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Unlike Tier Magic, which is driven by magical and mental energy, Wild Magic is directly powered by the dragon's soul. The Wild Magic refers to mastering the essence of the world. It's said that the stronger the user's soul, the more powerful the magic, even surpassing Tier Magic."

He looked at EeDeChi and said, "If you want to learn 10th-tier magic, besides Ainz Ooal Gown, there's probably no one who can teach you. You might as well study Wild Magic. It's cheaper to learn and yields faster results, ha ha."

Old Tony chuckled, clearly skeptical about EeDeChi's talent for studying 10th-tier magic.

He said, "Can I borrow this book, *The Mystery of Magic*, for a few days? I can write some annotations on key points in it for you and throw in a few maps from my youth exploring the Eight Greed Kings desert. You might find them useful."

"Sure," EeDeChi agreed, sinking deeper into the plush wool chair, bowing her head in silence as she began to contemplate old Tony's words.

The flames in the fireplace danced silently, casting a golden glow on the faces of the three. The living room fell into a comfortable silence.

Barrett couldn't stand the stillness. With a few people lounging comfortably in chairs, warmed by the fire and sipping sweetened red tea (even if it was stale), the adventurer spirit called for chatter—discussing everything from ancient history to wild stories, and maybe even sharing a bottle of good wine.

He tried to break the silence, saying, "Old Tony, why are you so close to Princess Renner? What's with that medical fund contract and your promise to help Brain win the Warrior Captain position? Don't you remember? One of the adventurer's codes is not to meddle in the power struggles of the elite. We are adventurers, not mercenaries."

Old Tony's gaze shifted from the open *The Mystery of Magic* as he looked around the living room, ensuring that it was just the three of them. He lowered his voice and asked, "Do you think Eddie is my real nephew?"

Barrett and EeDeChi exchanged puzzled glances. Old Tony was over sixty, while Eddie was around fourteen or fifteen; by age alone, it didn't match the usual uncle-nephew relationship.

They wondered what the connection was between old Tony's medical fund contract with Princess Renner and Eddie. Could Eddie have royal blood? Was he an illegitimate child of some noblewoman?

What if Eddie was a prince abandoned in his childhood due to palace intrigue, only to be taken in and raised by old Tony?

The reason old Tony only recognizes Eddie as his nephew and not as his son is to remind Eddie that he carries the blood of kings and that one day he must reclaim his rightful power and position! Was this plotline a bit too dramatic?

EeDeChi and Barrett looked up at old Tony in unison. EeDeChi rubbed her hands together and said, "If there's any secret, you have to share it with us. We promise we won't tell anyone. Is this a story of a prince's revenge? I can't wait!"

Barrett added earnestly, "old Tony, remember, when you're rich and famous, don't forget your old friends. If you become the next king's mentor, or even the royal court's chief magician, don't forget about me, your old buddy who used to fight you for oats in the stable. When the food pouch got lost, I let you have more oats since you were older."

"What are you two even thinking?" Old Tony covered his face. "Eddie is the son of my brother—not my blood brother, but a close friend from my hometown. He's like family to me. Just like you, my brother's an adventurer."

His tone turned heavy, and the smile faded from his face, replaced by sadness: "Eight years ago, I was traveling outside the kingdom when I suddenly received word from another mage that my brother's adventurer party had been ambushed by a gnoll tribe while crossing the Wild Rainforest. Only three of them were left, gravely wounded and barely alive."

"They barely escaped to a small town, desperately needing help. All the adventurers there, whether they knew each other or not, pooled their money to buy a vial of mandrake root revitalizer from a traveling merchant. If they had that revitalizer, they could save my brother's life.

"But they were just three gold coins short. The merchant refused to sell the potion, leading to a heated argument between the adventurers and the merchant's guards." Old Tony sighed deeply. "During the scuffle, the vial was accidentally shattered— the only one they had. As a result, my brother didn't survive.

"When I reached the town, my brother had already passed away from his illness, and his wife had been killed by a gnoll in the forest. I only saw a little boy kneeling by the grave, just six years old—my brother's only son, Eddie Hill. I took Eddie home and raised him as his uncle.

"Just three gold coins, just three gold coins," Old Tony murmured, "I would've sold my soul to the devil for those three coins, but… there was no chance.

"Since then, I've been thinking: we adventurers can't keep lingering on the fringes of society. I eventually became the guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild in the capital. As the nobles and royalty began their power struggles, I saw an opportunity, and Princess Renner reached out to me.

"The Golden Princess needs us, and we need her. I hope to use Princess Renner's influence to establish a medical fund in the kingdom, so adventurers will never be three gold coins short again…"

Barrett and EeDeChi exchanged serious looks. They had wondered why old Tony was so close to Princess Renner, but they hadn't expected such a heartbreaking story behind it.

Suddenly, old Tony's voice dropped, then fell silent, as if something had cut off his words like a river dammed.

Barrett and EeDeChi followed old Tony's gaze and saw one of the protagonists of the sad story—Eddie standing by the living room door, leaning against the frame, staring blankly at them.

"Eddie." Old Tony sighed, straightening up in his woolen chair and opening his arms.

The boy with light brown hair ran over, on the verge of tears, and collapsed into his embrace. Old Tony hugged him tightly, pulling him into his warm arms.

EeDeChi and Barrett felt a pang in their hearts; the bond between uncle and nephew was undeniably touching and bittersweet.

Then they watched as Old Tony sat Eddie on his lap and started spanking him, "For sneaking sips of the red tea! How dare you eat something expired! What if you get a stomachache…"