Chapter 63 - Good News

It has been a few days since Wesley finished the final channel's transformation.

A dark-winged Wesley was flying all over the basement with a look of elation on his face. Normally, Wesley only spent a few hours getting used to each of his other spells. However, he had spent almost half a day with this one.

There were two reasons for this. First, Wesley was really excited about this spell. Flying is often a distant dream for mages who are not wind mages or elders. However, Wesley was now able to fly around, and this brought out his childish tendencies, which he often tried to suppress.

The second reason is that this specific spell was slightly different from the others Wesley had learned. Unlike Dark Spike and Dark Pillar, which only needed to be cast, this spell required constant mana to be maintained. This meant that Wesley had to expend his own mana to keep his wings intact.

After Wesley discovered this small fact, he instantly had an idea. He could no longer use Refining Darkness lately because his refining speed had exceeded the rate at which his Dark Domain used mana.

Even with his reduced mana refining speed, Wesley's spells required smaller amounts of mana compared to before. He attributed this to the possibility that his new mana core was more efficient.

Now, Wesley faced a choice between increasing the size of his Dark Domain, increasing the amount of mana he expended, or using another spell that consumed mana at a faster rate.

The first option wasn’t viable because Wesley had no more space. The second option was better, but Wesley chose the third option. He would use Dark Wing in place of Dark Domain. This was not only more fun than just sitting around, but he also got to become proficient in this spell.

Wesley was flying from one end of the basement to the other. He would twist and glide occasionally, maneuvering around quite nimbly. Wesley's Dark Wing was fundamentally different from the Wind Wing it was derived from.

Because Wesley's wings were made from dark elements, they were more solid than their wind counterpart, which was somewhat ethereal and translucent. The solid nature of Wesley's wings slowed him down in comparison to the wind wings, but he gained something else.

Wesley’s wings had more uses than their wind counterparts. He came up with the idea to use his wings to wrap around him and act as a shield. This was only possible because of the solid nature of his wings.

Wesley also learned to use his wings for attacking. Although he had his sword and other spells for that, it was nice to have some tricks to surprise his enemies with.

Wesley, who was jubilantly flying around the basement, suddenly stopped midair as his wings continued flapping. He noticed some slight mana fluctuations in a corner of the basement. However, before Wesley could cancel the spell, a dark-robed Neal emerged from the ground.

The moment Neal emerged, his eyes landed on Wesley, who was midair with ten-foot-long dark wings. A look of astonishment appeared on his face as he stared at Wesley. Even though it was somewhat dark in the basement, Neal was able to clearly see those wings.

Neal was very knowledgeable. As an earth mage, he knew that wings were a trademark of wind mages. Wind mages often relied on their flying abilities to neutralize the abilities of earth mages like him.

However, he also knew that Wesley was a dark mage, and although they had never really discussed it, Neal knew from the first time he met Wesley and walked in on his practice session. But Wesley had wings... Could he be a wind mage?

Neal instinctively opened his mouth to ask Wesley. However, before he could speak, Wesley's feet touched the floor and the wings disintegrated into nothingness. He immediately spoke with some laughter:

"Neal. You should really stop barging in on me like this. Haha."

Neal just looked oddly at Wesley. Clearly Wesley was focusing on the wrong thing. He once again tried speaking, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he was interrupted by Wesley again:

"Haha, any news regarding our phantom family heads."

Wesley's blatant attempts to change the subject knocked Neal out of his stupor. He remembered how mysterious and secretive Wesley is. As such, he immediately put the question regarding Wesley's magic in the back of his head and ordered his thoughts.

He immediately spoke with his usual whisper like voice:

"No sign of the two family heads. Everyone believes that they were killed."

Wesley was quiet for a moment. His smile seemingly gone and a frown in its place. Wesley hated the feeling of not having any information about his enemy as it put him in an exceedingly disadvantageous position.

He looked at Neal after a few moments and spoke:

"I refuse to believe that they have disappeared into thin air. Anything odd with the four families? They must need to use their families' connections if they want to make a move."

"The two family heads have truly disappeared. However, I did receive some odd reports a few days ago."

Wesley's eyes lit up some. He immediately spoke with some excitement:

"What did they say?"

"Remember how, aside from the Kader family, I planted some agents in the manors of the other families?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I received reports from all of them saying the same thing. A few children disappeared without a trace from each of the families."

Wesley became quiet as he started thinking. The disappearance of these children could mean one of two things. One was great news, while the other was terrible news. Wesley spoke again:

"Do you have any details regarding these children?"

Neal thought for a moment and then replied:

"They were all direct descendants. They were also fairly talented, and a few of them were even hailed as geniuses."

"Neal, as far as I see it, this can mean one of two things. First, the two family heads have run away and taken some promising children with them to safeguard that their families' bloodlines are passed on. This would be extremely good news for you. However...."

Wesley stopped speaking as a deep frown appeared on his face. Neal was quick to catch up to Wesley's thinking and immediately spoke with a similarly deep frown:

"However, it could also mean that they are hiding their promising youths and preparing for an all-out assault."

"Hmm."

Wesley simply nodded his head as he stared at Neal thoughtfully. However, to his surprise, Neal was now smiling slightly. This caused Wesley to wonder as he spoke:

"What are you so happy about?"

Neal just continued smiling at Wesley with an odd look on his face. This was the kind of look an adult would have if they saw a child thinking too hard about a simple problem. He let out a small chuckle and spoke:

"Wesley. You are thinking too pessimistically. I believe the first scenario is the truth."

Wesley was dumbfounded. How could he be thinking pessimistically. He reached this conclusion after thinking about everything that was happening. Wasn't Neal being too optimistic.

Neal simply continued speaking:

"The first scenario is simply more probable than the second."

"How so."

Wesley simply couldn’t see what Neal was seeing. Neal's smile simply got broader as he spoke:

"For the second scenario to be true two things must be true. First, the Kader family must be aware that our Black Family were behind the attacks. As far as we know, this might not be true."

Neal paused slightly as if to see if Wesley was seeing what he was implying. Wesley, however, just stared at him confused so Neal continued speaking:

"Second, They must be aware of the specifics of the contingency plan. Only if these two things were true could we justify them preparing for an all out assault. However, this can't be the case because if they knew of the contingency plan, then they would realize that it is only a smokescreen for us to escape. There is simply no way they would waste so much effort."

Neal continued speaking while his smile got bigger and bigger. He seemed to enjoy seeing something that Wesley couldn’t:

"Also, considering that the four families have tremendous wealth and even an Elder at their disposal; they simply don't need to go through all this trouble to deal with us. Don't you think so."

Wesley's furrows that were scrunched relaxed and his eyes shone with a bright light. Neal's words were reasonable and made sense in this situation. As he heard Neal's explanation, Wesley felt like he understood something. He has been somewhat cynical and somewhat inclined towards the worst case scenario. His fear that the kids might be hurt clouded his judgment and led his vision to narrow.

Wesley looked at Neal with an understanding light in his eyes as he spoke:

"The four families had no idea who was attacking them. And even if they discovered that some power was working behind the scenes, and had some suspicion regarding your Black Family, they still had no concrete information. After all, I was the only one who acted and your Black Family never did anything suspicious."

Neal smiled and nodded as he spoke:

"Indeed. Given all these factors. The first scenarios is the most probable. The two family heads probably retreated fearing that whoever the third party that was attacking them was too strong."

"You already knew this didn’t you. Why stress me when you could've just told me."

Wesley spoke with a frown that was more of a pout than a frown. It was clear that Neal already reached this conclusion before he came, meaning that he was simply making fun of Wesley.

Neal just laughed and spoke:

"Haha. I did intend to tell you. But it is was too tempting to see you stumped for a moment."

Wesley just turned around and walked towards the exit to the basement in anger. However, he spoke while walking:

"This means we can slightly relax now. But, try finding those two remaining heads. I don't like leaving an enemy roaming around in the shadows. That is how we got the four families in the first place"

"I know."

Wesley simply continued walking towards the exit without even looking back. If he had looked back, he would have seen Neal smiling towards him.