In reality, the waif balm was an airborne gas that would deviously stay dormant in a victim's body. It would then be triggered by the poisoner on cue, immobilizing the victim's senses and their body, leaving them at the mercy of the poisoner.And yet, what made the waif balm formidable was not the waif balm itself, but its potency as a medium. The poisoner would use it to facilitate delivering the real poison or something that could hurt the victim from the inside, all while the victim remained clueless.At that point, even Ascendant-ranked elites would have trouble escaping.Nonetheless, Frank only knew about the waif balm when he read it by chance from an old text.He was certainly not capable of brewing anything that could incapacitate Ascendant-ranked individuals at that time, but the scent described in that text was exactly the scent he was smelling now.There was no chance of him mistaking it.Hence, Frank quickly sat down in meditation, directing his pure vigor throughout
Frank had really thought that he had to be discreet, but there was no point for that now.The three parties—or four, including Mobius—were each plotting to be the winner who took it all, be it the spiritron vein or the natural wonders.And seeing Ms. Quill's glare of contempt, he was even more sure that the young woman knew him.Still, Frank did not hesitate.Since her sentries were some distance away and busy keeping the Clear Winds Pavilion apprentices at bay, he leapt up and seized Ms. Quill by the collar, snapping coolly, "Who are you? Why do you know me?!""Let her go!"The sentries panicked when they turned and saw Frank seizing their charge, and they charged toward him right then."Stand back!"Frank snapped coolly as he wrapped his fingers around Ms. Quill's neck. "Any closer, and I'll snap her throat!""How dare you!""You'd better think about this, kid!""Yeah… if you lay so much as a finger on her, you're a dead man!""There won't be a place for you in Draconia i
Standing in the distance, Titus shook his head and sighed at how brutal Frank was. "Mr. Lawrence, as a fellow man, I think you should show some chivalry. Ms. Quill is born a beauty, but you'd trample all over her so ruthlessly? It's honestly disappointing…""What's it to you?! Fuck off!"Frank was just seeing red because of Ms. Quill's foul attitude and was especially indignant that Titus would use the fact to poke fun at him now.Titus glowered at Frank's outburst in turn."Frank Lawrence! How dare you insult Mr. Lionheart!"Azar Salor, the chief of Clear Winds Pavilion, certainly would not pass up the chance to lick Titus' boots, even asking him, "Mr. Lionheart, please give Clear Winds Pavilion your permission to subdue that insolent wretch!""Go."Titus did not stop Azar this time.For one, he was actually a little upset by Frank's insolence.While he was also curious to see the depth of Frank's strength with this, it also went without saying that if Frank or Azar killed Ms
Eventually, giving in to the imminent threat of death, Ms. Quill growled through her teeth, "My grandfather is Governor Quill!" Azar, who was still holding up his knuckle, seemed to freeze right then.As such, when Ms. Quill turned, she found Azar only staring fixedly straight ahead, still poised for attack but stiff like a statue."Hmph!"Ms. Quill laughed coolly as she looked on, pursing her lips. "At least you know your place. If you lay a finger on me, my grandfather will destroy everyone in this room!"However, while Ms. Quill was relishing in the delight of making Azar back off, Frank scowled and snapped at her, "Shut up.""You shut up!"Ms. Quill could not care less now that she had played her trump card, smirking as she glared at Frank. "The same goes for you too! If you touch me again—""I'm telling you to shut up! Don't breathe!" Frank snapped viciously.Ms. Quill flinched and quickly clasped a hand over her mouth.It was only then that she realized Frank had alrea
"Oh, but I will keep talking about your mom! Go on, hit me if you can!"Ms. Quill was endlessly pompous, dead sure that Frank was at a disadvantage, even fearing her family background and not daring to hurt her again.Why else would Frank release her?Still, despite Ms. Quill's ignorance, Frank's rage slowly eased into peace.Having used all his idle time to train, he was not his previous impulsive self.While he was still livid to hear someone insult his mother, he could at least control himself now.He then spoke calmly, as if it had nothing to do with him. "Right now, you're breathing an airborne form of poison that carries a type of bug called the brocade mite. Azar Salor there has been charging his pure vigor repeatedly, hastening their hatching in his body. "So I'd advise you to quit hollering—the louder you are, the more you'd breathe in the poison, and the more mites would infest your body."Seeing Ms. Quill frown, Frank narrowed his eyes. "By the way, I'm only telling
As Frank stared fixedly at Ms. Quill, he asked, "If I'm guessing right, it took no effort for you to get both of these, right?""How'd you know?"Ms. Quill did a double take but soon glowered and held out a hand at Frank. "Return the spiritron vein and the Celestial Dew to me! They're both mine!""Yours?"Frank laughed despite himself at the young woman's unreasonable attitude, shaking his head. "You're still worried that I'm having them, even now. You're just a mouse that has fallen into a trap but is still more concerned if the cheese is real. Honestly, you're as dumb as you look."Frank's insult left Ms. Quill scowling.On the other hand, Titus was glowering from some distance away and demanded loudly, "Frank Lawrence! What proof do you have that this room is poisoned?""He's just trying to steal my treasures for himself!" Ms. Quill butted in. "We should be taking him down right now! Anything else can wait!""Shut up!" Titus snapped at her right then."What…"Ms. Quill was
Even Ms. Quill could see the swarms of brocade mites crawling all over Azar's body.Her face turned pale, and she would have pathetically collapsed on the floor if one of her sentinels had not caught her in time."So? Weren't you saying something about me tricking children?"Frank turned to flash a gleeful smile at Ms. Quill, who clasped her hand over her mouth, unable to speak.Still, feeling that this was not enough, he picked up a machete off the floor and raised it into the air.Then, as Titus looked on in shock and as Ms. Quill watched in terror, he sliced through the wrist of Azar's outstretched knuckle.Blood ejected violently, and soon, an entire colony of white brocade mites came scuttering off the stump, dropping all over the floor."Argh!!!"Ms. Quill's scream resounded even through her fingers.It was such a harrowing sight and certainly not something a young woman raised in an ivory tower like herself could accept.In fact, even Titus was glowering in the distanc
It was Mobius, who had invited Frank here, and he was clapping as he approached Frank."Beautiful… beautiful," he said, his accent suddenly free of stammer and smooth as if he were a Draconian."Hmph."Frank snorted coolly. "And here I thought you'd keep hiding. Can't resist showing your face, huh?""You're right." Mobius sighed, shaking his head. "I thought you'd all fight each other to the death over the spiritron vein and the Celestial Dew and that I just had to watch in secret. I really didn't expect you to see through my ploy as soon as you came in."Frank chuckled icily. "So? Did you come just to flatter me?""No, of course not."Mobius shook his head, his smile turning sinister and his tone cool. "I would've claimed the bounty on your head along with the spiritron vein and the Celestial Dew, but it seems that you're a very careful person."And in that case, I'll just have to do it myself."Mobius then drew a rapier from his suit, brandishing it at Frank's face as he sna