Chapter 547: Unfathomable
After keeping away all the books inside the library, Hudson and Adam went to the next room. This one was a vault filled with gold, silver, and copper coins. Apart from that, there were gems and jewelry of all types that shone brilliantly.
Furthermore, there were rare ores and minerals that could be used to craft magical artifacts.
Since an accurate value of all the gems and jewelry could not be estimated in a short time, Hudson suggested that he would take them away and have an appraiser from the Brotherhood evaluate them.
Adam could only reluctantly agree. However, he made sure to take twenty-five percent of all the coins inside the vault.
The amount of coins that were now piled up inside his earring made him question his profession. He wondered if he should quit making money as a Herbalist and instead start raiding ancient tombs and ruins.
From this mission, even though he only received twenty-five percent of all the loot, he made exponentially more than he did by selling potions.
And this was without taking the gems and jewelry into consideration.
However, no one was more happy than Valerian. After all, he would get a certain portion from Adam's cut.
The youth also had to give some form of monetary rewards to his students as well as Kenley and Wagner. After all, they had gone through thick and thin and helped him in completing this mission.
When the pair arrived at the third room, they found it to be a laboratory. Although Stratford wasn't a Herbalist by profession, his knowledge of the art of herbalism was quite deep since he had taken it upon himself to cure his wife.
All the precious and rare herbs stored in this room had already withered away over the centuries. No spells could protect them against the ravages of time.
Finally, when they arrived at the fourth room, they found it to be mostly empty. Except there was a single, withered tree resting in the middle.
Adam urged Valerian to walk toward the tree. The youth glanced at the face carved on the tree's trunk and sighed, "The cause of everything... love."
"What do you mean?" Hudson asked curiously as he approached the withered tree.
In his eyes, this tree was no different from all the weeping trees above the ground. The only difference was, that this tree seemed to have been given proper care and maintenance.
"This tree used to be Stratford's wife," said the youth.
"What?!" Hudson's pupils constricted.
Adam then began telling him what he had seen when he had cast Chimerical at Stratford. In the end, Hudson couldn't help but speak with complicated emotions, "The things people do for love..."
Sensing something strange, the youth glanced at him and asked, "Are you married?" "Divorced," Hudson chuckled.
He paused for a moment and added, "Thrice."
Adam's lips twitched incessantly as he gazed at the man with a dumbfounded look.
As the pair walked out of the room, Hudson asked him with a knowing smile, "Brother Adam, do you have someone you like? Come to think of it, you're already at the age where you should get married."
Adam shook his head with a dry smile, "I don't wish to get entangled in matters like these. It will only weigh me down."
In the memories of the experts that he had absorbed, he had seen several of them falling in love and getting married to beautiful, powerful, and respectable women.
However, in the end, they would grow to outlive their partners and be devastated as a result. This trauma would in turn affect their advancement to the next rank.
The journey toward the top was a lonely one.
Hudson asked him with a dubious look, "So you don't like anyone? Surely there must be someone."
"There is." Adam nodded with a genuine smile. "Magic."
"I am but a humble seeker of the Way, concerned with only studying the arcane arts," he added.
Hudson was taken aback and he involuntarily stopped in his footsteps. As he saw Adam's departing back, he felt like he was looking straight at a mountain.
Vast and unfathomable!
The man now truly understood why Adam had so many great accomplishments at such a young age.
"Seeker of the Way..." he repeated the youth's words in a daze.
...
Outside, in the cavernous hall, Kenley and Wagner had already arrived. When they saw Adam sitting on Valerian's back, exiting the room, they hurriedly ran toward him.
They placed their right hand on their chest and knelt on one knee, solemnly and respectfully stating, "Lord Constantine, we congratulate you on defeating the enemy."
Adam continued to sip from his wine gourd, waving his hand nonchalantly at the pair. "What's gotten into you both? Don't act so formal with me. Get on your feet."
The pair got to their feet and gazed at the youth with great admiration. Defeating a Rank 3 Magus was no ordinary feat.
And defeating a Rank 3 Magus as a Rank 2 Magus was simply unheard of!
So the way that they looked at Adam had now completely changed. The respect that they showed him was no different than what they would display to a mighty Rank 3 Magus. Hudson approached them and asked, "Have you led the refugees back safely?"
"Yes, my lord," said Kenley respectfully.
He paused for a moment and asked hesitatingly, "My Lord, there are so many of them and it will be very difficult for them to relocate..."
Hudson nodded. "I understand what you're trying to say." He then looked at Adam's three students standing in the distance.
Then, he looked at Adam and gestured with his eyes.
Adam understood. He glanced at his students and stated, "You three, go back up. I'll catch up
with you later."
"Yes, Professor!" Art, Aiden, and Eleiney complied without asking any questions before leaving the chamber.
After the kids had left and only the members of the Brotherhood-and Valerian-remained, Hudson glanced at Kenley and stated, "The people won't have to relocate. The twenty five percent that would have been redistributed to the common folk will go toward rebuilding the
town."
Everyone agreed. They felt this was the best option for the townsfolk who now had no home
to go to.
"As for this underground ruin," Hudson continued.
"We will transform this into a new safe house for the members of the Twilight Brotherhood!"