Andrew raised his head and glanced toward the rear entrance of the Red Cloud Merchant Guild's building, where the voice had originated. He fell into a momentary daze after seeing who had just spoken.
Walking out of the stone building's rear entrance was a person who was a close acquaintance of his from his previous life. She was Freya Mayfair, the rank-one sorcerer managing the Heathgate Border Town's Red Cloud Merchant Guild branch on behalf of the Robinson family.
She was a tall and ripe beauty who stood at five feet seven. She had peerless facial features, long blonde hair, and jade-like snow-white skin. Her aura was deeply profound, and she wore simple garb, including a loose linen blouse, tight-fitting black pants, and knee-high boots that further accentuated her gorgeous long legs.
"Boss! Save me! Save me..." The fatty started howling even louder after hearing the woman's voice.
"Quiet! I'll crash your neck if you make another sound!" Andrew silenced the fatty by tightening his hold on his neck.
The fatty's expression paled, and he swallowed back the howls.
In the meantime, Freya's eyes turned a bit frosty after she witnessed Andrew's actions. But she remained calm and slowly halted a few steps away.
"Who might you be, and why are you attacking one of my employees?" She questioned and fixed her deep blue eyes on Andrew.
Andrew's feelings turned complicated as he glanced at yet another acquaintance from his previous life. But he still didn't let go of the cunning fatty.
He looked beyond Freya and toward the Red Cloud Merchant Guild's building. He noticed a few other people peeking through the windows and knew he couldn't speak out loud. He decided to send his thoughts to her telepathically since he didn't wish to disclose his information to unrelated persons.
"Madam Freya," he began. "I'm Andrew, the person sent by Cody Yates. My apologies for creating this mess on your doorstep. I had to do this, as circumstances forced me."
"You're Andrew!?" Freya's blue eyes narrowed as she also responded telepathically. "Indeed, I was expecting you. But aren't you supposed to be a kid who just went through his sorcerer's awakening? Why do I sense a peak-stage apprentice aura from you? Do you want to make a fool of me?"
Andrew smiled and sent her a string of numbers that were one of the codes often used by the Robinson family members outside the family dimension.
On hearing the code, Freya's expression changed slightly. "You're Andrew? The young guy sent over by Sir Cody?"
Freya continued to communicate telepathically. She also didn't want to expose the identity of an heir of the Robinsons, one of the mightiest hidden families in the Dartolonian Empire, which also happened to be her backer.
"Yeah! I'm really Andrew. I had a fortuitous encounter after leaving the family. That's why my powers have grown by a significant margin over the past month."
"Oh!" Freya's eyes flickered with a peculiar radiance. But she didn't ask about the encounter that triggered such a significant increase in his powers.
"Being a Robinson heir still doesn't give you the right to attack my employees," she communicated while starting to project some of her aura as a rank-one sorcerer. "Why did you attack Angus without rhyme or reason?"
"Your eminence, Freya," Andrew hurriedly sent his thoughts over. "Please, listen to my explanation." He quickly told her about the attack he faced while heading to the merchant guild and some of the assumptions he made after interrogating the assassins.
Freya sighed after hearing his recount of events. "Your reasoning and suspicions might be correct, and the leak might have come from Fatty Angus. But Angus is a man recommended by Caleb, your cousin. You should know what kind of man Caleb is. I don't want to offend him unnecessarily, so I can't let you hurt the fatty."
Andrew gritted his teeth and decided to use a trump card he had prepared before coming to the Red Cloud Merchant Guild. He summoned a small memory crystal from his ring and threw it towards Freya.
"What is this? What are you trying to do?" Freya's expression warped as she subconsciously caught the crystal.
"Please calm down and check what is in the memory crystal," Andrew said calmly. "I can promise that its contents won't disappoint you."
Freya shook her head and connected her mind to the memory crystal. A few seconds passed, and her expression immediately went through a 180-degree change. "This is Part of the recipe for the Phoenix Fire Elixir! Why did you give this to me?"
Andrew smiled and spoke calmly, "Madam Freya! If you allow me to eradicate Caleb's pawns from the guild, I will gift you the ancient Phoenix Fire Elixir recipe."
Andrew understood he would spend the few months before the commencement of the war against the demons in the Red Cloud Merchant Guild. That was why he had made a tempting offer to Freya so he could clear out all the potential spies and crooks that could threaten his life from the guild.
He wished to rely on the memories of his previous life to eliminate all the enemies, even before Caleb could use them to make his moves.
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Freya couldn't contain her emotions after hearing Andrew's offer.
She was a peak rank-one fire sorcerer just a step away from breaking through to the next rank. But she had remained bottlenecked at that power stage for over eight years for one reason. She lacked crucial resources to support her breakthrough.
The Phoenix Fire Elixir was one such resource. It was a potion that could temporarily fortify her mind and allow her to embed a rank two fire spell model into her elemental-type totem. After that, she could effortlessly meet the mentality requirements to rush beyond the threshold and become a bona fide rank-two sorcerer.
Freya had searched relentlessly for years, hoping to find the recipe for the Phoenix Fire Elixir or another option with similar effects. She had also scoured everywhere for already manufactured elixirs or natural treasures for the same purpose. But her efforts had remained largely fruitless, even after frequenting the most prosperous sorcery resource markets around the Dartolonian Empire.
She eventually gave up and decided to obtain the potion another way. She chose to become an outer member of the ancient Robinson sorcerer family, which could provide her with an already-manufactured Phoenix Fire Elixir if she accumulated enough contribution points.
Everything proceeded according to plan, and the Robinson family accepted her services. She had been tirelessly managing one of their businesses to meet her goal. But she was still three or four years away from accumulating the contribution points required to exchange for the Phoenix Fire Elixir. That was why she lost control of herself when she heard Andrew's offer.
Freya finally calmed down and glanced at the young man before her after a few seconds. Even though he was a true-blue Robinson heir, she still couldn't understand how he had obtained the recipe for the Phoenix Fire Elixir at such a young age.
Was his position in the family so exalted that he could get his hands on crucial resources? Or had he obtained it from other sources?
Freya sighed and continued communicating telepathically. "Caleb, your cousin, is also a direct family descendant of the Robinson family. He has many ways to make my life miserable if I mess with him."
Andrew smiled, knowing that his offer had already evoked Freya's interest. "There's one thing you must know. The Robinson elders and other family powers will never get involved in the squabbles of their younger generation. The reality is even more so when the parties involved are those heirs exiled from the family and sent to manage businesses because of lack of talent in sorcery."
Freya's eyes flashed with hesitation even after hearing that. She held Andrew's gaze for a few seconds before eventually sighing and communicating back telepathically. "I'll head out for some time. I hope you rely on your abilities to settle your businesses before I return. Don't dirty the place."
The peak rank-one sorcerer didn't wait for Andrew to respond after communicating her decision. She summoned a flying mat spell and flew away from the Red Cloud Merchant Guild premises.
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