Chapter 284 The Price of Growth (Part 1!)
Anna Helstrom wore a delicate gray wool spring trench coat, belted tightly at the waist. But now it looks like she's going to throw that trench coat on the ground and jump up to punch Salomon. "What do you know?" she asked coldly. "Tell me everything you know. And, where is this? I know we're not on the sidewalk. Is this your magic?"
"Hmm." The mystic raised his eyebrows at the lady. He finally caught her interest, and the source of all the pain in her life came from her father, including her tortured mother. Salomon's vagueness about what happened does not prevent him from blaming Mardur for the tragic childhood of Anna Hellstrom and her brother (which is also true).
"This is a magical world, and the magic in your body is always reminding you not to forget the past. This is something you cannot escape, because your soul is not a human soul, and your body is not a human body." Salomon stretched out his hand and invited Anna Helstrom to walk out of the portal. "Out of this gate, you have the power to choose—whether to pretend that your past is the life of ordinary people, and supernatural phenomena are nonsense, or join me to fight against your evil father? Ha! Your expression has told me the answer." , please come with me, we need a quiet place to talk."
"You agreed that we're going to find a quiet place." Anna Hellstrom narrowed her fox-like eyes. After she walked out of the portal, she came to a place with only a few empty tables and chairs. People speaking some unfamiliar language gathered in front of the bar, and the aroma of coffee filled this warm-colored place. No one paid any attention to their arrival, because people kept coming and going, and the guests were so focused on their freshly brewed coffee that they didn't have time to pay attention to other people.
This is magic? This is nothing like what I've used in the past! Anna looked suspiciously at the short-haired strange woman standing beside Salomon, "Where is this? Also, who is this?"
"I'm very glad that you are still decent after going through this unprecedented thing. It can be seen that you have received a good education." Salomon smiled and introduced her to Anna. "This is my subordinate, Ms. Maya Hansen. She just finished purchasing the equipment, and she also told me about a good coffee shop. Don't worry, most of the locals only stay for a minute, waiting for the hottest and freshest coffee. Only tourists like us will stay here for more than ten minutes. I hope you like Italian coffee. I don't mind it. I am allergic to coffee. Come on Just a glass of juice. Sit down, we don't need to do as Romans do."
Maya Hansen wrinkled her nose. She is so familiar with the smell of coffee, every time she does research, she relies on this thing to survive. "Familiar taste." She sighed, "We should add a coffee machine to the research room, boss. Without that, other equipment can't work. Electric appliances need electricity, but I need coffee, good ones, not instant coffee."
"You have your own company?" Anna was a little curious, "You look underage!"
"No, it's just a private magic research institution affiliated to Karma Taj. There are not many people. Except for Ms. Hansen, the professional capabilities of other employees are not outstanding." Salomon didn't want to bring the topic to the Immortal City. "Let's get down to business, ma'am, I think you can't wait to know about your 'father'."
"Hah!" Dave didn't follow Salomon's advice to turn his second-hand car into a sports car, he thought it would be too ostentatious. But Salomon did not return for a long time, and he parked the car in the downwind. The cold spring wind came in from every gap in the car body, and his thin sweater could not resist the cold at all. Dave shivered in the driver's seat, and finally he stuck his head out and looked around.
"What the hell!" He muttered softly, putting his hands on the steering wheel, "I want a car with air conditioning and no air leaks! Shit, no sports car! Change it, change it!"
"Don't you know how conspicuous your car is? Half a car and half a sports car, this thing can still start! I'm curious what the transmission of this car is like." After a while, Salomon appeared by Dave's car window and handed Dave a cup of hot coffee. This is not bought at that cafe, the Bar in Italy does not sell takeaway coffee.
"You got into a mess the minute I went away," he said.
"Leave me alone. Casting spells accurately requires concentration. I'm having a headache right now, and I've been using my brain for class." Dave held the coffee and covered his face with the other hand in pain. This is not the first time he has gone wrong with his spellcasting, this kind of thing has happened when he first started learning magic. It's just that Balthazar never blamed him. He only thought that Dave still needed to learn, so Dave, the person involved, didn't pay too much attention to this kind of thing.
"I can cover you up with illusion. Don't count on my Transfiguration, I don't specialize in this area of magic." Salomon began to cast spells after sitting in the co-pilot. "But you really have to study hard." He said, "The magic effect on Balthazar has disappeared. Even if he doesn't have Merlin's magic on him, for a druid and a wizard, his lifespan is coming to an end. Give him more time to enjoy love. Our generation of spellcasters must be independent as soon as possible and take over the responsibilities of the previous generation."
"Why did you say these things suddenly?" Dave put down his hand covering his face, and asked the mystic with doubts, "Did something happen during the negotiation?"
"No, the negotiations went well." Anna Helstrom, or Satana, rejected most of the mystic's proposals. She just accepted the invitation and promised to maintain communication with Salomon. Regarding the other conditions proposed by Salomon, she thinks that it is too unrealistic to talk about them now-the condition given by Salomon is that when Marduk fails, Anna will be his subject after ascending to the seventh throne, and rule the territory that originally belonged to Marduk-this plan is indeed a bit unrealistic now, and Salomon is not too persistent.
As for the premise of maintaining communication, Salomon can expel the devil from her mother. This demon is also the one possessing her biological father, Marduk. Salomon agreed to this request. Marduk didn't have much power in the world, and he didn't need much effort to complete this task.
The mystic had a premonition. He always felt that when he fought Marduk, the work of the High Sorcerer was done. He didn't know where this premonition came from. It might be Agamotto's private hint, or it might be the judgment brought to him by his stigmata, or it might just be speculation and experience. In any case, Salomon's desire to increase his own strength became more and more urgent-he knew that this kind of thinking was bad, and temperance was his first lesson. But Marduk, a hell lord, and a devil who called himself Satan still put a lot of pressure on him.
The Supreme Mage didn't care about this kind of thing, because Belial's contract represented an alliance across hell and the abyss, and it was an attack on the Seventh Throne. There were countless creatures in the lower planes who hated Salomon, and one more Marduk was really nothing.
Dave frowned, and asked hesitantly, "Balthazar... how much time does he have left?"
"I don't know, probably within ten years. Unless Merlin takes him to Avalon, the eternal ideal land, but you also know that you can't count on Merlin for anything." The mystic mage sighed, "Now we can only work hard to improve ourselves. When the previous generation grows old, we can only face those terrible things alone."
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