#444 - The past and present of the Silver Spear (asking for monthly ticket recommendation ticket)

“As for who specifically has taken the potion, I'm not entirely sure. After all, we barely know each other, and given the potion's special nature, everyone is wary of each other. Even if they have taken it, they wouldn't say so,” Thunderbird said with some hesitation.

“Those Spears who have taken the potion naturally wouldn't show it, and those who haven't taken it will pretend they have, preparing for the future when they do.”

Hearing Thunderbird's explanation, Anduin nodded in understanding. Within the Silver Spears Club, due to the existence of the immortality potion, every Spear is naturally unwilling to trust others, even pretending to have taken the potion if they haven't.

“However, there are two people I can roughly judge haven't started using the potion yet.” Thunderbird was now completely resigned, speaking without reservation.

“Who are they?” Anduin raised an eyebrow.

“One is 'Foul Hag.' I personally introduced her to the club. I know her public identity; she's currently a professor at Durmstrang Institute, and still in her elderly form. Perhaps she'll change identities after she starts taking the potion.” Thunderbird recalled.

“I see, so that's how you know Aselia's identity?” Anduin finally connected the details of these individuals.

“Correct.” Thunderbird nodded. “Moreover, Foul Hag has only been a Spear for a few years. She previously cultivated Aselia as a spy for headquarters. We originally thought she would play a significant role.”

“What about the other one?” Anduin pressed.

“The other one…” Thunderbird's eyes flashed with resentment. “The other one is Sphinx. I know his real identity too; we even cooperated a few times before. I never expected it.”

“Sphinx? That's not right.” Anduin recalled, sounding uncertain. “He looks only in his fifties. Are you sure they haven't used the immortality potion?”

From the impression Thunderbird gave Anduin, the Spears in the Silver Spears seemed to be all old men and women who relied on the potion and gathered under the club's banner.

“That's because you don't understand the Silver Spears' composition; not every Spear is elderly,” Thunderbird said, seeming to see Anduin's misunderstanding of the club, and couldn't help but curl his lip.

“Oh? I'm very willing to hear you explain it from the beginning.” Hearing this, Anduin immediately adopted a listening posture, looking at the other party as if seeking enlightenment.

“Let me introduce the club's origins. The Silver Spears Duel Club originally started several centuries ago, initially just a pure dueling club.” Thunderbird's posture was now like an old man telling a story,娓娓道来.

“In the beginning, the Silver Spears' philosophy was quite simple, merely gathering like-minded wizards who loved dueling.”

“They shared dueling techniques and spells within the club, recording this knowledge gathered from various sources. The administrators at the time were very open-minded, sharing almost everything with the wizards in the club, allowing everyone to learn and discuss together.”

“Under such an atmosphere, the club developed rapidly. Although the number of members was small due to the requirement of owning an ash wand, everyone's dueling skills were honed to a high degree, earning them some renown in the European magical world.”

“But the members of the club at that time were a bunch of dueling maniacs, often causing trouble outside, eager to duel anyone strong they encountered, and the key was that they often won.”

“The more they won, the more these duelists enjoyed challenging others. The victors of these duels usually demanded spoils, so the club collected various strange items and spell information, more and more, until the club acquired a special trophy after one duel.” Although Thunderbird wasn't a participant at the time, he spoke as if he had been.

“I guess that trophy was the recipe for the 'Serpent Shedding Potion'.” Anduin guessed.

“Correct.” Thunderbird nodded in agreement. “This immortality potion caused the club's later changes.”

“The wizard who obtained the trophy at the time didn't value the potion much, or rather, didn't believe in it, so he simply threw it into the club's storage room like ordinary information.”

“Until another member discovered the recipe and personally tried it, finding it truly miraculous.”

“That wizard was relatively naive at the time and readily shared his discovery with other wizards, but what followed was conflict.”

“Some wizards believed that the power gained from this potion wasn't truly their own strength, some were disgusted by extracting life from others to extend their own, and many others coveted this magical potion that rejuvenated them, gradually experimenting with it.”

“Initially, although some wizards scorned the potion, they wouldn't resort to violence against their colleagues, after all, they were all like-minded confidants.”

“But the tragedy began when the side effects of the immortality potion were gradually discovered. The trigger was a club member easily killing a club wizard he had a feud with during the Serpent Shedding process.”

“This made all the wizards who had taken the immortality potion realize that there were so many people around them who knew their weaknesses, and the seeds of hidden suspicion were sown.”

“Then infighting broke out, an unprecedented internal strife, until only one person remained, the current leader of the club.” Thunderbird sighed sadly.

“How do you know so much? You don't seem to have been a participant.” Anduin looked at him strangely. This was all hundreds of years ago, and Thunderbird, although old, was only less than a hundred years old.

“Correct.” Thunderbird nodded calmly. “But my identity is special. I was personally adopted by the club's current leader and am an initial member of the club's re-establishment and construction, so I know many things that even the Spears don't.”

“So, the current Silver Spears was created by you?” Anduin didn't expect that the Thunderbird in front of him was actually one of the club's founders.

“Correct.” Thunderbird seemed to fall into distant memories. “Over the years, the leader has been relying on hunting magical creatures alone to refine potions to extend his life. Although his strength is extraordinary, it's been difficult to sustain it for so long alone.”

“So he thought of cultivating his subordinates. Initially, his idea was very simple, to adopt some young wizards, raise them from childhood to work for him, after all, time wasn't precious to him.”

“Isn't he afraid that his secrets will be known by you? Especially the time of Serpent Shedding.” Anduin asked.

“Heh, our leader is very afraid of death. He only appears at fixed times each month to teach us magical knowledge, and we've also signed an 'Unbreakable Vow,' unable to commit any misconduct against him.” Thunderbird mocked.

“However, since this leader inherited everything from the previous club, he possesses very rich resources and knowledge. He has even been tirelessly collecting trophies over the centuries. Relying on these materials, we have still grown into powerful duelists, even though most of our learning is self-taught.”

“You said 'we.' Did this leader adopt many children? And what does this have to do with Sphinx?” Anduin continued to ask.

“It's coming soon.” Thunderbird seemed to know that he was about to meet his end, and became very talkative. “Initially, there were seven of us, but later three died for various reasons. Now, only four are still alive.”

“Who are the other three, and your leader? Can you tell me?” Anduin wasn't sure if Thunderbird could reveal the real information about these people.

“Of course, I can't say their real names.” Thunderbird shook his head. “As for their codenames, one is called 'Phoenix,' the head of the French branch; one is called 'Black Dragon,' the head of the current American branch; and one is called 'Golden Flyer,' a Lancer, staying at headquarters.”

“As for our leader…” Thunderbird hesitated slightly, then said firmly, “His codename is 'Rune Serpent'!”

“Relying on you four, plus himself, you created the current Silver Spears?” Anduin looked at Thunderbird with some surprise.

“Initially, there were seven people.” Thunderbird corrected. “And 'Rune Serpent,' our leader, didn't help us at all. This nominal adoptive father of ours is elusive all day long, wishing to disappear completely from everyone's sight.”

“At the beginning, as newly adult wizards, we didn't have the ability to do all this, but we met our benefactor—Grindelwald!” Speaking of this name, Thunderbird couldn't help but fall into distant memories.

“Are you talking about Gellert Grindelwald? The legendary wizard who once tried to complete the revolution, the founder of the Acolytes?” Anduin had indeed heard Thunderbird mention the Acolytes, but he didn't expect them to really be associated with Grindelwald.

“Correct, it's him, and let me tell you a little secret, I'm also one of the founders of the Acolytes.” Thunderbird laughed dryly twice.

“So, the re-establishment of the Silver Spears is also related to this legendary wizard?” Anduin didn't expect that he had caught a big fish.

“It's somewhat related, it should be said that we used our identities as Acolytes to complete the initial primitive accumulation, and also because of the Acolytes, the later Silver Spears was established, who made our boss a turtle.” Thunderbird said contemptuously, obviously not very respectful of the leader in the club.

“I have to say, Gellert is indeed a very charismatic person. At that time, we were all young and vigorous, and we didn't know about the immortality potion at first. Rune Serpent only asked us to find ways to hunt magical creatures for him.”

“So, in addition to completing the basic magical creature smuggling and hunting tasks for the leader, we spent most of our time acting as Acolytes.” Thunderbird sighed with a hint of melancholy.

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