Chapter 186: Section 186: There is no Knight in Your Destiny

Zi Di continued to live within the academy, hiding under the guise of a mere student.

The grueling days slowly became a thing of her past, she adapted, and eventually, she thrived like a fish takes to water.

She abandoned the perilous spells of the Undead, did not tap into the living expenses her father had sent her, and never compromised her principles.

Using her clever mind, sharp insight, as well as leveraging her good reputation, eloquence, and savvy, she gradually built her own network; seizing small opportunities here and there, the little gains added up, forming a mighty tower from grains of sand.

At dawn, the Fish Market was already bustling.

Dressed in casual clothes, Zi Di strolled through the market.

The fishy smell, which she once loathed, was now something she didn’t mind in the slightest.

She had been to the Fish Market many times, each visit with the purpose of selecting Tuna.

Tuna was a large category of fish, divided further into varieties such as Yellowfin, Bigeye, Bluefin, Albacore, and Skipjack among others.

Zi Di always managed to select the best quality Tuna. This was the result of her inquiries, the rich resources of the library, and the experience she gained from her repeated purchases.

There was an instructor in the academy who loved Tuna above all else, who almost daily, posted such tasks. Zi Di, with her dedication and competence, stood out from many competitors. Although the rewards for these tasks weren’t substantial, the advantage lay in their daily consistency.

Soon, with her sharp negotiating skills, Zi Di pressed the prices to their absolute limit and purchased enough Tuna.

Just as she was about to leave, a commotion erupted not far from her.

Glancing over, Zi Di saw two Bronze-level Fishermen locked in an argument.

She immediately understood that this was a dispute over the title of “King of Fish”. Almost daily there would be contention among the fishermen at the market for this accolade.

The fisherman who won the title would draw significant attention to their stall. Often, his fish would be sold out well before midday.

The rules for competing for the King of Fish were simple, based purely on the weight of the single heaviest fish caught that morning.

However, today’s situation was more complicated, hence the dispute.

A fisherman who had originally secured the title was discovered to have a person hidden inside the large sea fish he had caught!

This unfortunate person was barely alive, half-ensnared within the belly of the fish.

The fisherman who had originally lost the title argued that the weight of the person should not be counted towards that of the fish.

But the fisherman who had been confident in his victory argued that the unfortunate victim was just part of the fish’s stomach contents and should be counted in the weight. After all, he had managed to catch the great fish and the human simultaneously, which was no small feat.

The other fishermen scoffed at this, asserting that the large fish, encumbered by a man in its stomach, must have been sluggish, which was the key to its capture.

Both sides were adamant in their views, the dispute persisted, and the onlookers were divided, each supporting one of the fishermen.

Zi Di, however, noticed the dire state of the drowning victim and called out, “Regardless of the situation, shouldn’t we prioritize saving a life?”

“Tch, he’s just a Barbarian, what’s there to save?” replied the indifferent crowd.

If it had been a pure member of the Human Race, the people might have been inclined to help, but Barbarians mainly resided on the Frost Continent and were considered foreigners.

Unable to bear the thought of the Barbarian dying before her, Zi Di hesitated, but still pulled out a potion from her bosom and poured it into the Barbarian’s mouth.

The aged Barbarian awoke, but immediately began to shout incoherently, unable to communicate, clearly a madman.

Some in the crowd mocked Zi Di, saying the Healing Potion she used was valuable and yet she wasted it on a madman, with no compensation in return.

Zi Di sighed. Her intent had been merely to alleviate suffering, not to seek a reward.

But she offered no rebuttals and simply walked away without drawing attention to herself.

Because every time she went out, she would use a Transformation Potion to temporarily alter her appearance. Otherwise, with her natural beauty, she would be the focus of people’s attention wherever she went.

As the days passed, the mad old Barbarian gradually became a fixture of the Fish Market.

He was as thin as a rail, with wild, unkempt hair. Though he was erratic and seemed crazed, he posed little threat. The fishermen took to mocking him, making a sport of him every day, seeking amusement at his expense.

But, though mad, the old Barbarian’s instinct to eat remained intact. He survived by reluctantly feeding on the discarded innards of fish from the Fish Market.

Zi Di frequented the Fish Market almost every day, sometimes seeing the old crazy Barbarian, sometimes not. More often, Zi Di brought some food, particularly for the old man.

Two years later, one day.

She discovered the old Barbarian, fast asleep, in a corner at the end of an alley in the Fish Market.

As she placed the food in front of him, the old Barbarian slowly opened his eyes and uttered in fluent Universal Language, “Thank you, young and kind miss.”

Zi Di was taken aback.

The old Barbarian pulled out a scroll of beast skin from his chest.

“I am becoming clearer,” he said.

“This is a potion formula I’ve brewed, a potion of our Barbarian tribe.”

“Please accept it, young miss. We Barbarians always repay our debts.”

Zi Di took it from him and was immediately captivated.

“These formulas use only the natural properties of herbs, they aren’t considered Magic Potions. But they’re extremely rare; even the library has only a copy or two. Thank you…”

Zi Di looked up, suddenly falling silent.

Perhaps she was too engrossed in these potion formulas; the old Barbarian had vanished.

For the first time, she realized that this was a Barbarian with a story.

This significant, albeit not huge, adventure had an increasingly noticeable impact on Zi Di in the years to come.

The more Zi Di studied, the more she noticed that the potions on the beast skin differed from the system of Magic Potions. Clearly, it was a compilation of the Barbarians’ tribal experiences, lacking the research and meticulous spirit promoted by Mages, but its practical value was notably high.

Zi Di’s previous mentor was most skilled in Alchemy, and alongside her primary magic training, she had also chosen to minor in a branch of alchemy–potion study.

A few months later, Zi Di began to see modest results from her research.

One year later, those results grew in number.

The good reputation of some of her ordinary potions began to spread among the townsfolk, and even some students, due to tight budgets, forsake expensive Magic Potions for Zi Di’s Barbarian Potions.

“As soon as I graduate, perhaps I could open a common potion shop in the city.” Just as she was beginning to look forward to a promising career, devastating news suddenly came.

Her father had died!

When she first heard the news, Zi Di’s initial response was disbelief.

“Could this just be a ruse my father is using to lure me home?”

Over the years, she had not returned home even once.

But soon after, letters from Fat Tongue and several other elders arrived in succession, confirming the harsh reality.

Endless grief overwhelmed Zi Di.

Despite hating her father, she had never truly thought that one day she would hear news of his death.

“He was my only relative in this world,” she wept.

Feelings of loneliness, bewilderment, and insignificance washed over her like endless waves.

Zi Di had become independent over the years, capable of living alone in the city.

She hadn’t spent a cent of the money her father had sent her.

It was only when her father truly passed away that she realized the actual place he held in her heart, in her life.

Though she was estranged from her father, though she loathed him, she also loved him deeply!

In the following months, the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce was battered by the storm, sinking into an intense internal strife. The elite swiftly divided up the assets of the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce, and many guild members changed sides, either willingly or by coercion, to serve others.

There were many letters to Zi Di, with the vast majority urging her to come forward and protect the legacy left by the old Chairman. According to tradition and the laws of the Empire, she was the sole heir to the guild.

But Zi Di ignored them as if she had heard nothing. She nestled within the Magic Academy, never venturing out again. The Fish Market duties she had kept up for years were also abandoned.

She knew that the Magic Academy was her haven, the only place at this stage that could provide her shelter and security for her life.

Finally, after several months, the tumultuous feast of the various powers gradually drew to a close.

The Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce was left with barely a name, the vast majority of valuable assets now belonged to others.

The once glorious super guild, with the strong trend of surpassing the traditional top six guilds, had plummeted completely into the dirt in just a few months.

There were those who sighed and lamented, those who feared after the fact, those who kicked someone already down, and those who remained indifferent onlookers…

Finally, when everything had settled, Zi Di left the Magic Academy.

She had been hiding within the Magic Academy this whole time.

Now, she needed to attend her father’s funeral.

“Little Zi Di, do, don’t feel guilty. What you did was ri, right,” Fat Tongue, leading a group of people, came to meet her.

“They, those who advised you to come out were all, all ulteriorly motivated, wanting to use you to fight for more, more benefits.”

“But, still be careful, after the big crocodiles are sated, the ferocious piranhas are still swimming in the murky waters.”

Traveling discreetly for several days, Zi Di and her group arrived at a small town at the foot of the mountains.

The town was filled with a joyful atmosphere, as a circus had come to town, bringing one of the few entertainment events of the year to the townspeople.

Clowns, fireworks, colorful balloons, puppet shows, a Brown Bear walking on barrels, dancing monkeys, and snake charmers from the East playing their flutes.

Zi Di’s carriage slowly made its way through the crowded crowds.

Inside the carriage, silence reigned, with grief surging in Zi Di’s heart.

The inside and outside of the carriage were like two distinctly different worlds.

Peering through the window curtains, Zi Di could gaze upon the manor on the hillside.

That place used to be her home, the manor seemed to have changed little.

Childhood memories flooded her mind–scenes of her life in the manor and the town. Every year when the circus came, she would visit and have fun accompanied by the guards.

Even a performing parrot that could smoke in the circus could amaze and fascinate the young her.

Now, she had returned.

She had grown up, both in age and experience.

The manor of her past, which once radiated joy, now exuded a sad aura. The enigmatic circus of her memories no longer brought the awe and the thrill it once did to Zi Di.

Everything had changed beyond recognition.

The carriage procession slowly made its way through the busy market, and under a makeshift stage converted from a wagon, a group of children sat around. On the stage was a puppet show, which narrated Zi Di’s favorite story from her childhood–the Princess, the Demon, and the Knight.

Hearing those familiar lines, Zi Di was reminded of the times she had strolled through the town with her mother.

“Mommy, the Demon is so nasty, I want to defeat it! I’m very strong, I can even beat the gardener’s son who is two years older than me,” she proclaimed.

Her mother laughed, “My little princess, fighting is not what a lady should do. Don’t worry, you won’t have to lift a finger; you’ll have your Knight, and he will protect you for life.”

“My Knight?” the young Zi Di’s eyes sparkled, “Where is he?”

“Hmm… Mommy isn’t quite sure either. But what’s certain is that he will appear in your life.”

“Mommy, what’s that tent over there?”

“That’s the Divination Master’s tent.”

“Divination, what is it? I want to go see,” Zi Di said.

“It’s too late, sweetie. Mommy will take you next year, okay? My lovely little princess, we should head home to sleep now. Be good,” her mother replied.

“Oh…” A youthful Zi Di lowered her head, her reply steeped in reluctance.

Eventually, the caravan reached the end of the street, behind which lay a mountain path. At the far end of the mountain path was the estate.

A blue tent stood at the street’s end.

This was the Divination Master’s tent, sparsely visited, stark and quiet in contrast to the other bustling stalls of the circus.

Divination was a form of prophecy, a deeply profound domain of magic.

But most of the folk Divination Masters were charlatans, full of nonsense and deceit. Perhaps because they visited the town each year, the townsfolk were too familiar with the circus’s diviners and had lost any interest in patronizing them.

“Stop the carriage, I want to get out,” Zi Di suddenly declared, spirited.

She stepped down from the carriage, leaving her guards outside the tent.

Inside the tent, the lighting was dim, as if intentionally crafted to conjure a mysterious atmosphere.

Zi Di surveyed the tent’s furnishings with interest. Years of honing her sharp eye, she quickly discerned the many fake herbal medicines and countless imitation Magic Tools.

She was both disappointed and unsurprised.

“My dear, what would you like to divinate?” the Divination Master asked.

Only then did Zi Di turn her attention towards her.

The Divination Master was an old crone with deep wrinkles, her forehead marked by a deep blue nine-pointed star.

Zi Di sat down casually, “Please divine when the knight in my life will arrive.”

The Divination Master started fumbling with an evidently fake Crystal Ball on the short table, muttering to herself in a continuous, unclear whisper that even she might have found incomprehensible.

The Divination Master’s brow furrowed, her voice growing more frantic, as if grappling with some indecipherable dilemma.

Suddenly!

She convulsed, her eyes rolling back to show only the whites.

From the corners of her eyes, nostrils, mouth, and ears ran fresh streams of blood!

She cried out in terror, “Ah… Ah!”

“I see… I see your fate…”

“In your fate… there is no knight!”

“Only, only… Ah!!! A beast, no, a monster!”

“Monster!!!”

Zi Di was startled and stood up instinctively.

The guards outside the tent, hearing the commotion, hurried inside.

The Divination Master lay sprawled across the table, her eyes rolled back, revealing only the whites, her gnarled, crone-like hands reaching for Zi Di.

The guards sprang forward, one of them already drawing his sword halfway.

“Stop, there’s no need for panic. This is just a silly scare tactic,” Zi Di calmed down and chuckled.

She tossed a silver coin onto the short table.

“For you.”

“Well played.”

She turned and walked away, the guards following close behind her.