Chapter 13: The Wizard Family
Soro Flare, hailing from the Flare family in Turin, possessed a B-level unknown bloodline talent and was a third-level Wizard Apprentice.
Due to his generosity and bold personality, Soro Flare enjoyed a respectable reputation among the senior apprentices at White Coral Academy. His first encounter with Janna had taken place half a month ago.
Aside from completing academy quests to earn academic credits, Janna had another source of credit income—offering paid purification services for other apprentices.
...
Humans who had mastered extraordinary powers had undergone a qualitative transformation in their level of existence compared to ordinary mortals.
However, because mortals had peeked into the extraordinary and infringed upon the dominion of the gods, invisible curses had manifested as contamination, constantly invading the souls of all those with extraordinary abilities.
This contamination had no real effect on ordinary mortals, but for extraordinary beings, it would deepen over time until—the soul's ecosystem collapsed, personal will was obliterated, and all extraordinary powers reverted to the gods, transforming the individual into a puppet who existed solely to spread faith.
This condition was commonly referred to by the extraordinary as “Soul Contamination.”
In addition, the prying eyes of outer gods and the restless stirrings of evil deities further destabilized the world’s magical laws, resulting in an abundance of radioactive substances within magic itself.
If one was not careful, their body could mutate from absorbing magic—this was known as “Physical Contamination.”
In such a dire ecological environment for the extraordinary, “Wizard Settlements” were established around Magic Towers.
Wizards used their control over the power of laws and their formidable willpower to construct protective barriers to isolate contamination, uphold the order of the extraordinary, and fend off the malicious encroachments of outer and evil gods.
...
As an institution established within a third-level Wizard Settlement, White Coral Academy was protected by these barriers. However, to obtain more resources, many senior apprentices still chose to leave the safety of the barrier and explore undeveloped resource zones in hopes of advancing.
Soro Flare was one such third-level apprentice who was willing to risk contamination at any cost in his pursuit of advancement.
Though backed by his family and in possession of several purification potions, Soro had nearly met his end in a hidden ravine due to betrayal by one of his own “brothers.”
He lost all his wizard gear and narrowly escaped with his life.
Wounded and contaminated, Soro, fearing an ambush, did not immediately return to his family.
Instead, he took a secret path back to White Coral Academy, intending to exchange academic credits for purification potions to cleanse himself.
However, that “brother” of his had made preparations in advance.
The day before, he had already exchanged all available purification potions within the academy.
He had even bribed several of Soro’s supposedly close apprentice acquaintances.
The moment Soro showed himself, his whereabouts would be exposed through planted eyes.
He wouldn’t even need the contamination to act up—the curse placed upon him would ensure he died silently that very day...
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Infighting within wizard families was always more brutal than outsiders could imagine.
Even someone as noble as Soro Flare felt an unprecedented sense of despair at that moment.
Looking around, he realized the only one he could still trust was the Rook—the academy’s mission dispatcher...
Clinging to a last shred of will to survive, Soro anonymously posted a mission.
Not daring to reveal the extent of his contamination, he framed the mission as: his magical pet had been cursed with petrification and he needed someone to dispel it.
As time passed, Soro had nearly given up and was preparing to return to his family for a desperate final struggle when the Rook informed him that a first-year apprentice named Janna Roland had accepted the mission.
Seeing that the task was taken by a first-year, Soro was somewhat disappointed, but he still decided to treat it as a last-ditch effort.
That afternoon, when Janna appeared before him with a Celestial Finch in her arms, Soro was stunned—not only by her unparalleled beauty but by her purification ability, which far exceeded that of any potion.
...
At that moment, staring at Janna’s calm, smiling face, Soro’s final memory unexpectedly froze on the first words she had said to him after completing the purification:
“Your situation doesn’t match the mission description at all, so I’ll be charging you extra credits as compensation…”
...
“Senior Soro—”
“Oh, sorry, I spaced out for a moment.”
“It’s fine.”
Looking up at Soro, who was about a head taller than her, Janna politely stood up from her chair.
“Thank you for the invitation, but I’m not interested in signing a contract with any family at the moment.”
“I don’t need you to sign a contract…”
Seeing Janna’s distant yet courteous smile, Soro realized he might have misspoken and quickly changed the topic.
“Sorry, I may have expressed myself poorly. I only wanted to repay you for saving my life.”
Seeing the slight unnaturalness behind Soro’s radiant smile, Janna’s brows furrowed ever so slightly.
“I already charged extra credits for that task according to the wizard's principle of equivalent exchange… so, Senior Soro, you don’t need to dwell on it. Besides, I don’t want to get involved in any trouble.”
Recalling the details of the “dispel the petrification curse on a magical pet” mission and the actual disheveled state Soro had been in, Janna didn’t know the full story, but the fact that he had posted anonymously and altered the mission content made her wary.
After all, as a background-less white-collar witch, Janna certainly wanted to build quality networks—but these had to be evaluated carefully for potential risks.
Otherwise, once betrayed, it might be too late to regret.
Soro Flare, understanding her implication, naturally realized what Janna was worried about.
“Miss Janna, please rest assured. What you’re concerned about won’t happen… otherwise, I wouldn’t be standing here alive today.”
Over the past half-month, Soro had returned to his family at full strength, completely derailing his brother’s plans.
With the truth exposed, Soro had taken ruthless, nearly bloodthirsty action against the relative who dared to harm him.
Even his brother’s cronies had been silently purged, leaving no lingering threats...