CHAPTER 48: CHAPTER 45: THE BONDS HARVESTED

"Thank you, Andrew. But..."

Grandpa Delin said tremulously, "But I no longer want to hide behind a child."

At this point, the old man turned around and shouted sternly at the people in the camp, "You guys too, grown men, hiding behind a child, what does that look like?!"

Even though his words were quite slurred due to his missing teeth, the meaning behind his words was conveyed with absolute clarity!

What Andrew didn’t know was: before this, not even the Warm Fire Commerce Association, which is friendly to civilians, had ever uttered such words as "no civilian shall be harmed." Even the Warm Fire Commerce Association had never truly torn faces with the powerful Magic Guild for the sake of civilians.

The simplest values brought from the past life were incredibly rare in this Flame Realm, and thus all the more precious.

"Uh, Grandpa Delin, I... I’m actually the one who brought her here."

Andrew shook his head and reached out to support the old man who seemed like he could collapse at any moment.

He wanted to say that it was his fault for implicating them. After all, it was he who brought Barbara back to the camp. This matter originally had nothing to do with the folks in the camp.

But the old man struck his cane again: "Enough with the nonsense! I just heard it, the one you brought back is the ’Second Miss’ from the Warm Fire Commerce Association, right?"

"Uh, it’s the Third Miss."

The old man "Oh"ed, unconcerned, and continued, "The Warm Fire Commerce Association is a commerce association that values the lives of us civilians. Since their ’Fourth Miss’ is here, it’s no longer just your matter, but the matter of all of us!!"

Opposite, a magic apprentice couldn’t help but laugh: "Old man, you’re quite arrogant, aren’t you! Do you believe I— eh?"

Then saw more and more men coming out from their tents.

They stood beside Andrew together with Delin! The women in the camp gathered outside the tent where Barbara was with Aunt Sofia and young Sophie.

Nobody said anything, but everyone demonstrated their stance and determination through their actions!

Hubert frowned.

Cook, exuding a calm and elegant demeanor, couldn’t help but be taken aback.

Only Sally seemed oblivious, having no reaction to the camp residents stepping forward.

Yet the look she gave Andrew grew more curious, as if she wanted to dissect Andrew to see why this person could stir up those who usually wouldn’t fight back or talk back, to do something as audacious as openly opposing their teacher?

In fact, not to mention Hubert and his many apprentices outside the camp.

Andrew himself looked left and right, seeing more and more people standing by his side, and hearing the camp’s aunties, big sisters, and little sisters saying to him, "Go for it!" "We’re with you!" felt like a dream, causing his eyes to suddenly feel a bit wet.

Night, flames, Hubert, magic apprentices—this indeed was just like the beginning of his journey through time.

But originally, subtly, it wasn’t just himself that had changed.

Wonderful.

Buzz.

The "Tear of the Water God" trembled gently once more.

Originally, what Andrew was experiencing was the final test before becoming a formal Water Mage: the title assessment.

Whether it was accumulating a big move or facing Hubert’s many magic apprentices head-on, it was all for that title "Andrew Xifa Lin" to truly belong to him. By then, he should be able to understand what the strange middle name "Xifa" really meant.

In short, for Andrew, everything he had done from just now to now was all part of the title assessment.

But now, the moment when the residents were willing to step out and stand beside him—

Some new changes that seemed outside the "title assessment" occurred!

Andrew distinctly felt that all the camp residents who stood out with him, regardless of gender or age, as long as they had previously accepted his "Seed of the Water Spirit" (which was initially used to calm the residents’ fears and anxieties), seemed to have established some kind of connection with him.

The connection was faint, not overbearing, yet possessed a kind of resilient flavor.

Like a bond established from now on that will never be severed!

At this moment, the faint loneliness brought on by being "the only Water Mage in this Flame Realm" suddenly vanished.

There was a sense that as he grew stronger, everyone else would also subtly grow stronger, and as everyone grew stronger and happier, he would also benefit, further strengthening himself—a feeling inexplicably powerful and clear arose in his heart!

What Andrew didn’t know was, the female voice within the Tear of the Water God whispered to herself in a voice only she could hear, "’Awakening’ hasn’t even been completely finished, yet it’s already touched on the domain of ’Enlightenment’..."

Awakening was entirely about Andrew himself, with the title assessment as its last part.

Enlightenment, however, was about driving those around one to grow stronger together, forming a team. Just, Andrew still didn’t have a clear concept of this. It was entirely by accident that he constructed some links and bonds that typically wouldn’t be established until after "awakening!"

"You impudent... you impudent!"

Outside the camp, the magic apprentices shouted in anger, "You lowlives, absolutely impudent!"

They were already ashamed and furious for having collectively retreated a step just now due to Andrew alone.

Seeing these "lowlives" actually having the guts to stand out made them angrier: it was always wolves eating sheep, how could sheep have the guts to turn around and counter wolves? Who gave them the nerve? Where did they get the courage??

Yet a more arrogant voice rang out: "Who are you calling impudent?"

Andrew was taken aback, only feeling that the voice was somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere.

Simultaneously, he felt that strange "sense of connection!" It seemed the newcomer had a deeper "link and bond" with him than the camp residents! His connection with the camp residents was established through the Seed of the Water Spirit, yet in Wildfire Town, someone had more Seeds of the Water Spirit in their body than the camp residents—

Andrew turned to see a group coming around from the flank of the camp.

The number wasn’t much compared to the camp residents, not even as many as the magic apprentices opposite.

Yet they were extraordinary in momentum!

The old man at the forefront of the group wielded an iron shovel, still vigorous and muscular.

Andrew knew, however, that this old man wasn’t the true leader of this group.

For he saw the graceful figure beside the old man.

It was An Ya, the beautiful owner of the Living People Cemetery!

She actually brought the people from the Living People Cemetery with her!?