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"..."

Before Dean Bruce could respond, a voice came from not far away, "Enough, Alita. You\'re saying these things in broad daylight. Aren\'t you afraid that someone might accidentally overhear?"

[Someone\'s coming!] Dean Bruce\'s heart tightened as he turned toward the direction of the voice. He saw a small, middle-aged man with blue hair, dressed in a blue magic robe, approaching.

While Dean Bruce was sizing up the middle-aged man, the man was also scrutinizing him.

As he walked closer, the man smiled and introduced himself to Dean Bruce, "I\'m Horton Martin. We crossed paths last time. Your mastery of magic is impressive. It\'s an honor to collaborate with you!"

Before Dean Bruce could reply, Horton Martin narrowed his eyes and said softly, "Also, a word of advice: though your power is considerable—so much so that even I can\'t gauge your magical reserves—judging by your spells, you\'re definitely at the Grand Magus level, or perhaps even beyond that! But... don\'t be fooled."

"Some people are more venomous and ruthless than vipers. If you blindly trust what they say, no matter how powerful you are, you\'ll find yourself in a dangerous situation."

Dean Bruce easily understood Horton Martin\'s implication. He had never fully trusted Alita Miller in the first place, and hearing them undermine each other only made him smile.

This suggested instability within their organization! In that case, he needn\'t worry about them turning on him and attempting an ambush. In fact, they might even go to great lengths to win him over, each vying for power.

This was a good thing.

"Ha ha ha!" Alita Miller laughed, "Horton, why are you always so uptight? It was just a joke! Besides, I\'m sure you\'ve already set up a magic array here, so no one else can get in, right?"

"You know exactly how to stir trouble, don\'t you? The magic array was set long ago!" Horton Martin replied grimly, without a hint of a smile. "This operation is crucial; it must succeed at all costs. You\'d better keep yourself in check!"

"How dull," Alita Miller sighed, walking with a sultry stride toward Dean Bruce. She whispered softly, "Dean, it seems that Her Highness, the Saintess, has quite a favorable impression of you. I could feel the intensity of her gaze even while standing beside you. Whether we can cooperate with them and enter the ruins will depend on you!"

"And if cooperation fails, well... we\'ll just have to eliminate them."

Dean Bruce nodded. He wasn\'t particularly familiar with Lina Jones, so naturally, his priority would be exploring the ruins. He wouldn\'t hesitate to dispose of the others if it came to that.

At this moment, however, Dean Bruce found himself increasingly curious about Horton Martin. He recalled that during their last battle, Horton had appeared extremely burly, with a rugged face and a mastery of fire elemental magics.

Yet today, his appearance and demeanor were entirely different. This piqued Dean Bruce\'s curiosity about that particular magic.

If he could learn that magic, it would prove incredibly useful in many situations!

With that thought in mind, Dean Bruce suddenly turned to Horton Martin and said, "Brother Horton, I\'m interested in learning your spell for changing appearance and aura. I\'m willing to exchange it for a high-level spell I\'ve cast before. What do you think? Are you interested?"

"What?"

For the first time, Horton Martin\'s expression changed, showing clear astonishment. "You want to trade one of your high-level spells for that spell of mine?"

"That\'s right. Do you agree?"

Dean Bruce had access to unique channels for learning magic, and his way of thinking differed from the people of this world. He didn\'t see it as a loss to trade a high-level spell for one that suited him better—in fact, he considered it a gain.

His only concern was that he still couldn\'t comprehend or learn magic on his own, relying instead on system rewards to master new spells.

But it was worth a try, and even if it didn\'t work out, he could always devise an incantation with a transformation theme and have his disciples work on it!

Horton Martin looked incredulous, while Alita Miller\'s mouth dropped open in surprise. She exclaimed, "Dean, you\'re really that generous? How about you teach me the high-level spell, and I\'ll take out Horton and give you the spell record?"

"Get lost!"

Horton Martin glared at Alita Miller before swallowing nervously and turning his attention back to Dean Bruce. He asked in a serious tone, "Are you sure you want to trade a high-level spell you\'ve already cast for mine?"

"Of course. Which spell do you want to learn?" Dean Bruce asked calmly, while Alita Miller stood by, shaking her head in disbelief.

Horton Martin hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I want to learn the spell that turns you into a pool of black water, capable of trapping others within it."

Since Dean Bruce had agreed, he didn\'t waste any time. He led Horton Martin aside and taught him the incantation for the spell. In exchange, Horton shared the spell for altering one\'s appearance and aura.

As Dean Bruce finished learning the incantation, a crisp system notification rang in his ear.

"Ding!"

"System Alert: Congratulations, Host. You have successfully learned the basics of the shape-shifting spell—\'Polyform Technique.\' Once you obtain a blank spellbook through the lottery function, you can inscribe the Polyform Technique into it and fully comprehend the spell!"

Seeing this notification, Dean Bruce couldn\'t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

He had guessed correctly—learning magic from others could indeed allow him to acquire new spells. Unfortunately, he still needed to obtain specific items from the lottery function to actually use them.

It was clear this was designed to consume his Supreme Mage points.

[Supreme Mage points... I really need to earn more of them! Judging by the way things are going, the new features will likely require even more points. Hopefully, there will be more ways to earn them in the future!]

Gathering his thoughts, Dean Bruce set aside his concerns and returned to the boulder, quietly waiting for the others to arrive.

Given the tense relationship between Horton Martin and Alita Miller, neither of them spoke, leaving the atmosphere rather quiet.

Thankfully, they didn\'t have to wait long. More and more people began to arrive, some of whom were instructors Dean Bruce had encountered before.

These instructors, though not particularly high-ranking, gravitated towards either Horton Martin or Alita Miller, forming two distinct factions.

Once a total of twenty people had gathered, Alita Miller finally smiled and said, "Everyone\'s here. Let\'s get started. Ace, you still have Lina\'s movements under control, right?"

"Yes," replied a small, wiry man. "They\'re still gathering their team, and according to my information, the ruins can only be entered at night, when the moonlight is just right."

"…"

Hearing this, Dean Bruce narrowed his eyes slightly. If they could only begin the operation at night, should he take the opportunity to deal with Barnis George beforehand?

The saying "Revenge is a dish best served cold" was not exactly Dean Bruce\'s style!

With this thought in mind, Dean Bruce abruptly interrupted Alita Miller and said, "Since we can only enter the ruins at night, I\'ll leave for now to take care of some personal business."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone turned to him with puzzled and strange looks, some even with a hint of anger in their eyes.

However, Horton Martin and Alita Miller remained calm. After a moment of thought, Alita Miller smiled and said, "I\'ll join you then. After all, we\'re officially partners, and appearing together will allow us to support each other."

The group was stunned, their faces filled with disbelief.

What was going on?

If any of them had made such a suggestion, they might not have survived until nightfall. So why was Dean Bruce treated so differently?

Swallowing nervously, the group looked toward Horton Martin.

But to their surprise, the usually strict and unforgiving Horton Martin didn\'t reprimand Dean Bruce for breaking protocol. Instead, he smiled and said, "I\'ve got some time as well. How about I join you two? It\'ll be good to watch each other\'s backs."

"No need. Alita Miller accompanying me is sufficient," Dean Bruce replied, not wanting to get too entangled with the organization. But just before leaving, he paused and asked quietly, "Ace, are you able to track others in the dense forest?"

"Of course!" the small man, Ace, responded with pride. "I can clearly sense the presence of others, even if they\'re hiding in water or buried in the earth! However, I don\'t know the person you\'re looking for, so I won\'t be able to identify them. I can only help you find people in general."

Those who had survived long enough in the organization to complete numerous missions weren\'t fools. They knew how to read the situation, and Ace\'s attitude toward Dean Bruce changed immediately.

Dean Bruce didn\'t want to waste time, so he asked softly, "Instructor Alita, may I borrow one of your men?"

"Of course," Alita Miller replied with a smile. "But could you tell me what exactly you plan to do?"

"Nothing much, just going to kill someone."

His nonchalant tone sent a chill through everyone present, filling them with an unexpected sense of fear.