Chapter 208: Hidden Bosses All Around
"Is that…" Jeans swallowed, his face darkening as he asked, "a coffin?"
"Nonsense." Aaron rolled his eyes, opened the coffin lid, and lay inside. "I'd love to build a Noah's Ark, but my strength doesn't allow it!"
Jeans was momentarily speechless, wanting to say something but not knowing how to begin.
The Young Master's talent was very high, but to navigate this Chamber of Secrets with ease, talent was not as important as accumulation.
The older one was, the more advantageous it became; sufficient magic energy and knowledge reserves were enough to allow them to calmly avoid this crisis.
But the Young Master was only a thirteen-year-old child; even if his magic energy met the standard, the magic he currently knew wouldn't be enough to handle such a grand situation.
Therefore, building himself an exquisite coffin before death was also a form of elegance.
Jeans nodded secretly, feeling he had seen through the Young Master's thoughts.
Aaron, who was just closing the coffin lid on himself, suddenly shivered, but he didn't think much of it; after all, such an environment could easily make one tremble.
Rumble!
Without any surprise, a massive amount of snow swallowed the coffin.
After a violent jolt, Aaron opened his eyes; everything was pitch black.
"Buried deep enough, huh!" Aaron chuckled softly, then picked up his wand. "Lumos!"
The darkness was dispelled by light, but what he saw was an incredibly thick white, making him feel a deep sense of oppression.
"Alright! Not very deep, but especially, especially deep."
Aaron lay in his carefully crafted ice coffin, quietly thinking about what to do next.
Apparate to a safe place?
No, if he went out now, Jeans would surely send him to the next location, and he didn't want to experience this thrilling feeling again and again.
Moreover, if his Apparition ability was exposed, Jeans would definitely prepare in advance, and it would be impossible for him to use this ability to escape by surprise in the future.
After pondering for a while, lying flat became his first choice.
Skipping class was impossible for now, but taking a nap or something would be harmless, right?
With that thought, Aaron raised his wand and made a small opening in the coffin lid, and then inscribed two magiccircles.
A wind-attribute magic circle ensured air circulation, and a fire-attribute magic circle ensured the temperature inside the coffin wouldn't be too low.
More than an hour later, the Chamber of Secrets returned to normal.
Jeans and Abell saw Aaron lying on the open ground and anxiously went to check on him.
But as they got closer, both the man and the dragon's expressions became extremely interesting, because the person they were most worried about was currently sleeping very soundly, as if having a nice daydream.
"Truly worthy of being the Young Master!" Jeans was speechless; the last time someone was this lazy was over a thousand years ago.
Abell extended a claw and woke Aaron. "Master, time to get up."
"Hmm?" Aaron rubbed his eyes. "Is it time?"
"It is." Jeans gave a thumbs-up. "Young Master, your performance truly surprised me. You won't have to experience avalanches anymore."
He had been careless; how did he fall asleep?
Aaron immediately stood up. This was precious rest time; how could he give it up so easily?
"No, I disagree."
"Young Master, I must remind you." Jeans said helplessly, "I am responsible for arranging all your lessons. This kind of shirking tactic is enough for one time."
Aaron still wanted to argue, but Jeans just kept a straight face. "This is non-negotiable. You can protest, but your protest is invalid."
"Alright!"
Jeans took out another set of keys, looked at the Chamber of Secrets number on the wall, and inserted it into the number one slot.
A scorching aura assailed them as a forging room, with a volcano at its center as the energy core, appeared before the two men and one dragon.
"I don't like volcanoes; they are always temperamental." Aaron shook his head, skillfully placing his right hand on the hand mold of the black stone pillar, and Algus Gaius, with black hair and silver eyes, appeared.
"Long time no see, little Aaron."
"It has been a while, Ancestor." Aaron said awkwardly, "School just ended yesterday, and I came today."
"Nothing to complain about." Algus rubbed Aaron's head. "This era is quite good; when I was alive, there was war at the drop of a hat."
"But I just experienced a volcanic eruption and an avalanche; my spirit has been severely traumatized."
Algus heard this, slowly turned his head to look at Jeans, and his sharp gaze made a layer of cold sweat appear on Jeans's forehead.
"Well done; this is something he must experience, the sooner the better."
"Your subordinate understands." Jeans breathed a sigh of relief, then gave his Young Master a provocative look: See? The teaching staff are all on my side.
Aaron was dumbfounded. He had just thought someone would stand up for him, but this result… it was too heartbreaking!
"I heard from Vico that you took my sword?" Algus asked playfully. "Is it useful?"
"It's incredibly useful; I split that giant snake in half with one strike."
"Very good. Your first task this holiday is to forge a sword."
"Ancestor." Aaron hesitated, "My current skill is only a little better than a Muggle blacksmith; isn't it too early to forge weapons?"
"I think so too, but you don't have much time.
If you don't start early and accumulate experience, you might miss the opportunity to forge divine artifacts in the future."
Hearing this, Aaron looked confused.
He more or less understood the meaning, but what did "you don't have much time" mean? That was very scary!
"Ahem!" Jeans coughed, carefully reminding, "Lord Algus, the Young Master is only thirteen… it might not be suitable for him to know too much!"
"He is qualified to know now; this is the result of us old fogeys discussing it." Algus looked at Jeans meaningfully. "Do you believe that in two more years, he'll be able to beat you down?"
Jeans was stunned for a moment, but quickly shook his head. "If you say he can defeat me when he comes of age, I wouldn't doubt it, but two years is too short."
"Who are you looking down on?" Aaron said unhappily.
"Your subordinate absolutely did not mean that; I just think it's a bit unrealistic. I am, after all, a Grand Magus."
"Grand Magus?" Aaron looked at him in surprise. "I always thought you were, at most, a peak Magus."
Jeans's old face darkened. "Young Master, aren't you the one looking down on people?"
"But two years ago, Vico said that one way to get bodyguards not to constantly follow me outside was to defeat them, and he clearly told me then that you were a Magus.
I've already tried my best to put you at the top of the Magus rank; isn't that respectful enough of you?"
"Uh… never mind." Jeans waved his hand, feeling a bit weary. "Actually, the Patriarch said that to give you some encouragement, hoping you could reach the Magus level as soon as possible."
Aaron's mouth twitched slightly upon hearing this.
"If you are a Grand Magus, then that means my other six bodyguards…"
"Young Master, don't worry, they are all Mid-level Magus and above." Jeans said proudly, "And they have all experienced at least dozens of battles; fighting above their rank is no problem at all."
Aaron: …Good heavens, good heavens indeed.
He originally thought his current strength could contend with the bodyguard team, and if he won, no one would be able to provide him with that surveillance-like protection anymore.
But he didn't expect reality to be so cruel; the difficulty increased significantly. He couldn't beat any of them, and now it seemed quite difficult to defeat them honorably in a short time.
But he didn't dare try the other two methods to gain freedom either!
He had indeed reached the Magus level before he was eighteen, but if it were exposed, these ancestors in the Chamber of Secrets could arrange his death in minutes.
As for the third method, it was even more impossible: getting married, having children, and raising the next generation.
This was an utterly impossible task for a thirteen-year-old child.
"They're hiding so much!" Aaron said indignantly. "Our school's teaching staff probably can't compare."
"That's not necessarily true." Jeans said calmly, "At least your Vice Principal is not weak in strength, and is no less capable than me.
The other Deans are also similar, especially Severus Snape; if he hadn't wasted most of his energy on Potion, with his talent, he would be very close to being a Grand Magus by now, even if not quite there."
Aaron couldn't help but cover his face.
Damn, everyone around him was a hidden big shot!
"What about Albus Dumbledore? How much do you know about him?"
"That… Dumbledore's strength is far above mine; I am not clear."
"You don't know that?" Aaron couldn't help but tease.
Jeans felt offended and said with some hesitation: "Peak Grand Magus; this was the old Patriarch's evaluation many years ago.
Dumbledore absolutely deserves the title of the greatest White Wizard of this century; even an ordinary Saint Magus might not be his opponent.
Logically speaking, he could enter the Saint Realm at any time, but for some reason, he has not taken that step."
"Because he needs to overcome a hurdle." Algus said with emotion.
"What?" Aaron asked curiously, almost forgetting that this ancestor was a Saint Magus during his lifetime, a true veteran.
"This is too early for you; you'll know when you reach the peak Grand Magus level."
"Lord Ancestor, you wouldn't even deny your descendant's curiosity, would you!"
"This… alright!" Algus said with a wry smile, "Who made me have a descendant like you!"
He didn't want Aaron to be overly ambitious, but there were over twenty ancestors in the Chamber of Secrets, and some of them were even stronger than him in life.
These people might not tell Aaron; at least the fellow in charge of the library would definitely answer any questions.
"From Wizard to Magus relies on accumulation; once magicenergy meets the standard, it happens naturally. Generally, a Wizard can enter this stage before the age of forty.
So the Wizarding World does not lack Magus, but Magus also vary in strength, and only a small portion can break through to the high-level.
And from Magus to Grand Magus relies on talent; only with enough talent can one break through those bottlenecks.
After that, to enter the Saint Realm requires a sufficiently strong heart, overcoming that hurdle deep within oneself; to put it bluntly, it is to surpass oneself."
Hearing this, Aaron was completely bewildered, and Jeans also frowned deeply.
There are always some words in the world that are inexplicably difficult to understand, and "surpass oneself" is one of them.
"Hmm? Was my explanation not clear enough?"
Aaron and Jeans both nodded in unison, and even Abell pretended to join in.
"Try to put it in simpler terms, something we can understand." Aaron said patiently, "If possible, it would be best to give an example."
Algus pondered for a moment, then slowly looked up and said, "To pursue eternal life, one must not fear death."
"Oh!" Aaron suddenly understood. "Then if one can't overcome this hurdle, is there no other way?"
"There is a way, but…"
"But what?"
"Let's talk about it when you reach that level!
I'm just a blacksmith; saying more wouldn't be appropriate."
Aaron: …I got my little notebook out, and you tell me this?