"As for who exactly has taken the potion, I'm not entirely sure myself. Most people don't know each other, and given the special nature of the formula, everyone is wary. Even if they've taken it, they won't say anything," Thunderbird said, looking conflicted. "Those Spears who have taken the potion naturally won't show it, and those who haven't will disguise themselves as having taken it, preparing for when they do use it in the future."
Upon hearing Thunderbird's explanation, Alan nodded in understanding. In this Silver Spear Club, due to the existence of the Undying Elixir, every member naturally distrusted the others. Even if they hadn't taken it, they pretended they had.
"However, there are two people I can roughly tell haven't started using the potion yet," Thunderbird said, now completely giving up and speaking without reservation.
"Who?" Alan raised an eyebrow.
"One is the Evil Hag Bird. I personally introduced her to the Club, so I know her public identity. She is currently a professor at Durmstrang Institute, and she is still in the form of an old woman. Perhaps when she starts taking the potion, she will change her identity," Thunderbird recalled.
"I see. So that's how you knew Aseria's identity?" Alan finally connected the details.
"Exactly." Thunderbird nodded. "And the Evil Hag Bird only became a Spear a few years ago. She previously trained Aseria, this spy, for the headquarters. We originally thought she would play a significant role."
"What about the other person?" Alan pressed.
"The other person…" Thunderbird's eyes suddenly filled with resentment. "The other person is Sphinx. I also know his true identity. We cooperated a few times before, and I never thought…"
"Sphinx? That's not right." Alan recalled for a moment, sounding uncertain. "He looks to be in his fifties. Are you sure he hasn't taken the Undying Elixir?" From the impression Thunderbird had given Alan, the leaders in the Silver Spears seemed to all be ancient men and women gathered under this banner because of their reliance on the potion.
"That's because you don't understand the composition of the Silver Spears. Not every leader is an old person," Thunderbird said, pouting slightly as if noting Alan's misunderstanding.
"Oh? I'd be very happy to hear you tell me from the beginning." Alan immediately adopted a posture of eager listening.
"Let me tell you about the origin of the Club. The Silver Spear Dueling Club originally started centuries ago, and at first, it was just a pure dueling club," Thunderbird said, his posture now like an old man telling a story. "In the very beginning, the philosophy was quite simple: it was just to gather like-minded wizards who loved dueling. Within the club, they would share techniques and spells, recording this knowledge as a compilation of everyone's strengths. The managers at the time were very open-minded, holding nothing back, allowing everyone to learn and discuss together. In such an atmosphere, the club developed rapidly. Although the number of members was not large because entrants had to be holders of aspen wands, everyone's dueling skills were honed to perfection, and they gained renown in Europe."
"But the members at that time were all dueling fanatics, often causing trouble outside. They liked to duel whenever they saw a strong opponent, and they often won. The more they won, the more eager these duelists were to challenge, and the winners would usually demand spoils of war. The strange items and spell data collected in the club became more and more numerous, until after one duel, the club acquired a special spoil of war." Thunderbird spoke as if he had been a direct participant.
"I guess that spoil of war must have been the formula for that Snake Skin Potion," Alan guessed.
"Exactly." Thunderbird nodded. "It was this Undying Elixir that led to the later changes. The wizard who obtained the spoil of war at the time didn't actually value the potion much, or rather, didn't believe in it, so he just tossed it into the club's storage room like ordinary data. It wasn't until another member discovered the formula and tried it himself that he found it truly had miraculous effects. At that time, that wizard was relatively simple-minded and readily shared his discovery, but what followed was conflict. Some wizards believed that the power gained from this potion was not true strength, some were disdainful of extracting other lives to extend their own, and many others coveted this magical potion that could reverse aging and began to try it."
"At first, although some people scoffed at the potion, it didn't come to blows, as they were all kindred spirits with shared hobbies. But it wasn't until the side effects were gradually discovered that the tragedy began. The fuse was a club member who easily killed a wizard with whom he had a grudge during his shedding period. This incident made all the wizards who had taken the Undying Elixir realize that there were people around who knew their weaknesses, and the seed of suspicion was planted. Immediately following that, an unprecedented internal strife broke out, until only one person was left in the end—and that is the current leader of the Club," Thunderbird sighed.
"How do you know so clearly? You don't seem to have been a direct participant," Alan looked at him strangely. This was something that happened centuries ago. Although Thunderbird was old, he was less than a hundred years old.
"Exactly." Thunderbird nodded calmly. "But my identity is quite special. I am an adopted son personally taken in by the current leader, and I am also one of the initial members who re-established and built the Club. Therefore, I know many things that even the other Spears don't know."
"In other words, the current Silver Spears was created by your own hands?" Alan hadn't expected the man in front of him to be one of the founders.
"Exactly." Thunderbird seemed lost in distant memories. "For all these years, the leader has relied on hunting magical animals alone to refine potions to extend his life. But even though his strength is extraordinary, supporting himself alone for so long made him feel powerless. So he thought of cultivating his own subordinates. At first, his idea was simple: to adopt young wizards and raise them from an early age to work for him, as time was not precious to him."
"Then isn't he afraid that his secrets will be known to you, especially the time of his shedding?" Alan asked.
"Heh, our leader is very afraid of death. He only appears at a few fixed times each month to teach us magic, and he also signed an Unbreakable Vow with us, so we cannot do anything disloyal to him," Thunderbird said with a mocking laugh. "However, since this leader inherited everything from the previous club, he possesses rich resources and knowledge. He has been diligently collecting spoils of war for these past few centuries. Relying on this data, we have grown into powerful duelists, even though most of us are self-taught."
"You said 'we.' Did this leader adopt many children? And what does this have to do with Sphinx?" Alan continued to ask.
"I'm getting to that." Thunderbird seemed to know he was approaching his end, and he became talkative. "Originally, there were seven of us. Later, three died for various reasons, and now only four are still alive."
"Who are the other three, and your leader? Can you say?" Alan was unsure if Thunderbird could reveal that information.
"Of course, I can't say their true names." Thunderbird shook his head. "As for their codenames, one is called Phoenix, who is in charge of the France branch. One is called Black Dragon, who is currently in charge of the United States branch. One is called Gold Flying Hero, and he remains at the headquarters. As for our leader…" Thunderbird hesitated slightly, then said firmly, "His codename is Rune Serpent!"
"So, just relying on the four of you, plus himself, you created the current Silver Spears?" Alan looked at him with surprise.
"It was seven people at first," Thunderbird corrected. "And Rune Serpent, our esteemed leader, didn't help us at all. Our nominal foster father is constantly appearing and disappearing, wishing he could completely vanish from everyone's sight. At first, as newly adult wizards, we truly didn't have the ability to do all this, but we met our benefactor—Gellert Grindelwald!" Speaking this name, Thunderbird fell into memories.
"Are you talking about Gellert Grindelwald? The legendary wizard who once tried to complete a revolution, the founder of the Acolytes?" Alan had heard Thunderbird mention the Acolytes, and he hadn't expected them to be connected to Grindelwald.
"Exactly, it's him. And let me tell you a secret: I am also one of the founders of the Acolytes," Thunderbird chuckled dryly.
"So the re-establishment of the Silver Spears is also related to this legendary wizard?" Alan didn't expect that he had caught such a big fish.
"There is a connection. It should be said that we, as Acolytes, completed the initial accumulation, and it was because of the Acolytes that the later Silver Spears was established. Who knew our own boss was such a coward," Thunderbird said with disdain, clearly not having much respect for the leader of the Club. "I have to say, Gellert truly is a very charismatic person. At that time, we were all young and impetuous, and at first, we didn't know about the Undying Elixir. Rune Serpent only asked us to find ways to hunt magical animals for him. So, besides completing the basic magical animal smuggling and hunting tasks for the leader, most of our time was spent acting as Acolytes," Thunderbird sighed with melancholy.