Chapter 70: Words at Odds

Mage Loki didn't pay this any mind, after all, he'd been through the same thing himself. However, Mage Feiyi turned his head and said softly, "Mage Xueye, I don't know if you helped the two new mages the way I helped you back then, so let's drop this for now." With that, he elegantly picked up the wine glass on the table, raised it in a gesture, and slowly took a sip.

The lunch was lavish; it was the most sumptuous Shaoke had ever had. Various premium ingredients were meticulously prepared by the chef, making the dishes look incredibly appetizing, and Shaoke was no exception.

After Shaoke had eaten a piece of what was supposedly the purest Frankish smoked ham and drunk a glass of fine aperitif wine, Mage Feiyi, who had been eating quietly, couldn't help but break the protocol mages were supposed to observe. "Mage Xueye, if we hadn't chosen this profession, I believe you wouldn't be able to enjoy such high-quality food made from these premium ingredients here. Don't you think so?"

Shaoke didn't want to dwell on Mage Feiyi's displeasure. He remembered that back at the border, even when the three of them had disagreements over some magical knowledge, it never affected their close camaraderie. But now, after just half a year apart, Shaoke found that the once quiet Mage Feiyi could say such things to a former companion. Therefore, he decided to leave for now and go back to think carefully about how to navigate their relationship in the future.

The lively atmosphere in the tavern suddenly quieted down. The mages and most of the nobles put down their wine glasses and food, stood up, and looked toward the entrance.

Mage Loki and Mage Feiyi did the same. After being reminded by Mage Loki, Shaoke also stood up and looked toward the door, thinking a high-ranking mage had arrived.

After a while, a group of mages in gray robes entered, surrounding a young man in white robes. After they entered a small room in the corner, the standing mages and nobles sat back down. Shaoke asked with some confusion, "Mage Loki, why did we do that? Are these people authorities from your academy? I didn't expect there to be a Cleric at your institution."

Mage Loki shook his head, cutting off Mage Feiyi, and replied, "Mage Xueye, they are not authorities from our academy, and that Cleric certainly wouldn't serve in our newly established academy." He glanced again at the room the Cleric had entered and sighed softly.

Shaoke frowned slightly. "Mage Loki, did we stop what we were doing and stand up just to wait for these people?" Shaoke even noticed that when the group of mages and the Cleric entered, more than half of the mages and nobles performed a salute. Mage Feiyi hesitated for a moment before also performing a salute reserved for meeting a High-rank Mage.

"No, Mage Xueye, you misunderstand. We were waiting for that esteemed Cleric. The other mages were just lucky enough to be chosen by the Cleric to dine together," Mage Feiyi said, shooting a jealous look toward the room before falling silent.

After hearing Mage Feiyi's words, Shaoke felt very uncomfortable. "Mage Loki, Mage Feiyi, I have things to do this afternoon and need to leave. If there's anything else, you can send me a letter. The staff there will forward it to me promptly." Shaoke was about to leave, but Mage Feiyi stopped him.

"Mage Xueye, I hope you will seriously consider this. The battlefield is very dangerous. Most mages could have been promoted, but there they lost their chances forever. The Mage Corps is your best choice. They will offer you very relaxed positions to choose from." Mage Feiyi straightened his slightly disheveled robe and stared intently at Shaoke. "The Elder Mage you were happily chatting with earlier, I heard he was once a genius in cultivation. It took him less than five years to start advancing to the Third Rank. But during a battle that night, he was accidentally injured by a stray arrow. Although he succeeded in advancing, he could never reach the Fourth Rank. He is now over seventy years old."

Shaoke picked up his staff, tightened his cloak, and looked at his two former companions. "I remember it was the military department that appointed you here. You accepted the military department's orders back then, but now you're not wearing black robes." Shaoke nodded to the two of them and turned to walk outside.

Mage Loki flushed red. "Mage Xueye, does it really matter what robe we wear? The Mage Corps is also part of the military department." His voice gradually trailed off, and he muttered to himself, "Isn't it all just to advance to Third Tier Mage as soon as possible?" But by then, Shaoke had already left! He untied the front strap of his cloak, letting his ink-black robe show.

Shaoke was stopped by the officer at the manor gate. The officer, initially full of joy, looked surprised when he saw Shaoke's robe revealed inside. However, noticing Shaoke's unpleasant expression, he wisely didn't press the matter and instead shared some good news. "Respected Mage Xueye, the Female Mage has replied to your letter." He then took a large envelope from his pocket and handed it over.

Hearing that the Female Mage had replied, Shaoke's mood improved slightly. "Thank you, Ulfat." He took the letter and casually handed him a gold coin. "This is your reward for delivering my letters from now on. Please don't refuse. I hope to receive my letters promptly."

The officer accepted it. "Respected Mage Xueye, this is actually part of our duties. I will definitely carry out your instructions seriously." He then left temporarily, knowing the mage before him didn't need him there now.

As soon as he returned to his room, Shaoke sat in front of the fireplace and opened the letter from the Female Mage. The content was simple, mainly mentioning that she was currently busy learning Second Rank Spells and receiving some instruction from her mother. Finally, she brought up whether he would come to the Mage Guild, as her mother had agreed to help him and let him study under a Seventh Tier Mage alongside her.

After reading the letter carefully several times, Shaoke leaned back in his chair, holding the letter, motionless. After an unknown amount of time, the meditating mage was startled by a knock on the door. "Who is it? What's the matter?"

Ulfat's voice came from outside. "Mage Xueye, it's dinner time. I had someone bring it for you." The officer outside knew he might be disturbing the mage inside and answered somewhat uneasily.

After the servants set down the dinner, the officer wisely said goodbye, as he still had other matters to attend to.

Chewing the same old food, Shaoke's thoughts remained on the invitation mentioned in the letter from the Female Mage, Wodun Francis. He deeply desired guidance from a High-rank Mage. Not only would it reduce many detours in his cultivation, but it would also indirectly speed up his future advancement. One could say that receiving guidance from a High-rank Mage was one of the most coveted things for every Low-rank Mage.

After hastily eating a few bites of bread, he put it down. He took the issued free pill, consumed a drop of empty stone liquid, and began Meditation. He felt he had wasted the entire afternoon with wild thoughts, and he didn't have much time to waste now. He thought he would consider the matter the Female Mage mentioned when he had time; he didn't want to hastily change the choice he had already made.

After finishing his meditation, he tried practicing the advanced Meditation Method he had purchased again. He wanted to become familiar with it as soon as possible and abandon the old, generic meditation method. After all, the effects of that method were pitifully small for someone who had already formed a mental space and a mana space.

The advanced meditation method was much more complex than the one Shaoke was currently using. Various thick and thin lines required him to concentrate fully to practice slowly in his consciousness space, ensuring he could complete it smoothly during his first formal attempt.

The busyness lasted until early morning. The candle on the nearby writing desk had been replaced once. Finally, Shaoke recorded the day's events in detail in his journal.

After performing the newly learned body-strengthening movements a few times, Shaoke felt the accumulated fatigue lessen somewhat, but he still felt sore in his back and legs. So, he decided to recover through sleep. However, before going to bed, he remembered he hadn't written to the physician staying in the Misty Forest, so he returned to the writing desk to work on it.

After hesitating for a moment, Shaoke decided to write letters to the other two mages as well, informing them of the situation here. He particularly gave Mage Kiya detailed advice on things to pay attention to upon returning to the capital and hoped the other party could make a choice for the future sooner. Although he knew the other party might not appreciate it, he hoped to repay what Mage Feiyi and the others had done for him in this way.

Although he wanted to send some spells to the spell repository in the Misty Forest, he hadn't copied any new First-level Spells during his last visit to the library, so he had to give up for now. He decided to send them over after copying new First-level Spells later.

After reading the letter from the Female Mage once more, Shaoke used that special breathing technique to begin sleep. A few short magic hours were enough to recover some of the fatigue he had accumulated during this period.

After breakfast, he entrusted a servant to deliver the letters to the officer. Shaoke then began studying the two newly acquired meditation methods again. Repeated simulations gave him some confidence that he could successfully outline this new meditation method in his mana space in one go. However, he still planned to familiarize himself with it a few more times before attempting it practically. After all, if the meditation array used by Low-rank Mages failed during outlining, although it wouldn't cause significant harm, too many failures could still cause some turbulence in the meditation space, leading to a greatly increased chance of Spellcasting failure for a period.

———— If you think it's okay, please bookmark it~! Give Little Seven a bit more confidence!