Chapter 5: Discussion

Listening to the messenger's fading footsteps, Shaoke tidied up the scattered items on the table, then draped on his cloak, pulled on his long deerskin boots, and picked up his staff, temporarily bidding farewell to the warm wooden cabin as he headed toward the town several miles away. He wondered if the departure date for the other two military mages had arrived. Originally, those two mages, like Shaoke, were army mages—one named Fei Yi and the other Loki. As for their full names, he wasn't entirely clear, but Mage Fei Yi and Mage Kiya had recently succeeded in advancing to the Mage rank. According to imperial regulations, they had submitted documents to the military department, awaiting recall for further training within the country to strive for higher mage ranks. The two newly arrived mages in the town were likely here to replace them.

As Shaoke walked, he grew increasingly uneasy, thinking to himself: If Mage Fei Yi and Mage Loki left, who would he turn to for help with his magical problems? Moreover, he would now have to take on the responsibility of assisting the two newly arrived mages. All of this mirrored his own situation when he first arrived. Over his three-year border service, Shaoke's progress in magical learning had relied entirely on the efforts of Mage Fei Yi and Mage Kiya. Now, the situation was reversed: whereas before, two mages had guided one, now he, a mere magic apprentice, had to guide and assist two newly graduated mage apprentices in their spell practice. He felt the weight of it.

Lost in these thoughts, Shaoke continued walking. Even for mages with their relatively frail constitutions, a few miles wasn't too distant a journey, despite the harsh northern environment with its perpetual snow. At least he had grown accustomed to such living conditions. Adjusting his cloak, he trudged through the snow toward the town.

Most border towns weren't particularly large. The town where Shaoke resided had around a thousand households living there long-term. Due to the many low-level mercenaries who hunted magical beasts year-round and the various merchants conducting business, the town appeared quite bustling.

Because of the constant snow, crops like wheat and millet couldn't be grown. Thus, the town's residents mainly relied on hunting low-level beasts and gathering medicinal herbs to sustain themselves. Of course, if newly arrived mercenaries needed guides for their missions, the residents didn't mind earning some silver coins from these mercenaries struggling to survive to improve their families' lives. With enough luck and sufficient silver, they could even buy some decent embroidered cloth from the black-hearted merchants to make nicer clothes—though this was primarily the domain of women and children. The men usually purchased a few barrels of flour, a rare treat, to enhance their meals.

Upon entering the town, Shaoke would occasionally nod in response to the enthusiastic greetings from the residents. Soon enough, he arrived at the usual gathering place for mages—a courtyard composed of several quaint wooden cabins. The soldier on duty at the entrance, seeing the mage's arrival, promptly escorted him to the living room door. The soldier announced his presence through the wooden door before excusing himself.

The wooden door creaked open, revealing a soldier. "Honorable Lord Mage Xueye, welcome. The two Honorable Mages are waiting for you inside!" Shaoke nodded with an "Mm," handed his cloak to the soldier serving as a servant, stamped the mud and snow off his boots at the doorstep, and entered the living room.

The living room was quite spacious, with a long oak table in the center covered by a light red tablecloth. Several high-backed chairs padded with thick animal skins were arranged around it for guests. Four young men in mage robes sat in the room, two of whom were the older mages previously mentioned—Mage Fei Yi and Mage Loki. The other two mages looked quite youthful, likely the replacements. Seeing this scene, Shaoke confirmed his earlier speculation. He then performed the ancient Mage Etiquette to everyone before taking a seat next to the two departing mages.

Once Shaoke was seated, Mage Fei Yi wasted no time, saying with a pleased expression, "Mage Xueye, you're a bit late, aren't you? Were you busy with something?" "Honorable Mage Fei Yi, though I arrived a little late, it's mainly because you're so overjoyed. Congratulations! I truly envy how quickly you've reached the Mage rank." The mages couldn't help but laugh. They had every reason to be happy, as the two mages had become true Mages, unlike Shaoke, who was still a magic apprentice. The gap between them was significant. According to mage tradition, only those who officially reached the Mage rank could be called great mages; magic apprentices didn't qualify. However, ordinary people rarely paid attention to such distinctions—to them, anyone who could cast spells was a great and respected Lord Mage.

Moreover, various countries on this continent stipulated that only spellcasters who reached the Mage rank were considered true spellcasters. This was because mages at this rank could freely use second-rank spells, more than doubling their individual combat power. More importantly, advancing from magic apprentice to Mage was extremely difficult in this world; often, out of a hundred magic apprentices, fewer than two or three succeeded. Unlike magic apprentices or junior mages, who could advance as long as they had spellcasting talent, becoming a Mage required not only sufficient and pure mental and magical power but, crucially, insights into spellcasting. Otherwise, even with immense mental and magical power, lacking extensive spellcasting insights and experience would prevent successful advancement to higher-level spellcasting ranks. The successful promotion of these two military mages was quite exciting and provided significant confidence and experience for the two newly arrived novice mages and Shaoke.

The two successfully promoted mages introduced the new novice mages to Shaoke. They were all students from the same magic academy; in Earth terms, they were like senior and junior brothers or schoolmates.

The two novice mages stood up and performed the Mage Etiquette to Shaoke before introducing themselves. One was named Yijia, eighteen years old, tall, with long, slightly curly golden hair covering most of his face. He blushed when speaking, appearing very shy. The other mage was named Jiya, the same age as Yijia, slightly shorter and stocky, quite well-padded, with straight, neatly combed gray short hair, looking very spirited.

The mages chatted for a while. Perhaps due to mages' usual sense of time, there wasn't much idle talk. The main point was that the two new Mages entrusted the newcomers to Shaoke, hoping he would look after them in the future, as they were unfamiliar with everything here and were fresh out of the academy. Shaoke then assured the two mages that he would take care of the new companions, just as they had cared for him when he first arrived, and once again congratulated and expressed his envy for the two successfully promoted mages.

Since matters were settled, Mage Fei Yi and Mage Loki suggested taking the new mages back to their residences to give them some instructions and guide their spells. Seeing this, Shaoke asked, "Honorable Mage Fei Yi, Mage Loki, may I ask when you'll be leaving? If time permits, I'd like to seek your insights on promotion. Would that be convenient?" Mage Loki replied in a low voice, "Don't worry, Mage Xueye. We'll be here for at least another month or two, doing our utmost to help our two new mages. You can come to me and Mage Fei Yi anytime during this period." "Thank you! I hope my visits won't take up too much of your time."

As they were about to part, Mage Fei Yi invited Shaoke to his residence to serve as a witness. It turned out that Mage Fei Yi and Mage Loki planned to gift their small wooden cabins to the two new mages and hoped to complete the transfer with Shaoke as a witness. Shaoke agreed. Fortunately, the two mages' residences were adjacent, so no additional travel was needed. By the time the cabin transfers were completed, it was nearly dark. Shaoke declined the invitation to stay for dinner, leaving the mages space to discuss their academy life and studies. As he left, he congratulated the two mages on the arrival of their fellow disciples and expressed his hope to seek insights on advancing to the Mage rank soon.

They then agreed to meet again in a month, at which time the two Mages would guide Shaoke in spellcasting insights.

During this period, the main focus would be explaining some difficulties the two new junior mages encountered in spellcasting. After all, they weren't like some research-oriented teachers in the academy; their techniques and understanding of spells often had similarities. Of course, the most crucial part was guiding them on what to pay attention to while performing missions in the Misty Forest, as they would spend the next three years independently facing various dangers alongside soldiers. Given that mages' close-combat abilities weren't as strong as warriors', the northern forests posed even greater risks. They certainly didn't want the two newcomers to accidentally get pricked by poisonous plants, killed by magical beasts, or encounter any other potential dangers.

All of this was far better treatment than Shaoke had received back then. The mage who was leaving at that time had only spent a brief five days explaining everything before hurriedly departing. Was it because he felt time was precious, or was he unable to suppress his excitement to learn new magical knowledge? To Shaoke, it was still a mystery, as he hadn't yet reached that level.