Chapter 91: Blizzard Mage

After Mage Roland left, Shaoke (Xueye) touched his still gaunt face, sensing that the two maids had actually been looking for Mage Roland earlier; he was merely an afterthought. It was all because the severe damage from excessively increasing his spiritual power and magic power had taken such a toll on his body!

Carrying his staff, Shaoke entered the room and found it quite spacious—only slightly smaller than the courtyard, certainly comparable to the tents used for banquets in the military camp. The stone floor was overlaid with thick, high-quality wooden planks, and the walls were carved with various strange characters and patterns, none of which Shaoke recognized.

Shaoke casually sat at a table and ordered a glass of premium wine from Pror to savor slowly. Inside, many female mages were laughing and joking with the male mages around them, but none of the male mages dared to make advances toward them—at least, Shaoke hadn't noticed any during his time there.

As he was surveying his surroundings, a female mage holding a slender staff stood opposite him. "Hello, Mage. May I sit here?" she asked, pointing to the empty seat in front of her.

"Of course, Honorable Mage," Shaoke replied, standing up and bowing slightly in a mage's salute. He noticed that although this female mage appeared quite young, the emblem of a Third Tier Mage was already embroidered on her collar.

The third-tier female mage chuckled softly and nodded before taking her seat. "Mage, I don't think you need to salute here. Haha! All mages are considered equal in status here." She smoothed her long white hair, which cascaded over her shoulders. "But it's best not to provoke mages of higher rank than you—they've been cooped up here too long and have a lot of pent-up frustration." With that, she gestured for a maid and ordered a drink.

Shaoke tugged his hat brim lower, swept a brief glance at the female mage, and then turned to observe the other mages in the room.

"Mage, are you new here? Hmm... Have you forgotten not to increase your magic power and spiritual power too rapidly?" The female mage picked up a snow grape from the north and slowly peeled it. She was actually quite impressed with this somewhat unattractive mage before her. She never expected that he had pushed his spiritual power and magic power to the limits of what his body could endure in a short time. Judging by this, he was either a cultivation genius or had access to a large supply of precious medicines. However, the third-tier female mage believed Shaoke was a cultivation genius, as she doubted any mage with abundant precious medicines would fail to restrain their progress or neglect valuable herbs for body maintenance.

A solitary cultivation genius—the third-tier female mage quickly concluded this about Shaoke. She didn't mind his unattractive appearance. She had been lingering here for many years, only finding a few prodigious individuals, while the rest had been recruited by others. To her delight, she had encountered one as soon as she returned, though she still wanted to confirm her suspicions.

Unaware of the female mage's extensive thoughts, Shaoke replied, "Yes, I forgot for a moment. My companions warned me later, but it seems a bit too late now." Noticing that the female mage had quickly finished her drink, Shaoke, imitating the ways of his previous life, asked the maid to bring her another glass.

The third-tier female mage smiled and nodded. "Few people here take the initiative to order drinks for other mages, not even for female mages." She swirled her glass, set it aside for a moment, and continued chatting with Shaoke.

Through Shaoke's explanations, the third-tier female mage learned part of his situation. Noticing that the surrounding mages were beginning to pay attention to them, she decided to steer the conversation toward the main topic.

"Mage Xueye, what do you plan to do after advancing to the third tier?" The female mage widened her eyes, studying Shaoke, hoping to hear something favorable from him to facilitate her subsequent persuasion.

"I'll continue seeking a position in the military," Shaoke replied after a moment's hesitation, feeling that this answer wouldn't cause any trouble.

"Oh? Have you decided which army you'll join?" The female mage smiled, sensing that she might succeed in recruiting this mage today. "Why not come to my legion? I'll take care of you there."

Shaoke smiled wryly, feeling somewhat embarrassed as he declined the invitation from the white-haired female mage before him. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I won't be able to accept your care. I've already signed a contract with a legion." Hearing her words, Shaoke immediately understood the purpose of her approach.

Upon learning that Shaoke had already made a decision, the female mage felt a pang of frustration. She hadn't expected that, after arriving here just three months late, these mages had already chosen their future paths. This made her worry about failing to complete this year's task. "Mage Xueye, you may call me Mage Roman," she said, still disappointed but offering her name to Shaoke.

"Mage Xueye, if your contract expires, you can come to my legion for a position. The benefits there, I believe, are only slightly inferior to those of the Blue Feather Legion." Mage Roman sighed inwardly, now hoping only that Shaoke's contract wasn't too long.

"Honorable Mage Roman, which legion are you in?" Shaoke nodded. Although he hadn't considered what to do after his contract expired, to comfort the female mage before him, he casually inquired to show he took the matter seriously.

"The Blizzard Legion, Mage Xueye. I serve in the Blizzard Legion!" Mage Roman raised her head proudly. "You must have heard of this legion. It's one of the most formidable aside from the Blue Feather Legion. Also, just call me Mage Roman—I'm not used to other titles."

"Yes, Mage Roman, I have some understanding of the Blizzard Legion." Shaoke lowered his head slightly, not wanting the female mage to see the odd expression on his face. "Could you tell me why the Blizzard Legion is considered so formidable? I haven't heard much about this from others."

"Blizzard Knights. The Blizzard Legion is formidable because of the Blizzard Knights." Mage Roman toned down her pride slightly, picking up the glass Shaoke had ordered for her and taking a small sip. "Of course, mages aren't counted in this; otherwise, people would say it's us Blizzard Mages who uphold the legion's strength."

"Blizzard Knights? Blizzard Mages? I haven't heard of either." Only now did Shaoke carefully examine the mage before him, noticing that her somewhat pale complexion paired with snow-white hair gave her a unique charm. Moreover, she wasn't unattractive at all—in fact, she was more pleasing to the eye than Mage Francis Wodun.

"It's normal you haven't heard of them. If you come here to rest often, you'll learn many similar things—none of these are secrets." Mage Roman looked at Shaoke with amusement. "First time here?"

Shaoke nodded, agreeing with Mage Roman's assumption.

After chatting a bit more with Shaoke, Mage Roman picked up the slender staff beside her. "Before I leave, may I ask which legion you signed a contract with?"

"The Blizzard Legion," Shaoke replied absentmindedly, his gaze fixed on Mage Roman's fair, delicate hands. At that moment, he suddenly thought of Mage Francis Wodun. Her letter hadn't arrived yet—he wondered how she was doing and how much faster her magical progress might be compared to his.

"Heavens!" Mage Roman exclaimed softly, covering her rosy lips with her fair hand. She turned back and sat opposite Shaoke again, glaring at him fiercely. "Why didn't you say so earlier? I was feeling disappointed for a while." With that, she downed the remainder of her drink in one gulp and signaled the maid for another.

"But you didn't ask, Mage Roman," Shaoke cleverly defended himself.

Mage Roman shook her head with a smile. "Let's not talk about this topic anymore. Hmm... we must change the subject." The female mage paused briefly, gently smoothing the wrinkles on her robe. "With such talent, didn't your mentor at the academy advise you on what to watch out for?"

Shaoke shook his head. "I just forgot for a moment. I only wanted to advance to the third tier as quickly as possible." He didn't want to reveal that his rapid progress was due to consuming large quantities of distributed drugs.

"Couldn't even third-tier drugs for body maintenance prevent this decline?" The female mage slightly furrowed her white eyebrows. "Stop taking the drugs that accelerate mana accumulation for now. I think relying solely on your meditation speed, this situation wouldn't have occurred."

After a moment of thought, Shaoke shook his head. "I won't stop taking the drugs. My body hasn't deteriorated further for a long time now. I recall reading that many mages have experienced this—their physical condition worsens to a certain point and then stabilizes, regardless of how much their magic power or spiritual power advances."

Mage Roman gently rubbed her forehead as if to smooth out the wrinkles there. "As you wish. But if you end up bedridden because of this, I think the legion won't hesitate to abandon you. No one likes a mage who ignores sound advice." She took a deep breath. "I hope you truly possess this strange variant physique. I suppose this will be confirmed soon enough."

Shaoke inwardly sighed with relief. "Mage Roman, do you come here often?" He wanted to change the topic quickly, fearing that further questions would leave him struggling to fabricate lies.

"Yes! It's a good choice to rest here when I have free time." Mage Roman relaxed her tense posture, leaning back in her chair and gently swirling her glass.

After chatting a bit more with Mage Roman, Shaoke bid farewell and left, as he still needed to purchase some magic materials for experiments.

Mage Roman didn't ask why he was leaving, merely telling him her address and inviting him to visit her when he had time.