Chapter 225: Habitual Quarrels

Ten mages gathered together for a brief rest before tidying their personal belongings and heading to the tavern at the city's center. That tavern was the only place in the entire city that could serve as a resting spot for mages, converted from the city lord's mansion, where mages could enjoy all services for free.

A few maids were organizing various foods and drinks in the tavern. Shaoke and the others chose their seats, then personally selected their preferred food and wine. Once everything was ready, the mages kicked back in their chairs to rest. They drank cups of wine with mutual toasts. After a long rest, some mages who enjoyed dancing proposed holding a ball there. However, after consulting with the person in charge, they learned there weren't enough performers available, so they had to reluctantly scrap the seemingly good idea.

As Shaoke brought over two more small barrels of wine, new guests arrived at the tavern. They quickly caught Shaoke's attention, especially the mage Francis Dun with his sky-blue hair. Both mages noticed each other, but this time Shaoke didn't approach him for conversation; instead, he nodded in greeting and carried the two small barrels of red wine back to his seat.

The observant Mage Roman easily discerned Shaoke's mood from his expression, so she leaned closer and asked, "What's wrong? Did fetching some wine make you feel wronged?" Her teasing tone made Shaoke uncomfortable, but he still answered her inquiry.

"I just ran into an old friend from years ago," Shaoke said, a bit distracted, swirling a transparent glass cup inlaid with a few fine gemstones, which another mage had filled with wine for him. He felt this cup must not have been made by the military but was likely a trophy from here.

"If the relationship is still decent, no matter what happened between you, you should go over and talk to him," Mage Roman gently offered her advice, then raised her glass to toast with Shaoke.

"These cups really shouldn't be placed here," Shaoke said, shaking the now-empty precious glass before setting it aside and taking out his long-unused silver cup. "Maybe I'm only suited for this kind of cup?"

Although Mage Roman didn't fully understand Shaoke's strange muttering, she still watched him attentively and refilled his new cup with red wine.

This time, the mages stayed in the tavern until nightfall. Many of those who had come with Shaoke had already left, leaving only a few scattered mages in the tavern seeking out familiar ones for conversation. The clerics had also returned early, as alcohol wasn't a good beverage for them; clear water was their best choice.

Mage Roman, her face flushed, curled up in her chair, while Mage Yisier sat closely beside her. The two female mages had drunk a bit too much this time, but fortunately, Shaoke hadn't had too much, so he could still escort both companions back to the camp.

Just as he took the cup from Mage Roman's hand, a sudden commotion broke out among the mages in the tavern. One mage, completely abandoning proper mage etiquette, began shouting loudly, coarsely, and viciously. Of course, we won't detail those words here, as they weren't pleasant language. But the gist was that the cursing mage thought another mage had no right to boss him around, especially not with that condescending look, since they were both fourth-tier mages. Finally, the mage shouted, "Leave this city with me, and I'll kill you with my own hands outside!"

With this loud shouting and cursing, all the mages in the tavern stopped their quiet conversations and turned their attention to that direction. Mage Roman, her face reddening, wanted to move closer to see what was happening, but was quickly stopped by both Mage Yisier and Shaoke, as this matter had nothing to do with them.

The argument grew more intense. Shaoke didn't pay attention to what the mages were arguing about; he just stared blankly at the silver cup in his hand. It wasn't until Mage Roman slapped his shoulder somewhat forcefully that he snapped out of his reverie. Looking at her small hand on his shoulder, Shaoke realized his state of mind was very poor today. If this happened on the battlefield, infiltrators would have already slit his throat.

Shaking his head slightly, Shaoke cast a puzzled look at Mage Roman. However, she didn't notice his gaze; instead, Mage Yisier leaned close to Shaoke's shoulder and whispered, "Mage Xueye, those mages were arguing quite fiercely just now. Didn't you notice?" She secretly touched his forehead while glancing at Mage Roman, who had turned her head to watch.

"None of our business," Shaoke said, giving a faint smile, then reminded Mage Roman to leave. Giving Shaoke and Mage Yisier a strange look, Mage Roman nodded in agreement, picked up her staff from the table, and prepared to leave.

"If I have no right to order you, then you have even less right to insult us," a loud male voice made almost all the mages in the tavern who were watching the argument hear him. "Do you know that the food and wine you're eating now are all provided by us? Under these circumstances..." The speaking mage quickly stopped his loud narration, apparently stopped by his companions.

Seeing Shaoke's confused look, Mage Roman explained helplessly, "It's those noble mages and wandering mages arguing again. We don't need to worry about this." She then took Shaoke's arm and led him outside.

As Shaoke and the others left the tavern, they unexpectedly encountered Mage Peyton and her companions standing at the entrance. Following Shaoke's gaze, both female mages noticed them.

"Mage Xueye, I'm glad to see you again," said the male noble mage who had been quietly talking with Mage Peyton, stepping forward and nodding to Shaoke in greeting. "If it weren't for the commotion here, I think we'd be well-suited for a conversation." Mage Peyton, prompted by her companion, also noticed Shaoke and saw Mage Roman holding his arm.

"Yes, I believe what you say is entirely correct," Shaoke said, with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. He didn't know what to say to this mage and instead fixed his gaze on Mage Peyton. Finally, he opened his mouth but said nothing.

The noble mage exchanged a few more words with Shaoke, then told him his name and family, adding, "Mage Xueye, if you return to the capital after the war, I'd be happy to host you." He nodded to Shaoke and left with his companions ahead of them. During this time, Shaoke and Peyton didn't exchange a single word; they merely glanced at each other a few times before looking away.

"Do you know that mage with sky-blue hair?" The silence during their walk back was broken by Mage Yisier once they reached Shaoke's room.

"Is he that old friend of yours?" Mage Roman asked, plopping down on Shaoke's bed and patting the spot beside her for Mage Yisier to sit. "If you like him, you should go talk to him." She rubbed her slightly dizzy head; after spending the entire afternoon in the tavern, she had been drinking cup after cup, unlike before when she'd just have a few and rest.

"So many years have passed without seeing each other; the familiarity between us has long disappeared," Shaoke said softly, gently turning the staff in his hand before sitting on a soft stool by the fireplace, staring at the flames. After a brief rest, the two female mages left together, presumably to clean up, given the amount of wine they'd consumed today.

At Mage Roman's request, Mage Yisier, blushing, returned to Shaoke's room with her. They found Shaoke sitting by the fireplace, stroking his large sky-blue spellbook. The butterfly on the cover, poised to take flight, was where his fingers lingered the longest.

The two female mages removed their boots and cloaks, then curled up on the bed, picking up some books Shaoke had copied to read, as his copies didn't require much mana or mental energy to peruse. Shaoke remained by the fireplace, lost in thought. Neither mage tried to console him at that moment; some things couldn't be resolved with simple words of comfort.

It wasn't until late at night that the two female mages fell asleep, leaning against each other. Shaoke then ended his daze, returned to the bed, and began to meditate.

His entire meditation space had expanded nearly fourfold in area upon his advancement, much larger than that of other mages. In particular, his mana space, under the influence of the silver light, had also expanded about fourfold this time, and it was still slowly growing, showing a trend toward matching the size of his mental space. However, this extraordinary expansion of his meditation space meant his advancement to the next tier would be much slower. Yet among mages of the same tier, he had become one capable of prolonged combat. Of course, this didn't mean he would waste spells; quickly eliminating targets had always been Shaoke's standard.