Chapter 246: Perhaps Rejoining

Shaoke did everything exactly as the Death Mage had taught him back then, making it clear that the killing here was the work of Death Mages. This way, the guards defending the imperial capital wouldn't come here for any patrols—they'd just ignore this area. This would spare the Death Mages on missions in the imperial capital a lot of unnecessary hassle. After all, not every mage is an Eighth Tier mage, able to quickly fly away from the scene.

After finishing all this, Shaoke turned and headed back to his estate, not bothering with the guests who had come to check out the accident. He wasn't stopped or questioned at all, mostly because of his staff, which never stopped burning. After all, the warriors patrolling the imperial capital knew that many Death Mages often walked the streets, and they understood how terrifying these Death Mages were. As for the guests, they unhesitatingly went back to their own places, since none of this had anything to do with them. The people of the Yija Family were considerate enough to step forward and identify the deceased, to make notifying their families easier.

Under the effect of the Feather Fall spell, Shaoke spent half a magic hour returning to the small estate that housed the passage to the Death Mage stronghold. The always-alert steward didn't ask about the missing carriage—it wasn't his place to pry. This noble steward knew the temperaments of Death Mages well, as his family had served them for dozens of generations, providing various services here.

The next day, just after dawn, as Shaoke finished his breakfast, the steward, who had been waiting outside, reported the return of the carriage from the previous night and the arrival of guests. "Honorable Mage, some guests have arrived; they're from the Mist Trade Guild." He bowed in the old-fashioned steward's way and stood there waiting for his master's orders. But before that, he reminded the temporary master, "They didn't bring any proof of their identity, so I turned them away from the parlor for now."

Shaoke gave the noble steward a surprised look and nodded. "Tell them to leave; I don't want to see them." With that, he waved his hand, signaling the steward, who stuck to the old traditions, to leave the room. As the maids gave him a gentle massage, Shaoke started flipping through some books. The steward left and didn't return; without the master's summons or a matter to report, the steward had no right to appear before the master.

After just a couple more days in the courtyard, Mage Yisier and Mage Roman showed up again. "Mage Xueye, that incident the other night was your doing, wasn't it?" Mage Yisier sent the maids out of the room, then grabbed Shaoke's arm and asked.

"Yes," Shaoke replied without hiding anything from the two female mages. As soon as he finished speaking, Female Mage Roman gave him a kiss as a reward, since no one else was around and she wasn't as shy as she'd been that night. She was a little worried about what Shaoke had done, but even more touched that he'd done it for her.

The mages discussed a few other topics before the conversation turned to Shaoke's future plans. Shaoke jotted down all the suggestions from the two female mages; these pieces of advice might prove helpful to him in the future.

But this time, the two female mages only stuck around for a day before taking off, because the Blizzard Legion had taken in a bunch of Young Mages and needed their help sorting things out with the officers. Of course, there were perks—at least some of the Blizzard Legion's internal records were now available to them.

After the two mages left, Shaoke became busy again. He'd now thrown himself into studying the Ancient Magic Script. As a Sixth Tier Mage, he was already capable of using not-too-complex scripts for spell incantations. Now he had to get these ancient magic scripts permanently written down on paper.

As Shaoke wrote on the thin crystal paper, weird magic scripts quickly showed up. Now, when writing these ancient magic scripts, he didn't have to break them down stroke by stroke; he just wrote them normally and easily. But since he wasn't great at controlling his magical power, the scripts often caught fire from the unstable energy. Over the past few decades, this practice had nearly exhausted all his crystal paper and the ink made from pseudo-dragon blood used for writing.

Today, after coming out of meditation, Shaoke had a visitor. The black cloak and burning staff gave the visitor away right off the bat. "Can I talk to you about something in detail? Not about the Mage Corps, but other stuff." The Death Mage, fearing Shaoke would refuse, quickly added, "This won't hurt you at all; in fact, it'll do you a lot of good."

After asking the guest to sit down, Shaoke asked what he was really after. "You can speak now."

The mage bowed to Shaoke and then stated his purpose. "A mission, one with no deadline." The Death Mage pulled down his hood. "The Death Mage Corps needs a mage to establish a Wandering Mage Alliance, but no High-rank Mage wants to leave the underground mage corps, so this task has been delayed until now. Until you appeared." The mage paused briefly, then elaborated further, while Shaoke listened attentively.

"I believe this task won't conflict with any of your future actions. Even if you fail, it doesn't matter," the mage said, noticing Shaoke's hesitation. "If you had many mages under your command, you could lead them now to completely destroy the Mist Trade Guild, instead of hiding here. If you had many mages under your command, you could raze that tavern that once insulted you at any time, without caring who its true owner is."

"The Death Mage Corps' rule has always been to solve problems with violence. I think you've forgotten that," the mage said, staring intently at Shaoke. "Don't use the excuse of being away for too long. I believe every Death Mage remembers the tasks they carried out at the Third Rank."

"If I ultimately refuse to assist the Death Mage Corps with some missions, what can you do to me without any magical contract?" Shaoke pointed out the possibility of refusing to cooperate after the Wandering Mage Alliance was established. But the mage quickly answered.

A low laugh made Shaoke uncomfortable. "By then, if you haven't died, I believe you'll have advanced to Eighth Tier Mage. At that point, you'll undoubtedly choose to cooperate. If you truly refuse, the Death Mage Corps won't do anything to you." He then mentioned a few existing Wandering Mage Alliances, not worried that Shaoke would leak the information.

"Their founders had the same issue at the beginning, but over tens of thousands of years, they have cooperated with the Death Mage Corps," the Death Mage's low voice echoed in Shaoke's mind.

"I hope the Death Mage Corps won't forget its promise to me," Shaoke said after a long pause. "Will you wait, no matter how long it takes?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes, even if you take a thousand years to carry out this mission, the Death Mage Corps' promise won't change, and the rewards will still be paid to you beforehand," the Death Mage said, knowing he had convinced the mage. "After all, if nothing unexpected happens, we still have a lifespan of a thousand years."

The two then discussed other specific issues before the mage took out a ring from his pocket. The ring looked very ordinary, but its fine, recessed patterns suggested it might fetch the price of a Blue Feather gold coin. He then produced a magic bag, which was much more advanced than the one Shaoke currently used, not only larger in space but also capable of simple sorting.

"This ring contains all the potions you'll need for the next hundred years, calculated based on your current dosage. There are also other magic books, very comprehensive—all the magic books below the Eighth Tier are inside, though you won't find the originals." He then pointed to the magic bag, "Use this one. The materials inside may not be extremely rare, but I believe they'll help with your magical experiments."

"I rarely conduct magical experiments," Shaoke said, immediately imprinting his Mental Imprint on the ring and the magic bag as instructed, and putting them on. As for his previous magic bags, he carefully stored them away. Since he hadn't yet studied the making of magic bags, each one was a valuable resource to him.

"Good luck. If you plan to establish the Wandering Mage Alliance, be sure to inform us of your insignia in advance; otherwise, I can't guarantee that our own people won't suppress you." With that, he prepared to leave, but Shaoke stopped him.