Chapter 263: The Female Mages and Changes

After some negotiations, Shaoke compensated the parents with over a hundred Blue Feather gold coins, which lifted their spirits a little. However, as the child was taken away by the mage, the mother could no longer suppress her sorrow and wept quietly. This elicited great sympathy from the residents who were still around, though some envy was unavoidable, as the child would one day become a great and mysterious mage.

The thick animal skin wrapping completely blocked the magical script effects on the robe, thus causing no harm to the infant. However, prolonged contact with Shaoke would still affect the child with his magical fluctuations.

The first thing the mage did upon returning was to prepare some medicinal baths for the infant.

Caring for an infant significantly delayed Shaoke's daily routine, but for the sake of future considerations, the mage gritted his teeth and persisted. Every day, Shaoke would carefully press his fingers on the baby girl's body using a special massage technique, often applying precious ointments to her skin. This was the only way to fully develop the future Spellcaster's potential and somewhat accelerate her later learning of spells.

After more detailed testing, Shaoke discovered that the infant had exceptional talent. By the common standards of the Desolate Continent, she could be considered a prodigy.

This discovery gave Shaoke some joy. Although a mage's talent wasn't of utmost importance, if two individuals worked equally hard, the one with higher talent might achieve greater progress. Of course, this wasn't absolute.

Three months after Shaoke discovered the infant's spellcasting talent, Mage Roman arrived in the town with the Blizzard Trade Guild, accompanied by Mage Yisier. Mage Yisier had just finished her garrison duty and returned to the capital, and she came along this time.

Upon discovering the infant in Shaoke's care, both female mages were delighted. Mage Roman even scooped the baby up from the small cradle near the fire, repeatedly kissing her smooth cheeks. "Mage Xueye, is this your child? Where did you come by this baby with someone?" Mage Yisier teased Shaoke, chuckling softly.

In response to Yisier's teasing, Shaoke stepped forward, embraced her, and kissed her forehead and neck. Only after Mage Yisier was breathless and responding to his kisses did the male mage cease their affectionate moment, then gestured for Mage Yisier to examine the infant.

"Her talent is at the prodigy level. If everything goes smoothly, her advancement speed won't be too slow," Shaoke explained softly to the two female mages, finally sharing his idea of raising the child as their own temporarily for both himself and Mage Roman.

When Mage Roman heard that Shaoke intended to treat the child as their own, her eyes grew red, and she nearly wept, but she quickly restrained herself to avoid troubling Shaoke. "Alright. We have plenty of time; we can have our own in due time." She blushed, glancing at Shaoke before quickly turning her attention back to the baby in her arms. "She's beautiful. She'll be a beauty when she grows up." After a moment, she frowned. "I didn't expect to find such a talented child here. It seems the Blizzard Legion should focus more on this kind of identification in the future."

Mage Roman's words struck a chord with Mage Yisier. She felt that if the Blizzard Legion focused more on collecting talented infants, the legion would recover its former strength in a few decades. Shaoke, however, didn't care much about this, as he was no longer a mage of the Blizzard Legion.

Looking at the infant, Mage Roman suddenly whispered, "If I become an Eighth Tier Mage when she grows up, I could perhaps be even better for her." She gently pinched the baby's cheek, causing a slight squirm, but the child was too weak to resist much.

"Mage Xueye, return to the Blizzard Legion. The Blizzard 33rd Corps needs some high-ranking mages." After a brief silence, Mage Yisier spoke again. "The mages enlisted in recent years rarely have combat experience. The legion hopes to find a mage with extensive combat experience to guide them." Yisier's hopeful gaze made Shaoke uncomfortable, as he was no savior.

Seeing Shaoke's expression, Mage Roman sighed softly, then returned to amusing the infant. "I will ensure you become a high-ranking mage," she said, gently rocking the baby, giving Shaoke a warm feeling.

"Did the mages from back then return to the 33rd Corps?" After Yisier nodded, Shaoke continued, "Their combat experience isn't less than mine. I think the legion must have better solutions to these matters." He then shifted the topic to magical issues, discussing spells with Yisier while Mage Roman listened and occasionally joined in. Time passed slowly this way.

The female mages stayed for over ten days. During this time, they tried several times to persuade Shaoke to return to the legion, but each time he refused. He felt that the Blizzard Legion's need for him wasn't simply to guide young mages; perhaps there was a deeper motive.

Given Shaoke's unexplained stubbornness, the two female mages had to stop persuading and instead dive into detailed study of spells and magical knowledge. Shaoke took the opportunity to ask Mage Roman many questions about magical arrays and Spell Structure, as she was more proficient in these areas.

On a snowy and windy day, Mage Roman, carrying the infant, left the town with Mage Yisier, accompanying the returning trade caravan. Before leaving, the three mages spent almost a day naming the child: Lan Wei'er Roman. They chose this name because they couldn't think of a better one, combining Yisier's name and Roman's surname. Shaoke didn't mind.

When the infant's mother learned that her child was taken by a mysterious female mage, she felt somewhat relieved, as she no longer worried that the stern male mage might not care for the child properly.

After the two female mages and the infant left, Shaoke returned to his daily routine. He continuously purchased large quantities of magic materials from merchants or residents, which would be used in future experiments. Over the years, this drained his finances significantly.

One day, after reciting all the ancient magic scripts, Shaoke returned to his room to recover his strength. His Meditation space had changed significantly since his initial advancement. Under the influence of silver light, the space continued to expand subtly, now about a fifth larger than when he first advanced. The mysterious altar suspended in the center had also grown slightly. According to records and Shaoke's speculation, the altar maintained a fixed proportion with the meditation space.

Over the past decade, the number of threads connecting the altar to the Six-pointed Star Magic Array had reached over a thousand, increasing faster as Shaoke's strength grew. The silver light within the altar continuously flowed through these threads to the magic array, then burst into the medicinal whirlpool or the space walls.

The spiritual ribbons within the altar had tangled into many pillars of light, pale silver or pale purple. Under the influence of the silver light and the magic script within the altar, these columns constantly compressed, split, or merged into the altar and vanished. Once the altar could no longer accommodate spiritual power or magic power, Shaoke would have the chance to advance to Seventh Tier Mage.

Over time, sentences formed by the ancient magic scripts embedded in the altar began to float out piece by piece, wandering aimlessly within the meditation space. Some merged into the space walls and disappeared, while others dissipated into the air. Each dissipation consumed some energy from the mage's meditation space and altar, at a rate no slower than casting spells.

Fortunately, mages could control when these symbols left; whenever his energy was depleted, Shaoke halted their release, meditated fully to recover, then allowed more symbols to emerge. Each time a symbol dissipated, Shaoke noticed subtle, strange changes in the meditation space, imperceptible without regular detailed observation.

According to records from the Death Mage Corps, these changes greatly aided a mage's future advancement to Eighth Tier Mage.