Chapter 98 A Dangerous Position

After the Third Tier Mage left, Shaoke did not invite the female mage to spend the evening together as the other had suggested. Instead, after most of the mages in the tavern had left, he politely escorted the female mage back to her camp.

Female Mage Roman stood at the camp entrance, letting out a soft sigh before saying to Shaoke, "Mage Xueye, I think you should seriously consider this matter. You'd better not come in, or the mages in those towers might act against you." As she spoke, she pointed to the scattered stone towers within the camp, explaining that the Seventh Tier Mages residing there refused to allow male mages to enter the camp.

After hearing Mage Roman's words, Shaoke thought it over for several days. When he encountered the female mage again in the tavern, he still firmly held to his initial decision. Mage Roman just smiled without further comment, which left Shaoke feeling somewhat uneasy. He believed the female mage now considered him a coward.

One day, while Shaoke was studying more advanced inlay arrays in his room, a soldier interrupted him. "Sir Mage, the officers require your presence at the conference hall. There is something they need to tell you in person." The soldier then provided the specific location of the conference hall before leaving, as he still had other mages to notify.

Not long after the soldier left, Mage Roland burst into Shaoke's room. "Mage Xueye, what's going on? Why haven't they notified me?" he asked, eyeing Shaoke suspiciously. He licked his lips and added, "Mage Xueye, you haven't made some kind of mistake, have you?"

Shaoke rolled his eyes. Sometimes he truly couldn't understand why Mage Roland's thoughts jumped around so quickly, and always toward worst-case scenarios. "Mage Roland, there's nothing to worry about. I haven't made any mistakes, so there's no need for concern."

As Shaoke temporarily parted ways with Mage Roland and headed toward the conference hall, he noticed many Second-Tier Mages hurrying in the same direction. Just as he was about to ask other mages about the situation, one approached him, giving an elegant mage's salute and inquiring, "Greetings! Mage, have you also received a notification to go to the conference hall for a new assignment?"

"Yes," Shaoke nodded. Realizing this mage was also heading there, he sighed inwardly with relief before ducking his head and hurrying toward the conference hall.

Seeing that Shaoke was unwilling to converse, the mage nodded to him and went to find other mages on the same path to chat with.

High-backed chairs in the spacious conference hall were filled with black-robed mages. In the center stood a round table made of yellow cypress wood, surrounded by exactly twelve high-backed chairs with thick, soft cushions. This scene immediately brought the term "Twelve Knights of the Round Table" to Shaoke's mind, but after a moment's thought, he casually changed it to "Twelve Mages of the Round Table," since all those seated were mages.

After finding a seat in a corner, Shaoke scanned the mages present. Most sat upright with calm, indifferent expressions, motionless. Only a few, like himself, were looking around at the other mages and quietly asking them questions.

When the magic timer embedded in the wooden-paneled wall reached the designated time, an Elder Mage near the door stood up. He waved his staff, signaling the chatting mages to quiet down. Upon recognizing the gesture and realizing he was a Seventh Tier Mage, the mages in the hall quickly fell silent, and the earlier clamor vanished.

"I have summoned you here today to announce important matters," the Seventh Tier Mage said, scanning the room. The seven-pointed-star magic array in his eyes emitted a powerful mental suppression. When his gaze swept over Shaoke, a chill swept through him and he found it extremely difficult to breathe. Just as he was about to muster all his mental strength to resist, the immense mental pressure disappeared as the gaze moved away. Shaoke heard a series of muffled groans throughout the hall. Glancing sideways at the mage next to him, he saw the mage's face was pale, and the two-colored diamond array in his eyes was rapidly rotating, emitting waves of mental fluctuations.

The Seventh Tier Mage seemed satisfied that the lower-tier mages had quieted down. He then sat back in his chair and addressed them: "You are all mages who have performed exceptionally well on the battlefield during this war. Therefore, I have temporarily summoned you to change your assignments, as I feel your current posts are no longer suitable for you." After speaking, he scanned the mages in the hall once more.

"We require many mages to provide support in a canyon connecting us to the Desasi Empire. The objective there is singular: kill imperial mages. I believe you are all capable of handling such a mission." After saying this, the mage leaned back in his chair and remained still, allowing the newly informed mages some time to consider.

Shaoke felt uneasy below. He hadn't expected an official military appointment to come so quickly on the heels of rejecting Mage Roman's proposal. He sensed this mission was exactly the same as the one Female Mage Roman had mentioned. "Unlucky," Shaoke muttered softly. He truly wanted to stand up and refuse the appointment. Just as he was considering whether to bring this up with the elder mage, a young mage paved the way for him.

"Honorable Mage, I have only been serving at this fortress for a little over two years. I believe I am not yet qualified for such a mission. I need more time to hone my skills on the battlefield before I can undertake such a task." Under the Seventh Tier Mage's gaze, the mage's voice grew softer and softer until he finally lowered his head and fell silent.

At that moment, another Seventh Tier Mage sitting nearby rudely tapped the table with his staff and glared at the mage. "This is a military meeting. We are here to issue orders, not to listen to opinions. There are specialized personnel for such matters. If you do not wish to accept this mission, then please sign your name here and return to your original position!" The mage grabbed a piece of paper and held it up, signaling for the mage to come forward and write his name.

The mage hesitated for a moment before quickly shaking his head and returning to his original seat.

After a moment of silence, a mage holding a stack of papers filled with writing slowly announced the new teams each mage would join for their future missions. Finally, he informed the hundred or so mages about the precautions they should take while carrying out such tasks.

Upon hearing that he was assigned to the team led by Mage Roman, Shaoke let out a soft sigh of relief, but his mood quickly grew complicated. He didn't know what would happen when he saw Mage Roman again—perhaps she would secretly mock him.

The mages' meeting concluded quickly. When Shaoke returned to his residence, he found Mage Roland waiting for him at the door. As soon as he saw Shaoke, Mage Roland hurried over. "Mage Xueye, can you tell me what happened?" he asked eagerly, wanting to know why Shaoke and the others had been summoned.

"Not exactly good news," Shaoke replied, inviting Mage Roland to sit inside. With a sigh, he recounted everything he had heard in the conference hall. Finally, he lamented, "Actually, I'm only a Second-Tier Mage who has been on the battlefield for just over a year! Why are they asking me to participate in such a mission?"

After listening to Shaoke, Mage Roland's expression turned grim. He swallowed hard and whispered, "After you left, I asked the mages in our courtyard. They said only those who have served here for over five years were called. Very few with shorter service times were summoned. And you are the mage with the shortest service time among them."

Leaning back in his chair and rubbing his fingers, Shaoke said, "I think it's pointless to say anything more now. I feel that if that mage had signed his name on the refusal document, his fate would have been terrible."

"Indeed," Mage Roland agreed. After chatting with Shaoke for a while longer, he bid farewell. He had wanted to take Shaoke to the tavern to relieve the pressure from the bad news, but Shaoke declined, as he still had other matters to attend to.

Left in peace, Shaoke leaned against the bed and took out the spellbook given to him by Francis Woton. He traced his fingers along the engraved blue-gold edges, memories of their journey together flooding his mind. "How are you now?" Shaking his head to dispel the scattered thoughts, he silently wished her well, hoping she would progress even faster within the Mage Guild.

After carefully rereading Francis's previous letters, Shaoke decided to write her another letter. He briefly mentioned that the war here had temporarily ended and that he was facing a new mission. He also subtly expressed his longing for her.

Finally, he reviewed the letters previously sent by Mage Feiyi and Mage Loki. During the war, after each day's battles, Shaoke had been too busy recovering from the heavy consumption of spellcasting to reply promptly. Now, he took the time to describe in detail the recently concluded war and his upcoming new mission. As was customary, he included a small box of third-tier auxiliary drugs to assist the two mages.

After finishing these tasks, Shaoke began reading various magical materials. He hoped to find knowledge related to crafting magic items, as the empty stone bead hanging on his chest remained in its original state. Faced with his increasingly vast mental strength, Shaoke felt the empty stone bead's effectiveness was diminishing. After consulting Mage Roman, he learned this was because the bead had not undergone magical tempering, so many of its functions remained unrealized. Thus, Mage Roman lent him the book he was currently reading on crafting magical items, hoping Shaoke would find a suitable method within.

Now, he was cultivating the empty stone bead using a method he had previously read about: placing the bead back into the empty stone liquid and spending some time each day using his mental strength to sense the bead. Only when his mental strength became completely familiar with the bead would it be considered a temporary success.