Chapter 175 An Irreversible Departure

"This is just the regulation of the Mage Corps, you shouldn't thank me." The mage smiled at Shaoke again in a friendly manner, then picked up another scroll from the table and handed it to him. "This is your reward, and it will also be your final reward in the Death Mage Corps. I believe it will be of some help to you in the future."

He then handed the rather thick scroll to Shaoke.

After conversing briefly with Shaoke, the high-ranking mages had the mage who brought him lead Shaoke away. Of course, they did not require him to leave immediately. According to the rules, he would only be allowed to leave after transcribing enough spells here. Naturally, the supply of medicines and various magic materials during this period remained free.

"Mage Xueye, staying here might actually be a good choice. The tasks for Fourth Tier Mages are considerably simpler and safer than those for the third tier," said the mage somewhat regretfully, watching Shaoke burn the scroll detailing the tasks for fourth-tier mages.

"I want to see what's beyond this place. It's been a long time since I left," Shaoke simply explained his actions. Although the mage knew this was just Shaoke's excuse, he wisely stopped inquiring further. After all, no one here had the right to forcibly change a mage's choice.

Subsequently, the mage led Shaoke to be issued a new robe, cloak, and staff. Of course, their styles were no different from those of the third tier, except that the spells woven into them were more powerful.

Looking at the fourth-tier mage emblem on his robe, Shaoke couldn't suppress his excitement. "Can I buy you a drink?" He wanted to celebrate with this familiar mage, but unfortunately, the mage declined because he still had other tasks to attend to and couldn't join the celebration. However, upon parting, he congratulated Shaoke once more.

After the mage left, Shaoke did not return to his own room but went to the spell training ground instead. He hoped to bid farewell to another mage, Mage Feier, and perhaps have him join in the celebration.

When Shaoke arrived at the spell training ground, the mages there quickly noticed him. Some then stopped practicing their spells, clearing the central area for him. However, soon a mage caught sight of the fourth-tier emblem from Shaoke's not-so-tightly wrapped cloak and breathed a long sigh of relief. This meant that this mage, known for his notoriously odd and irritable temper, would soon be leaving this Third Tier Mage training ground.

After scanning the vast training ground, Shaoke did not find Mage Feier, which left him somewhat disappointed. Watching the mages who were still cautiously eyeing him and whispering to their companions, Shaoke felt a sudden dullness—a feeling that arose due to his promotion in rank. He realized that when looking at third-tier mages now, he no longer felt the sense of equality he once had.

Shaoke's departure relieved the other mages. One mage, who was quite talkative, even said loudly, "Another one has finally left our training ground. It seems we are quite lucky."

"I don't think your view is correct," a very dry and hoarse voice retorted. "Other spell training grounds hardly have mages like this anymore, but we've only just lost a few here. And I've noticed many mages are starting to develop in the same way as that mage just now!" After saying this, he sighed and resumed practicing his spells.

Leaving the spell training ground alone, Shaoke went to a tavern he didn't frequent often. This tavern was located in a huge stone chamber, with thousands of small tables scattered haphazardly. A large number of mages constantly moved around here. Some beautiful maids, swaying their hips, brought exquisitely prepared food to the mages. There were also many Second Tier and even First Tier mages resting here, though they only stayed for a short while before leaving.

After choosing a spot, a maid quickly brought the mage some pastries and, as Shaoke ordered, also brought some wine. All of this was free.

As time passed, Shaoke quickly finished a small keg of white wine and then leaned back in his chair, observing the mages around him. Very few mages brought their attendants here; only a small portion would bring their servants or maids.

When the mage finished another small keg of purple grape wine, soft music began to play according to the usual custom. The mages then began to pair off and dance. Of course, due to the small number of female mages, the vast majority of male mages could only watch others dance, quietly waiting for the music to change and partners to switch, giving them a chance to invite those female mages. Though most of those dancing were young mages; rarely did Fifth Tier Mages dance here. They would simply sit quietly with their wine glasses, rest for a while, and then leave.

Although Shaoke's position wasn't ideal, a female mage still came to invite him to dance. Looking at this female mage who had taken over his medicinal pool, Shaoke happily agreed.

"You made fourth tier?" The female mage carefully noticed Shaoke's fourth-tier emblem and then briefly explained the misunderstanding from the medicinal pool incident.

Shaoke merely tried hard to relax the corners of his mouth, easing his facial expression to appear less rigid and cold, and then followed her topic of conversation. Their conversation was quite pleasant, at least that's what Shaoke thought. The two never changed partners. When the music ended, the female mage bid farewell to Shaoke and left. After all, she was still a third-tier mage facing dangerous tasks, so it wasn't suitable for her to relax here for too long.

Shaoke ate his meal at the tavern. When he returned to his own room, the maid who had been reading by the hearth quickly came to attend to the mage. After removing Shaoke's robe, the maid was stunned.

"Mage Xueye, you've become a fourth-tier mage?" The maid exclaimed in surprise, her small mouth agape.

"You're not leaving, are you?" she asked, disregarding proper etiquette, and stared intently at Shaoke, waiting for his answer.

"I'll stay here for now," Shaoke said, lying down on the bed and signaling the maid to massage his head. "What position will they arrange for you after I leave here?"

The maid gently placed Shaoke's head against her chest and carefully massaged him. "I don't know, but they'll probably put me to work in the tavern here." At this point, the maid's eyes suddenly reddened. She knew that if she left this mage, she would no longer be able to enjoy those medicinal baths, and thus she wouldn't be able to prevent the fading of her own beauty. By then, she would definitely be sent away from here. Thinking of this dreadful outcome, the maid quickly shook her head, as if that could dispel her bleak future.

Biting her lip tightly, the maid secretly wept for her future. Due to the maid's emotional agitation, her massage grew uneven, leading to another scolding from Shaoke, whose temper had become quite volatile, and he sent her out of the room.

After the maid left, Shaoke reflected on what had just happened, realizing he had once again failed to control his worsening temper. This reminded him of the paper that recorded the important events that had happened to him here. Although that scroll had been burned, its contents were something he could never erase from his mind.

Using meditation to calm his somewhat restless emotions, he tried hard to recall some pleasant things, hoping this method would alleviate his irritable mood. Although he didn't recall many happy events, he continued to do so repeatedly and would persist in doing so for a long time.

After some more time had passed, he not only selected the spells he would transcribe but also completely solidified his meditation space, reaching a level capable of bearing fourth-tier meditation techniques. He decided to start transcribing the spells and leave here as soon as possible.

Transcribing spells was tedious and draining. Fortunately, with the maid constantly maintaining his health with medicines and his slightly slowed pace, his body did not suffer too much damage. However, because he hadn't taken the medicine to prevent physical decline promptly after his promotion, his constitution had declined somewhat. Still, it wasn't severe; at least, with the precious medicines provided free here, he had recovered somewhat.

This time, he still chose over a dozen spells, some of which were mental attack spells. Although these mental attack spells were third-tier, transcribing them with his fourth-tier cultivation still felt extremely difficult. As for those fourth-tier mental attack spells, he couldn't transcribe them now; that would require him to be promoted to a fifth-tier mage.

One day, after pausing his transcription, Shaoke embedded the advanced spells of Death Gaze and Disintegration Structure into the diamond-shaped planar array. Originally, he wanted to find more spells to embed into the array, but after seeing the effects of those spells, he temporarily gave up. He merely copied them in detail into his spellbook and stopped further action, deciding to slowly embed those spells into the array or sketch them into his meditation space in the future.

Time passed inadvertently amidst the busyness. The maid serving Shaoke no longer made requests of him in other aspects but instead served him even more diligently. Under the maid's gentle care, Shaoke's emotions gradually calmed somewhat, though he still couldn't help getting angry over certain matters. This often made the maid wonder whether the man she was serving was truly a mage. Of course, she never voiced this doubt.