Chapter 265: The New Generation and the Old

With the arrival of the first group, in the following days, there was no shortage of well-balanced teams covering all professions formed by young faces. However, none of these teams stayed too long in this small town, and not a single one came to the small hill where Shaoke lived.

Faced with this situation, Shaoke didn't care at all, because he only acted as a custodian and had no other tasks. So amidst this busy life, he quietly waited for the arrival of Mage Roman. According to the last letter Mage Roman had sent, Mage Roman might arrive a bit later this time, but would stay for a longer period.

She didn't explain the reason, and Shaoke didn't ask about it either. He knew, because with the reconstruction of the Blizzard 33rd Corps, the mages who had experienced war would become increasingly busy.

Thick snowflakes covered the original appearance of the mage's wooden cabin. A month into the blizzard, a small team finally stayed in the town for a long time. Because the heavy snowfall had completely prevented this young team from continuing their journey. Of course, this was only because they had too little experience.

After staying in the town for a long time, some members of the small team heard from the residents—who inadvertently mentioned the mysterious mage living here—and became excited. When they arrived here, they had accepted a task: to find some unique professionals, because they had some Academy City tokens in their possession. If they could obtain the tokens, they would gain many more points than others in the evaluation after returning.

This unexpected news delighted the team. The leader was a young male Archer, and the rest included two mages, four warriors, and an Infiltrator. However, what was special was that there was a young Cleric in the team, and this Cleric was a rare male one. Apart from the two female mages, all other professionals in this team were male.

After asking the residents about the situation, the team, with the snowstorm still raging, quickly headed toward Shaoke's direction. This arduous journey could no longer stop these young people's enthusiasm for gaining points.

"Leave this place, outsiders." Seeing through the crystal ball that the team had reached his territory, Shaoke drove them away in his usual manner. At this moment, he forgot that these were the young exploring teams from the academy.

Faced with the sudden voice, the entire team panicked. After a brief commotion due to lack of experience, they sought cover to hide themselves. But no matter how they hid, Shaoke could see their exact positions through the crystal ball, because they were still within the mage's warning perimeter.

"Respected master, we are students from the Imperial Academy in Academy City. We apologize for disturbing your rest. We came here to find some items that academy personnel stored here." After a short silence, a warrior loudly stated their purpose. However, he still hid behind a large tree, tightly gripping a one-handed sword and a small shield, as if ready to fight at any moment.

"There are no items you seek here. Leave, or you will be punished." Looking at the images of these young people, Shaoke almost couldn't help but laugh, but he suppressed it. Because he thought of the slightly pleading tone of the two Seventh Tier Mages who came here this year.

"But respected master, we..." The warrior was about to continue, but was stopped by a female mage beside him. She remembered that only mages could transmit sound like this.

"It's the residence of a High-rank Mage." The young female mage whispered her guess to her companions. "We should leave here, or he might actually punish us." Saying this, her face pale from her guess, she looked at the Archer not far away, who was the team leader.

After a brief but intense discussion, the team of students carefully left. But before that, a female mage bravely apologized to the resident master. However, Shaoke did not respond to their behavior. According to his understanding and methods, he thought this team's performance was very unqualified. Of course, this was mainly due to his unique way of thinking.

After the team left Shaoke's cabin not far, they stopped again in the town. They were somewhat unwilling to leave like this, mainly because everyone thought the mage in there had some academy items. Now they regretted their earlier behavior. "If we had persisted a bit more, I think the master there would have definitely handed over the items to us," a warrior loudly voiced his guess, but was immediately refuted by the Archer beside him. "What if he doesn't have those items? Don't forget, it's not certain that there is a mage in there." Saying this, he looked at the female mage who had just guessed. "Can you confirm that a mage lives there?"

"Yes, I can confirm." The female mage rubbed her cold little face and whispered, "I feel that there won't be any high-ranking professionals here. So, in that situation, transmitting sound like that is only possible for mages who have mastered a large amount of magical array knowledge." After speaking, she glanced at her other mage companion and added softly, "He must have killed many people. The tone of his voice just now was very similar to the Military Mage we saw on the road and some wandering mages." Saying this, the female mage hugged her arms, as if the discomfort caused by Shaoke's voice hadn't disappeared.

"Maybe we shouldn't have taken this route." A young warrior whispered in complaint. "Let's leave here. We have to move forward. If we delay too long here, we can easily be left behind by other teams." As he spoke, his voice became louder, and he waved his arms to emphasize his opinion.

"We need to be fully prepared. I heard that from here to the edge of the Misty Forest, there are no other towns or villages." The Infiltrator, who had been silent, whispered. "We have to try walking in this weather, otherwise we won't get good results for this mission." Saying this, the thin Infiltrator habitually moved back a bit and then fell silent.

After a long discussion, the team finally decided to leave tomorrow. After making this decision, they started purchasing items based on what was recorded in books, preparing for their long journey again.

Two days after the team left the town, the officer stationed in the town brought two soldiers to deliver a message to Shaoke. The Blizzard Trade Guild had arrived again, and with them came two female mages and some other people. Upon hearing this news, Shaoke tidied up a bit and went to the town to welcome Mage Roman.

In the unadorned military camp, two female mages were playfully coaxing the baby in Mage Roman's arms. They were trying to get the baby to make some sounds. Beside the female mages was a team dressed like adventurers. Judging by their youthful and somewhat uneasy faces, Shaoke felt they were students from the Academy City.

Shaoke's arrival delighted the two female mages. If not for the presence of other strangers, Mage Roman would have personally embraced Shaoke. The young adventurers, after a somewhat constrained and brief conversation with Shaoke, hurriedly left. They planned to rest in the town for a while before braving the snowstorm to continue north toward the Misty Forest.

From talking with the two female mages, Shaoke learned why that team had come with the Trade Guild. They had met on the road. To take care of the young mages, Mage Roman decided to let these young adventurers travel with the Blizzard Trade Guild.

"Xueye, Lan Wei'er can already speak." Mage Roman said joyfully, cradling the baby girl. "Look! She already knows how to study magic scripts." She pointed to the magic text on Shaoke's cloak. The baby's gaze quickly fell on it, but Shaoke quickly activated his Blur spell to prevent the baby from staring directly. He mildly chastised Mage Roman.

"Do you intend to harm the child's mind?" Saying this, he noticed that both Mage Yisier and Mage Roman's outer cloaks had no magic text or arrays. "Well, tell me, were you testing my ability to take care of the child?" Shaoke gently stroked Mage Roman's long hair.

"Yes," Mage Roman nodded obediently, then gently rocked the baby in her arms. "She seems a bit shy. I think you should be the one to look after her for a while. That might help change her personality somewhat." She then gently kissed the child's forehead. "Although she is very obedient, I feel she is missing something." She looked helplessly at Shaoke, as if seeking his help.

"She should spend more time with children her age." Shaoke looked at the baby girl, who was curiously observing him. "If there were a few more children around, that would be better." Saying this, he turned his gaze to Mage Yisier, who was silently watching him.