Chapter 69: Invitation |
Hearing Anze's question, Angela bowed respectfully and replied.
"Yes, my uncle was once a Second Rank apprentice here. He returned to his hometown when he was 30, and it was my uncle who told me about some unwritten rules in the tower."
Upon hearing that Angela’s background was only that of a Second Rank apprentice, Anze immediately lost interest in probing further.
"Although you're being a bit clever, a qualification is a qualification," Anze said, raising his hand to point at the name tag on Angela’s chest.
The name tag flickered briefly before returning to its normal state, with no visible changes.
Angela still maintained a humble expression, bowing respectfully once more to thank Anze.
However, as she turned to leave the door, Saul noticed her mouth twitching in a suppressed manner.
"Next..."
Anze’s gaze shifted to Saul and Keli.
But Anze skipped over Saul and called Keli first.
"Girl, come here."
Keli clenched her fists tightly under the table, then suddenly released them.
With steady steps, she walked up to Anze and, without further introduction, immediately performed three spells.
All three were Gold attribute, Zero Tier spells.
One was an attack spell, another a defense spell, and the third one was an enchantment spell.
"You're Keli, the one following Gudo?" Anze surprisingly knew her name.
"Yes, Master Anze," Keli responded.
"He did pick up a good apprentice, but unfortunately, I haven’t dealt much with Gold attribute spells," Anze said, offering a subtle compliment.
He acknowledged Keli’s performance and nodded at her name tag before letting her leave.
Now, only Saul and Anze remained in the classroom.
"Do I still need to call you?" Anze asked.
Just call me "Dad," Saul thought to himself, trying to ease the nervous tension inside.
After all, unlike Keli, who had been a victim of the mutual aid society, Saul had just killed three of their new members.
If Anze truly was the boss behind the mutual aid society, would he seize the opportunity to deal with him?
Even if Anze didn’t go so far as to kill him because of the tower’s rules, a teacher could still easily make things difficult for an apprentice.
Saul quickly walked up to Anze, preparing to finish the process just like Keli had.
But Anze raised his hand to stop him.
"Extend your left hand, let me see."
It wasn’t surprising that a teacher would notice something unusual about Saul’s left hand.
Saul raised his left hand, which had been concealed until only the tips of his fingers were visible, up to his chest.
Anze glanced at it briefly and nodded.
"Your mind is sharp, you’re brave, and you have good luck. No wonder you were able to kill Sid."
Was this what he was after?
Saul, together with Kongsha and Byron, had set up a trap for Sid, turning him into a new guest for the morgue.
Knowing he couldn’t keep this hidden, Saul decided to admit it and defend himself.
"Master, I acted in self-defense and was forced to kill him."
Anze, hearing this, smiled lazily.
"Self-defense?" He absentmindedly traced circles on the table with his finger. "Don’t worry, I won’t care whether it was self-defense or not. Sid wasn’t my apprentice. If anyone should be worried, it’s you, not me. You should be worried about Rum. He’s Sid’s master. Once he sobers up, he might make you go see him."
"Mentor Rum?"
Rum was also one of the five instructors, specializing in Water attribute magic.
"Could you help explain it to him, Mentor? I really had no choice," Saul asked politely, although he had already figured out that Anze was the type to avoid trouble, or at least appear that way.
Unexpectedly...
"Sure," Anze smiled lightly and waved his finger at Saul. "If you become my apprentice, I can help you resolve this issue."
Could Saul even change his instructor in the tower?
But no matter what reason he gave to change instructors, it would be hard to avoid offending his current master.
Besides, instead of switching masters, he could just go directly to Master Kaz to resolve the trouble.
"Thank you, Master Anze, but my current instructor treats me well. I can’t bear to leave him," Saul responded cautiously, making sure not to offend Anze.
"Treat you well? He hasn’t told you that you’re surrounded by vengeful spirits?"
Vengeful spirits?
Saul immediately raised his eyes, shocked.
"Don’t look at me. You should go find Master Rum. He’s best at dealing with vengeful spirits... if he still has the time to help you," Anze said, leaning back with his eyes half-closed and his hands crossed over his stomach, tapping quickly.
"You don’t want to switch to me? Fine... Testing is finally over. What a hassle."
"Uh..." Saul reminded Anze, "Master, I haven’t cast my spells yet."
"Cast what? You’ve already killed a Second Rank. What more do you need to show?"
"But Master Anze, you haven’t marked my name tag yet..." Saul hesitated, unsure how to describe the action.
A mark, perhaps?
Anze didn’t move but closed his eyes and spoke, "Saul, do you know why we conduct frequent tests here in the tower?"
Saul had no idea.
"The structure of the Wizard Tower is such that it will try to extract the maximum potential from everyone. If one day you realize you've been given more responsibility, don’t be too happy. You’ve simply been placed in a position that suits your current abilities."
Anze stopped speaking, almost as if he were asleep.
Saul knew this meant it was time for him to leave the classroom.
But Anze still hadn’t marked any of the name tags. Was he deliberately making it difficult for him, or was he just annoyed that Saul wouldn’t switch to being his apprentice?
Saul bowed to Anze’s closed eyes and left the room.
As he pushed open the classroom door, Saul was startled by what he saw.
The hallway outside was packed with over twenty people.
Even Lokai stood at the front of the crowd.
When Lokai saw Saul come out, he wasn’t surprised at all. In fact, he cheered loudly, "Come on, let’s all congratulate the top performer of this test."
With that, he led the applause.
Keli immediately joined in.
But aside from Keli, no one else in the hallway clapped.
The apprentices stared at Saul, some in disbelief, others with cold indifference, and some with faces full of fear.
Lokai and Keli’s applause continued, creating an awkward symphony in the hallway.
Gradually, Angela started clapping, followed by the uneasy Doze, then the fifth, sixth...
Finally, everyone in the hallway began to clap, and the atmosphere slowly became strange but energetic.
"That's right, that's right~" Lokai clapped while nodding happily, "We should help each other, as we all entered the tower together, hee hee hee."
The applause lasted for about three minutes.
Lokai finally raised his hand to signal everyone to quiet down. "Also, as a reward for first place, you can go to the garden and pick a companion flower to cultivate."
"Ah, so the first place has a reward," Saul thought to himself, feeling a little happier than the earlier applause.
A garden? Companion flowers?
When he was a servant, he was always threatened by the housekeeper that if he didn’t do his work well, he’d be dragged off to be used as fertilizer for the flowers.
Now, he was going to see flowers nourished by that fertilizer?
He had a bad feeling about it.
At that moment, Lokai suddenly leaned in, bending down with an excited look as he gazed at Saul.
"I don’t even know your name yet. You haven’t joined the Mutual Aid Society, have you? How about joining now?"
"Although you're first among this group of apprentices, there are many seniors and upperclassmen in the Mutual Aid Society who are much more powerful than you~"
(End of Chapter)
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