Volume 4: The City in the Sky Chapter 97: Larsson's Invitation

  Darrent and the other two great mages sat in their seats without moving, when I walked over, Darrent smiled at me and nodded, saying: "Mage Alick, please sit." He pointed to a seat beside him.

  I bowed slightly to the three of them and said, "Alec has seen the three great mages." Then I sat down in the designated position and said, "I don't know why you three summoned me, is there something you'd like to ask?"

  Dahrent and the other two high-ranking magicians exchanged a glance before turning to me, "After your battle just now, you defeated a high-ranking magician. According to Larsen's regulations, if one wins against a magician of a higher rank in a duel, they can obtain the corresponding qualification. Therefore, you are now a high-ranking magician. The relevant formalities will be handled by Larsen as soon as possible."

  It was expected. The three of them didn't come to me just for this small matter, I'd better observe the situation calmly for now. With a determined mind, I bowed respectfully to the three great mages again and said: "Alick, thank you for your concern, I'm very grateful." Then I returned to my calm demeanor, waiting for them to continue speaking. The atmosphere was somewhat awkward for a while.

  After a long silence, Dalante asked cautiously, "That... Mr. Arik, the magician, now that you have obtained the qualification of advanced magician, you have the right to choose whether to stay in Lalsen or go to any place you want to establish a magic tower. I don't know what your intention is? Of course, you have full freedom to make this choice, but before making a decision, I must let you know that if you choose to settle in Lalsen, you will be provided with a spacious residence by Lalsen, and you can regularly receive a certain amount of magic materials from Lalsen. You can also freely access the vast collection of magic books in Lalsen's magic library, Lalsen Treasures. Moreover, all basic necessities for magicians living in Lalsen are provided free of charge."

  I hesitated for a moment just as I was about to speak, when Winston chimed in beside me: "If you're a genius like Arik the Magician, everything that Larsson provides for you will be twice as much as anyone else's, and Darrent and I will go all out to recommend you to Larsson's strongest magician, the Great Mage Rosah. If Rosah takes a liking to your talent, you'll get personal instruction from the greatest mage on the continent of Aychen."

  What good conditions? I looked at the three people in front of me with suspicious eyes, why did they want me to stay? There's no such thing as a free lunch, offering such generous terms must have some ulterior motive. Thinking of this, I opened my mouth and said: "Actually, I'm not short of money, so after passing the assessment, I'd like to travel around and broaden my horizons, maybe in a few years, I'll choose to come back and settle down in this magnificent floating city."

  The three great magicians were anxious upon hearing this. The great magician, Huston, was a hot-headed person and blurted out: "Mr. Alex, please think carefully about it, we need you!"

  As expected, they must need me for something.

  I smiled and nodded, saying: "Oh? As far as I know, almost all of Larsson's magicians are senior or above. I don't know what's worth looking at for a small newcomer like me?"

  Darent spoke up, "Ah, yes, it's like this. We've noticed that the magic you're using seems to be quite different from the current magic we have now. We'd like to invite you to stay and... uh... discuss it with us further. Of course, we won't let you make a loss, whatever you need, Larsson will try his best to provide for your convenience."

  As expected, these few guys are old and cunning. Seeing that the power of my magic is much greater than the current magic, they want me to hand over the secrets of using this magic.

  I thought for a moment, and smiled as I said: "It's an honor to discuss magical research with all of you, but I'm afraid it's not possible at the moment. I still have an important mission that requires me to meet with Magister Losa."

  Dahrent looked at me in surprise and asked doubtfully, "Oh? I wonder what important business you have to see Lord Losa about?"

  I smiled and said, "It's related to the recent zombie invasions in various parts of the mainland. I've been entrusted with a letter that must be delivered in person to Lord Losa."

  Daren nodded and said: "Since that's the case, then good. Please follow me, I'll take you to see Lord Losa."

  Darent said and turned around to walk outside, I quickly followed up.

  All along the way, Dalante didn't get angry with me for tactfully refusing his request earlier, but instead calmly introduced Larson's situation to me.

  "Larson is a city of magicians, don't look at Larson as if it's completely independent of the major empires and powers, but you should know that maintaining such a large floating city in the air consumes an astonishing amount. Just the consumption of various magical crystals is an astonishing number, not to mention the magical materials used by the magicians for their experiments. Every year, the Mercenary Guild and the major empires provide Larson with a large quantity of supplies. Without their support, Larson wouldn't be able to float in the air," Darent said.

  "Huh? If all the major empires have a request for Larson, how should Larson handle it?" I asked in puzzlement.

  "This is also why all the major empires have varying numbers of great mages stationed within them. Each of these great mages in the major empires clearly understands their mission, which is that as long as the empire has any requests requiring the use of a great mage, after Larsen's approval they will unhesitatingly assist them, even if it means going to war. This is the price, and famous battles throughout the history of the Aichner continent all have records of mages participating, with these mages often playing a decisive role in the wars. Because of this, both sides would send out their mages, and some enemy mages were even originally close friends like brothers under Larsen's wing, yet ultimately could not avoid clashing on the battlefield." Darent said with a bitter smile.

  I nodded thoughtfully and said, "That's really too cruel. Will the defeated side vent their anger on Larsen for being biased towards one side?"

  Dahrent said, "This is definitely the case. To prevent this from happening, Larsen recently changed the way he dispatches great mages. There are only so many great mages to go around, and each empire has the right to choose which ones to invite based on their contribution size. The more they contribute, the higher up in the selection process they get to pick. The rest is just a test of each country's intelligence gathering abilities. This way, they won't have any complaints. Of course, great mages can also choose to join an empire based on their birthplace or nationality. It's all quite complicated, but when the rotation of dispatching great mages happens every thirty years, you'll see it for yourself... it's truly a spectacular sight!"

  As we were talking, we stopped in front of a very large magic tower. Darent said to me: "We're here, you wait for a moment, I'll report first."