by Zhuang Bifan
The golden-haired young man couldn't believe his eyes. He'd never thought that the super powerhouse would let him go like this.
When the other party's figure disappeared completely in the forest, the sense of relief made the golden-haired youth lose all his strength—he could not even wipe the sweat on his forehead. He stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the dark forest with dull eyes…
And all of this, of course, was unknown to Lin Li.
It was late at night when he returned to Alanna, and he had a hard time getting into the gates of the Alanna Guild of Magic.
Before Lin Li could enter the gate, he was stopped by two mages on night guard.
There was no other way out. This was not Jarrosus, after all. No one knew Felic nor his identity. The two mages on vigil, who were yawning away for most of the night, only knew that this was the Alanna Guild of Magic—the heart of all magic in the Felan Kingdom. Anyone who wished to enter the guild had to be interrogated.
As for what kind of interrogation… It would be determined by the identity of the other party.
Unfortunately, Lin Li's identity was the kind that should be questioned carefully.
A young trial mage, who was also from the countryside of Jarrosus. Everyone knew he was a magic genius, but with no background.
There were many marginal people in an awkward position in the Alanna Guild of Magic, They had gotten rid of their status as mage apprentices, but it was difficult to make any further progress. Perhaps they would only be stuck at level-five even at the end of their lives, so most of the time, they would be sent to do various chores, such as vigils.
No one liked to be on vigil; they had to stand outside at the gate every night in the cold wind. As long as they were human beings, they would harbor some resentment in they hearts, which naturally had to be vented. Therefore, making things difficult for mages who returned late had become their best entertainment, and such entertainment could usually bring some benefits. In order to return to sleep earlier, mages were usually not stingy—they might offer a few words of flattery, or even a little gift.
Of course, they naturally dared not find trouble with those higher-level Magic Shooters in the guild. Once they angered these pestilences, they would not have to be on vigil anymore—a magic spell that came down would banish them to the cemetery.
The subjects of their spite were generally low-level mages in the guild. These people were not high in status as well. As long as they adopted a business-like attitude, in addition to subtle hints, they would be able to reap some benefits in the end most of the time.
Apart from these low-level mages, the ones they liked to spite most were still the ones who came from other guilds for the trials. In particularly, the mages that had come this year were all young talents, and they had no background in Alanna.
This was a very complicated mentality—one of both jealousy and superiority. They were jealous of the other party's talents, yet they despised their guilds. Except for the Alanna Guild of Magic, other guilds could only remain country guilds.
"What's your name?" The man in charge of interrogating Lin Li was a middle-aged mage. He looked to be over 50 years of age, and was tall and lanky. He stood outside the guild hall in a black robe, looking like a black bamboo pole.
"Felic."
"Where are you from?"
"Jarrosus."
"What are you here for?"
"To participate in the trial."
"Why did you return so late?"
"I had something to deal with."
Lin Li frowned slightly. He was already lacking sleep, and had been through some ordeal for the day; even if he was made of iron, he wouldn't be able to hold out as well. He had finally returned to the guild and wanted to go back for a good sleep, but did not expect to be hounded by this fellow. He was asking some boring questions over and over and over again; anyone in Lin Li's place would probably be infuriated as well.
However, the other party's attitude was all business. Though Lin Li was fuming in his heart, he did not show it on his face. He continued to answer another few more boring questions patiently.
"Mmm…" The middle-aged mage turned over the guild records—there was indeed a trial mage named Felic, who was also from Jarrosus. Except… his leaving the guild tonight did not seem to be in the guild records.
This discovery lit up the mage's eyes. The absence of a record meant that he had left the guild without the consent of their trial mentor. Plus, he had returned late. If he did not try to make things difficult for such a subject, then he had kept vigil for nothing for the past ten years.
The middle-aged mage's face hardened as he tried to make his expression look more dignified. "Felic from the Jarrosus Guild, right? I've just read the guild records, but there's no record of your going out. What's your explanation for this?"
"I…"
Lin Li opened his mouth to explain, but the middle-aged mage spoke again in a disgusting, old-fashioned tone, "As a trial mage, you have seriously violated the rules of the trial by going out in private, and you had come back so late. It seems that Alanna's night life has lost you… The country guild is a country guild after all, only capable of producing an unruly kid such as you."
"…"
"I tell you, if there's no reasonable explanation, I think I'll inform your mentor about it." When the middle-aged mage said this, he specially emphasized on the enunciation of the word "explanation"…
"Orh…" Lin Li nodded his head, and understood at once. He thought it was business, but the mage was actually asking for bribes. On hearing this, Lin Li's face turned cold. "There's nothing to explain. If you have a problem, you can ask my mentor. His name is Macklin."
"You…" The middle-aged mage never expected that this kid from the country guild would have such an outrageous attitude. He had seen many trial mages before; even if he picked one from them casually, their background would be much deeper than that of Jarrosus. What kind of place was that? It was Felan's most remote, most down-and-out Guild of Magic. It was said that several mage families had been riding on their heads in the past few years; a country kid who came from there actually had the guts to flare his temper on him?
The two sides had dispensed with all civilities, and the middle-aged mage no longer wanted any bribes. He had decided to fix the kid's wagon. He shot a menacing glare at Lin Li, and said between clenched teeth, "Alright, I will ask!"
As it happened…
Before he could ask, Macklin came out on his own.
"Why hasn't he returned…" Lin Li had been out for most of the night, and it nearly gave Macklin a heart attack from the panic. He was utterly regretful at present; if he had known earlier, he wouldn't have handed the kid over to Andoine and have his nerves kept on tenterhooks for the whole night. He was afraid something might happen to the kid—he was the Guild of Magic's only hope. If something wrong happened to him, was he going to make another intermediate blacksmith to deal with the bet?
After the two of them had left, Macklin's fear grew with his thoughts. He had already come out for a dozen times in just a few hours just to see if Lin Li had returned. In just a night's time, he could feel that he had grown a few more strands of white hair.
"Damn, Andoine, that old bastard…" Macklin walked down the steps and was about to look around the corner when he suddenly saw a young mage smiling at himself. The old mage robe, which was torn and worn, looked very cordial at the moment. The curse that he had uttered halfway was stuck at his throat…
This kid is finally back…
"Mr Macklin…" "Lin Li and the mage on vigil greeted almost concurrently.
However, the Macklin at present had no time to care about a mage on vigil. He breathed out a sigh of relief, and began to reprove incessantly, "You kid, you know how to come back? Another half an hour, and I'd be going up to the Nightmare Mountains in search for you…"
"I didn't want to, but I had a small accident on the way…" Lin Li's expression was listless, and he yawned after speaki
ng. He was utterly sleepy. "I'll explain to you tomorrow. I have to go back to sleep now. Otherwise, I'm afraid tomorrow's trial mission will be done for…"
"Forget about the crap trial!" Macklin rolled his eyes as he scolded him with exasperation. "In your present state, I could throw you into a heap of magical beasts, and you'd still fall asleep. Hurry back and sleep, we'll talk about the trial mission tomorrow afternoon when you wake up. I will personally wake you up then."
"Oh…"
Lin Li nodded, and continued no more. He led Sean—who was also yawning unceasingly—past the middle-aged mage, who was standing with his eyes and mouth open wide, and went down the steps into the guild hall.
Macklin heaved out a long sigh of relief watching the two figures recede… The night's sufferings had caused him a few more strands of white hair.
The middle-aged mage was regretting his guts out having witnessed this bizarre scene.
A country mage with no background in his eyes turned out to be someone that even Mr Macklin had to personally receive…
He had been in the Alanna Guild of Magic for more than ten years; how could he not know Mr Macklin's character? He was someone who dared to confront even President Aldwin. In these ten years, he had never seen Mr Macklin as gentle as he was today. Just listen to the conversation between them earlier on—in order to let the young mage have a good sleep, Mr Macklin had spared no effort to delay the trial time!
For a moment, the middle-aged mage felt his scalp tingle.
I'm done for, I might really end up guarding the cemetery…
Fortunately, Macklin was unaware of the whole situation. He had come out at a later time, and had not seen the mage on vigil badgering Lin Li, nor did he know that the person he had been waiting for the whole night was held up by this fellow at the gate and was not able to enter the guild hall. Otherwise… with Macklin's character, the consequences were hard to imagine.
Because he was in a good mood, before Macklin went back to the guild hall, he had even encouraged the middle-aged mage.
Hearing the words of encouragement, the middle-aged mage felt his legs go weak. Cold sweat broke out continuously on his back, and even his voice seemed to tremble as he spoke…
When Macklin left at last, the middle-aged mage was finally unable to hold out, and fell limply on the ground like a pool of mud.
Lin Li brought Sean to his dormitory. Then, his head began to pound.
Sean's snoring was something that he had got to know well. He was fine with it personally—he was deadbeat from the day's ordeal, and figured that he probably wouldn't wake up even when thunder struck. However, his two roommates were innocent. As soon as Sean's snoring sounded, they probably wouldn't sleep tonight…
He stood outside the door and hesitated for a moment, but he could not think of a good way out of it. He could only ask Sean to restrain himself and get through the night first, then he'd help him think of other ways the next day.
After making up his mind, Lin Li pulled out his key and opened the room's door gently.
"Felic, you rascal, you're finally back!" Who knew that he had just entered the living room when Mason's voice rang out from the bedroom.
"I'm very sorry for disturbing your sleep, Big Brother Mason." Lin Li felt rather sorry. He had opened the door gently so as to avoid disturbing both of them when resting. He didn't expect Mason to wake up despite it.
"I wasn't even sleeping…" Indeed, when Mason came out of the room, it turned out he did not even take off his mage robe. He still looked very energetic. He pointed to the next door, and grinned l.e.w.dly. "I'm guessing that fellow's not asleep as well; you can take a look if you don't believe…"
"Felic's back?" Mason's voice had just fallen when Orrin's bedroom door opened.
"Mhm, I'm back." Lin Li nodded, but his expression was full of confusion. What are these two fellows doing in their room in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?
"Felic, I heard you've beaten up Archmage Darian's nephew?" Mason gathered to Lin Li's side without even looking at Orrin. The smile showed that he was totally up for some juicy gossip.
"How do you know?"
"Heh… I heard from others. So, did you really beat him up?"
"Mhm." There was nothing to hide about such a thing. Lin Li nodded his head, and admitted it generously. "I practiced magic with him for a while."
"…" Mason rolled his eyes. He thought inwardly, It's not like I haven't seen that fellow Madrick before. He's only level-seven, and is worlds apart in strength with me. You monster, you went to to practice with him? Aren't you sending yourself to death…?
"Be careful these few days." Orrin's words were few, but his concern could be heard by anyone.
"Mhm, I will." Lin Li also knew that the middle-aged mage named Darian had always harbored a strange hostility for him. Perhaps what Madrick did to Sean was also ordered by him. Now that he had crippled Madrick, it would be strange if he did not come to find trouble with Lin Li himself.
"Forget it, let's not talk about it anymore." If it was in the past, Mason would probably have advised him once more. But after seeing Andoine the day before, he finally knew how strong the kid's backing was. With the legendary mage standing behind him, who'd dare to lay a hand on him? It was just a casual mention anyway. Then, Mason's face revealed the l.e.w.d smile again, and he asked in a mysterious tone, "Did you all hear about the change in the trial mission tomorrow?"
"What change?" Lin Li couldn't help but be startled. Why hadn't he heard Macklin mention about a change in the trial mission when they were outside a while ago?
Chapter 136 - Shadowglen
"I heard from my uncle…"
Mason's opening remarks were still the same. Lin Li had heard him say the same thing at least ten times in the past few days since he'd arrived in Alanna, so much that Lin Li was curious who this "uncle" was, and how he was so well-informed. Not to mention the major decisions of the guild, even some lace news and gossip could not escape him. Lin Li made up his mind that he'd have Mason introduce him to his uncle one some day.
"Tomorrow's mission will be beyond our imagination."
Lin Li's interest was piqued. "What's the mission that's so impressive?"
Mason's face stood to reason. "I don't know."
"…" Lin Li was almost infuriated by him. He had been talking mysteriously for a long while, and in the end, it had finished with an "I don't know". Where was the important part? The important part was gone—what was the difference between this and a eunuch?
For a moment, even Orrin couldn't stand it. "Idiot without any professional ethics!"
"Listen to my explanation…" Mason quickly excused himself, seeing that he was about to offend the majority. "Tomorrow's task is decided by the Supreme Council. Don't mention my uncle, even President Aldwin might not necessarily know."
"For real?"
The more Lin Li thought, the more puzzled he felt. Although the trial was initiated by the Supreme Council, the latter had not interfered too much. After all, there were countless Guilds of Magic in Anril; the Supreme Council might not necessarily have time to oversee Alanna.
What medicine had they mistakenly taken to take charge of the mission suddenly…
"What missions do you think the Supreme Council will issue to us?" Mason was apparently excited. The thought of the Supreme Council's mission excited one easily.
"Devil knows…"
Lin Li pouted his lips; he had no awe for the Supreme Council. His headache at present was how to sleep tonight. Sean was already dozing over there—he was sitting in a rattan chair with his head leaning back. Lin Li reckoned that, in a short time, he would shock the whole building with his snores.
Lin Li pondered, and had to wake Sean up. "Sean, wake up first…"
After the day's ordeal, Sean was already worn out. Though he was shaken up by Lin Li, his eyes were still half closed as he asked in a daze, "What happened, Mr Felic?"
"Sleep in my room."
"How co
uld I?" Sean woke up half in shock upon hearing this. He shook his head, and said, "No, no, Mr Felic, I'll just sleep in the living room."
"Cut the crap with me." It was no use discussing with this fellow. Lin Li's face stiffened, and he said in a commanding tone, "If you don't want to go back to Jarrosus, go to my room to sleep!"
Sean dared not decline anymore upon seeing Lin Li's hardened expression. However, he was still hesitant. "Then… Mr Felic, where would you be sleeping?"
"I want to sit down a little longer. When I want to sleep, I'll come in and wake you up."
With this remark, Sean finally put down his worries, and answered honestly, "Orh…"
Lin Li helped Sean to close the bedroom door, then sat back in the rattan chair. With a tired look on his face, he said to his two roommates, "It's not early anymore. Let's go to bed earlier. There's still the trial mission tomorrow…"
"You are good to him." Orrin praised Lin Li, which was something rare, and then gently closed the door.
Lin Li smiled, and did not give any explanations. He whispered in his heart, "I'm good to you too…"
Seeing that both roommates had closed their doors, Lin Lin opened the Ring of Endless Storm once again, and took out a crystal pen and a bottle of star sand from inside. Then, he quietly laid a Ward of Secrecy on the doors.
After all these, Lin Li could finally put his heart down and sleep. With the Ward of Secrecy as a shield, let alone Sean's snoring, even thunder couldn't reach the living room.
Lin Li had been bone-weary from the day's events. Now that he had nothing to worry about, he slept soundly even in the rattan chair.
It was not just Lin Li that slept well, but Mason and Orrin too—as well as Sean, who was shielded with the Ward of Secrecy.
While they slept soundly, someone was crying in front of Darian.
It was Madrick—the unlucky brat who had hit a snag.
"Uncle Darian…" Madrick lay on his bed, covered with bandages and looking like a mummy. A little movement from Madrick would affect his wounds and cause excruciating pain all over his body.
"Shut up. You're a grown man, what's there to cry about with minor injuries?" Darian's face was livid, and he was frustrated by Madrick's cries.
