Everyone wanted to explore the bustling city, except for Adam. It was certainly more modern than Cold Maple City
However their plans were interrupted. The gates of the Duke's Mansion opened, and a group of people walked out.
The duke was a middle-aged man, and he walked up to the Black Mage and performed the standard noble greetings, "Respected Black Mage, welcome," he then moved to hug the other six apprentices, "Little apprentices, welcome."
Everyone gestured their greetings back, and the duke laughed, "Everyone came just in time! Come. Preparations for dinner have just started, and the other mages and apprentices have just arrived."
The Black Mage smiled, "That's good. That means I can leave early. I'm a little tired."
The Duke frowned, "That quick? I have many questions to ask!"
"Yeah. As you know, the academy is in a hurry..."
They spoke as they walked, and soon reached the banquet hall. Many people were already sitting at a huge round table. Two men and a woman were sitting at the head and tail of the table respectively. When they saw the Black Mage they all stood up and greeted him. "Master Black! You are a little late."
The Black Mage greeted them one by one, "Master Robert, Master Jerome and the Beautiful Master Erin, you must know that I was in charge of the far North -- it is inevitable that I would be late."
Adam and the others bowed to the three mages before them and took their seats. Excluding them, there were 34 apprentices in the room, all of whom were about the same age, but they seemed repelled by Adam's party's presence.
The duke returned, dressed in a gorgeous gown. He stood by the door, instructing his servants to serve the food that Adam could only wish to afford.
Ophelia's expression turned sour upon seeing the food. Her father fell incredibly short compared to the Duke.
Crystal and the other three apprentices were stunned. Crystal was a commoner, and the other three were just minor nobles. They had never seen such a luxurious banquet.
The Duke announced the start of the banquet with a booming voice, and he sat with the mages. The apprentices were served by the servants.
Sam Aiden gulped in awe.
Adam wasn't focusing on the food. In the North, both the nobles and commoners used oil lamps for light, but in the South, the lighting was similar to electric lamps, but he couldn't find the source of electricity.
"Could this be alchemy? Or magic?" Adam thought.
"Aw, have you never seen a dinner party like this? I guess it's no surprise considering all six of you are from the North. How is it like living with beasts? What a pity. Enjoy this meal, you won't be able to eat like this for the rest of your lives," somebody jeered.
The North apprentices angrily turned their heads to look at who taunted them -- it was a young man with well oiled hair and a fair and pale face, with his hair majestically combed back. He slowly fiddled with his food and mocked, "Why are you looking at me? Am I wrong? Hah! Let me apologise. The civilised world must be foreign to you."
Sam Aiden stood up and said angrily, "Tell me your name and apologise sincerely, or suffer the wrath of the Aiden family."
The young man snickered, "The Aiden family? I have never heard of them. Did you rely on word of mouth for your noble status?"
The duke and the mages simply said, "Don't break anything." They didn't really care about the commotion.
Most of the apprentices watched, waiting for the Northerners to make a fool of themselves.
Sam Aiden put on his gloves and growled, "Tell me your name coward."
Adam was a little puzzled. Even Marshall and Dennis weren't this reckless. Why is he being so stupid?
Even Ophelia spoke up, "Isn't that funny? You dare to insult us, but dare not to give us your name. I never knew cowards lived among nobles."
Sam Aiden smiled at Ophelia, and became more confident, and threw his gloves on the young man's face, "Duel me, coward. Only one survives."
The young man swiped the glove off his oily face, and looked to his companions for support, but not a single one of them paid him any attention.
Another young man stood up, "Tom, enough. You're a commoner acting as if you were a noble. Sit down and apologise."
The young man named Tom shivered in disbelief, "No, Mr. William, listen, I just wanted to teach these country bumpkins a lesson. No... I... listen... please..."
Meanwhile, at the Mages' table, the Mages discussed the scene before them, "That must be William Alfred, the Duke's son. The most dazzling genius of the South -- excellent mental strength, and has an affinity for fire magic," Mage Erin discussed, sipping her wine. "Congratulations, Duke Alfred. Your son is more powerful than you, and it is very likely he'll take the title of a formal mage in your family."
The duke smiled, "It is my pleasure. He has a lot to learn."
Mage Erin ignored him and asked her companions, "How about you? Did any of you find any other good apprentices?"
Mage Robert, who was in charge of the West, complained, "It's too rushed -- there isn't time to organise a larger-scale test. They are all too ordinary, and only one of the apprentices seems talented in curses."
The other mages frowned, since curse magic has fallen out of favour of most mages since the Mage Revolution. Curse magic is too narrow and niche.
Mage Jerome, who was in charge of the east, updated, "The east isn't that bad. There are a few who have incredibly strong mental strength, and somebody named Quentin has the talent for life and healing magic."
"What about you, Black? The North is too barren, so it must have been impossible for you to get any good apprentices?"
The mages were busy conversing, not noticing the growing conflict between the apprentices.
Ophelia could see William Alfred's thoughts. He really only stood up to smooth things out, which was incredibly distasteful of him. Ophelia stood up and said, "So, you let a commoner insult noblemen like us? Is this a custom in the South? Now that Sam Aiden has launched a duel, this commoner can either accept or become our slave."
Tom was petrified and trembled in his seat, "Mr. William, please, I can't..."
William ignored him this time. He agreed with Ophelia silently.
"This beautiful lady, may I know your name?" William asked Ophelia, bowing slightly.
"Ophelia Johnson."
"I've heard of you, you're the fabled Valkyrie of the North! It's an honour to meet you," he said, pulling a ring from his pocket. "This is a magic item, and you'll be able to conjure a low-levelled fireball with this. I think this should be enough to make up for Tom's wrongdoing."
Oh.
Nobody expected William to offer this as compensation.
Nobody could resist obtaining a magic item right away, and Sam forgave Tom in an instant, looking at Ophelia for approval. She nodded.
Seeing this, William smiled, "It's settled then."
Sam excitedly put the ring on, but found that it didn't fit him. He frowned, but handed the ring to Ophelia, "Miss Ophelia, I think this ring suits you better."
Although Ophelia was eager, she didn't want the ring, so she shook her head.
The conflict swiftly ended thanks to William. Meanwhile, the Black Mage spoke to the other mages, "I was lucky, really. Although I only managed to recruit six apprentices, three of them have immense talent -- Ophelia has talent in Body Refining, Crystal has the same talent as me, and as for Adam... I can't figure out what it is but he is extremely powerful."
The mages congratulated him. The Dean of the Academy will pay them according to the number of talents recruited, so it is better than nothing.
The Duke remained silent upon hearing this, though.
