Chapter 17: Oh, This Familiar Routine?
Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Oh, This Familiar Routine?
William slowly stepped down from the carriage, dressed a bit more formally since it had been some time since he last visited the academy.
He wore a formal black mage robe, held a magic staff in his right hand, and neatly adorned himself with a jewels and a concentration ring.
Welf, on the other hand, wore a silver-white warrior armor, his muscular figure and the golden emblem worn on his chest indicating his status as a powerful Golden Warrior.
Today, Welf had volunteered to accompany William to the academy, claiming that William hadn\'t been back to school for a long time, so he wanted to help out.
William didn\'t see the necessity for this himself; he wasn\'t the type to seek attention. However, seeing Welf so eager, he didn\'t refuse either.
Having spent seven or eight years at the academy, William was naturally familiar with every corner of the school. He led Welf towards the direction of the Fifth Magic Workshop.
Looking at the academy\'s mismatched bronze gates and mottled dark blue brick walls, one could feel the sense of history permeating the air.
It was said that the history of the Fis Royal Academy of Magic could even be traced back to before the establishment of the Fis Kingdom, only changing its name when the new royal family took over.
Anyone who came here had to get off their carriages and walk into the academy, even the king was no exception.
The reason for this rule was set by the academy\'s principal.
That legendary mage at the top of the entire continent—Fran Stephens, also known as the "Flame of Judgment."
However, this legendary figure was often away, traveling the stars to study the mysteries of magic. In the years since William enrolled, he hadn\'t even heard any news of Fran\'s appearance.
It could be said that in the past twenty years, no student from any magic academy had claimed to have seen him.
William, having witnessed legendary powerhouses in his past life, knew that each legendary figure was like a walking disaster, capable of shaking mountains. This was especially true for legendary warriors who could move mountains. Not to mention those legendary mages who mastered super-circle spells and forbidden magic.
However, as a result, there was an unwritten agreement among legendary powerhouses: they didn\'t participate in inter-country wars and didn\'t engage in large-scale slaughter of living beings.
The legendary realm was still far away from him!
But, in this life, with the talent of the "Jack of All Trades," William was confident in climbing to that legendary realm. {A/N: I will change the name \'adapter\' to \'Jack OF All Trades\'. I will make necessary changes in previous chapters.}
As William pondered, an untimely voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
"Isn\'t this our noble homebody, Lord William Kane? How come you\'re willing to come out from your home today?"
This slightly grating voice made William curious, and he looked towards the direction where the voice came from.
What the heck? Was this some kind of pre-set scenario for showing off and getting slapped in the face?
There were five or six people in mage robes standing on the side, about the same age as William, who seemed to be passing by.
William didn\'t answer but instead carefully scrutinized them. They seemed somewhat familiar, wearing an arrogant expression on their faces, but their mage robes looked wrinkled and faded.
Seeing William\'s puzzled expression, the freckled young man who had made the sarcastic comment couldn\'t hold back his irritation and said bitterly:
"Indeed, our noble Lord has quite the memory, can\'t even remember his classmates?"
The others standing around him seemed to share his sentiment, all casting hostile glances at William.
William once again carefully looked at them, sifting through the memories he had already discarded.
"Oh~ Aren\'t these the members of the Mutual Assistance Society? What\'s up? Do you need something from me?" William squinted, looking at them with a gaze reserved for clowns.
He remembered now. These were his classmates from the same year, although they came from commoner backgrounds, their magical talents were decent enough to pass the entrance test.
After enrolling, they started forming cliques, claiming that even though they were nobles, they still had to fight for resources with them, displaying a considerable degree of hostility towards William and Mora.
The original owner of this body had always been immersed in studying magic and hadn\'t paid much attention to them. Even though they had been hostile towards him, they had never been so confrontational in his presence before.
"Hmm, I remember now. What do you want?" William smiled at the group, completely unfazed, not taking their bait like a little troublemaker.
"Erm," the freckled leader named Jonny, who had intended to provoke William to arouse his anger and achieve his goal, had been waiting with the others on this unavoidable route for quite some time, only to find out that William didn\'t take the bait at all.
"If you have nothing to say, I\'ll be on my way to the Fifth Magic Workshop," William said, noticing the group\'s bewilderment and finding it somewhat amusing. It seemed they had come specifically to find him, so he pretended to leave.
Seeing William about to leave, the group became anxious. If they let William go directly to the magic workshop, wouldn\'t all their efforts over the past few days be in vain?
Jonny directly blocked William\'s path, abandoning any pretense and said:
"You can\'t leave. Today, you must give up your assistant qualification for the workshop. That was originally intended for Camus."
"Assistant qualification? Is that why you wrote to me to come to the Fifth Magic Workshop?" William pondered silently but maintained his composure as he asked, "Oh? Why should I give it up? Tell me."
"That was meant for Camus. Camus is so outstanding, but he\'s been rejected so many times in his applications. Why should you be chosen instead?" Jonny hurriedly said.
"Besides, even if you have that qualification, it\'s useless for you. Despite spending so many resources, you\'re still stuck at the same level, a mediocre student." Jonny added.
"Why should I give it to you instead of Camus? It\'s my business if I want to waste resources." William said calmly, not affected by Jonny\'s words.
"I don\'t want to waste time talking with you. Dare to have a mage duel with me? The stakes will be the assistant qualification." Jonny proposed.
William couldn\'t help but smile at the person in front of him who was staring at him intently. He was indeed a small mage who had lived in an ivory tower all his life. Why was he so childish?
"I\'m curious. Why do you think I would duel with you?" William asked.
"Don\'t you have even a shred of noble honor?" Jonny felt that something was wrong. This guy, William, seemed different from before. Although he used to be a loner, he never refused a mage duel. He was always enthusiastic about anything related to magic.
But the William in front of him now seemed like a completely different person. The way he looked at him, as if watching a monkey show, made Jonny extremely uncomfortable.
William yawned, "Sure, a duel is fine. What price are you willing to pay if you lose?"
After thinking for a moment, Jonny replied, "If you win, then all of us will steer clear of you in the future."
Was he kidding me?
William chuckled and was about to leave, thinking, Why waste time here with you?
Seeing this, Jonny quickly stopped William. It seemed he had to bring out the big guns to get William to agree to the mage duel. He couldn\'t believe that he couldn\'t defeat William, who had spent a huge amount of resources and was still stuck at the intermediate level of bronze mage.
Gritting his teeth, Jonny pulled out from his mage robe...