Chapter 480 - I Think It’s the Royal Family’s Trick
Chapter 480 I Think It’s the Royal Family’s Trick
Alfred smiled but didn’t say anything.
The Great Elder of the Monochrome Magic Tower was quite speechless when Alfred played mysterious, but he was too proud to pursue further, so he simply watched the arena again.
In fact, Alfred was just as shocked as anybody else.
Normally speaking, the damage of a spell that was cast instantly would be reduced if it should’ve been chanted.
Normally speaking, depending on the talent and expertise of a Mage, an instantly-cast spell would be 40% to 80% as powerful as it should be. The Legendary Mages were certainly more than twenty percent stronger than Roland, but since the damage of their instantly-cast spells would be reduced, they couldn’t have performed much better than Roland.
It was also the reason why many Mages stood up in shock.
They had never seen anyone who could instantly cast a spell without losing damage.
The mentors who rose to their feet soon sat down again.
The students weren’t stupid. Seeing how shocked the mentors were, and how easily Roland had defeated the challengers so far, they knew that Roland was definitely much stronger than them.
For a moment, nobody dared to challenge Roland again.
The atmosphere grew weird.
Roland waited in the arena for a long time, but nobody came to challenge him, so he yawned as if he was bored.
Seeing that from down below, Alfred couldn’t help but smile.
The Red Magic Tower had lost more contests than it had won in the previous academic meetings. The reason was simple: the arenas in all Magic Towers suppressed the destructive spells the most. If their suppression on other spells were quantized to five, their suppression on destructive spells would be seven, because someone might be accidentally killed if the latter weren’t suppressed well.
As a result, the students of the Red Magic Tower had never been able to fully carry out their abilities.
But the case was different this time. Both Roland and Betta had been standing in the arena to this moment, and they beat their opponents easily. The Red Magic Tower had already shown off.
Should they stop now? After considering for a while, Alfred waved at Roland and Betta.
Then, the two of them left the arena.
The students from the other Magic Towers were all relieved, and so were some mentors, because they didn’t know what to do if Roland and Betta stayed.
It might seem funny when two super geniuses defeated every challenger that came to them, but it could also be influential.
The confidence of the students from other Magic Towers would definitely be greatly shaken.
But finally, the two intimidating men came away from the arenas.
A while after Roland and Betta left, someone else went to the arenas.
However, the new players at the arenas all seemed hesitant and somewhat frustrated, as if they were impacted by something.
After Roland and Betta came back, the mentors of the Red Magic Tower nodded at them. They all felt proud that their students defeated the others.
Taking a seat among the students and watching the game in the arena, Roland gradually lost interest in them.
Those students were all fighting in old-school ways without any creativity.
The competition among the students lasted two days. Two days later, the academic meeting was over. Roland and Betta both received a transparent spatial gem from the Monochrome Magic Tower as a gift.
The gem could be made into a necklace, or multiple rings. When put on, it could slightly reduce the magic power cost when using spatial spells.
It was a rather excellent magic material.
Then, the academic meeting was over, and everybody from the Red Magic Tower returned home.
On the flying boat, Alfred sent someone to invite Roland to the captain’s room. The captain’s room was much bigger and better furnished than the single cabins on the boat.
Extending his hand and asking Roland to sit down, Alfred said, “Roland, there’s something I’ve always wanted to talk to you about. Is it all right for me to waste some of your time right now?”
“I’m all ears, Great Elder.”
Alfred nodded with a smile, satisfied with Roland’s manners. “It’s been a year since you came to the Red Magic Tower. You must’ve learned a lot of things in the past year, such as the composition of this school.”
Roland had been staring at him while Alfred talked.
He knew that Alfred wouldn’t specifically ask him to come here unless he really had something important to say.
But if it was something important, he could always talk to Roland after they returned to the Red Magic Tower, unless the thing he wanted to talk about was clandestine.
Hearing that, Roland nodded and said, “I certainly have. More than fifty percent of the mentors and students are from Fareins. Those from Urganda are the second largest group.”
“You are really a smart man. You know what’s going on around you even though you’re devoted to studies.” With the same gentle smile, Alfred said, “Actually, not just the Red Magic Tower, the members of all the other Magic Towers are mostly from Fareins too.”
Roland didn’t say anything.
Slightly surprised at Roland’s calmness, Alfred went on, “You are a Golden Son, and you don’t really have a homeland, so I’m sincerely inviting you to join Fareins. You will be nominated as a baron as long as you’re willing to come.”
A noble title was very hard to earn, especially one in Fareins, the most powerful country in the world.
Roland was briefly stunned. He had thought that Alfred would ask him how he could instantly cast Prismatic Spray without cutting its damage, or that he wanted him to surrender other spell models that he had modified.
He never expected that Alfred would try to invite him to join another country.
After a moment of consideration, Roland shook his head and said, “Sorry, but I like Hollevin better.”
Delpon was his base that he had run for two years and invested so much money and effort on. If he went to Fareins, all his work would be in vain, and he had to start all over.
That would be very wasteful and exhausting.
Besides, Andonara, Vivian, Cage, and his other friends were all from Hollevin.
If he went to Fareins, they definitely wouldn’t feel happy about it. Why bother?
“Why? Hollevin is just a small country. It’s even smaller than a marquis’s dominion in Fareins. A man like you deserves a broader world than Hollevin, where your talent will be restricted.”
Roland’s refusal was within Alfred’s expectation.
If he weren’t in Roland’s shoes, he wouldn’t change his stance and nationality so easily either. Although the Golden Sons didn’t really have a nationality, they had all first arrived in Hollevin, so it was natural that they regarded Hollevin as their second motherland.
Since a mere noble title didn’t work, he had to increase his leverage. “After you become a baron, you will have your own dominion and you can enlist your own army. Considering your gift, I believe many nobles will be willing to marry their daughters to you. In a few years, you may even become a marquis. By then, you will have a territory that’s even bigger than Hollevin. Won’t that be great?”
A local Mage of this world would definitely be thrilled when they were offered such terms, because the noble title of Fareins was really tempting. For the people of many other countries, Fareins was the most prosperous, affluent, and civilized country in the world. It was almost a paradise on earth.
The right to live in such a beautiful country as a revered noble was something that a lot of foreigners dreamed of.
But Roland was different. As a man from an alternate dimension that was in the information age, he didn’t find the identity of being a noble appealing.
There were nobles and upper classes in the information age too.
But all their ugliness was revealed in a pandemic.
The president of a certain civilized country went back on his word and manipulated the stock market with inside information to make a fortune.
He also claimed that he knew the pandemic better than anybody else, and many of his supporters were indirectly killed as a result.
There was also the prince of a certain country where the sun never set. He was almost forty, but he couldn’t even make ends meet without his mother, and he had to sell family properties.
That was exactly the disadvantage of the information society. The real nature of the upper class and the elites that were admired and bragged about in the past had been fully exposed to the bottom-level people who struggled to live.
Many of the beautiful bubbles had popped and past dreams had been destroyed.
Therefore, Roland no longer felt that nobles and upper-class were good words.
Besides, what most nobles did in this world had made Roland further believe in his impression since he started the game.
He smiled. “Thank you for your appreciation, Great Elder, but I still like Hollevin better.”
Alfred slightly frowned.
He saw a hint of disdain hidden in Roland’s smile.
He didn’t think that Roland was mocking him, but for some reason, he felt that he had been mocked.
After a brief silence, Alfred asked, “Is it because you’re unwilling to let go of Queen Andonara? You’re free to take her to Fareins. I don’t think the royal family will dare to take her back from Fareins.”
“They will never come to take her away.” Roland shook his head. “Great Elder, I think you should stop trying to convince me. I’m a nostalgic man and prefer a stable life. I don’t like changes. I do appreciate your kindness, but I won’t join Fareins.”
Alfred stared Roland in the eyes, only to discover that his student wasn’t lying.
This student really didn’t want to come to Fareins.
“What a shame.” Alfred sighed and said, “Roland, go back to your cabin and think about it. You’re going to spend a long time in the Magic Tower anyway. I hope your mind will be changed someday.”
Roland rose and nodded slightly at Alfred as a courtesy. Then he left the captain’s room.
After Roland left, Murphy walked out of the inner chamber in the captain’s room. “Why is he so pigheaded? He’s a Golden Son, not a native to Hollevin. Why is he so loyal to the country?”
“I think it’s because of the beautiful queen. All young men are lustful. The royal family of Hollevin must’ve bound him to their country with the queen.” Alfred thought for a moment and said, “Do you think it’s possible to set him up with our widowed First Princess?”.