âSir, Iâm telling the truth. I was just accepted into the Yveline Magic Tower four days ago.â
As Abel tried his best not to let any blame go to Sam, he tried to be honest as he could to the wizard in front of him.
âDid you learn the âfireballâ spell in just four days?â the wizard asked, and Abel kept nodding his head.â
The wizard seemed to be reminded of something, âYou havenât met the Wizard of Yveline yet, have you?â
âNo, I havenât, sir.â
At least the wizard was starting to ask about something else. Abel began to sigh in relief. The wizard was putting too much pressure on him.
âShow me your âfireballâ here,â the wizard said.
âHere?â Abel looked around him. He was just told that spells were not allowed in the city.
âYes, right here!â the wizard laughed and then said, âIâm not leaving any time soon. Youâll be fine.â
âYes, sir,â Abel complied. On the inside, he was complaining about how much trouble this wizard was giving him till now. Hopefully, he wouldnât charged of violating the same rule twice.
The wizard persisted as though he knew what Abel was thinking. âHurry up!â he said and released his overwhelming aura again.
Out of instinctual fear, Abel reached out his fingers and immediately drew a âfireballâ spell pattern. The fireball was then released towards a nearby tree
Boom. The decades-old tree had a huge dent in it before it started burning up. Abel knew he made a mistake here. He shouldâve shot the fireball manually and go into automatic mode.
The middle-aged wizard stared at Abel with a stunned look. It was almost impossible to master a âfireballâ spell within four days, let alone shooting it in split seconds. Yes, even if it was the most basic and lowest-level spell in the entire spell system. He should invite Abel into his magic tower, so he started thinking. Any sooner, and someone was going to take this genius before him.
âYou didnât say any enchantments,â The wizard threw a skeptical look at Abel.
âNo, sir.â Abel thought for a moment and then said, âThe spell Iâve used is made by the high elves, which I have learned before. If I want to cast âfireball,â I just have to say enchantments in my mind.â
When the wizard destroyed his fireball in the air, he didnât say any enchantments either. He wasnât sure how he did the same thing. However, and it wasnât like he could just reveal the existence of the Horadric Cube.
The middle-aged wizard shook his head and looked at Abel, âYoung man, donât lie to me. I have never heard of anyone who speaks the noble tongue of the elves.â
Oh, so thatâs what was. Abel thought that he had said something wrong, but the wizard was just asking about the noble tongue of the elves.
âSir, I do have a grasp of the noble tongue of the elves,â Abel responded with a line from the high elvesâ language.
Although the wizard didnât understand what Abel was saying, he was able to distinguish a few words from leaning spells of the same language. A satisfied smile appeared on his face as his doubts were resolved.
âYoung man, whatâs your name?â
âMy name is Abel, Abel Harry,â Abel replied.
âAbel? Maybe I have heard the name,â the wizard replied as he didnât care for things not related to magic, âMy name is Morton. You can come to the Morton Magic Tower tomorrow. I will be waiting for you there.â
Abel was shocked when he heard the name âMorton.â Not a lot of people have mentioned this name, but everyone who did had this admiring look on their faces. Yes, Mortin. He was the most powerful wizard in all of the Duchy of Carmel. He was an intermediate wizard with a level of 11 lived in the tallest one out of the three magic towers.
He felt excited and happy in his heart, but he was already an apprentice of Sam. Leaving the Yveline magic tower just didnât seem right to him.
âDear Morton Wizard, although I am longing for the Morton Magic Tower, Iâm afraid I need to explain everything to Sam first. Without his permission, I donât think itâs right to go to your Magic Tower.â
âOh, of course, Iâll talk to Yveline about it myself. Just go tell Sam, and heâll let you go,â Morton said confidently. He didnât think that Sam would try to stop him from inviting anyone over.
âDo you live here?â Morton asked as he finally noticed his surroundings.
âYes, this is my temporary residence in Bakong,â
âOh! You come from a wealthy family, I see. Very good. Youâll need quite some gold to help with your wizard training.â
âIâm so sorry, Sir. I forgot to invite you to come in,â Abel gestured the wizard to come in. It seemed kind of funny since he was wearing a full set of armor.
Abel didnât think that Morton would come in. It was hard to see such a huge celebrity at all, let alone treating them to a cup of tea or something. Morton might just flat-out reject him, but he might as well ask first.
Morton was already inside the house, however, and had a wide smile on his face. âHow could I decline such a generous offer? Sure, Iâll come in and have a seat,â he said.
Abel opened the door and led Morton to the guest room. Ken suddenly appeared.
âIs there anything I can do for you, master?â Ken came over and asked.
âBring a bottle of red wine from my room and prepare some desserts.â Abel turned to look at Morton and asked, âOr would you like something else, Sir Morton?â
âNo, itâs up to you,â Morton replied. He was more interested in how the rooms were decorated.
This mansion was obtained from the royal family, and the interior layouts were all the finest of their kindâthe leather sofa and oil paintings on the wall, and even the cups. Everything here was worth so much more gold than what ordinary nobles could get.
Morton didnât expect to find such a rich student. Oh well, at least he wouldnât have any financial problems in the near future.
After a while, Ken brought some servants to put on some desserts. Although they were not as delicate as those in the magic tower, Ken clearly put in quite some effort into them.
Ken opened the bottle of wine and poured it into the decanter. He looked at Abel and asked, âShould the wine be served now or later, sir?â
âLetâs have it now,â Morton said before Abel said anything.
Ken saw that this guest was very important. Although he didnât know where the guest came from, Abelâs attitude had explained everything.
âYes, sir.â Ken poured red wine in two wine glasses, then bowed back.
âWhy do you want to be a wizard?â Morton held up his glass.
âI want to live longer, Sir Morton. Iâve heard that wizards can live up to 300 years old, and I really like to live as long as I can.â
While Abel couldnât tell Morton about the Scroll of Town Portal, he would definitely like to live a lot longer. He needed as much time as he could to go back to China.
âHa!â Morton laughed as he took a sip of red wine, âA lot of youngsters chose to become wizards because they want to live longer. It wasnât actually themselves who want to live longer, most of the time. Itâs usually their family who asked for it. And you, youâre kind of a special case, I suppose. At an age as young as yours, I wouldnât expect you to think much about living longer.â
âHuh?â The wizard stopped his hand suddenly. He sniffed the wine with his nose and took another sip, meanwhile slowly savoring it in his mouth.
Abel didnât say anything. The red wine that Morton drank was synthesized by his Horadric Cube. He didnât want anyone to find out about the Horadric Cube, but such an important guest should only be treated with the best beverage in the house.
âDo you have any more of this wine?â Morton asked straightforwardly.
âOf course, there are a few bottles in my room. You can bring them all back if you want.â