You Should Just Give Up

After leaving the stage, Harrison rushed back to the inn he was staying at and took out the magic communication talisman. He couldn't send a lot of information such a far distance, so he kept the information short and informed the school that he had recruited a rare magic genius this time. After finishing this, he finally calmed down while his eyes flashed with excitement. He could maybe get a promotion or resources as a reward for bringing back someone with high talent. This could allow his magic to increase a stage. He fantasized slightly what the future held in store for him once he got back. Feeling extremely grateful towards Greyson, he suddenly frowned as he remembered a certain spatial bag of bribes from the shopkeeper. As a decisive man, Harrison refused to keep something that was incriminating towards the genius he met. He got up quickly and rushed over to the shop.

Not knowing Teacher Eldred's thoughts, the shopkeeper was delighted to see him come over. He thought that the teacher was here to tell him that, although he didn't fail the boy, he would make his life miserable. Or at least something negative and in that direction. Harrison seemed to see through his thoughts and scoffed inwardly, "you think everyone is as dumb as you. Who would go out of their way to torment a genius magician? I could just help him now and he would bring me enormous benefits in the future when he becomes someone important."

Just as they sat down, the shopkeeper smiled, "Teacher Harrison, what brings you back to my humble shop?"

Without answering, Harrison snorted and threw back the spatial bag.

"Everything you gave me is still in there. Since I didn't complete what you asked me and I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about my intentions, I'm giving it back to you."

"Is it not enough? I can give you more as long as you make sure to give that brat a hard time later."

Harrison sneered, "You seem to not understand the situation, so let me make it clear. With his background, Greyson has somehow reached the novice level fourth stage at 5 years old. Most people can only reach this level at double his age and, if they do reach it at the same age, those kids are all the direct descendants of huge families. When I say huge, I mean much bigger than my own as in the top 4 noble families in the Dalia Kingdom or the royal family itself. Those kids have amazing resources and of course high talent. Greyson would have to have that much more talent then them because he has yet to get any resources. He doesn't even know a proper spell. With the right education, he will quickly become a magician more powerful than me and be given a high position most likely. He will be in a position higher than the current King of Elysa. You are asking me to be a bully to this sort of man? I have already reported to the higher-ups about him, so they will definitely protect him. Plus, I can get all sorts of benefits for bringing him to the school and if I treat him well I can continue to get benefits. Now, explain to me, what amount of money could you give me that would tempt me to make such a stupid decision?"

The shopkeeper just sat with shock written all over his face. Getting lectured like this was humiliating but he also started to reflect on his actions. Maybe going against the kid for something like his pride wasn't worth it? Wouldn't it be much better to be friends with an upcoming genius? Suddenly, he was speechless and lost in thought.

Harrison snickered and got up to leave.

"I will give you one piece of sincere advice. You should just give up. Live your life and forget about the boy. I assure you, he will definitely forget all about some small city shopkeeper once he is gone to another kingdom with a higher position."

...

Greyson and Claude could both barely sleep that night. After they got back to the Devereux manor, Claude's family threw a party in celebration. Everyone while smiling ear to ear thinking of the future prospects of the family's young master and his friend. Only one person could not smile, she spent the entire night brooding about Greyson leaving. Greyson noticed Catherine's unhappiness, but decided to pay her no mind as he wanted to be happy and not get dragged into her drama anymore. Claude's father could not come along to say goodbye as he had an important city to run so Claude decided to write him a letter to let him know the good news and to say goodbye. Greyson saw this and decided to ask Claude for a favor. He wanted to send Sister Lily a letter with the good news. Thus, that night two letters were sent out harboring the good news.

The next morning, the two boys were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. One could see the dark circles showing lack of sleep, but that didn't effect their excitement and energy levels. They ate one last meal in the manor before running off to the city gates where they were supposed to meet Teacher Harrison. They ran quickly and got to the gate fairly early. Not able to calm down, they chatted while continually glancing at the gate to see if Teacher Harrison had arrived yet.

Just when they felt they could no longer handle waiting, Teacher Harrison showed up. He looked a little exhausted as if he hadn't slept all night. Although the two wanted to ask, they didn't feel close enough to him. Harrison saw them hesitate and smiled warmly, "you two should talk comfortably to me. We will be part of the same academy and from what I saw we will also be part of the same department."

The two boys then looked at each other and smiled before turning back to him and nodding. Harrison nodded happily towards them and suddenly spoke out, "Argus, show yourself to them. We'll be flying back at your highest speed this time."

Grey and Claude looked confused before a flash of green blinded their eyes. When their vision cleared, a large blue bird manifested itself in front of them. The bird was strange as it wasn't completely corporeal, it looked more like a spirit. They felt a little scared of the thought of a ghost and their discomfort was noticed by Teacher Harrison.

He laughed loudly asking, "you guys don't have a magic teacher right? When you reach the intermediate level your magic will manifest your partner beast. This partner will be pretty much a spirit until you reach the great magister level. After that level, the spirit will gain more and more life until it becomes a real living being. Of course, it will only be able to separate from you and live its own life if you reach the Elemental God level, but that is a legend so I'm not sure if it's true or not. Argus, here, is my beast. Whoever is lucky will get a flying beast as their partner so they can travel faster. This is part of the reason that I am chosen to go to recruit people. Your beast will be a manifestation of your element. When you reach the intermediate level, your beast will still be pretty small and could not be kept out for very long as it uses to much mana. I should also mention that elves don't manifest a beast, but human-like spirit. Dwarves manifest tools as their race primarily focuses on the blacksmith occupation. Real magic beasts usually gain some sort of feature that adds to their innate ability like wings, special claws, special fur, or an extra limb. It could be anything depending on the abilities of the magic beast."

Claude and Greyson stared at Argus in fascination after hearing this information. They began to imagine their own beast that will manifest. Greyson suddenly remembered Lucius and looked towards the cat on his shoulder. He would ask about his special feature later. Harrison noticed Greyson looking towards the silver kitten on his shoulder.

He asked, "Greyson, what is that cat? Your pet?"

"Ahhh... it's a friend who follows me around. His name is Lucius. He's a magic beast."

"Hm. I don't recognize his species, but magic beast companions are common. For example, a lot of people bind a magic beast capable of flight if their partner beast cannot."

"Bind?"

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know. There are a bunch of different contracts you can use with magic beasts. Magic beasts are ranked by stars according to their rarity and talent. The higher star beasts would probably never enter a master and slave contract with humans because they see it as beneath them and they have intelligence equal to humans. Sometimes they will enter a temporary contract if they owe a favor or an equal life contract if they become friendly with a human. I don't know what star level your friend Lucius is at, but maybe he could enter a contract with you."

Greyson looked towards Lucius who seemed to indicate they would talk about it later. He nodded towards Harrison and let the subject die for now.

"Alright, well, I think that is enough of an introduction lesson for now. Let's hop on and get going!"

Greyson and Claude quickly nodded and climbed onto the back of Argus. Argus quickly took off from the ground and flew high up into the air. The boys were fascinated and fell in love with the feeling of flying. They both prayed their partner beast could fly as well.