Dual Identity

Though he is unwilling, Rodriguez dare not delay himself. If the magic union gets wind of their movements, then the trouble down the road is no small matter!

With grudging eyes, he gave the Saint Class magic creature one last look: "Humph! It is a warrior's greatest wish to be able to face off against another foe of the same caliber! Unfortunately today, it seems that Mage companion of mine is far too reckless!"

Letting out a sigh, he suddenly retracted his Dou Qi back into his body. Then facing the currently sitting Prince Son from afar, he loudly said: "Your highness, let's call it for today. You are already under the protection of the Saint Roland Guardian Spirit; therefore, I have already failed. But since I couldn't complete the task from the crown prince, I'm certain there will be other cases where I'm asked to come after you!"

With that, Rodriguez turned and walked away. In a single leapt through the air, the contour of his body disappeared into the sky and a silver streak headed towards the location of the neighboring battle.

Prince Son finally lets out a sigh of relief. The Saint Roland Guardian Spirit may be powerful, but it has some fatal weaknesses. When the pendant is triggered, the spirit will only defend against attacks and is unable to pursue the enemy if they flee.

Moreover, the magic creature will only last for 30 minutes. Once the time limit is reached, the pendant will lose its power and the time gap between the next summoning is excruciating long.

Standing up from the ground, he could vaguely sense the frightening fluctuation of black magic in the air. Letting out a sigh, he mumbled to himself: "Du Wei…. I fear he might be in trouble."

;

Du Wei is indeed facing trouble now!

Sitting in the middle of his guardian spirit barrier, all of the surrounding treants were withering away due to having their life force sucked right out of their bodies.

With deathly black smoke pressing against him, even light from his barrier started to lose its brilliance!

"Boy, I'll have you pay with your life for ruining so many of my familiars! Ah, that horn is not bad; I'll take it to make up for my losses!" The death mage's laughter could be heard from behind the shroud of fog.

Humph, want to take my horn of life? His anger may be swelling up from the inside, but he simply couldn't do anything against his foe right now. Although his magic is not bad, but his reservoir of spells is simply too lacking compared to a properly trained Mage. Moreover, he had literally no idea how to fend off against a death mage of such high caliber.

Just when Du Wei is facing imminent danger, a golden light flashed across the black fog. Surprisingly, the person in question was completely unharmed despite being in the presence of such deadly magic!

Ignoring all consequences, Rodriguez desperately rushed into the magic fog and came up to his companion's side: "Are you out of your mind, this is the capital! If we somehow alert the law enforcement team of the magic union, both you and I would have an endless amount of trouble following us!" Rodriguez exclaimed in a loud cry.

Just as the death mage was about to refute, a very high pitched eerie voice floated into their ears! This bizarre sound is indeed coming from the capital city.

Alerted, the death mage immediately turned to gaze at the general direction of the capital city with an eagle eyes spell. Under the effect of having improved eye sight, he saw four Mage robed individuals flying towards their location. With black outfits from top to bottom, these newcomers are indeed the law enforcement team of the magic union!

The Death Mage cried out in horror: "Shit, we alerted those monsters! We must leave now!"

With that said, he quickly began to recover the black fog into his storage. Unfortunately for the death mage, Rodriguez forcefully stopped him before he could finish retrieving all of it. Then within moments, the law enforcement team was already here. Their flight speed is truly inhuman, covering several miles of distance between the capital and their location in mere seconds.

Still sitting on the ground, Du Wei looked up at where the four shadows were hovering in the sky. Mentally, Du Wei could feel their senses probing him, but because of his own fatigue, he didn't try to resist. Weirdly though, even though he was under the protection of the guardian spirit barrier, the four ghostly shadows were able to bypass his defense with ease!

It wasn't the first time Du Wei suffered at the hands of these monsters, so he didn't dare do anything out of the ordinary! Sitting obediently inside his barrier, he closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Once they finished examining Du Wei, the four ghostly shadows roared out a grunt and began to chase down the other two far in the distance.

Still looking pale, Du Wei finally rested only long enough to pull himself off the ground. Taking out the magic ring created by the mouse, he immediately recharged his entire energy reserve. Only by doing this and taking a big gulp of water did the dizziness in his head die down a bit.

Right now, the place is peacefully quiet and a faint glow of the rising sun could be seen over the horizon.

Patting away the dust on his robe, Du Wei could hardly believe what he had just experienced. If not for the fact that the death mage had to flee at the right moment, it was likely he would have met his end by now.

Secretly in his mind, he made a rule for himself to never be so reckless when facing such a powerful foe in the future again.

As he looked around at his surroundings, the air still lingered with the dark fog and the ground was littered with lifeless barbs of tree remnants. If he had to compare what he was seeing now, it would be a scene similar to an apocalyptic movie scene.

With the sun's light slowly rising over from the high mountains, the residual black fog scattered upon contact as if they were scared of the light. But for some unknown reason, the last of the remaining black fog started to huddle around Du Wei as if being attracted by something!

At first, Du Wei was a bit startled by what he saw, but his worries were dismissed. Still sitting inside his barrier, the black fog only tried to cling to his body without causing any harm to him.

With his curiosity piqued, Du Wei wanted to know more. Not only did the fog fluctuate strangely in the air, he would sometimes hear a vague shrill like scream coming out of the fog…. This magic fog also has a consciousness too?

The truth is, this black fog doesn't actually have a consciousness. Because of tonight's mass destruction, the life force from the entire surrounding environment fused with the fog; therefore, the screams and cries are actually from the life energy of those killed by this black fog. It's not just animals that hold life; everything in the world contains life energy, so it's just a matter of how much.

As he continued to observe the strange fog around him, his mind was suddenly struck with a thought. Maybe it was out of instinct, but he eventually drew out the black crystal ball he had bought from the magic union earlier. Without even trying to manipulate the black crystal ball – he actually had no idea how to use black magic, so this is pure guesswork on his part – the black fog started to dive towards the gemstone he had brought out. Without leaving a single trace, all of the dark energy was sucked right into his orb!

Facing such a strange thing, Du Wei spent a moment to think it over. Then facing the crystal ball in hand, he could see some kind of dark cloud swirling inside the orb. Moving back and forth, this strangely weird cloud of dark energy fluctuated inside before finally fusing completely with the crystal. Unlike the dull mirror like surface, the orb took on a darker black sheen that gave off a weird vibe.

Since Du Wei did not understand what is going, he might as well wait till he's back at home and ask the mouse about this. Perhaps Gargamel knows something.

Just like this, a good amount of time passed by that even Prince Son came looking for him.

With a hundred or so soldiers, coupled with the injured Sir Chick, all of them followed closely behind the Prince. Oh yes, let's not forget the extra carriage in the back carrying the four apprentices belonging to Du Wei.

It would seem the injury on Sir Chick is quite severe. From the blood stained bandages covering him from head to toe like a mummy, it was most certain that he would require healing magic from the temple's priest to be fully healed.

Although Prince Son still looked pale on his face, but he looked delighted when his sight fell upon Du Wei. With a broad smile, the prince held out both of his arms and gave Du Wei a giant hug of joy: "My speculation is indeed correct! As a direct disciple of Master Gandalf, how can you possibly be killed by a mere death mage?!"

It was at this brief moment of happiness that Sir Chick interrupted. Upon seeing the giant bow hanging from Du Wei's back, the master class warrior cried out shock: "Nirvana's bow! You killed Daneilou?"

Nirvana's bow? Du Wei immediately thought of the master from last night. Thanks to his sneak attack, Du Wei was able to kill the poor guy. Nodding his head, Du Wei replied: "That's right. I acquired this from a foe last night."

Prince Son gave a serious look at Sir Chick and questioned: "You're certain? It is truly Deneiluo?"

"Humph! Who else can injure me with a bow if it's not Deneiluo? Humph!" Sir Chick had a complicated expression when he glanced at the bow behind Du Wei: "And I recognize that Nirvana's bow. If the crown prince didn't gift such a treasure to Deneiluo, how else can he possibly convince the continent's top archer to work for him?"

Prince Son began to laugh with clapping hands: "This big brother of mine sure lost a lot last night. To lose such a treasure and the service of such a highly skilled archer, he must be pulsing in rage!" Then with delightful eyes, he turned to face Du Wei: "Since this bow was acquired by you, then you should have it."

When the prince declared this, Sir Chick showed an unwilling expression as he looked towards Du Wei: "It's such a shame. This bow is famed throughout history as a weapon for killing Mages. For it to fall into the hands of a Mage today,…."

A weapon specializing in killing Mages? With sparkling eyes, Du Wei asked with a smiling face: "I can't see through this thing…. There's only a bow and no arrows….."

"What do you know?" Sir Chick shook his head in disappointment: "This bow doesn't require arrows."

Prince Son lets out a big laugh: "its fine. Sir Chick, you don't need to say more. The sun's already up, we should hurry and return to the capital."

;

Under the protection of the capital's defense garrison, the group returned to the capital city without any hurdle. And during the trip back, Prince Son was especially kind towards him. Apparently, because Du Wei was able to fend off a death mage of such caliber, his status in the prince's eyes went up a notch once again. Yet, Du Wei only wanted to go home as soon as possible to clear up some important questions.

Once again, Du Wei recognized his greatest weakness from hiding away at home. His understanding of the capital's situation is obviously too lacking for him to stay safe.

After being escorted back to his home, Prince Son bid his farewell without making any scene. Opening the door, the first person that Du Wei saw is in fact captain Alpha of the personal guards. Standing beside the doorway, this faithful attendant of the Rowling family had a very ugly expression as he faced Du Wei. In a whispering voice, Alpha said: "Master Du Wei, the Earl wants to see you right now!"

Then his eyes floated to the Nirvana's bow behind Du Wei's back. Turning pale at the sight, even the posture of this always composed captain suddenly felt very uncomfortable as he stood there. Lowering his head, Alpha didn't say anything else and turned around to walk ahead.

Once again, the Du Wei entered into his father's study room.

Though the Earl seems to have not slept at all last night, but his face showed no signs of fatigue. The only indication of his sleepless night is the bloodshot eyes only found in someone that lacked rest. Holding onto his sword, the Earl was gently rubbing a cloth against it.

In that one glance, Du Wei recognized that specific sword is the favorite weapon of his father. Back when his father was out at sea, this sword was always by his side through good and bad times.

When Du Wei entered, the Earl gave his son one look before sheathing the sword back into the scabbard. Then turning around, his attention was completely focused on Du Wei.

The Earl's eyes looked like it was deep in thought. Although his sight caught hold of the Nirvana's bow, but the Earl only showed a glimmer of surprise before returning to normal like it was no big deal. Grabbing a parchment from the table, he handed it over to Du Wei.

"I received this thing last night, but you didn't come home so I couldn't give it to you. Now that you are here, here it is!"

Du Wei received the parchment and had a quick look over it. This parchment is in fact a document. Signed by the current emperor and issued jointly by the Imperial Financial Chancellor and the military high command! Also, the content of this document will be made public today.

"Once this news is made public, you will become the center of attention." The Earl sighs: "You were together with Prince Son last night, right? Humph, did he want to pull you to his side? I have long heard about last night's situation…. The royal guards are already on high alert after hearing about the prince's assassination attempt….. Aigh, Du Wei did you know? I stayed up all night when I heard you were with the prince all night. In my heart, I was so worried!"

Du Wei was left with no words so he decided to keep his silence. His face may be emotionless, but his heart was stirring like waves!

Because the content on this document is written very clearly!

"Preparatory order for the Empire's Magic Academy."

The top part of the documents was nothing but nice sounding words about nonsense like improving the army and etc….

But it was the latter half that is shocking! When he read the names of the first 15 members of the academy's committee, Du Wei's name is clearly a part of it!

"Of these 15 names: 7 are from the magic union, 4 are Mages loyal to the army, and 3 are court mages loyal to the royal family! Divided with 7 to 7 between the magic union and the royal court, this seems to be evenly balanced…. But then your name is suddenly added to the list, making you the 15th member! Whichever side you lean towards, it will have a decisive role in the future!"

The Earl carefully stared down at his son: "Now do you understand why all of this is happening? When you came to the capital, why you were almost assassinated and why the magic union wants to pull you to their side?"

Du Wei took in a deep breath, putting down the document: "The appointment includes me, why? I'm so young with no qualifications. If talking about my abilities, it's quite limited! So why did I get included in this committee?"

"Because of your teacher." The Earl gave a wry smile: "You may not know this… … But the first one to propose this idea of a magic academy is your master Gandalf! After brining up this topic years ago, he left the magic union for a long time, thus, leaving the proposal in a halted state. Then suddenly, he showed up out of nowhere and personally went to the palace and convinced his majesty to push forward with this idea! Unfortunately, because of the forces involved with creating this magic academy, the matter became extremely complicated…."

"That's obvious!" Du Wei laughs: "If the creation of the magic academy succeeds, then it would mean the end of the magic union's monopoly on magic! There's no doubt the magic union would oppose this idea…. Moreover, Mages have always taught their arts through student and master relationship. If this suddenly changes and large numbers of students can be produced in a short amount of time, then where would their loyalty lie? This is the key factor in all of this!"

"That's right, the effects of this matter is too big. That's why after arguing for many years, they finally agreed on one thing" The Earl had wry smile on his face: "Although there are arguments on both sides, but they did have a unified view on this one issue, and that is the first Dean of the magic academy must be headed by master Gandalf!" For the legendary Magister Gandalf to head this position is truly the most appropriate choice.

"Regrettably, Gandalf passed away before the announcement could be made… Therefore, as his direct disciple, who else could we appoint?!"

Du Wei puts down the document: "I don't understand something. There are other disciples under Gandalf, so why must it be me and not someone else?"

Earl faintly smiles: "Because you are the youngest one! Because you are my son! We and the magic Union struggled too much. Evenly balanced with 7 to 7, none would agree on the other side gaining a lead on the head count. Then you suddenly appeared! After discussing it, both sides agreed it would be for the best that you take on the position. You are my son, but at the same time a disciple of Gandalf…. Equal on both sides, there are no better candidate than you!"

"But why tell me now? Did you not want to tell me this after the summer festival?" Du Wei's voice sounded really cold as he spoke these words.