Fredd

"Still, this is far from enough to make me teach you anything," Wu Xue chuckled, "You better accept it, we aren't destined to have a teacher-student relationship."

Carl felt sad after hearing his refusal, although he expected it.

Wu Xue tapped his shoulder lightly and entered the inn.

During the next few days, Wu Xue had Carl teach him everything he knew about Cliff City while they wandered here and there.

Every time he saw unknown food in the stalls by the streets, Wu Xue would stop by and eat. Every time he saw a novel object, he would stop and study it if possible.

He was absorbing knowledge as much as he could. It was not for increasing his strength or for any kind of plan, but just because it entertained him, it was fun.

After about a week, there was nothing more to do and know in the city except minor things, so Carl asked what he wanted to do next.

"I will be sending you to your aunt, Julia," Wu Xue began to reveal the truth, "You probably don't remember her, but I have some friendship with her."

"My... aunt?" Carl was shocked, "I actually have family?"

"Of course, you aren't born out of stones," Wu Xue chuckled, "I will buy one ticket for the next train that goes to Lighting City, so prepare yourself."

"Aren't you coming?" Carl asked.

"Of course not, I just came from there," Wu Xue shook his head, "You aren't that close to me to make me go back there personally. I will just write a letter."

Carl had an expression of both disappointment and nervousness, but Wh Xue just ignored the boy.

The next day, Carl was about to embark on a train and bid farewell to Wu Xue, "Thank you for everything, I owe you my life!"

"Big words for someone so small," Wu Xue patted his shoulder, ignoring the fact he was also a child.

"Also... I never managed to thank you for saving my life properly," Carl said with some difficulty, "Thank you!"

"You already thanked me enough, just go," Wu Xue lightly pushed him onto the passenger train, "Good luck venturing into your new life, you have a family that cares about you!"

Carl began to cry and reluctantly embarked, he then promised, "If one day you need me for anything, I will be willing!"

"Hahaha!" Wu Xue just waved to him.

The train's whistle began to sound high, the doors closed and the train began to move towards the far away horizon.

Wu Xue calmly observed it disappear in the mountainous forest, only the white smoke was visible.

"Hah, marvelous," Wu Xue smiled and muttered, "I should focus on deducing a way to practice this so-called magic first, I need to understand why I can't absorb the Aura here and what makes it different."

He returned to the inn and was greeted by the same waitress he met on his first day there, "Sir, someone wishes to meet you."

"I don't remember making new acquaintances here besides Carl, who is the person?" Wu Xue asked with a frown.

"He says he is... an envoy from the Magic Realm," the waitress said tremblingly and with cold sweat on her forehead.

"Well..." Wu Xue grinned, "Seems like they aren't as senseless as I thought, they felt my presence after all."

"I'm sorry?" the waitress was confused.

"Never mind, just guide me to this so-called envoy," Wu Xue shook his head and waved.

"Sir, please be careful with how you behave," the waitress said after some hesitation, "This envoy seems to be particularly eccentric."

Wu Xue didn't take her words seriously but still nodded out of politeness for her advice.

The envoy was an old white-haired man wearing white clothes, there was a golden emblem on the right side of his chest that resembled a flower.

Wu Xue could feel that the old man had a great amount of aura inside himself, but it strangely wasn't converted into another energy and remained as an aura.

It was the first time he met another mage up close, so Wu Xue couldn't help but use his soul sense to examine the old mage.

"Please control yourself," the old mage frowned and said with a stern voice.

"Oh? You could sense it?" Wu Xue was genuinely surprised that someone much weaker than him could sense his soul sense's scanning.

The old man shook his head and pointed to the seat opposite to him, "Please take a seat, I bring a message from the Magic Realm."

"Fine," Wu Xue took a seat and carefreely ordered some food, "Do you want anything? If anything, I don't lack money."

"Please keep it to yourself, I'm fine," the old man refused, "I ate a delicious dish before you arrived."

"Suit yourself," Wu Xue nodded and then asked, "May we get to the point while my food is prepared?"

"Yes," the old mage nodded, "My name is Gustav Trov, I'm a golden envoy of the magic realm that is stationed in this city.

"I was ordered by the Magic Tower's Director to bring you an offer and a letter," Gustav opened his right hand and a letter appeared out of thin air, he possessed a storage device similar to a space ring.

Wu Xue accepted the letter but wasn't in a hurry to open it, "What is this offer?"

"Before I say it, the Director said to give you a message, 'Read the letter before hearing the offer.'"

Wu Xue frowned but did it like that. The letter was sealed with the symbol of a black flower, and he could sense some aura emanating from it.

"There's a spell in the seal that allows only those who are meant to read it to open the letter," Gustav suddenly said, "It's a spell recently developed, so it's normal for you to not have heard of it."

"Interesting," Wu Xue said with a plain voice, opened the letter, and began to read the content.

The more he read the letter, the stranger Wu Xue's expression became. When he finished reading the letter, Wu Xue looked like he just saw something ridiculous.

Gustav noticed but ignored it, "The Director wants to recommend you to be a teacher of Life Magic in the capital, are you willing?"

"What the fuck," Wu Xue couldn't help but curse, surprising Gustav.

"I'm not old at all, and clearly look like a child, what kind of brain does he have?" Wu Xue muttered with a gloomy face, "I don't understand this shit at all."

"Excuse me?" Gustav frowned, "I hope you didn't curse our Director just now."

Wu Xue clicked his tongue and tapped the table lightly. Suddenly, their surroundings went totally black.

Gustav tried to move, but he found he was completely paralyzed, cold sweat was the only moving thing on his skin.

Wu Xue looked at him indifferently and said, "Don't misunderstand, I'm not receiving a favor at all, and I absolutely don't need to keep my respect from someone so hateful as your Director."

Gustav wanted to retort, but he felt huge terror in his heart, it was like he was about to die.

Wu Xue sighed and stopped intimidating him, their surroundings returned to normal as if nothing happened.

Just as he was about to refuse out of anger, Wu Xue noticed it could be a good opportunity for him to gain access to more valuable knowledge about that world and its magic.

He tapped the table with his finger a few times, making Gustav involuntarily tense up.

Gustav only felt such terror from very few people, all at the level of the Cliff City's Magic Realm's director. He also understood why the Director called the young man in front of him "old Monster."

Gustav thought that Wu Xue was an old person using a spell to look younger and live longer. Most of the powerful mages use that kind of spell.

Moreover, another terrifying fact, was that Gustav couldn't sense an ounce of Aura from Wu Xue, he began to seriously wonder if it was a hidden type of magic prowess.

At the same time, Wu Xue was wondering about what he would do. He knew nothing about magic, so there was no way he could be a proper teacher, but he also wanted to quickly gain access to high-level knowledge. Entering the ranks of the Magical Association of the Empire, the institution in charge of administrating all the Magic Realms in the Empire's territory, was without a doubt a golden choice, despite the risks.

Just as the food was being served on the table, Wu Xue sighed and said, "Okay, I accept."

Gustav wiped the sweat off his forehead, "Thanks for accepting, it will be an honor for all your future students to have you as their teacher."

"Heh!" Wu Xue sneered and waved his hand, "Go back to your Director and say this, I will be visiting him tomorrow."

Gustav got up from his seat and bowed to him, "Excuse me." He then left the inn in a hurry, afraid of staying another second.

Just as Wu Xue began to eat, a glint of strange light flashed in his eye, "Is this 'Director' really a Lich?"

The next day, Wu Xue did as promised and went to the Magic Realm. Seeing the tall magic tower, he cast an invisibility spell and calmly walked inside, easily avoiding all guards.

"Friend, please don't act so sneaky," a rough and ancient voice reached Wu Xue's ears as he walked, "I'm waiting for you on the top floor."

Wu Xue was a bit surprised since that voice transmission was different from the one he was used to, it used the natural Aura to transmit the sound.

When Wu Xue finally reached the top of the tower, he saw Gustav seemingly waiting for him in front of a huge door.

Wu Xue uncast the invisibility spell, shocking Gustav a bit, "Yo!"

Gustav respectfully greeted him and opened the door while saying, "The Director was waiting for you."

After the door opened, Wu Xue first's impression was the man sitting on a chair behind a huge black wood table and looking directly at him.

The man was middle-aged and had long white hair and red eyes, he was wearing a completely black set of clothes and carried a terrifying aura of oppression.

"Please don't bother," Wu Xue stepped inside the room and used his own aura to balance the atmosphere, "I didn't come here to compete."

The man laughed strangely and said, "My name is Fredd Whitesky, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I guess I didn't say my name to your underling," Wu Xue leisurely sat on the chair on the opposite side of the table, "I'm Wu Xue."

"Wuxue? A foreign name," Fredd commented, "It just makes me conclude I was right."

"Moreover, I can feel even the way you handle your magic is different, I can't feel a little bit of Aura in your body."

"Yes, I'm a foreigner, satisfied?" Wu Xue said and tapped his finger on the table, "What is the deal with that letter? Did you need to make things so strange? It would have been much easier to talk to me personally.

"At that time, I even suspected you would try to blackmail me."

"It would be stupid to try to blackmail without need," Fredd chuckled and coldly looked at Gustav, "You can leave, I want to have a chat with him."

"Yes, sir," Gustav nodded and left, closing the door.

"Anyway, why would you recommend a complete stranger to be a professor?" Wu Xue asked, "Don't tell me it's just because I'm as strong as you."

Fredd looked at him sharply, and Wu Xue could feel a glint of fighting intent in his eyes.

"Nah, forget about it," Wu Xue sighed, "I don't want to compete right now, let's leave it for a later opportunity, okay?"

Fredd sighed and said, "If you don't want to, I won't force it.

"As for why I want to recommend you, it's because you are just what I need."

"Oh?" Wu Xue lifted one of his eyebrows.

"Let me explain things for you," Fredd coughed and began to tell the details of the matter.

Briefly, it was like this:

Every Magic Realm of the Empire had the duty to periodically send instructors and professors to the capital's Magic Academy, a place where talented Defiants gathered to study and graduate as full-fledged mages.

Just a few months ago, Cliff City's Magic Realm sent two people, one instructor and one teacher. Unfortunately, the professor died of old age after giving just a few lessons to the students, he was a professor of Life Magic, a complex but vital branch of magic that all Defiants had to at least superficially grasp since they would eventually need to learn basic healing spells.

Of course, the Empire was big and there were many Magic Realms with Mages specialized in Life Magic, so it wouldn't be much of a problem for the Magic Academy itself.

However, because the professor died, the Cliff City's Magic Realm would stop receiving part of the payment it was supposed to for sending him there to be a teacher.

This way, it not only lost a talented and important mage, it also lost important revenue.

In ordinary times, that loss wouldn't have much of an impact, but they were fighting an internal economic crisis! Fredd, as the Director, didn't want to see his Magic Realm falling behind the others, so he tried his best to find a substitute for the dead teacher.

Then, as a pie falling from the sky, Wu Xue arrived. Fredd didn't see it with his eyes, but as the Director of the Magic Tower, he had access to a device that constantly scans Cliff City in search of magic casting.

One day, he felt someone casting what was almost identical to healing magic, and a very advanced kind. It healed the seriously wounded person in just a few seconds without any sequelae.

Fredd concluded that Wu Xue was an old man who mastered Life Magic to such a high level that he reverted his body to a young state.

It wasn't just wishful thinking on his part, since many old talented mages eventually managed to gain longer life spans with their magic.

Mages, despite their powers, had the same life span as ordinary humans, and the mages themselves needed to develop and use advanced magic on their bodies to extend their lives.