Negotiations

The study year needed to be started in a week. Max did not really give the kids any tasks. The only task was for them to walk in a group with all class members. Everywhere. The chance for them getting hurt or in trouble was high. Noble kids did not care for law. Also, it was a great bonding experience for the kids. They could get to know each other after a week, and it will be easier for them to interact with each other. They will be together for a long time. At least it was the plan.

Max was thinking on a plan to better teach the brats. He came to conclusion that all of them have to beat the level one bot and get to a level one knight apprentice until the end of the first semester. He wanted to get them to be able to fight at close quarters. It was important even for mages. As for Drake. Max wanted to invest in him. See how much this kid can bloom. He was sure this kid would go really far.

The next day was calm until Max was called to the headmaster's office. James came to call for him. Max had a bad feeling about this. When they walked together with James Max asked: "Do you know what it is all about?"

James made a strange look and said: "I have no idea."

Max sighed. After around half an hour Max entered to the director's office. James did not come with him. He has his own tasks because he had a new class as well. 

When Max entered the headmaster's office he saw the director with a lot of different nobles sitting around the table. 

'What the fuck...' Max thought. 

"Hello, director" Max greeted. 

The headmaster nodded and gestured for Max to sit. 

"Before we start, I would like to congratulate your student for breaking through naturally to the third level of knight apprentice. Something like that was not registered in any academy in our country. He will sure become a pillar of this country in the future." The director said.

Max nodded. He knew that Jax was congratulating him from the heart. The director benefited from this fame as well.

"What did we gather here for?" Max asked. He was suspecting what will happen next but he did not like it.

The director started talking: "Rey's performance impressed the different noble families. It is clear that he learned this from you. The different duke families and the royal family want their members to join your class."

"Well, the prince tried to harm or even kill me and my student. Albert Folsheim said that he can't learn anything from a commoner when I invited him to join my class. It does not seem the noble kids are interested. They can study from other senior teachers. I am sure they are capable." Max said.

Now Jax was feeling a headache. The noble families were hard pressing him to get their kids into Mad Max's class. In any way possible.

The representative of the Folsheim family stood up and said: "I am deeply sorry for Albert's outburst. He will be punished. He is a hard-working kid. I think he is capable."

The representative of the noble family stood up as well after the representative of the Folsheim family and said: "His majesty heard about the incident and the prince was punished. It will be good for you to teach him some manners."

Max sighed. He saw this coming. After gathering his thoughts, he said: "I don't want to take anyone of them after what I saw. Those kids are spoiled. They got no foundation at all except of Albert. It seems that they are all a big walking alchemical product. I will give them a chance. I will say it of the bet. It is a very hard test. For anyone. If they want to pass it, they need to come and try their best. There is no time limit. They can bring their instructors. The instructors can help them with words only. The instructors can try this test too. I'm pretty sure the instructors will fail at it from the beginning. The talented ones may pass with time. They can come after learning hours or just make an appointment with me. The prices will be 100 times higher than it is normally because those guys deserve it with their actions. The price after the multiplication is 1 gold coin for unranked members 10 gold coins for knight apprentice and 100 gold coins for knight level figures. Even with this price it is worth it. Believe me. If those children really are hardworking and stubborn, they will succeed in the end. It will be a lot of pain and tears but if they pass, they will be true fighters with good foundation. This is the best thing I can offer. I want to see their determination with actions and not words. It is generally the test that all kids that train will have to pass. The other kids will have an advantage. They will get help. I don't intend to help your kids at all. If they show that they are real fighters and get this challenge done successfully, I will take them in. You can rest assured. This is not dangerous for their lives."

The different nobles had different expressions. Most of them were solemn or ugly. They heard Max straightforward response. They saw the fact that he did not want but he did compromise, and they did not try to push him too far. After discussing between themselves they agreed in the end. Max did a table with times that those noble kids could come and try their luck. There were five in total. The most notable were prince Albert Folsheim and prince Jake. The others were dukes or other high ranked nobles. The representatives asked Max about how much hours per day the best will be to train each day because he refused to say what will be the test. Max said that the more hours they spend in a row the better. This made the nobles baffled and even more confused. Was he trying to extort money from them? When they saw that Max was not joking it made them even more confused.