Cultivating Mages

Roland was quite satisfied with this, as he had high hopes for these young children.

Once these twelve children could be trained into mages, it would undoubtedly greatly enhance the strength of Roland's territory.

"Greetings, Master." Upon seeing Roland, the twelve children bowed in unison.

"Mm, rise. How have things been this past month?" Roland asked kindly.

"Reporting to Master, we've been eating well and staying warm this past month. We know all of this is thanks to your generosity, Master, and we are deeply grateful," replied Ryan, the eldest of the twelve children, with great emotion.

Although Ryan's words were a bit childish, they resonated with the other children. A trace of gratitude appeared in their eyes as they looked at Roland. Their lives over the past month seemed to have made them believe Roland's promises.

Roland couldn't help but feel even more satisfied seeing this scene.

Roland certainly couldn't treat these children the same way he treated other slaves.

After all, under Roland's tutelage, they would all become mages in the future.

And a mage, even one from a slave background, was entitled to respect and status commensurate with their strength.

Therefore, in Roland's plan, the primary means of ruling them in the future would be through benefits, with emotions playing a secondary role.

Immediately, Roland slowly stood up, walked in front of the twelve children, and his expression turned very serious.

"During this time, Alice should have told you that you all possess mage talent, albeit the worst kind of mage talent."

The twelve children couldn't help but feel a bit nervous upon hearing this.

Roland ignored their reaction and continued, "Therefore, your future path as mages will be very difficult, and you may even have to put in far more effort than others. However, once you become mages, it will completely change your destiny."

"So, are you willing to pour all your sweat and effort into becoming a mage?"

Seeing Roland's serious and stern expression, the twelve children first exchanged glances, then turned their gaze back to Roland in unison. This time, the longing in their eyes hadn't disappeared; instead, they nodded firmly.

"Master, we are willing."

"Very good. But all of this is predicated on your absolute loyalty to me. Are you still willing?"

This time, the twelve children didn't hesitate at all. In their previous lives as slaves, the only education they had received was to be loyal to their master.

"We will be loyal to you, my Master."

Roland didn't say anything further upon hearing this.

He knew very well that loyalty wasn't maintained through empty promises. Only by continuously becoming stronger could he ensure that the loyalty of his subordinates never faded and that they willingly followed him.

Therefore, all he wanted now was the attitude of these twelve children. If they were to betray Roland in the future, Roland would undoubtedly use thunderous means to show them the weight of the promise they made today.

Then, to the astonishment of the twelve children, Roland took out a crystal-clear crystal ball from a nearby cabinet.

The Elemental Talent Detection Orb, like Roland's previous staff, was a Level 3 magic equipment primarily used to detect elemental affinity.

On the Saint Nor Continent, every human body contained varying amounts of elements. The higher the elemental content, the clearer it would show that human's affinity with a particular element.

For example, Roland himself, after being tested by the Elemental Talent Detection Orb, had a higher affinity for fire elements. When practicing fire element meditation methods, he could achieve twice the results with half the effort, which was why he chose to become a fire mage.

However, having a higher affinity for fire didn't mean Roland couldn't become a mage of other elements. It simply meant that practicing other elements would be much slower for him compared to fire.

Since these twelve children already had the lowest tier of mage talent, Roland naturally had to test their elemental affinities. Otherwise, when choosing meditation methods, if they chose to practice an element with which they had low affinity, their strength growth would be incredibly slow, even with the use of potions.

"Ryan, place your hand on the crystal ball," Roland instructed the eldest, Ryan.

"Yes, Master." Although Ryan felt a bit fearful of this unknown thing, he obediently placed his hand on the crystal ball.

Roland nodded slightly, his impression of Ryan deepening.

After Roland quietly infused a trace of mana into the crystal ball, nothing happened. After a few seconds, the crystal ball slowly turned a shade of deep blue.

"Water element. Not bad," Roland praised as he looked at the color that appeared in the crystal ball.

After all, they were in the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands, where water elements were clearly more abundant than other elements. Therefore, water mages here would undoubtedly have an advantage in both cultivation and meditation.

Hearing Roland's praise, Ryan couldn't help but show a look of joy.

"Next."

Seeing that Ryan hadn't encountered any danger, the other children were also very eager. They flocked to Roland's side, placing their hands on the crystal ball one by one.

Compared to detecting mage talent, detecting elemental talent was much simpler. In just a short while, the results for all twelve children were revealed.

Among the twelve children, besides Ryan, three had an affinity for water elements, two for fire, four for earth, and two for wood.

These were all the most common elemental types, with no rare elements like lightning, dark, light, or wind appearing.

However, Roland showed no disappointment with this result. Even if rare elemental affinities had been detected, Roland didn't have corresponding meditation methods for them.

In fact, Roland currently only possessed meditation methods for the four most common elemental types:

Wood Element Meditation Method.

Water Element Meditation Method.

Fire Element Meditation Method.

Earth Element Meditation Method.

And they were all beginner-level.

These four meditation methods were actually the basic cultivation methods provided by the Noble Mage Academy. Any student who successfully enrolled would be given these four meditation methods by the academy.

These four Meditation Methods are far from precious; they're practically commonplace. After all, every graduate from the Noble Mage Academy basically gets a set, and the academy doesn't care at all if they leak them.

As a result, these four Meditation Methods are now ubiquitous among the elite of the Terra Kingdom, and even some commoners can obtain them through certain channels.

After understanding the whole story through his predecessor's memories, Roland guessed that this was most likely a move by the Terra Kingdom's royal family. They spread the basic Meditation Methods to let more people know about them, with the sole purpose of increasing the number of mages in the Terra Kingdom.

It must be said that the current strength of the Terra Kingdom's central mage corps might be greatly related to this method.

However, this also made things convenient for Roland, who didn't have to rack his brain for a Meditation Method.

After determining the elemental talents of the twelve children, Roland immediately said to them, "Your elemental talents have been determined. Whether you can change your fate from now on depends on yourselves."

"Master, we will do our utmost. We will die on the path to becoming mages even if it costs us our lives," Ryan, standing at the forefront, solemnly promised.

Compared to Roland, they were the ones who most desperately wanted to become esteemed mages. Not only would it allow them to shed their slave status, but it would also grant them a life they couldn't even dream of before.

"I see your determination. I've done all I can; the rest is up to you." Roland smiled.

"Master, we will absolutely not disappoint you."

"Good. For the time being, consult Alice often. She was a very outstanding mage before."

"Yes, Master."

"You may go now." Roland didn't say anything further and waved his hand gently.

"Yes, Master." Ryan and the other twelve children bowed respectfully and slowly exited the room.

As they left, only Roland and Alice remained in the quiet room.

Looking at Alice standing silently beside him, Roland's gaze couldn't help but become a little heated, and the atmosphere in the room turned ambiguous.

"Young Master, i-it's still daytime." Alice suddenly sensed something. Seeing Roland's wolf-like gaze, her fair face instantly flushed crimson, making her look extremely alluring.

Alice saying that only made Roland's desire burn even brighter.

As the lord of Rising Light Island, why would he care about day or night? Roland pulled Alice into his embrace, his right hand skillfully finding her slender, straight legs.

Feeling the soft smoothness beneath his fingertips, Roland could no longer resist. He quickly transformed Alice into a little white rabbit and began to enjoy himself to his heart's content.

After their passionate encounter, Roland, looking tired, gently caressed Alice's smooth, tender skin, but his eyes were filled with melancholy.

The battle ended, and he suddenly made a startling discovery: his current physical strength was gradually becoming unable to suppress Alice.

As an Elf, Alice's physical talents far surpassed those of humans. Even though she had been a mage and her body hadn't been trained much, her Strength and Constitution stats were still above two points, far exceeding Roland's.

Thus, in the latter half of their encounter, Roland found himself lying on the bed. While he could be the active one in this position, he absolutely couldn't be passive. It concerned his dignity as a man, which was ten thousand times more important than being insulted.

Seemingly sensing Roland's unhappiness, Alice, nestled in his arms, said cautiously, "Young Master, you seem a little unhappy."

"No, I'm very happy." Roland frowned, secretly contemplating a solution.

Roland's stubbornness made Alice's expression dim. However, she suddenly seemed to think of something, a sly smile appearing on her face. She lightly licked her moist lips with her pink tongue, then slowly burrowed under the covers.

Roland, lost in deep thought, didn't notice any of this at all.

But the next moment, he felt his crucial area being enveloped by something soft. Although the nimble tongue was a bit clumsy and couldn't find the right spot, a wonderful sensation instantly flooded Roland's mind, causing him to involuntarily let out a deep, contented groan from the depths of his throat.

"Hiss."

Being passive is being passive, I guess. It doesn't seem that hard to accept.