Wrongly Clicked

King Cervantes was incredibly conflicted.

Domestically and abroad, throughout history, only the Barbarossa Empire once had a Legendary Mage stationed there, helping to guard the capital with their Mage Tower. That lasted less than thirty years. After that Legendary Mage was killed in a duel by a Dragon Lich of nearly god-like power, there were no more records in the long river of human history of a Legendary Mage helping to guard a royal capital.

Even the two great human empires only had Master-level mages helping to guard their capitals.

For ordinary kingdoms, having a High-level mage to hold the fort was already cause for celebration.

It was like someone, on a tight budget before crossing over, could only gamble on whether the "used-by-a-girl, 90% new graphics card" on Xianyu was real.

Sigh!

Gamblers gamble every day, but do they lose every day!?

I, Cervantes the Thirteenth, am blessed by the heroic spirits of my ancestors. I'll bet that Legendary Mage wouldn't be so shameless as to come and steal his disciple's Mage Tower!

His Majesty the King gritted his teeth. "Ganis, go and contact that person. See if he has any intention of handing over the Mage Tower to his disciple? Then, you can offer this much..."

The King secretly made a gesture.

As a long-time trusted minister, Ganis understood immediately. He happily went with his subordinates to 'offer congratulations'.

In reality, King Cervantes and his minister were overthinking things. Lein was on a completely different channel from them.

After accepting [Iron Face], Lein was busy looking at the System.

It wasn't until the 'little companions' by Downs's side, along with Downs, knelt deeply that Lein realized, oh, there were four bystanders.

"Greetings, Lord Tesla." At his disciple's quiet reminder, these four peripheral members finally knew what surname their Legendary Archmage had made up for himself.

"Oh, thank you for your hard work." Lein was busy checking which planes his newly acquired [Beginner Teleportation] could connect to.

Madela, that High-level mage, was truly not like a High-level mage in his mastery of spatial magic. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his strength had touched the threshold of Master-level.

He was dead, and his permissions had been released to [Iron Face], eventually falling into Lein's hands. Even setting aside the mage's vault that Lein couldn't personally inspect, his most direct legacy alone contained dozens of spatial coordinates.

This discovery piqued the curiosity of the recently bored Lein.

Madela was a halfling less than a meter tall, and his magic manuscripts were written in Halfling. Lein couldn't understand them at all, but he was itching to know.

At this moment, Downs's companions wanted to make a good impression on Lein, which was like trying to flatter a horse by patting its leg.

Lein casually said, "There are many things from lost adventurers in this Mage Tower. You all help deal with them. If you need anything, find Downs."

"Yes!" The four were overjoyed.

They knew their place. They certainly didn't expect to connect with a Legendary Archmage, but getting acquainted with the disciple of a Great Mage was already a significant gain. Moreover, they were even being asked to clear out the leftover adventurer gear in the Mage Tower.

Honestly, the tower now belonged to the Great Mage. Forget getting a share of the spoils, they wouldn't even get a drop of soup left. These four could only accept it.

At this moment, they had a profound understanding of the hundred-year-old adage: "Mages are either poor beggars or wealthy patrons."

"Downs, let's keep in touch in the future!"

"If you need anything, find me, and I will surely shield you from swords."

"May the Holy Light grant you fortune."

"Come visit my forest when you have time."

Downs warmly saw off the companions who had at least fought alongside him, feeling a sense of warmth.

Why? Because even at the last moment, perhaps in despair or grief, they hadn't lost their composure to vent their anger and blame Downs.

Downs knew that there would definitely be opportunists who would seek him out. He couldn't expect everyone to be genuinely good to him. But people like those four, at least, were companions he could entrust his back to, to some extent.

Downs watched as they, guided by the tower spirit [Iron Face], directly found the remains of the deceased and began the cleanup. Downs breathed a sigh of relief and then sought out Laifu again.

"Master, are you there?"

"I am."

Downs instinctively felt that Master seemed to be dealing with him.

If Downs had enough life experience, he would have realized that Master was in a situation where "girlfriends can be changed, but team fights must be won."

Lein's eyes were full of spatial coordinates. He was painstakingly using the System to analyze the potential connections of each spatial coordinate, assessing their risks, and so on. How could he have time to bother with his foolish disciple?

Even if he couldn't go there himself, couldn't he at least let someone else take a look?

This kind of fun, akin to opening a blind box to draw an anime waifu, was something Downs couldn't possibly understand!

Unexpectedly, Downs failed to grasp that his Master was in a state of moral decay and started reflecting on his own.

"Master, this time, I finally understand why you always emphasize [Science] and theoretical Knowledge. As expected, [Knowledge is power]!"

"Mhm."

"How ridiculous. I only mastered a dozen or so spells and thought I was a true chosen one. I always thought you, Master, saying 'you're the worst batch I've ever taught' was a lie. Now it seems I'm still far, far behind my senior brothers and sisters."

"Mhm..."

"I've decided. Once things are settled here, I'll return to your side, Master, and diligently cultivate basic magic Knowledge."

"Hmm???" Lein's tone suddenly changed.

Actually, Lein really wanted to happily type out three question marks.

But out of respect for Master's authority, he didn't dare ask Downs to repeat himself!

Did he have to tell Downs that he had heard it just now—or rather, heard it?!

Lein, using Laifu, spoke with an air of seniority, "When young people do things, they should neither aim too high nor be indecisive."

Although Lein's words were ambiguous, they took on a completely different meaning in Downs's ears:

Oh! Cervantes citizens come of age at 20, and only adults are qualified to be called [young people].

So, Master means I shouldn't expect too much before I turn 20, and it's enough to just be a Legendary Mage. Not being indecisive means I should hold firm to my beliefs without wavering.

Sob sob sob! Master thinks so highly of me!

Downs, hearing this, was immediately moved to tears, "Master! Your disciple will definitely study hard and strive forward every day."

Lein was stunned. How did his foolish disciple ignite himself like this?

In a moment of distraction, Lein accidentally selected a spatial coordinate rated [Beginner] by the System. On his retina, a black halo spread out like ink dropped into clear water, instantly tearing open.

The next second, the outskirts of this Mage Tower, silent for a hundred years, were suddenly shaken by an earthquake.

Abruptly, after a flash of green light, a large group of monsters charged out onto the open ground on the south side of the Mage Tower.

Even though King Cervantes had prepared an alert force for the exploration team's entry, the soldiers were still startled.

"Didn't they say the Mage Tower was already under control?"

Seeing the subterranean monsters charging at them, the city guards scrambled to fight back.

For the first time in thirty years, the alarm bell rang in Cervantes Royal City...