After waiting at home for the butler to return, giving him a few instructions, and resting for a night, Donald set off again.
By the time he arrived in Giant Stone City, it was already the next morning. To avoid revealing his Space Mark ability, Donald had rented three carriages to transport all the monster corpses to the city.
Donald had originally planned to head straight to the auction house. But remembering how Messer had patiently guided him last time, and how his teacher had helped when he came to the Mage Association in Giant Stone City to have his identity certified, Donald decided to give him a level-five monster as a token of his gratitude as an apprentice.
So he told the drivers to change course and head for the Mage Association.
The drivers weren't allowed inside the association, so Donald told them to watch the carriages. Then he carried the corpse of a level-five monster into the building by himself.
William, the attendant who handled reception in the front hall, was still there.
When William saw Donald again, he hurried over to greet him warmly.
"I have a gift for Teacher Messer. Do you know if he's at the association?"
"You've come at just the right time, Sir Knight. Master Messer just got back. I'll go let him know!"
Donald handed him a Silver Moon and said, "Sorry for the trouble, William."
William accepted the tip and thanked him respectfully before turning to head inside.
A short while later, Master Messer, whom Donald hadn't seen for several days, came out in person to meet him.
"Teacher, you came out to meet me yourself. I'm afraid I've been discourteous!"
The old mage waved a hand and said indifferently, "There's no need for all the noblemen's empty formalities between mages. I only learned you were a rare Summoner when I heard about your duel with the Snow Mage. What a wonderful surprise you've given me! You're the only Summoner in the North Shire, and you defeated a level-three mage while still an apprentice. Plenty of mages at the association are waiting for a chance to get to know you!"
Donald felt a little embarrassed. He opened the bundle in his hands and said,
"It was only luck. I didn't tell you last time because I hadn't yet figured out how a Summoner differed from an ordinary mage. It was only after you pointed me toward the association's collection of books that I went home and learned I'd awakened the talent of a Summoner. I hunted this monster myself and brought it as a gift to thank you for your help and guidance!"
Messer glanced at the monster's corpse and said in surprise,
"This is a level-five Sloth Bear. You've already reached this level? You're a true genius! It seems I'll have to change the way I planned to teach you."
Then he continued, "Monster materials are very important to mages and have always been in short supply. I'll accept this one, but if you have more monster corpses in the future—cores, bones, blood, or other materials—the mages at the association will gladly buy them at market price."
Donald's interest was piqued. He asked,
"The association buys monster materials, too? I thought only merchants bought them!"
Messer smiled. "Most of the materials those merchants buy end up in the hands of mages anyway!"
"Wouldn't that mean paying a lot more?"
Seeing Donald's confusion, the old mage explained,
"Mages aren't poor. When they urgently need materials, especially alchemists, paying a few extra Gold Sol to buy from a merchant saves them a great deal of time. The extra expense is worth it!"
After considering this, Donald bowed and gestured for the old mage to follow.
"In that case, I have a deal to make with the mages at the association! Please come and take a look, Teacher!"
Puzzled, the old mage followed Donald outside the association. When he saw the three cargo carriages and smelled the strong stench of blood, he couldn't help asking in surprise,
"Could all of these be...?"
"That's right!" Donald replied with a smile.
"I caught quite a few monsters this time, mostly level three and four. I dug out all their cores because I need them for my summoning spells. I'd planned to sell the intact corpses at the auction house, but since you said the mages at the association need monster materials, I'm willing to sell them to you at ten percent below market price!"
Messer approved of Donald's offer, but said, "There's no need to sell them at a discount. The mages aren't short of a few Gold Sol, and market price is already cheaper than buying from merchants! Have the drivers get down first. I'll take care of the carriages."
As Donald watched in curiosity and the drivers stared in shock, the old mage waved his staff. The carriage doors swung open, and the monster corpses one by one rose into the air and gathered together. They then passed through the barrier and into the association.
Donald knew Messer had accomplished this with his powerful mental strength and a simple first-level spell, Mage Hand.
Mage Hand and Magecraft were both spells that used mental strength to manipulate objects. But compared with the zero-level Magecraft, which could only move light objects such as dust, feathers, and small stones, the first-level Mage Hand could usually lift objects weighing dozens of kilograms.
Still, only someone like Messer, whose strength was just one step short of that of an advanced mage, could use his powerful mental strength to easily cast several Mage Hands at once and move the three carriages' worth of monster corpses, which weighed several hundred kilograms in total.
Afterward, the old mage showed no sign of fatigue. His expression remained relaxed. Donald went up to praise him, and then the two returned to the association together with a laugh, leaving the three drivers standing there, dumbfounded.
As the head of the Mage Association in Giant Stone City and its most powerful mage, Messer gave the order, and all the mages who received the summons came to the association's meeting hall. Even several mages elsewhere in the city hurried back as soon as they received the message.
When nearly everyone had arrived, the old mage rose from his seat at the head of the hall.
"Everyone, I've called you here today to announce two things!"
He pointed to Donald beside him and said,
"The first is to introduce my apprentice, Donald Melina. He's the only Summoner in the North Shire, as you've probably heard. Since Apprentice Melina's strength has surpassed that of a level-three mage, you should treat him with the respect his abilities deserve, not look down on him as you would an ordinary apprentice!"
"Greetings, Masters!"
As soon as the old mage mentioned his name, Donald quickly rose and gave all the mages in the meeting hall a standard mage's salute.
Then he stood straight, meeting the mages' scrutiny without flinching.
Even with his confidence, Donald felt uneasy under the gaze of more than a dozen mages, all at least level two.
It was much like standing on the stage in his university's auditorium and facing thousands of people in the audience. Why did that make a person's legs go weak and leave them unable to speak properly?
This wasn't a matter of Donald's nerves. Mages' mental strength far exceeded that of ordinary people. Some mid-tier level-four and level-five mages had more than ten times the mental strength of an ordinary person. Mages could also project their mental strength outward. Even without doing so intentionally, their powerful mental energy would naturally spill out, forming a kind of psychic field that suppressed any living creature within it. Only those with the strength of an advanced mage or higher could control it freely and conceal their presence until they seemed like ordinary people.
The mages were quite satisfied with Donald's performance. For an apprentice to withstand the psychic field of so many mages was proof of remarkable talent and potential, the likes of which they had never seen before.
Faced with this sudden appearance of a genius apprentice, most of the mages were friendly toward him. A few even smiled and nodded to him with the same warmth Messer showed.
Of course, there were also two mages who looked down on him. But unlike Naron and the Snow Mage, the two of them weren't jealous or hostile, which eased Donald's mind. As for the Snow Mage, after losing to an apprentice, he and his friend Naron had been too embarrassed to face anyone. They hadn't returned to the association for two or three days. William, the attendant in the front hall, had told Donald all this.
Donald had now formally met the mages and made their acquaintance. They weren't all the mages in the association; according to its records, there were around a hundred and forty formal mages in the North Shire, but only a dozen or so were present. Still, most of the North Shire's level-three and higher mages were there. With Messer among them, they represented almost the highest level of magical power in the North Shire, which would greatly benefit Donald's future development.
Afterward, Messer opened the room to the left of the meeting hall with a small spell and announced loudly,
"The second thing is that Apprentice Melina has provided thirty-nine fresh corpses of level-three and higher monsters for the mages at our association. You can buy whatever you need at market price! Apprentice Melina had planned to sell them to you at a discount, but I turned down that offer. We're all formal mages and have been mages for many years. How could we let an apprentice suffer a loss? Besides, even at market price, these are much cheaper than what those greedy merchants charge. There are only a limited number of monsters, so please work out among yourselves how to divide them. I won't be taking part!"
Messer had been at the peak of the middle tier for many years and no longer cared much about monster materials below level five. So he had no intention of competing with the other mages for the corpses, especially since he had already received a level-five monster.
When the dozen or so mages saw the many monster corpses, excitement showed on their faces. These were all materials suited to their level, and a few younger mages even cheered.
The more the mages looked at Donald, the more they liked him. Even the two who had looked down on him seemed friendlier now.
For most mages, there were only two things that determined whether they would make friends with someone: the person's knowledge and strength, and their attitude toward others.
Arrogance didn't bother mages, as long as you had the ability to back it up. But greed and ignorance would absolutely earn their contempt.
Before you continue