Black Iron Mage, Exchange Skills One

After waiting at home for the butler to return, giving him instructions, and resting for the night, Donald set off once again.

When he arrived at Giant Stone City, it was already the morning of the next day. To avoid exposing the ability of his spatial mark, Donald rented three carriages to transport all the magical beast carcasses to Giant Stone City.

Donald had originally intended to go straight to the auction house, but remembering the careful guidance from his teacher Messer last time, as well as the help he received when certifying his identity at the Giant Stone City Mage Association, he decided to gift a Level 5 magical beast to his teacher as a token of an apprentice's gratitude.

Thus, he ordered the coachmen to divert to the entrance of the Mage Association.

The coachmen were not allowed inside the association, so Donald arranged for them to guard the carriages before walking through the main gate alone, carrying the carcass of a Level 5 magical beast.

The attendant responsible for the front hall reception was still William.

Seeing Donald again, William stepped forward to greet him with enthusiasm.

"I have a gift for Master Messer. Is the master currently in the association?"

"You have come at a good time, Sir Knight. Master Messer just returned from outside. I shall go and report for you!"

Donald handed over a Silver Moon and said, "I leave it to you, William!"

William accepted the reward, thanked him respectfully, and turned to enter the interior of the association.

Before long, Master Messer, whom he had not seen for several days, walked out personally to meet Donald.

"For the teacher to come out to see me personally, it is Donald who has been impolite!"

The old mage waved his hand dismissively and said, "Among mages, we do not have as many empty formalities as the nobles. I only learned that you were a rare Summoner after hearing about your duel with the Snow Mage! You have given me a huge surprise! You are now the only Summoner in North Shire, and you managed to defeat a Level 3 mage while still an apprentice—many mages in the association are waiting for a chance to get to know you!"

Hearing this, Donald felt a bit embarrassed. He opened the bundle in his hand and said:

"It was merely luck. I didn't tell you last time because I didn't understand the difference between a Summoner and an ordinary mage myself. It was only after you guided me to read the books in the association's collection that I realized I had awakened the talent of a Summoner upon returning home! This magical beast is a gift I hunted myself to thank you for your help and teaching!"

Messer glanced at the carcass and said with some surprise:

"This is a Level 5 Sloth Bear. Have you reached such a level already? What a genius! It seems the teaching method I set for you previously should be adjusted!"

He then continued, "Magical beast materials are very important to mages and are always in short supply. I will accept this one. If you have more carcasses in the future, whether it be magic cores, bones, or blood, the mages of the association will be happy to purchase them at market price."

Donald's heart stirred at these words, and he asked:

"Does the association also purchase magical beast materials? I thought only those merchants bought such things!"

Messer laughed, "A large portion of the materials those merchants acquire eventually flows into the hands of mages anyway!"

"Wouldn't that cost a lot more?"

Facing Donald's confusion, the old mage explained:

"Mages are not paupers. For those in urgent need of materials, especially alchemists, spending a few extra Gold Sol to buy from merchants saves a great deal of time. This small cost is well worth it!"

After digesting this, Donald bowed to the old mage and gestured for him to follow:

"In that case, I have a business deal to conduct with the mages of the association! Please, teacher, come and take a look!"

The old mage followed Donald out of the association gate with some confusion. Upon seeing the three cargo carriages and sensing the thick scent of blood, he could not help but ask in astonishment:

"Are these all..."

"Exactly!" Donald replied with a smile:

"I captured quite a few magical beasts this time, mostly Level 3 and Level 4. I dug out the magic cores as they are useful for my summoning spells, but I intended to sell the remaining intact carcasses to the auction house. However, since you mentioned that the mages here need these materials, I am willing to sell them to everyone at ten percent below market price!"

The old mage was very appreciative of Donald's gesture, but said, "There is no need for a discount. Mages are not short of those few Gold Sol, and the market price is already much cheaper than buying from merchants! Tell the coachmen to step aside; leave these carriages to me!"

Under the curious gaze of Donald and the shocked stares of the coachmen, the old mage waved his staff. The doors of the three carriages opened on their own, and one by one, the carcasses flew out, gathered in mid-air, and passed through the external barrier into the association.

Donald knew this was achieved by Messer using his powerful mental energy in conjunction with the simple Level 1 spell, Mage Hand.

Both Mage Hand and Mage Trick are spells that manipulate objects with mental energy. However, compared to the Level 0 Mage Trick, which can only move light objects like dust, feathers, or small pebbles, a Level 1 Mage Hand can generally lift objects weighing several dozen kilograms.

Yet, only someone like Messer, who was just one step away from becoming a High Mage, could use his powerful mental energy to easily cast multiple Mage Hands at once to move these three carriages of carcasses, which weighed several hundred kilograms in total.

After finishing, the old mage showed no signs of fatigue and remained relaxed. Donald, filled with admiration, offered a few compliments before returning to the association with the old mage, leaving the three stunned coachmen behind.

As the head and most powerful mage of the Giant Stone City association, Messer issued an order, and the notified mages all gathered in the main assembly hall. Even the few mages who were elsewhere in the city rushed back upon receiving the message.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the old mage stood up from his seat at the head of the table.

"Everyone, I have gathered you here today to announce two things!"

He pointed to Donald, who was standing beside him, and said:

"The first thing is for everyone to meet my apprentice, Donald Melina. He is the recently rumored only Summoner in North Shire. Since apprentice Melina's strength has already surpassed that of a Level 3 mage, you should treat him with the courtesy befitting his strength, rather than looking down on him as you would an ordinary apprentice!"

"Greetings, Masters!"

When the old mage mentioned his name, Donald quickly stood up and performed a standard mage salute to all the mages in the assembly hall.

He then stood straight, meeting the scrutiny of the mages with a firm and unwavering gaze.

Facing the gazes of over a dozen mages who were at least Level 2, even with his great confidence, Donald could not help but feel a bit uncomfortable.

It was much like standing on the podium of a school auditorium in his past life, facing the stares of thousands of people, wondering why his legs felt weak and his speech was stumbling.

This was not a psychological issue for Donald, but rather because the mental energy of mages far exceeded that of ordinary people. Some Level 4 or 5 intermediate mages could even reach a mental intensity ten times that of a normal person. Furthermore, mages could project their mental energy; even without doing so intentionally, this powerful energy would overflow, forming a mental field that suppressed the creatures within it. Only those above the High Mage level could freely control and restrain their aura to appear like an ordinary person.

The mages were quite satisfied with Donald's performance. Being able to withstand the mental fields of so many mages with only apprentice-level mental energy proved his talent and potential were undoubtedly outstanding—perhaps even beyond anything they had ever discovered before.

Faced with this suddenly appearing genius apprentice, most of them held a friendly attitude, and a few even smiled and nodded at him, much like Messer.

Of course, there were a few mages who felt disdain toward him, but none held the same jealous and hateful attitude as the Level 2 mage Naron and the Snow Mage, which put Donald's mind slightly at ease. As for the Snow Mage, having lost to an apprentice, he and his close friend Naron were too ashamed to show their faces before the others and had not returned to the clubhouse for two or three days. This was news relayed to him by William, the attendant in the front hall.

He had officially met with the mages and become a familiar face. Although it wasn't all of them—according to the clubhouse records, there were about one hundred and forty official mages in the entire North Shire, yet only a dozen or so were present—most of the mages above Level 3 in North Shire were gathered here. Coupled with Messer, this represented nearly the highest concentration of magical power in North Shire, which would be of great benefit to Donald's future development.

Afterward, Messer used a minor spell to open the room to the left of the assembly hall and announced in a loud voice:

"The second matter is that this apprentice Merlinar has provided our clubhouse mages with thirty-nine fresh magical beast corpses of Level 3 and above. Everyone may purchase what they need at market price! Originally, apprentice Merlinar intended to sell these beasts to you all at a discounted price below market value, but I vetoed that decision. We are all official mages, seniors who have been mages for many years; how could we let an apprentice suffer a loss? Besides, even at market price, it is still much cheaper than the prices charged by those greedy merchants. Therefore, the number of beasts is limited; you all present should discuss and distribute them yourselves! I will not be participating in this!"

Having been at the peak of the intermediate stage for many years, Messer no longer cared much for magical beast materials below Level 5, so he did not compete with the other mages for the corpses, especially since he had already obtained a Level 5 magical beast earlier.

Seeing so many magical beast corpses, the dozen or so mages could not help but show expressions of excitement on their faces. These were the most suitable materials for their levels, and a few of the younger mages even let out cheers.

This time, the mages looked at Donald with increasing favor; even the two mages who had previously been somewhat disdainful now had much friendlier gazes.

Most mages only had two criteria for befriending others: the knowledge and strength the other party possessed, and their attitude toward others.

Arrogance would not provoke a mage's resentment, provided you possessed the qualifications to be arrogant, but greed and ignorance would absolutely incite the disgust of mages.