Nelson Eddie

He remembered the past, the day he had first met his teacher.

He remembered the roads they had traveled together and the performances they had put on.

He remembered how Abel had treated him like a son, and the happy days he had spent learning magic under Abel.

He remembered how excited Abel had been when he advanced to become a formal junior mage.

Thomas's eyes brimmed with tears. He clenched his fists. Teacher, I'll make sure I succeed in my studies, then return and show all those who once looked down on you. I'm your apprentice, the apprentice you trained.

After thinking of his teacher, Thomas began thinking of the teacher who would soon be teaching him: Joseph, who was rumored to have advanced to the intermediate level.

The man looked thoroughly ordinary, but he did indeed have the air of someone who had advanced not long ago.

Yet his foundation was remarkably solid, unlike those of people who had only just advanced.

Could this method of advancement also help people strengthen their foundations?

Thomas had misunderstood. In truth, Joseph had spent many years building an extremely solid foundation.

His advancement had also come naturally. It wasn't the kind of method that forced someone to advance, so Joseph's foundation was solid.

That was thanks to Joseph himself; it had nothing to do with the method.

Thomas also wondered about the strange name of the class the academy had opened: the Promotion Sprint Class.

What a strange name. Somehow, it still inspired trust.

At the same time, Joseph was reporting to Drew.

"Here are the profiles of the seventeen people we recruited for the Promotion Sprint Class.

"None of them have any issues. Here are the profiles of the two people who need special attention."

"I only told you about this yesterday, and you've already brought me the results today.

"That was fast. You're incredibly efficient. What channels did you use?"

"I used an organization called Ravenholdt Manor.

"They were the ones who found the Hurricane Bandits' hideout last time.

"They have the best reputation in the business," Joseph explained.

Drew knew of Ravenholdt Manor.

He had searched Karen's memories and learned that it was an organization made up of high-level rogues, and that it only accepted the elite.

The organization was efficient, but its prices weren't cheap.

It was also difficult to contact. Usually, you had to be referred by an existing client.

Drew wasn't sure whether Joseph had managed to hire them through luck or skill.

"Good. You handled this well.

"Looks like we can't keep quietly making money like we did before.

"The Hurricane Bandits incident was a wake-up call.

"Hiding ourselves all the time won't work. This incident has also brought us into the open.

"Now that we've been exposed, we have to find ways to grow stronger so we can protect ourselves.

"Destroying the bandits so publicly and claiming the bounty is a way of showing the world our strength.

"We established this academy to build our network. We also need a powerful intelligence system.

"We're not yet capable of organizing our own intelligence network, so if you can find reliable sources of information, that'll be a great achievement too." Drew praised Joseph, who scratched his head bashfully.

"All right, leave the documents here and get back to work." After Joseph left, Drew picked up the intelligence files and read them carefully.

They listed everyone's identity, strength, important past experiences, and reason for applying this time.

Drew skimmed the information on the others and entered it into the database.

Then he focused on the profiles of the two people in question.

First was Thomas. The report listed his age and birthplace.

It explained what he had done before, when he had joined his teacher Abel, and when and why Abel had died.

Thomas was now an unaffiliated mage.

He was clearly looking for a legitimate way to study magic.

But the report didn't explain why he had chosen Drew and his academy, nor did it record Abel's identity.

After all, Abel had left home twenty years ago, and no one in his family had gone looking for him. He had never told anyone who he was, either.

Even Ravenholdt Manor couldn't uncover his identity in such a short time.

Drew thought it over. This one was promising. He was young, and had become a formal mage by following an unconventional path, so he must have excellent talent.

He was also deeply passionate about magic. Drew could bring him into the fold and give him special attention.

Drew marked Thomas's file for special attention.

Next was the ordinary-looking man. His name was Nelson Eddie, and he was an herbalist.

His story was rather interesting. He had planned to take his child to the Mages' Association to have the child's talent assessed.

But his child had shown no aptitude for magic.

That was perfectly normal, except that one of his business rivals had also taken his child in for an assessment at the same time.

The rival's child turned out to have a talent for magic and was immediately taken on as an apprentice by a mage from the Mages' Association.

That changed everything. Right there and then, his rival began mocking him.

The man claimed Nelson Eddie had bad genes and that his children were bound to have poor talent. His child had no magical aptitude because Nelson had held him back.

He also claimed his own genes were far superior to Nelson Eddie's, and that his son had inherited his excellent genes, which was why he had a talent for magic.

Nelson Eddie was so furious he could hardly sit still. To prove that his genes weren't bad, he paid to have his own talent assessed as well.

Before the assessment, he regretted it. The odds of having magical talent were so low, and he was already so old. Even if he did have the talent, what would it matter? He was just wasting his money.

Everyone nearby was watching him with mocking smiles, waiting to see him make a fool of himself. But when the results came back, they showed that Nelson Eddie really did have a talent for magic. Everyone was stunned, including Nelson himself.

No one knew how to react. They had expected a spectacle, but the result was not what they had imagined. Still, no one had been proven wrong, because Nelson Eddie was simply too old. He had missed the best time to learn magic, and he was unlikely to achieve much in the future.

The best proof was that not a single mage there was willing to take him on as an apprentice.

Every mage shook their head and turned him down. Even his rival didn't know whether to keep mocking him.

Although he had proved himself, he had still been rejected. What should have been a cause for celebration was now clouded by disappointment.

Nelson Eddie had no choice but to take his child home.

Though the setback had hit him hard, it hadn't defeated him. Instead, it had sparked an idea he'd never had before: learning magic.

With no one willing to teach him, he thought of some news he had heard recently.

A magic academy in Lincoln Town was recruiting students, so he had come.

Ravenholdt Manor's intelligence agents had also added a note to the end of Nelson Eddie's profile.

He was already an herbalist, collecting herbs and selling them to alchemists, who then made potions and elixirs to sell.

While studying, he would certainly be hoping to establish some kind of business partnership with Drew.

After all, Drew's alchemy skills were famous in their line of work.

It was even possible—if one dared to speculate—that Nelson Eddie had already decided to come here to become Drew's apprentice and learn alchemy, so he could process the herbs he collected himself.

Drew smiled faintly as he read the analysis. "Interesting."