Deadly Enmity

Brando could hardly believe his ears.

"I've been expelled? I actually got expelled?" Brando slumped on the ground, utterly drained of strength. He lay sprawled on the inn lobby floor without the slightest trace of noble bearing, his unfocused eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

After having his apprentice status revoked by the Stormwind Royal Academy of Arcane Arts, he was still a noble—but he could only become a laughingstock among the nobility.

He was not the eldest son of the family. Under the primogeniture laws of the Stormwind Kingdom, passed down from the Arathi Empire, he could never inherit his father's title. Earning a title through military merit or climbing to a high position by other means were the only two paths left for nobles to rise higher.

Stormwind lay in the south of Azeroth's eastern continent, near the western coast. To its north stood towering mountains that could not be developed at all. Only Elwynn Forest, which wrapped around Stormwind in a crescent shape to the south and east, was ideal territory for fiefs.

Unfortunately, after a thousand years, Elwynn Forest, the core region of the Stormwind Kingdom, no longer had any spare land to accommodate more nobles. Southwest of Stormwind lay the barren Westfall; farther south was the eternally dark and gloomy Duskwood; and farther east were the impoverished Redridge Mountains.

To pleasure-seeking nobles, every one of those directions was a godforsaken wasteland. Once they earned military merit, if they wished to become landed nobles with actual fiefs, they would have to be granted territory in one of those three directions and barely scrape by in such harsh, frigid places.

So being granted a title was not a good idea.

Climbing to a high position was no easier. The military was firmly controlled by Anduin Lothar. As Emperor Thoradin's last bloodline and one of King Llane's best childhood friends, Lothar's position in the military was completely untouchable to any noble.

It could be said that the military was so tightly sealed that nobles could not even slip a needle into it.

As for civil administration, every position was already occupied. Even if the Brando family wanted to promote someone, they would promote his elder brother. It would never be Fam Brando's turn.

It was no exaggeration to say that Brando's rising status was entirely due to his talent for magic.

And now, Old Norton had sentenced him to death with a single sentence.

How could Brando not go mad!?

After a brief moment of stunned confusion, a gaze almost tangible with killing intent and endless venom first fell upon Old Norton. The next second, Fam Brando timidly shifted his target to Duke's back.

"Ding. You have sensed the hostility of your mortal enemy, Fam Brando. Your reputation within the Brando family has been permanently fixed at [Deadly Enmity]!"

Duke gave a quiet snort at the system sprite's notification. Don't think the grudge of killing me once can be wiped away so easily. Fine. You want to kill me, and I want to kill you. I refuse to believe that I, someone who can revive, can't outlast your little Brando family. Let's see who gets the last laugh.

That said, before learning how to replenish his integrity—oh, humanity—Duke had no intention of wasting his precious integrity in a life-and-death struggle against some insignificant Brando family. He was not stupid enough to do something like that.

Since he had already offended Fam Brando beyond repair and even their hatred had been locked in place, there was no need to talk about reconciliation. Even as he walked out of the inn, Duke held his head high.

The surrounding crowd whispered among themselves. Duke could not hear what they were saying, and he did not care. It was only after he boarded the carriage Old Norton had prepared that he realized things had changed greatly.

He had slapped Brando twice, yet heard no applause or cheers. As the treasured son of the local lord, Brando was not someone the common people dared openly applaud against. But as the carriage passed by, Duke was astonished to see quite a few people silently step forward, offer him a smile, and hand over all sorts of local goods.

A few eggs, a basket of potatoes, or a box of cured meat... The villagers' thoughts were so simple and sincere that Duke's throat tightened without him realizing it.

He had lived eighteen years since birth. He had done no great evil, but neither had he done much good. Suddenly being admired as a little hero gave Duke a complicated feeling.

Just as Duke was about to say something, he suddenly remembered the system's notification.

"Congratulations. You have gained the gratitude of the people of Northshire Abbey. Your reputation in Northshire Abbey is now [Revered]. For unknown reasons, your humanity has recovered slightly. Humanity increased by 1%. Your current soul power is 98, and your humanity is 94%."

This... this... this... Could it be that doing good deeds and earning the people's approval could restore integrity?

For a moment, Duke felt dazed. He suddenly thought of many things. Just like in games, reputation was extremely important. He had not expected it to be just as important after transmigrating.

It was not until he climbed into Old Norton's prepared carriage in a daze and was jolted around until he felt completely disoriented that Duke came back to himself.

Damn it. Carriages in this era might have been an absolute luxury for ordinary people, but to Duke, a transmigrator accustomed to smooth asphalt roads and comfortable spring-suspended cars, they were pure torture.

Once they were in the carriage, the atmosphere changed again. The three apprentices sat obediently in a row opposite Old Norton. The damned old man had somehow produced a pipe and blew smoke rings out the window in front of the three youngsters.

"You little ones, this old man was once as young and hot-blooded as you. Though I support what you did from the bottom of my heart, there is something I have to tell you: you're in big trouble."

Daniel and Itana's expressions changed at once. At first, they had almost instinctively stood at Duke's side. But once the excitement faded, fear rose in their hearts.

They had offended a noble. Although their apprentice status had temporarily allowed them to forget that fact, as long as they did not advance to become formal mages, both they and their families would remain at risk of being threatened by nobles.

Old Norton continued, "Duke, the two of them are not like you. In the world of mages, we believe in equivalent exchange. Our Stormwind Royal Academy of Arcane Arts is not Dalaran, where they simply pursue the truths of magic. Here, every lesson costs money. And every necessity for studying magic, every spell you wish to learn, must be purchased with your own money."

By this point, Daniel and Itana both looked troubled.

Duke spoke up. "May I ask how apprentices at the academy handled this in the past?"