Once December arrived, the north of the Kingdom was naturally much colder than Bunta City down in the south.
Standing by the river in the cold wind made the chill feel all the more piercing.
Although Xu Yi had prepared in advance and put on thick, warm clothes, he still could not keep out the cold. He had to draw on a little mana to maintain a small fire magic array beneath himself and Count Samo, keeping the temperature around them at a tolerable level.
Feeling the air around them rapidly warm up, Count Samo glanced in surprise at the magic array glowing red beneath Xu Yi's feet.
Even though Count Samo was not a mage, he could tell how much magical skill it took to maintain an array with such precision.
"Xu Yi, it's been over a year since we last met, and your magic seems to have improved considerably again. Before coming here, you went to Anvilmar City for the Mages' Guild's Qualification Certification Examination, didn't you? How did it go? What level are you now?"
Xu Yi smiled faintly. "I just passed the examination for Level Eight Mage. I'm hardly all that powerful."
"A Level Eight Mage isn't powerful enough?" Count Samo could not help shaking his head. "Then what sort of mage would you consider powerful?"
"Personally, I don't think a mage can truly be called powerful, no matter how skilled he is, because he's still only one person," Xu Yi said. "Compared with individual strength, I've always believed that strengthening everyone through industrial production is far more powerful."
Count Samo laughed. "You really are a businessman rather than a mage. You only think that way because you've never seen how formidable a truly powerful mage can be. If you witnessed the power of an Archmage,