What? A Personal Disciple?

The man in the chair had imagined all sorts of possibilities, but he had never expected anyone to complete this quest while still in their teens! He did not understand. He really did not understand... The Scroll of Holy Radiance was not a fake. It was a genuine orange item! A top-tier treasure that even max-level players would beg their friends to help them fight over! And someone had actually turned it down?

Ridiculous... Absolutely ridiculous...

Even if a closed-beta player recognized the symbols on the scrap of cloth and guessed that it was something extraordinary, surely they would have taken both items. Who would actually do something as stupid as keeping the box and returning the pearl?

Heh, if anyone took the Scroll of Holy Radiance more than half a meter away from the bone chair... Just as a certain someone had suspected, that level-90 boss would immediately show up without a shred of shame and kill the greedy bastard in one hit!

Martinst the Defector was one badass Necromancer. He had a skill called Soulbind, whose effect was simple: it prevented a player from resurrecting for three days! If anyone died at his hands, well... Everyone knew what that meant.

"I don't get it. I just don't get it... Can't that One Leaf Windwalk kid settle down for a bit and give me two days of peace?" The man in the chair rubbed his temples and said slowly, "All right, Martin, I understand. Since he hasn't broken any game rules, just let him be."

"Okay." With his orders received, the blond young man, Martin, was finally released from his "punishment stand." He eagerly opened the door and left, trailing a little "hup, hup, ha, hey" tune behind him.

"Should I give him this quest reward or not?" The man in the chair pressed his lips together, unable to decide.

Meanwhile, our gaming god Ye had also found himself caught in a dilemma...

"Mentor, what do you think I should choose?" Ye Fengxing looked miserably at the old man before him, his eyes full of hope.

The old Dragonkin archmage, Aston, looked kindly at the young apprentice before him and smiled without a word.

Ye Fengxing really had no way of dealing with this smiling old fox... He could neither hit nor curse the old fellow. He had to handle him with care, or the slightest bit of mischief from the old man would leave Ye Fengxing paying dearly for it.

The old Dragonkin had given him a multiple-choice question with three options...

"You want your quest reward? Of course, of course. It's been a very long time since I met such a capable young man. To think you actually managed to return the necro... Ahem... To return something so precious to its rightful owner! You've done a tremendous service! What would you like? I can grant any of your wishes! Would you like to learn advanced magic? Or perhaps receive a precious Magic Device? Or would you like to become my personal disciple?"

Fuuuck! How am I supposed to choose?! Ye Fengxing roared silently inside, while still forcing himself to look respectful.

Choose advanced magic? That long list of badass skills nearly had him drooling... The old man had said he could pick any three! That was too damn tempting. Many of those skills could only be learned at max level!

Polymorph: Transforms the target into a small animal for 5 seconds. During this time, all of the target's defensive stats cease to function. Spell range: 30 meters. Cast time: 1 second. Mana cost: 300. Cooldown: 2 minutes.

Spell Immunity: Prevents the target from casting spells or receiving any beneficial spell effects for 5 seconds. When cast on an ally, blocks only harmful spell effects for 10 seconds. Spell range: 30 meters. Instant cast. Mana cost: 320. Cooldown: 2 minutes.

Spatial Teleportation: Teleports the caster to any location within 30 meters of their current position. Mana cost: 375. Cooldown: 24 seconds.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! I can't take it! If I keep looking, I really won't be able to resist!

These were all god-tier PvP skills, damn it! How could anyone not drool over them? Still, his self-control had always been good, and he had not let them go to his head. He knew that, awesome as these skills were, they would be nothing special once everyone reached max level. Any Mage who wasn't an idiot could learn them after completing the relevant class quests.

These god-tier skills could certainly make a player shine in the early game, but he was no shortsighted kid.

As for the "precious Magic Devices," well, Magic Device was merely a term. It did not refer exclusively to the Magic Device equipped on a player. In fact, what old Aston meant was Mage equipment... As an NPC, he had to speak and act in a way that suited this otherworldly setting, rather than use gaming slang like the players.

There was no need to list every "precious Magic Device" the old Dragonkin produced. They were all ridiculously powerful pieces of purple epic equipment, and the sight left a certain someone itching to get his hands on them.

Epic equipment was exceptionally rare. Generally speaking, its stats were a cut above those of yellow rare equipment at the same level! What was more, a small portion of purple equipment came with special effects that ordinary equipment lacked. Some of those effects could only be called "miraculous," making the items valuable enough to rival orange items!

Judging by the Light of Freedom, the stats of many pieces of purple epic equipment scaled with the player's level. As long as you could equip them, you could wear them from level 1 all the way to max level!

Even if later updates raised the level cap, the special effects on epic equipment would remain unchanged. Naturally, its stats would fall behind those of new, higher-level equipment, but if its special effects were powerful enough, other equipment could make up the difference. In short, the effects made it worth it!

This was even more tempting than the skills! Ye Fengxing struggled for a long while before finally resisting... Purple equipment was certainly rare, but the third option made his heart race even faster!

A personal disciple-what did that mean? It meant his master would treat him differently from everyone else!

Did they know what special tutoring was? What did it mean when a class mentor gave you special tutoring? It meant you could learn skills that other people couldn't!

Ye Fengxing was a gaming veteran. He knew perfectly well how important skills were. Skills were the fundamental reason each class had its strengths and weaknesses!

Mages wore the flimsiest equipment of any class-cloth armor-yet their survivability was every bit as good as that of Warriors in plate armor. Why? Because of their skills!

Mages had plenty of crowd-control and anti-control skills. Melee classes generally had little affection for Mages because these bastards were so hard to stick to. Sure, their defenses were low, but you had to pin them down and land a hit first. Otherwise, even if they were naked, what could you do to them?

Ye Fengxing had high hopes for this whole "personal disciple" business, but he did have one concern... Old Aston was only a level-40 NPC, after all. According to the game's rules, once a player's level exceeded their mentor's, they could no longer learn skills from that mentor. So what would he do after level 40?

The old fellow certainly carried himself like a hidden master. Who knew how many treasures he had tucked away?

After thinking it over for a long while, Ye Fengxing finally decided to bet on old Aston! Every piece of purple equipment the old fellow had produced was a rarity, and every skill he had listed was a max-level skill. Surely his abilities were not confined to that little "level 40" box.

After all, none of the NPCs in Chronicles of the Sky had been created at random. Those with important or unusual identities, in particular, all had thoroughly developed backstories.

Based on what old Aston had brought out today alone, Ye Fengxing dared to conclude that the old fellow had once been far above level 40. Hadn't those pieces of purple equipment all been level 80? The old man had produced them without batting an eye. Clearly, items of that caliber weren't even good enough to catch his interest!

At present, the player level cap was 60. Ye Fengxing was level 12, so the purple equipment would also be level 12 if he wore it. Level-80 purple equipment could last him through the next two major updates. What an incredible temptation!

Ye Fengxing resisted that temptation and firmly chose option three!

Equipment was ultimately just a lifeless object. The person who could produce it was the real treasure! There was never much reason to hesitate when choosing between the chicken and the egg. The egg might be golden, but who was to say the chicken wasn't a "battle chicken"?

A dazzling flash of golden light marked the quest's completion, and old Aston's gaze immediately grew even kinder.

"Very good, my One Leaf Windwalk. I hereby officially grant you the status of Mage. From this moment onward, you are no longer a Mage apprentice."

A chill ran through him. What did he mean by "my One Leaf Windwalk"? Did becoming a personal disciple even change how the old man addressed him?

Old Aston smiled at Ye Fengxing and continued, "My disciple, you seem quite fond of the spells Wind Veil and Blink. How about this? I can let you keep them, but you must understand one thing: if you learn Wind Veil, you must make gale magic your primary specialization. Have you made up your mind?"

"I have!" he answered without hesitation.

"Very good. From this moment onward, you are an honorable Gale Mage. Come, see what other spells you would like to learn."

"Thank you, Mentor." Ye Fengxing squeezed his knuckles and bent his head to start choosing skills.

Cyclone Bind: Summons a cyclone that lifts the target into the air. If the target is hostile, it loses the ability to control itself. The binding effect lasts 8 seconds. Spell range: 30 meters. Cast time: 1.5 seconds. Mana cost: 30. Cooldown: 5 seconds.

Turbulent Wind: Summons strong winds around a hostile target, reducing its movement speed and casting speed by 50% for 15 seconds. Spell range: 35 meters. Instant cast. Mana cost: 35. Cooldown: 5 seconds.

Astral Wind Guard: Gathers a layer of astral wind to protect the target, absorbing 350 damage for 30 seconds. Also increases the target's movement speed by 10% for 5 seconds. Spell range: 30 meters. Instant cast. Mana cost: 40. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Wind of Freedom: Naturally freedom-loving wind elements surround you, increasing your movement speed by 30% and granting immunity to slowing and immobilizing effects for 6 seconds. Instant cast. Mana cost: 35. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Ye Fengxing learned all four skills without a second thought. These were powerful skills available right from the early game, and their usefulness in PvP was especially obvious. Any veteran could see it at a glance. How could a PvP fanatic like Ye Fengxing possibly pass them up?

Next came the choice of offensive skills. After considering it for a long while, Ye Fengxing decided to take fire magic as his secondary specialization. He had carefully examined the later gale skills, and they were all damn crowd-control and anti-control skills. Several increased movement speed. The class could practically be called the "king of slippery bastards"!

It was easy to imagine how much of a headache a Gale Mage would give a melee class. They would probably end up howling, "This... Is this fucking fair? Huh? At least let me land a few swings!"

Such powerful support skills came at a price. Gale Mages' offensive skills were decidedly lackluster... Even the strong ones had long cooldowns, and every last one required max level to learn. What a goddamn rip-off!

By comparison, the offensive skills of the other three schools all had their merits, each with its own strengths.