Leaving

"Apprentice Allen pays his respects to you, my lords." Allen gave them a noble's salute. When Pelaven, who stood at the head of the gathering, saw him arrive, he immediately stopped talking to the person beside him and walked over. "Young man, there's no need to be so formal. You're a Full Mage now; you needn't call yourself an apprentice anymore. Ryan has already reported what happened to you. You truly live up to the name of a mage from Dalaran-not only brave, but clever as well. I called you here today only because a few details remain unclear, and I hope you can give me another report. But that can wait. For now, let's raise our glasses and celebrate." After that, everyone began drinking and celebrating to their hearts' content. Allen, however, was somewhat confused by the situation. He walked over to Ryan and quietly asked him about it.

Ryan patted his shoulder to get him to relax, then told him a major piece of news. "A few days ago, Highlord Pelaven formally allied himself with Archmage Kel'Thuzad." An alliance already? It looks like Pelaven really is under considerable pressure. Still, Allen keenly sensed something strange about it.

Archmage Kel'Thuzad was the one who benefited from all this. Did that mean he had been behind everything? The Fel Beasts had appeared too suddenly, and an attack had happened at the same time. Allen hardly dared imagine that the power struggle among Dalaran's upper ranks had already grown fierce enough to affect those below them. He dared not share these guesses with anyone else. Even ten lives would not be enough if he did.

After the banquet ended, Highlord Pelaven summoned him to a room. The Highlord reeked of alcohol, but his eyes were perfectly clear, showing no sign of drunkenness. He asked Allen, "Could you tell me about that giant snake you encountered?" His voice was quiet, but filled with an authority that allowed no refusal.

Allen began answering his questions honestly, recounting practically every detail he could describe. But he had no idea whether the Highlord beside him was really listening. When he finished, the Highlord asked him another question. "What do you think caused that giant snake to mutate?"

He immediately sensed something wrong with the question. Ryan must have reported this already, so how could the Highlord not know what had caused the snake's mutation? Yet he was still asking a question like this. Allen immediately realized that the Highlord must have noticed something amiss. Still, Allen did not understand what he meant by asking, so he could only give a cautious, conventional reply. "My lord, my abilities are limited. I don't know whether this was what caused the Man Snake to mutate. We merely found it nearby. All of this still requires further investigation on your part."

He cleverly passed the question back, and the Highlord did not linger on the subject. He immediately asked, "Then do you think the changes in the forest's magic were caused by this?" The Highlord toyed with the white stone as he questioned him. But Allen still gave no definite answer. "I'm sorry, my lord. I'm only an ordinary apprentice. Before this, I had never even seen a Magic Source, much less understood the reason for the changes in the forest's magic."

The Highlord abandoned his earlier manner. He tossed the stone in his hand in front of Allen and unleashed his aura to bear down on him, demanding viciously, "Weren't you the one who produced this stone? Tell me, what did Kel'Thuzad give you? Was it just helping you advance?" Allen could hardly breathe under the pressure of his aura, and he realized that his unexpected advancement had aroused the Highlord's suspicions. But no matter what, he had to get through this now. He immediately dropped to his knees at the Highlord's feet, pretending that he could not bear the pressure, and said, "M-my lord, I don't understand what you mean. Didn't His Excellency the Archmage send us to support you?"

The Highlord fell silent for quite a while. In the end, he decided that Allen did not really seem like one of Kel'Thuzad's men. How could someone so weak possibly accomplish something like this? He immediately withdrew his aura and waved a hand at Allen. "All right, I understand the particulars now. You may leave."

Allen immediately ran out of the room and returned to his lodgings. He had not expected the Highlord to have already begun suspecting Kel'Thuzad of ulterior motives. But why was he the unlucky one? He had absolutely nothing to do with Kel'Thuzad. It seemed his advancement had come at far too coincidental a time. He sighed. He had to leave this place as soon as possible. He did not want to become a scapegoat.

Not long after he left, the Highlord spoke into the empty air. "Seank, do you think there's something wrong with him?" A voice actually answered from the air. "My lord, I don't think someone as proud as Kel'Thuzad would use such a clumsy method." Still unconvinced, the Highlord asked again, "But isn't this too much of a coincidence?"

Suddenly, the white stone on the floor floated into the air, and the voice spoke again. "This stone is indeed a Magic Source, but it has no effect on ordinary beasts. Kel'Thuzad couldn't possibly be unaware of that." As soon as he finished speaking, the stone turned to powder.

Having narrowly escaped disaster, Allen moved to another room after returning, receiving the treatment due to a Full Mage. But he was not happy in the slightest. He was terribly afraid that the Highlord would kill him to silence him. Yet he could not leave immediately either. He had signed a contract forbidding him from leaving without permission.

Finally, a week passed, and the lord's residence announced that the assignment would end in three days, after which they could return. They were also required to come and collect their rewards within those three days. Almost everyone was delighted to hear the news, and Allen himself nearly began cheering.

Even so, he did not collect his reward immediately, but waited until the final day. By then, most people had already collected theirs, and there were few people left in the hall when he arrived. As he walked toward the front desk, he suddenly spotted Ryan and went over to greet him. "Ryan, have you been well lately?"

Ryan turned and saw Allen, then happily gave him a hug. "Where have you been all these days? I couldn't find you anywhere." "I just moved to a different place," Allen explained.

Then Ryan grabbed him and said, "Come with me."

Once they were outside, Ryan said, "Your reward was actually issued a while ago. I have it here. I couldn't find you before, so I didn't get a chance to tell you."

Allen found it strange that Ryan had his reward. But Ryan offered no further explanation and continued, "Here's your reward. I think you'll like it." Smiling, Ryan took out a book. Allen accepted it and glanced at it. Only the words "Ice Shield" were written on it. It was a spellbook. Excited, he was about to open it, but after a moment's thought, he felt doing so right in front of Ryan seemed a little impolite, so he put it away instead.

"This book came at just the right time. I like it very much. Thank you, Ryan," he said with a smile. Ryan waved a hand to show it was nothing. "This was your reward to begin with. There's no need to thank me. You, on the other hand, saved me several times. I don't even know how to thank you. Allen, when do you plan to leave?"

He told Ryan it would probably be tomorrow morning. Ryan was surprised. "That soon? Ah, never mind. I'll see you off tomorrow." After that, he chatted with Ryan for a long while. Once he returned to his room, he eagerly began learning the spell. Ice Shield was considered a well-known First-Rank Spell in Dalaran. Many mages chose it as their defensive spell. After all, it could block damage from ordinary blades while also slowing attackers and hindering their movements.

The spell's construction did not look as complicated as the Wind Blade Spell's, so Allen found it relatively easy to cast. It consumed only two-thirds as much magic as the Wind Blade Spell. When Allen successfully cast it, a pale blue, transparent shield formed around a person, protecting their entire body.

Once he could successfully cast the spell, he began constantly testing how much the Ice Shield could withstand. He found that it held up fairly well against ordinary physical attacks. Under normal circumstances, it could withstand over a hundred slashes from him, and it could probably block a dozen or so attacks from a First-Rank Warrior. But its defense against spells was much weaker. If Allen cast his strongest first-rank Wind Blade, it could withstand only one hit at most. Against the weaker version of Wind Blade he had used before, it could withstand no more than ten.

He also tested the Ice Shield's slowing effect on enemies. Naturally, it worked best on ordinary people, but it was not particularly effective against Professionals. Although he felt the spell was not all that good, he could more or less guess that it had probably been developed by the Highlord's earliest ancestors and was likely not the latest version.

Even so, he was very satisfied. Spellbooks were hard to come by, and many mages might know only a handful of spells their entire lives. A first-rank spellbook generally cost around 200 to 500 gold coins on the market. Even now, it would be difficult for him to obtain that much money without relying on Healing Potions. In his view, Professionals of any kind had to pour money into improving themselves. The only difference was whether they spent a little more or a little less.

The next morning, Allen packed his things and began his return journey. Unlike when they had come, they did not set off as one large group. For the most part, a few people on good terms formed teams and left together. He did not have many friends here. The only person he could be considered relatively close to was Ruizesi, but Ruizesi still had things to do over the next few days and would not leave until the day after tomorrow. Thus, Allen would return to Dalaran alone today, with Ryan and his squad there to see him off.

The return journey was fairly peaceful. None of the things he had been worrying about happened. It seemed the Highlord no longer suspected him. After returning, he planned to first deal with his advancement to Full Mage and obtain certification from the Association.

Then he would have the right to choose his assignments. It had always been deeply irritating to have the Association assign him tasks at will, as though someone else were controlling him. This time, for instance, the Archmage had first ordered them to come here, and then the Highlord had sent them to their deaths. The feeling of not having his fate in his own hands was truly unbearable.