Noble Recruitment

The Black Bear Gang's misfortune quickly spread throughout the entire airship.

Upon hearing the news, the apprentices buzzed with discussion. Most were delighted that Redley had finally been dealt with, while the girls Redley had violated cheered even louder when they heard.

But none of that had anything to do with Richard.

Richard was sitting in Room 225, recovering his magic power as he leisurely looked at the several nobles before him.

"Wouldn't you gentlemen introduce yourselves?"

Richard sat on a stool while Ellie stood tensely at his side.

Richard came from humble origins and did not know these nobles, but Ellie knew every one of them like the back of her hand.

Every person before them was a descendant of one of the great noble houses of the Kingdom of the Golden Lark. Under normal circumstances, even Ellie's father would have had to pay a hefty price just to meet one of them.

"I'll go first."

A tall, handsome blond man sat down across from Richard.

"I am Kevin Medici. I came here to invite you, Richard, to join our alliance."

"The Medici family!" Ellie cried out.

The Medici family was the most illustrious noble house in the Kingdom of the Golden Lark. Their directly held fiefs, together with the lands of their vassals, accounted for a full quarter of the kingdom.

Among common folk, the Medici family's history of rising from small merchants to great nobles had made countless traders yearn for the same path.

Resting his chin on his hand, Richard said calmly, "Sounds like you're quite an important figure."

No matter how formidable the Medici family was, they were only powerful within the Kingdom of the Golden Lark. On this airship, there was no distinction between high and low—only strength, weakness, life, and death.

Pass the examination, and one lived. Fail it, and one died.

Kevin was not surprised by Ellie's reaction. Richard's indifference, however, caught him off guard.

From Richard's response, Kevin's noble status—and even his illustrious family behind it—were of no use at all.

That gave Kevin a headache, but it also earned a measure of his respect.

Not everyone could swiftly overturn beliefs ingrained over more than a decade. Anyone who could become a Wizard Apprentice so quickly truly had something extraordinary about them.

After thinking for a moment, Kevin decided to lower himself first.

"But compared to wizards, the Medici family is nothing more than a group of mortals with a little strength."

Richard smiled. This young master Kevin seemed to be a man who understood the situation.

"So, Young Master Kevin, how strong is your organization? What position would I have in it? And what benefits could I gain from joining?"

Richard had no interest in trading empty words with nobles. His questions struck straight at the heart of cooperation.

Kevin, accustomed to noble negotiations, did not know how to answer for a moment.

"Well..."

Kevin hesitated, his mind racing as he tried to organize his answer.

But during that delay, someone answered for him.

"You low... Richard, I think you should take a longer view."

Behind Kevin, a red-haired noble suddenly spoke.

This red-haired noble was fat and greasy-faced. Though he tried to sound mild, he could not conceal the rotten stench of nobility in his words—he looked down on Richard from the bottom of his heart.

"Joining us is an opportunity for you. Everyone in our organization is a noble." The red-haired fat man looked proud. "As long as you join us, you can become one of the nobles too."

The moment those words left his mouth, Kevin knew things had gone wrong.

Would someone who did not even care about the Medici family care about a noble status that would become useless in the future? Even if they promised him a duchy, he would probably refuse without hesitation.

Sure enough, Richard burst into laughter as soon as the fat man finished speaking.

"Hahahaha, Kevin, did you hear that? What generous terms your underling has offered me."

Richard looked mockingly at the group of nobles behind Kevin. Though they appeared outwardly amicable, the disgust they held for him in their bones could not be hidden.

On the contrary, Kevin, despite his distinguished background, had genuinely lowered himself and wanted to bring Richard into the fold.

"I must clarify one point. I come from the great Birmingham family. Even the Medici family cannot make me Kevin's follower."

The red-haired fat man explained with a solemn expression, as though this were an exceptionally important matter.

He could not understand Richard's laughter. Joining them and becoming a noble was something countless people in the Kingdom of the Golden Lark could not find a way into, no matter how much money they spent.

Yet this lowborn man had received such a blessing, and not only was he not deeply grateful, he was looking at him with mockery.

It was simply incomprehensible.

Lowborn trash would always be lowborn trash. Even if he had luckily become a wizard, his dull mind still could not understand profound things.

Kevin took a deep breath. He was not afraid of godlike opponents, only piglike teammates.

The fat man's words had nearly rendered this recruitment meaningless, but Kevin still wanted to salvage it.

If Richard, a Wizard Apprentice, joined them, the alliance would not only gain a powerful helping hand, but also eliminate a threat.

"I swear upon my family name! Boli, if you say one more word—one single word—I will throw you out!"

Kevin's voice carried barely restrained fury. His blunt words made Boli's fat face flush red.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something more, but when he saw Kevin's icy gaze, he ultimately shut it.

"Richard, don't mind Boli's words. He is from a newly risen noble family, so he takes great pride in noble status. But not every member of our organization is like that." Kevin turned to Richard, a proper smile instantly replacing his expression.

"In our alliance, there is one knight, two apprentice candidates connected to the Sea of Souls, and five Knight Aspirants. I do not know the situation on the other airships, but our alliance is definitely strong enough to pass this examination."

"Moreover, our alliance has a descendant of a Legendary Knight's bloodline."

As he spoke, Kevin leaned closer to Richard with feigned mystery.

"Richard, have you heard that legend? The Legendary Knights who founded the Seven Kingdoms all came from the Divine Realm, and Divine Blood has flowed down through their descendants."

Kevin's words piqued Richard's interest. He had indeed heard the legends of the Legendary Knights. In ancient times, seven Legendary Knights descended from the Divine Realm into the mortal world and founded the present Seven Kingdoms amid a wild land filled with Magic Beasts.

According to legend, some of those Legendary Knights possessed boundless strength, some could breathe fire, some could transform into beasts, and some were impervious to blades and spears.

But from the way Kevin spoke, these Legendary Knights likely had some connection to wizards.

"How so? Could these Legendary Knights also be descendants of wizards?" Richard guessed.

"Not exactly, but close enough."

Kevin's eyes shifted as he deliberately left him hanging.

"Then it seems this is a secret I need to join before I can learn."

Richard pondered this, his gaze moving from Kevin to the group of nobles behind him, then back from the nobles to Kevin.

"I have a question. Answer it for me, and I'll join you." Richard sat up straight, his expression turning serious.

"Please, ask."

"Why would that knight and those two apprentice candidates form an alliance with you?"

Kevin's alliance seemed deeply warped in Richard's eyes.

Every member of an alliance should have a use, or at least most of them should. Other than the knight and Wizard Apprentices, the rest of Kevin's alliance were not exactly burdens, but they were of little use at best.

By all reason, such a malformed alliance should not exist. The fact that it did meant there had to be some hidden support Richard did not know about.

Richard guessed that support was the magical items the nobles had mentioned.

"That question is simple." Kevin seemed to relax. "Because most of us possess..."

"Kevin!" A sharp cry interrupted him.

It came from a female noble dressed in purple. In the Kingdom of the Golden Lark, purple was the color of the honored, and anyone who could wear purple came from a family that had produced at least a duke.

Richard shook his head helplessly. To think I actually had expectations of nobles.

"It seems our cooperation cannot be reached. Gentlemen, please leave."

Richard rose to see them out, giving Kevin no chance to explain.

If these nobles had even half—no, even a third—of Kevin's respect, Richard would have considered joining their organization.

Among so many apprentices, Kevin was certainly not the only one forming an alliance. Once they entered the examination, those alliances' foremost prey would be lone apprentices.

But the attitude of these nobles truly made Richard unwilling to entrust his back to them.

Besides, Ellie had also become an apprentice candidate. Wouldn't teaming up with a good person like Ellie, whom he knew inside and out, be better than joining this group of nobles?

Seeing Richard's resolute attitude, Kevin said nothing more. He shook Richard's hand according to etiquette and left.

After they were gone, Richard opened the palm that had shaken Kevin's hand.

A slip of paper covered in Wizard language lay conspicuously in his palm.

"This Kevin is interesting." Richard smiled and casually slipped the note into his pocket.

Half an hour later, the airship's maintenance was complete. It began speeding forward once more, and all the apprentices returned to their cramped rooms.

Richard sat on his bed, reviewing the battle from earlier in his mind.

He had cast Magic Missile eight times in total, consuming roughly half of the magic power in his body. In other words, if he used all his magic power, he could cast Magic Missile fifteen times.

The book had described Magic Missile as weak and powerless, something no Wizard Apprentice beyond the beginner stage would waste magic power on.

But when he had actually used it, its power—comparable to a handgun bullet—had still startled Richard.

Fifteen Magic Missiles meant fifteen bullets.

With such strength, Richard was confident that as long as he was not ambushed or surrounded by a group, he would definitely pass the examination.

After reviewing the battle, Richard took the note from his pocket.

Its contents were simple. Kevin intended to hire Richard for the price of one Magic Stone, in exchange for Richard not killing him during the entrance examination.

The Magic Stone would be paid after enrollment.

"Nobles who started in business have brains far more useful than that bunch of idiots." Richard sighed and casually stuffed the note back into his pocket.

Richard did not need to do anything in this deal, yet he could obtain a Magic Stone.

Kevin would also get what he wanted. A Wizard Apprentice was a predator in this examination. In his eyes, exchanging future benefits for a sliver of safety in the present was undoubtedly worthwhile.

It was a win-win deal.

After the maintenance, the airship never slowed down midway again.

For ten consecutive days, it flew without stopping until it reached the designated location.

As the leader of the recruiting wizards, Ellery, who carried a massive door-sized greatsword, looked at the towering black spire piercing the clouds in the distance and gave the order.

"Prepare to land!"

They had arrived at the Black Tower Wizard Academy.