Chapter 15.1 – The Mage a.s.sociation
Seeing so many high level mages, the first thing Nian Bing did was to cautiously conceal the power of his fire and ice magic source, especially the aura of his fire magic power. With this many high level mages, never mind escaping, even the slightest movement could cause him to suffer merciless attacks. Hearing the words of the fire Magic Scholar, he hurriedly came forward and respectfully said, “Nian Bing greets his seniors.”The fire Magic Scholar who had been talking earlier seemed very straightforward. He laughed out loud and said, “You must stop calling us seniors. The scholarly do not have hierarchy, and respect is up to the person. At your age, I had only just entered the realm of Advanced Mage. At that time, I had what was considered to be an extremely fast cultivation. Welcome, and congratulations on becoming a member of our Ice Moon Empire’s Mage a.s.sociation.”
At this moment, because the status of the three Great Mages was lower, they had already retreated to the side. In front of the Magic Scholars, Great Mages had to capitulate.
The symbol on the chest of the other Magic Scholar was a golden ice crystal. It was clearly evident that the person was an Ice Magic Scholar. He didn’t resemble the fire Magic Scholar’s friendly att.i.tude, as he coldly snorted and his body started emitting a cold and gloomy aura.
Li De walked until he was standing next to the two Magic Scholars. He turned to Nian Bing before saying, “The a.s.sociation stipulates that for any new members entering the a.s.sociation, there must be at least one Magic Scholar Elder holding the ceremony. In case the member is someone who has the strength of an Advanced Mage, the norm allows other mages to hold the ceremony. As for you, you have already attained the strength of a Great Mage. Therefore, I invite you today, along with two more a.s.sociation Elders, to hold your ceremony. Unfortunately, the president is out for business. If not for that, he would be the one holding your ceremony, which would be more suitable. Please step forward and stand in the middle of this hexagram.” Li De pointed at a place on the floor.
Nian Bing agreed and walked until he was in between the three Magic Scholars, and stood in the middle of the golden hexagram. Li De displayed a faint smile and said, “I, water Magic Scholar Li De, according to my status as the Ice Moon Empire Mage a.s.sociation Elder, especially hold this ceremony. Great Elemental G.o.ds, please be the witnesses for Nian Bing’s investment as a Great Mage of the a.s.sociation. Everything is for the honor, the glory, and the pride of the a.s.sociation! Devote yourself to the a.s.sociation. Nian Bing, I ask you. Do you wish to serve and fully devote yourself to the a.s.sociation?”
“I do,” Nian Bing replied without any hesitation, as this ‘devotion’ had a very vague meaning. However, the binding of the contract was extremely powerful. Was becoming a member of the Mage a.s.sociation not akin to being confined in an immense cage? Although Nian Bing had spoken one thing, in his heart he had added two more words to the promise. Put together, it had turned into: I wish to fart.
Li De faintly smiled as he turned to the side and faced a Great Mage and nodded his head. That Great Mage’s gown was very strange. It was silver. The Great mage took a few steps forwards, mumbling several incantations in a loud voice, and a silvery light flashed. In his once empty hand, there was now a light blue mage’s robe with the symbol of an ice mage at the front. Although ice and water magic were of common origin, the color for the ice mage’s gown was lighter than the one on the water mage’s gown. When Nian Bing saw the mage’s robe sudden appearance, he inwardly thought, ‘Is that spatial magic?’ In the magic world, apart from the four basic elements of water, fire, earth and wind, there were few other less usual ones. There was ice magic, which derived from water, and thunder, which was an unusual one, similar to spatial magic. As for light and dark magic, they were rarely seen kinds of magic. Usually, on the continent, only spatial mages could still be seen sometimes , while light magic and dark magic only existed in legends. These two types of magic were already considered extinct. However, when Nian Bing was a child, Rong Tian had told him that these two types of magic weren’t quite extinct. In fact, only a few people with special bodies would have the ability to understand those kinds of magic. As for the capabilities of light and dark magic, although they couldn’t be compared to any other magic types, they possessed other special properties which made them very difficult to deal with. Later, if he had the opportunity, he would ask the spatial Great Mage for some guidance. It would be good if he could see spatial magic for himself, since he had heard spatial mages used a special type of magic that allowed them to stockpile things. If he could use that very convenient kind of magic, he wouldn’t need to carry many things with him. In addition, he would be able to buy and store many more seasonings.
It was impossible for Li De to know that Nian Bing was thinking of using spatial magic to pack more seasonings. Li De took the gown from the spatial mage and walked until he was in front of Nian Bing, saying, “May the Elemental G.o.d bless you. Child, put on this magic gown. In just a moment, you will become a member of the a.s.sociation. We will all be your family and friends.”
Seeing the sincerity in Li De’s gaze, Nian Bing’s heart couldn’t help but be somewhat bewildered. It had been a long time since he had been bewildered to this degree. He took the magic gown in Li De’s hands and put it on. The size fit him perfectly. It was clear that it had been customized to fit his body size. The light blue magic gown felt unusually good. It was obviously made from special materials, because a faint magic aura was being emitted from the gown. Although it wasn’t too powerful, the gown was absorbing the ice elements, which was certainly a benefit. Inside the lapel of the magic gown, a moon was embroidered with silver thread, and a white ice crystal was embroidered as a background. It was the symbol of the Ice Moon Empire.
Looking at the ice crystal on his chest, surrounded by three circles of silver threads, Nian Bing’s heart was moved. ‘Father, Mother, Are you seeing this? Right now, your child has already become a Great Mage, a dual element Great Mage! You’ve waited. It won’t be too long now. I can certainly go once again to the Ice G.o.d’s PaG.o.da.’
Li De watched Nian Bing properly put on the Great Mage’s ice magic gown and couldn’t help but praise Nian Bing’s handsome appearance; the sumptuous magic gown highlighted his features. He appeared smarter and brighter, giving off a good impression with his star-like bright eyes. Faintly laughing, he said, “As expected, clothes make the man. Just by putting on the magic gown, he already looks more like a genuine Ice Moon Empire mage.”
Nian Bing respectfully saluted the three Magic Scholars. “Many thanks for your help.”
Once again, Li De nodded to the spatial mage. A silvery light flashed and, this time, an elaborate magic rod appeared, with a silver colored badge. In the middle of the badge, there was the same Ice Moon Empire’s symbol with the ice crystal. There was also a transparent gem embedded on the badge, emitting a magic fluctuations. The magic rod, only 33 centimeters long, was blue in color. On one end of the rod there was a white gem that radiated a faint frosty mist. Although it couldn’t be compared to the Ice Snow G.o.ddess’s stone, it was also a hard to come by top-grade gem.
First, Li De made a hexagonal badge appear and gave it to Nian Bing. “This is an Ice Moon Empire Mage a.s.sociation’s badge. As a Great Mage, your value is equivalent to an entire troop of soldiers. With this badge, you can dispatch troops under 1000 soldiers in any army camp from any of the nine major cities of Ice Moon Empire for combat. At the same time, you can also receive your remuneration from any branch of the a.s.sociation. The remuneration is different, according to rank. Right now, you can receive 20 purple coins every month. The badge has a special mark that is impossible to counterfeit. Therefore, you must take care to not lose it. In case you lose it, immediately report it as soon as possible. We can seal and cancel the badge’s functions.”
‘20 purple coins! That’s the equivalent of 200 gold coins! In addition to the privileges of the badge, this is the most valuable treasure I have ever owned! It looks like a lifelong commitment comes with lifelong authority. No wonder father once said that entering a Mage a.s.sociation is what average mages yearn for even in their dreams. It will be much easier to travel all around the continent with this.’ After he thanked Li De, he carefully placed his badge inside his chest pocket.
At this moment, Li De took the magic rod and said with a smile, “This magic rod is called Icicle. At first, with your level of cultivation, the a.s.sociation cannot immediately give you such a precious magic rod, but the President and I have discussed it. Since the President saw you as a young Great Mage with unlimited prospects, he has decided to give you your reward for when you reach the Magic Scholar’s realm early on. Here it is! With this, your chanting time will be reduced by a third. The same also applies to the time you need to condense magic power. The ice can also listen to your commands. You must take care of it properly, because this magic rod is categorized as a gold grade magic item.”
“Gold grade? Magic Scholar Li De, what is a gold grade item?” Nian Bing voiced out his query. He didn’t know anything about the different grades of magic items.