After filling out the materials in the guild hall, Darian took Lin Li through the corridor and out through the back door of the guild hall. Outside was a linear path with sycamore trees planted in lines on both sides; surrounding the trees were wreaths of flower beds. The songs of birds and the scent of flowers filled the whole place.
Darian did not talk much along the way; he merely took Lin Li to an old building.
“You’ll be staying here for these three months.” Darian’s face was expressionless and his tone somewhat stiff.
“Okay…” Lin Li did not say anything, but looked around—the environment was pretty nice; it was much better than the Emerald Tower.
They went into the empty hall and all the way up the stairs to the second floor until they came before an unlatched door, where Darian stopped. He took out a bunch of keys from his pocket, and after going through them, he picked one out and handed it to Lin Li. “This is the key to the room.”
Lin Li nodded, but suddenly remembered something. “By the way, Mr Darian, does my companion also stay here?”
“No.” The middle-aged mage shook his head impassively. “Only mages who are participating in the trial can stay here. As for your companion, the guild will arrange another place for him.”
“Oh…” Lin Li heaved a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, he would not have to squeeze in one room with Sean anymore. The tragic experience in Blackhills Town terrified him whenever he recalled it.
Darian left after the accommodation was settled.
After watching the middle-aged mage leave, Lin Li gently pushed open the unlatched door.
Compared with the one-gold-coin-a-night room in Blackhills Town, this dorm was much more spacious. The living room alone was more than twice the size of the inn’s room. There were also all kinds of furnishings in the living room, such as an antique wooden table surrounded by several rattan chairs. The afterglow of the sunset penetrated the balcony, sprinkling golden rays over the living room. Through the bright glass windows, Lin Li could clearly see the flower beds and sycamore trees that were downstairs.
Lin Li’s eyes swept through the room, his heart filled with admiration. This was indeed the Alanna Council—the accommodation was much better than the Emerald Tower. But… why were there three bedrooms?
Just as he was wondering, he heard a quiet noise and one of the bedroom doors opened. Then, he saw a fair young man coming out of the bedroom. He was wearing a black mage robe and looked about the same age as Lin Li. He had a genteel disposition as well, but the excited smile on his face made people feel uncomfortable.
As soon as the young mage came out of the bedroom, he asked eagerly, “Felic from Jarrosus?”
“Mhm.” Lin Li nodded and asked in puzzlement, “You are?”
“Great!” The young mage smiled in excitement and introduced himself enthusiastically as he welcomed Lin Li into the living room. “My name is Mason. I’m from the Chevan City’s Guild of Magic. Felic, if you need any help, just say it. Don’t stand on ceremony with me. We’ll be roommates for the next three months!”
“Roommate?” Lin Li stood blank for a moment. “This dorm is for two people?”
“Of course not!” Mason shook his head. “How can two people live in such a big dormitory? There’s another person who lives here in addition to us.”
“…” Only then did Lin Li realize that such a big dorm was not for him to live alone in…
“But that fellow, you’d better leave him alone…” Mason said as he glanced stealthily at the bedroom opposite them, and pointed at his head with his finger. “He has a problem here…”
“…”
Perhaps Mason was satisfied with Lin Li’s reaction, for he patted him on the shoulder gaily. “Anyway, you just have to hang out with me, Mason, and I promise you’ll get a good place in this trial. I am a level-nine mage!”
“Idiot!” Mason was bragging when the closed bedroom door suddenly opened. A pale young man stood in the bedroom. He was about the same age as Lin Li and also looked genteel, but the feeling he gave Lin Li was quite different from Mason’s enthusiasm.
The feeling that this guy brought to Lin Li was as if everyone owed him tens of thousands of gold coins, and there was a chilly gloom in his bones.
“Orrin, whom did you call an idiot? Say it again if you dare!”
“Whoever shows off his magic level is an idiot.” Leaving that sentence behind, Orrin closed the door again without even taking another look at Mason.
Mason was infuriated by his words but couldn’t barge into the room, so he could only shout at the closed door. “Orrin, come out if you dare! I must teach you a good lesson!”
Lin Li watched the farce from a side and shook his head helplessly…
Whoever shows off his magic level is an idiot —Mason did not understand the meaning of the sentence, but Lin Li was absorbed in ponderment about it.
With his almost perverted mental strength, his judgement of magical wave could be said to be so keen that no disguise could escape his eyes, including the Mana Concealment Potion that he drank.
Orrin’s disguise could fool everyone else, but it absolutely could not be concealed from Lin Li. Almost at the moment Orrin opened the door, he knew that this guy was not just a level-nine mage. Judging from the magical wave he was emanating, he was at least a level-ten Magic Shooter, and might even had reached the peak of the level-ten.
This meant that… Orrin was also a cheater.
Standing at the height of a level-ten Magic Shooter, looking back at a level-nine mage was indeed like an elephant looking at a mouse. This was a difference in realm—no strength or skill could make up for it. It was like the feeling of utter powerlessness Lin Li had when he was facing an Archmage like Old Merlin.
Orrin was indeed qualified to say that…
Of course, Mason didn’t see it that way.
“I don’t know what he has to be so arrogant, carrying a dead man’s face all day long.” After screaming at the door, Mason’s anger finally subsided, but he still looked a little resentful. He sat on a rattan chair and continued his unceasing complaints. “He really fancies himself a Magic Shooter. If he was a Magic Shooter, why would he participate in the trial…”
“Yes, yes…” Lin Li nodded with a guilty conscience, then quickly took the opportunity to divert the topic. “Oh yes, Big Brother Mason, what on earth is this trial for?”
Perhaps it was because he was being addressed as “Big Brother”, but the anger on the guy’s face disappeared immediately, and he revealed an excited yet lewd smile. He reached out and patted Lin Li on the shoulder, then said with great emphasis, “Brother Felic, you’ve asked the right person by asking me, Mason. I’ll tell you, I’m afraid there’s no one else except me who knows what this trial is exactly about.”
“Oh?”
“Brother Felic, we’re not strangers, so I’ll tell you frankly…” Mason looked at the closed door again, then lowered his voice with a mysterious smile and whispered to Lin Li, ” My uncle, Morris, is one of the leaders of this trial. He told me about all about it…”
“…” Lin Li did not expect that this roommate, who seemed to be quick with his intimacies, actually had such a strong connection.
“Brother Felic, let me tell you, this trial is quite different from those of the previous years.” Mason smiled in contentment before continuing. “There are 24 Guilds of Magic including the Alanna Council. We will be divided into eight groups to complete the trial missions that will be announced by the Supreme Council…”
“Three in a group?” Lin Li understood at once; so this was the reason for the strange arrangement of the accommodation. The Alanna Council had it planned from the start.
“That’s right.” Mason nodded. “Us two, and that Orrin…”
“…” Lin Li had the thought to die. These two fellows… one being overly enthusiastic and unable to shut his mouth once he opened it, and the other being haughty as hell, as if he couldn’t care less about anyone else. What were the prospects of passing this trial in the same group with these two fellows?
“Don’t be afraid, Brother Felic.” The look of disappointment on Lin Li’s face turned into one of worry when it fell into Mason’s eyes. The guy beat his chest and assured, “Although you are a little lacking in strength, I, Mason, will not abandon you. You can rest assured if you just follow my lead. Even if we exclude Orrin, I will guarantee you’ll be able to bring a decent placing back to Jarrosus.”
“Then… Thank you, Big Brother Mason.” Lin Li could feel the corners of his lips twitching…
“Hahahaha! Brother Felic, you’re too polite…” Mason pretended to be modest, but the smile on his face was unusually bright.
“Big Brother Mason, and then?” Lin Li had to whisper a reminder seeing the fellow had become delirious with joy.
“Oh, right… And then…” Mason remembered the matter at hand and quickly put away his smile before continuing, “According to Uncle Morris, in order to ensure everyone’s safety, there will be an Archmage assigned to follow each team. The Archmage will not participate in the trial mission, remaining passive except when we are in real danger, but… If he does interfere, it would mean that the team has failed their mission.”
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