Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 258 Star Burner

"Burning Star" Alcaster Flame Edict, a renowned archmage, is clearly not a pure orc, as can be seen from his elven-style name.

"Looks like you're really busy."

The half-elf appeared very young, but was actually in the middle of his life, at least three hundred years old.

Red, scorching hair is a fairly common elemental feature among top-tier Evocation Masters, and the almost tangible flame elemental on the back of his head alone is proof of his strength.

Rean chose him partly because he was actually a "traveler," unlike many of the city's great mages who had powerful families behind them. This would save him a lot of trouble, given his current delicate situation.

"I'm sorry, teacher, I should have come earlier, but I've been very busy lately."

Rean was also a little embarrassed. Although there was a hint of a transaction involved, he hadn't had time to come to become an apprentice and had made his teacher wait twice, which was really inexcusable.

"A trial for the brave? Lifting the knight high?" the archmage asked calmly.

"Uh"

Rean was a little surprised, as the mage community generally had little interest in nobility or politics.

"My situation is a bit special. I came here to live temporarily in order to escape the war, so naturally I'm quite interested in this topic. But it seems I still can't escape it."

Alcast looked at Rean and spoke softly, but the content of his words inevitably left much to the imagination.

"War? Where is there war? Isn't everything peaceful now?" Rean replied tactfully.

"The war of the future, the war that is about to happen, elves and beastmen, elves and dark elves, elves and dark elves, elves and dwarves, while my kin are still indulging in a false peace."

In an instant, Rean couldn't hold back anymore.

He recalled the information he had seen about this bigwig before, and he understood the phrase "always alarmist and quite pessimistic" somewhat.

"Probably not. We've been at peace for so many years already, it's normal for things to stay peaceful for another few decades."

"If that's how you see it, then I think our teacher-student relationship ends here."

"The Demon Tide War? It may indeed be only a few years away."

Rean sighed. He knew the other party had something in mind, and the other party knew that Rean knew, but Rean wanted to wait until they were more familiar with each other before talking about these trivial matters. However, Alcaster seemed unwilling to wait any longer.

The information mentions that his continued recruitment of disciples from other ethnic groups seems to be aimed at expanding his local network and gaining influence.

"For short-lived species, the Demon Tide War can be seen as a legend of their ancestors, a nightmare that their descendants may encounter, but for long-lived species, it is an unavoidable catastrophe."

Seeing Alcaste say this, Rean seemed to be thinking. Was he planning to use his connections to establish a relationship with the royal family?

But there's no need for that, is there? If you, a great mage, pledge allegiance to the royal family and Dania, would she really refuse to see you?
Or are you planning to utilize local resources while maintaining distance from the local government? A classic case of freeloading?

"So what does that mean to you?" Rean was too lazy to beat around the bush and even became a bit rude.

"For a half-elf like me, this means being caught in a dilemma."

The half-elf, however, calmly recounted his rather terrible situation.

The lifespan of half-elves is quite exaggerated compared to that of beastmen, generally ranging from 200 to 400 years, but for elves, it is still a short-lived species.

In particular, the fact that they, like other races, experience normal middle age and normal aging makes the elves, who only show signs of aging at the very end of their lives, instinctively feel disgust.

When Alcaste brought up his half-elf identity, Rean already sensed the trouble that lay ahead.

"I am a member of the 'Cross Harp Society.' If possible, could you please pass on a letter to Her Highness the Princess?"

"of course can."

Since it was directed at the royal family, Rean naturally wouldn't refuse.

Whatever they intend to discuss, whether it's joint preparations for war or the relocation of war refugees, it's none of my business. And I can't expect it to be of any interest to me either.

Alcaster was somewhat surprised to see Rean agree so readily.

The letter also subtly implied a guarantee; the fact that they agreed so easily suggested they were confident that even if problems arose, the princess wouldn't hold them responsible.

It seems that he underestimated the relationship between the "Knight Lifted High" and the royal family.

That's enough for our first meeting. Although it was still a slightly unpleasant one, we quickly got back to the main topic.

"Try this test paper. We can chat while you work it out." Sure enough, it was time for a diagnostic test.

Spellcasters have their own special characteristics. Even among mages of the same rank, their knowledge reserves, talents, and logical thinking abilities may be on completely different levels.

Rean took the test paper, which was at least a dozen pages long. Most of the questions were calculation, logic, and general knowledge questions. They weren't necessarily difficult, but they covered everything and seemed like a waste of time.

Looks like I won't be able to go home for dinner tonight.

Rean was still pondering the question when Alcaster suddenly spoke up.

"What are your thoughts on the relationship between non-human races and beastmen? I've heard you have several dark elf friends?"

"Click."

Rean almost broke the quill pen in two.

"Don't stop."

Okay, so this is where I was waiting.

Unlike warriors who pursue "single-mindedness," "multitasking" is a basic ability of spellcasters. Many exam questions require drawing a circle with one hand and a square with the other.

Putting everything else aside, the ability to coordinate hand gestures, incantations, and mental calculation (creating a spell model) when casting a spell is the foundation of any skill.

Even if you can multitask in the short term, it will consume your energy and focus. It's a matter of when you can't withstand the initial assessment. For others, it's already a bit bad.

But Rean just smiled. I can be distracted all day! I can even do my homework while thinking about those awful half-elf jokes from hell! Like why half-elves are all from single-parent families.
"Personally, I have no prejudice against other races. Every race has noble people and extremely wicked trash."

At that moment, Rean thought of Kuku, and also of the bishop of the Church of Benevolence in the slave market.

"Ha, they can't even clearly state their identity or whether they're clergy."

Rean calmly explained his understanding, but his pen never stopped, quickly filling the manuscript with various calculations.

As a high mage of a different race, Alcaster's question was quite pointed, but it was actually a two-way choice. If you are a racist, we'd better part ways amicably from the start.

Rean did not lie, nor did he intend to give any standard, ingratiating answers.

He's not even a beastman, so what right does he have to talk about beastmanism?

There are actually some elf supporters among the orcs, who appreciate their culture and magic, but Rean simply sees elves as ordinary people who are no different from himself.

In reality, after experiencing the memories of the Thousand-Faced Dragon, these self-proclaimed high elves couldn't even be considered high-ranking in Rean's eyes.

"What do you think plasticity is? If you had to choose, what element would best represent you?"

Alcaste suddenly tested Rean's homework with a subjective question that was difficult to answer correctly.

"Evocation should be divided into two parts. The part that summons elements should be left to the spellcasting school, but the part that creates and transforms elements is indeed our subject. The other part is control, which should also include modification and sublimation. A mid-to-high-level evoked spell naturally involves multiple summonings, multiple transformations, and multiple layers of processing of elements."

In this regard, Rean borrowed Kuku's understanding and ideas, and his pen was already writing very fast.

Rean's modification of "Kuku's Fire Rain" involved the comprehensive use of many elements and was not limited to a certain method or routine.

"You had a teacher in the classical school of alchemy and transformation systems?"

"There was one who taught me for half a month."

"He's doing well; his skill level is quite high," Alcaster commented, stroking his clean-shaven chin.

For an element to understand energy, it's like a mechanic understanding machinery or an IT programmer understanding programming. They each have their own broad understanding, but if they articulate it, you can roughly understand where they started in the industry and roughly how high their skill level is.

As for the Grand Mage's evaluation, Rean could only laugh.

Are you interested in astronomy? Do you think astronomy can be combined with plasticity?

"Of course. Putting aside standard meteor spells like Meteor Explosion, simply simulating the structure of celestial bodies with elements can greatly improve the stability of the elements and even give them a certain degree of 'concept'."

Rean was referring to the "Holy Sun (SOL)," and upon hearing this, Alcaster finally showed surprise. This was something that could not be found in standard textbooks, and even the local archmages had no reason to study it.

He finally looked at Rean and sensed the "flame" within him.

"Could it be that I really can take on a disciple? A disciple who will die young?"

(End of this chapter)