Chapter 101: Mage Xiaolei

The banquet was arranged to be held at the Tower of Time.

From the Central Plaza to the Tower of Time, all the accumulated snow along the way had been cleared beforehand, making it very convenient for people to walk; Xia Duo followed behind the Mage in front, slowly walking toward the Tower of Time.

Behind him, the lights on the plaza gradually dimmed, and soldiers had already begun to provide Guidance to the onlookers and territory residents to leave one after another; of course, as these commoners left, each of them could receive a decent-sized piece of white bread.

Upon reaching the Mage Tower, the pure black Portal, which was usually only two people wide, was now completely wide open, and one could even see the First Floor Hall from the outside; the banquet tables and chairs, busy Apprentices, and servants were all clearly visible.

When passing through this door, the usual feeling of being submerged in the deep sea from the black door was gone; instead, it was like a Teleportation Spell, and in a flash, one arrived in another space.

"How strange!" an Apprentice made a sound of surprise, but was immediately attracted by the food in the First Floor Hall.

Meat, fish, fresh fruits, vegetables, and the fresh, sweet scent of wine that could be smelled as soon as one entered the hall!

The Apprentices were not unfamiliar with this scent; during lunch, they could usually be allocated a cup of similar Elf Fruit Wine in the dining hall, but those were just diluted versions brewed by Apprentices.

The authentic version was brewed by specialized vintners and was only provided for Official Mages to enjoy; he had not expected the lord to be so generous as to use authentic Elf Wine to entertain everyone this time.

Others might have heard of the reputation of Elf Wine, but few had actually drunk it, or even smelled it; and when the real Elf Wine was placed before their eyes, many could not help but twitch their noses.

It seemed as if they wanted to draw all the wine's fragrance into their chests.

"Mage, your seat is over here!"

Under the Guidance of a servant, Xia Duo came to the end of a long dining table; perhaps the servant had made a mistake and arranged for Xia Duo to sit directly next to an Official Mage.

Before Xia Duo could remind him, the Mage beside him took the initiative to speak, "Sit down, I remember you, Apprentice Xia Duo."

"Uh, this Mage, you are—"

Xia Duo was still wearing this showy Mage Robe, and his name was not written on his person; he did not know how this Mage recognized him, yet he had no impression of the other party.

"The Material Requisition Office, you redeemed a Learning Scroll from me."

In a flash of insight, Xia Duo remembered; it was the time he redeemed a Learning Scroll before his mission—

At that time, an Apprentice had purchased a 【Fireball】 Scroll and was scolded as an idiot by him, but when Xia Duo redeemed his Learning Scroll, the other party had given him a reminder to make good use of it.

"It is you; may I ask how to address you, Mage?"

"My name is Xiaolei; I knew long ago that you would survive the Orc Tide. You had quite a harvest this time, didn't you!"

"This—" Xia Duo did not know what Xiaolei meant, but since he had already sat down, he still had to say something, "Lord Xiaolei, having experienced this mission, I have learned many things."

Xiaolei nodded, but immediately changed the subject, "Xia Duo, the class schedule at the Mage Tower is uncertain now; have you thought about how to arrange your time ahead?"

This topic transition was a bit stiff; the two had only met once before, and one was an Official Mage while the other was merely an Apprentice. Xia Duo felt a bit apprehensive about this sudden concern.

"I plan to go to the Library to transcribe some books and then conduct my own research. I don't know what you mean, Mage—"

*Cough*—

Not knowing if he felt it was uncomfortable to keep up the act and could no longer continue, Xiaolei gave an awkward laugh and then said straightforwardly, "Are you interested in coming to work in my Research Lab?"

No interest!

This was Xia Duo's first reaction; if someone offers courtesy without cause, they are either a traitor or a thief. He could figure out with his toes that Xiaolei's true purpose was definitely not to promote him.

But there was definitely something that required his use.

Agreeing was impossible, but refusing directly made him worry about offending this Official Mage. Xia Duo was a bit conflicted for a moment, but fortunately, the bell for the start of the banquet rang just in time.

The hall suddenly fell silent.

This allowed Xia Duo to let out a long sigh of relief; he hurriedly gave an apologetic look to Xiaolei, then watched the lord, who had taken his seat and was preparing to speak, and remained silent.

But ripples had already risen in his heart; he didn't even take in what the lord said, and as soon as he heard "the banquet begins," he subconsciously started eating.

The long dining table on Xia Duo's side only had people sitting on one side, all of whom were Spellcasters; the long dining table opposite also only had people sitting on one side, all of whom were commoners. The two sides were exactly face-to-face, while the lord had a separate table.

Servants came and went incessantly, and occasionally someone would stand up to speak at the table, but Xia Duo did not care about this at all; he only buried his head in eating, while speculating about what Xiaolei's purpose could be.

The food at the banquet was made quite decently; even Xia Duo, who came from the Empire of Foodies, could not pick out any major flaws, which showed that some effort had been put into this banquet.

What Xia Duo liked most was the Elf Wine; although there was only a shallow little cup, it made him taste the flavor of Nature, as if his whole person were floating on the clouds, strolling freely, making one very reluctant to leave.

And this also made him temporarily forget the doubts brought about by Xiaolei.

It was not until the banquet ended that Xia Duo returned to reality; taking advantage of the gap while Xiaolei was conversing with an adjacent Mage, he immediately found an opportunity to leave the hall.

After returning to the dormitory, Xia Duo's heart was still thumping rapidly.

Although he had dodged it for the moment, Xia Duo knew that he could dodge the first day but not the fifteenth; he had to figure out what Xiaolei wanted to do, otherwise, it would be a dead end.

And even if he knew, he had to find a way to avoid it. Before becoming an Official Mage, he really did not want to have any intersection with any Mage; under conditions of unequal status and strength, how could there be equal interaction!

Changing out of his formal wear, Xia Duo took out the Time Tower Badge that the lord had issued earlier; the appearance of this thing was similar to the one Mage Huosite had given him when he participated in the mission before.

But this one was clearly a Magic Item; in a state of focus, one could clearly see it emitting a faint blue light continuously.

The front of the Badge had the pattern of the Tower of Time and a book; this was the crest of the Saville Family, while the back was engraved with a line of text—

"Xia Duo participated in ending the Orc Tide of the Savile Territory—Eps Saville, Netheril Calendar 834."

It wasn't even an inscription recording merit, merely stating that he had participated in this year's Orc War, though the fact was indeed so; it was just that human hearts are often greedy, and Xia Duo was no exception.

This Badge was actually an instrument connected to the Tower Spirit of the Tower of Time, capable of contacting the Tower Spirit outside the Mage Tower, and if one had sufficient Permission Level, one could even use the Tower Spirit's summons to return directly to the Mage Tower from the outside.

For an Apprentice, it was slightly chicken-rib-like, as Apprentices spent most of their time inside the Mage Tower anyway.

Putting away the Badge, Xia Duo continued the inventory and summary work that had been interrupted earlier.