Chapter 98: Award Ceremony

Xia Duo received the final 370, the bulk of which came from that extra military merit, yet he would not be able to hold onto this money for long, as he would soon have to subsidize others.

Of course, for him, it was no loss; on the contrary, it was a huge gain. Among those two Magic Items, the necklace, judging solely by its Magic Aura, was at least a "big-ticket item" that touched upon the Deep Weave.

As for that Small Forest Wolf Statue, although it appeared relatively weak in terms of Magic Aura, if it were truly related to manifesting as a wolf, it might be even more valuable than the necklace.

……

Once the Gold Coins were divided, it was time to part ways. Everyone had only met by chance and had spent less than a month together, so there was indeed nothing to be nostalgic about.

After handing in his Time Tower Badge to Mage Huosite, Xia Duo returned to the Mage Tower together with Dien, Sami, and the others.

On the road from the Military Camp to the Mage Tower, the accumulated snow was a full foot thick, and it was still falling incessantly from the sky; it creaked as they stepped on the stone path.

Only in the area of the Central Plaza was there no snow at all; not even a single snowflake fell overhead. Xia Duo looked at this miraculous scene in astonishment.

A distance of merely one step, and it was another world!

And beneath the Great Arcanist Statue in the center of the plaza, a group of guards was setting up the venue, looking as if they were about to hold a major assembly.

However, none of this had anything to do with him. The four Apprentices slowed their pace slightly to take a look, then continued northward, leaving the plaza and stepping into the wind and snow.

When Xia Duo passed through the distinctive gate of the Tower of Time and stepped into the First Floor Hall, the bitter cold was instantly dispelled, and his entire body was enveloped by a warm current.

He couldn't help but let out a satisfied sound, "It's still more comfortable inside the Mage Tower!"

At this moment, Xia Duo felt an incomparable desire to own a Mage Tower of his own! If for no other reason, it would be worth it just for this environment with a constant temperature throughout the four seasons!

After returning to his dormitory, Xia Duo checked his personal belongings and found nothing missing, so he summoned the Tower Spirit, "Tower Spirit, request: list available courses."

"Apprentice Xia Duo, currently available courses: none."

Xia Duo asked almost subconsciously, "Why?"

But clearly, this did not conform to the Tower Spirit's inquiry rules, so naturally, he received no reply. Realizing this, Xia Duo immediately asked again according to the rules.

And to this relatively abstract question, the Tower Spirit actually answered, "Apprentice Xia Duo, affected by the Orc Tide, all courses are temporarily closed; opening time is undecided."

"This is trouble!"

Xia Duo was not satisfied with this answer, but he couldn't do anything to the Tower Spirit; instead, he had to worry about being delayed in response time for asking the wrong question.

The Mage Tower not holding classes meant his daily question opportunity was wasted. He now especially wanted to find an Official Mage to ask how to touch the Deep Weave.

Apprentices could only touch the Shallow Magic Weave; if he were to rely solely on his own research, who knew how much time that would take!

Although Xia Duo was confident he could touch the Deep Weave through his own research, wouldn't a ready-made answer be sweet?

Sweet, especially sweet!

Especially when, in the case of someone like Xia Duo whose understanding of Ring Spell Principles and the essence of the Shallow Magic Weave was already sufficient, the only thing lacking was pure time.

Who wouldn't want a shortcut that simply saves time!

This is just like a carpenter not minding buying finished furniture from a store!

Time waits for no one. Compared to the conservative Netherese, he was more willing to use money or exchange to reduce the time spent acquiring Knowledge, so he could become an Official Mage as soon as possible.

From this, he even thought that the greater a Mage or Arcanist was, the more they should essentially be like this; compared to the acquisition of one's own Knowledge, how much others gained was secondary.

Only the weak and the ignorant would strictly guard Knowledge.

This had to be said to be a tragedy.

Just as Xia Duo was considering how to become an Official Mage as soon as possible in the absence of classes, the Tower Spirit actually took the initiative to call him—

"Apprentice Xia Duo, please proceed to the Central Plaza as soon as possible to attend the Award Ceremony."

Huh? Award Ceremony?

Xia Duo immediately thought of the scene he had seen when he passed through the Central Plaza just now, but then the question arose: did he even have the qualifications to attend the Award Ceremony?

Just because their group hacked a few Orcs in the forest? Or was it because they killed that Mage?

But regardless, since the Tower Spirit had notified him, it should be true. Xia Duo immediately changed into a clean robe, left the dormitory, and in the Elevator, he ran into Sami.

"You were notified too?"

"Yeah, the Tower Spirit just notified me." Sami also felt it was incredible; he didn't think their merit was enough to receive an award again.

Soon, the Elevator arrived at the first floor, and at this time, many Apprentices were also walking out of the Mage Tower.

"Look, so many people; we aren't going to be spectators, are we?"

"Not sure, let's wait for Dewan and Dien; I think they should have received notifications too."

The two waited by the gate. In a short while, dozens of Apprentices had gone out from there, and it was then that Xia Duo finally discovered—

Some people had received the Tower Spirit's notification, while others were just there to watch the excitement; the latter accounted for the vast majority.

Xia Duo was happy in his heart; this meant that beyond their military merit, they were highly likely to receive an award again.

And Sami also wore a look of joy. The two discussed the criteria for this award and the Magic displayed in the plaza until Dien and Dewan arrived.

"You guys received the Tower Spirit's notification too?"

"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have come!"

Haha—

……

Central Plaza.

At this moment, the Central Plaza was bustling with activity. Many residents had already arrived south of the Great Arcanist Statue, and more were rushing over from the East District, South District, and West District.

The four of them followed behind other Apprentices and arrived at the north side of the Great Arcanist Statue. There were servants guiding people there, and the crowd in front was clearly divided into two parts.

One part went directly around the Great Arcanist Statue to the residents on the south side; it looked like they belonged to the onlookers.

And the other part, Xia Duo noticed, consisted of only a dozen or so people who were led by servants to the Town Hall on the north side. It seemed Xia Duo had still underestimated his task squad.

Getting closer, Xia Duo discovered that a servant was holding a piece of Parchment and identifying people, "Mage Xia Duo, Mage Dien, please come this way."

Another servant gestured with his hand. Xia Duo had already seen the actions of others, so he walked directly toward the Town Hall.

And behind him, Sami and Dewan also quickly followed.

Xia Duo asked the servant leading the way, "Do you know what we are going there for?"

The servant immediately turned to the side and bowed, then replied, "My lords, you need to change into the ceremonial attire for the ceremony over there, and there will also be some etiquette guidance."

"Is that so!" Xia Duo turned his head to ask Sami, "Your home is in town; have you ever seen such an Award Ceremony before?"

"No, not even once!" A hint of excitement showed in Sami's eyes, "I wonder if my father will come to watch the ceremony; if he sees me, he will definitely be greatly surprised!"

But Dien said with regret, "My family is currently in town at my aunt's house; if I had known, I would have gone there just now!"

"Oh no, I forgot too!"

"..."