Chapter 271: Chapter Nine

The old mage was looking at an urgent document sent from the Society.

It was called an urgent document, but in truth, there was nothing urgent about it; mages from certain factions within the Society held many positions and frequently used their official capacities to openly sell the power to send important urgent documents to other factions.

This document was an inquiry sent from an organization within the Society, located far away in the north, that managed elf scholars. It was clearly just a minor misunderstanding involving a half-elf mage that had occurred here that very day, yet the matter had already been relayed to the Society, and they had even gone to the trouble of sending an urgent document to ask him about it.

The mysterious High Elf Language on the document posed no reading barrier to the old mage; in fact, he even possessed a mastery of the High Elf Language, which few existed to command.

Elves are a very cautious race; even though they knew the document was addressed to him, a Human mage, they still used an Elven script that the vast majority of mages could neither recognize nor read.

Mage Koni, who was standing behind the old mage curiously watching the document, scratched his head; he had been a mage for too short a time and had not yet mastered the knowledge of the Elven script, so he did not understand what was written on the document.

Although his father was a powerful mage and most of his family were people who had mastered Magic Power, family affairs were complex, and Mage Koni had not acquired some of the knowledge that mages ought to have from within his family. Fortunately, after becoming the old mage's Apprentice, he had mastered a vast amount of Magic knowledge within the Society.

"Teacher, what does this say?"

Putting down the 'urgent' document, the old mage said, "Nothing much, just some elf exchange student mages in the Society worrying that their companions who came out with me might have stirred up some trouble. They are asking me to protect Donila."

"Sigh, they would spend a fortune and use an urgent document to contact me for something like this." Shaking his head, the old mage did not know whether he was shaking his head at those mages in the Society who abused their power, or at the elf organization that only cared about the safety of elf mages.

Just then, the window of the room where they were staying was knocked upon.

Mage Koni looked at his teacher, but the old mage merely waved a hand, telling him to go handle it.

Arriving before the window that had made the sound, Koni discovered that outside the window of this room, which was high above the ground, there were actually four brightly colored local cats tapping on the glass.

Upon seeing Mage Koni, the cats actually waved their furry paws in a friendly greeting.

Unable to make sense of what was going on, Mage Koni looked back at his teacher and, seeing that the teacher was tidying up the documents on the table and gave him no instructions, Mage Koni had no choice but to open the window; besides, his teacher was here, so he was not worried about anything.

The window opened a crack, and the four cats squeezed in through that small gap; although it was a very narrow opening, they were cats after all, and one by one, they slipped in like a puddle of flowing liquid.

Once inside, the cats walked up to the old mage and sat in a row, behaving properly.

Koni closed the window, scratched his head, and walked over to look at these strange cats; suddenly, as if remembering something, he let out an "Ah!"

"What's wrong, meow?" one cat spoke up.

"Did you recognize us, meow?" another cat said.

"Can you guess which one of us is which, meow?" the third cat said.

"Meow meow! Shut up! We must greet the President first, meow~!" the fourth female cat with sleek fur scolded.

Koni stared in shock; he was a mage of the Element Transformation school, specializing in the research and control of various destructive elements, and he had rarely seen Animal Transformation spells. Especially since he guessed that these 'mages' were the same fellow mages he had spent many days with on the ship.

These mages had been quite normal while on the ship, and although the Animal Transformation school of magic had made him curious when they each introduced themselves, he had not expected that when these mages actually transformed into cats, they would look like this.

Looking at these cats that looked so real, if they did not speak, he truly would not have been able to tell that they were fellow mages transformed.

Especially since he did not sense the massive Magic Power signature that a formal mage ought to possess on them.

How was he supposed to interact with the various small animals in the Society in the future?

Who knows if an animal is a transformation created by a mage several hundred years old?

At this thought, Mage Koni's expression stiffened, and he stood dumbfounded beside the old mage, unable to speak.

The old mage tucked the various documents on the table into the Magic Power space within his sleeve, glanced at his stiff-faced Apprentice, and then looked at the few oddballs squatting on the floor before him.

He shook his head, took a pipe out of his sleeve, and once again smoked the fine tobacco he had brought from another world.

What could he even say to these oddball mages with such superb transformation techniques?

"What is it? You came over while transformed?" Lowering his body, the old mage leaned in close to the four mages and said.

One 'cat' reached out a hand and said, "President, we heard about what happened today, meow."

Another 'cat' lowered its body, slapped the floor with its tail, and said, "The matter has blown up so much, we know the President will step out to handle the situation later, meow."

The third 'cat' squatted in place, pressed its paws together, and made a pleading gesture, saying, "After you appear, you will surely need mages to hold up the scene, meow."

The fourth female 'cat' rolled onto her back, exposing her fluffy belly to beg, "But we don't want to turn back into human form to attend various activities, meow. Please, can't you? Meow~"

Koni looked at these mages on the floor; although he knew they were transformed into this state, the cute appearance of the cats still made him want to pet them.

Realizing this thought, Mage Koni hurriedly shoved both hands into his pockets to stop himself from acting on it. 'Damn it, they look so fluffy and cute, I really want to pet them.'

The old mage sighed; the mages under him were all a bunch of characters like this, which made one feel a bit unenthusiastic just thinking about it. However, although these guys looked unreliable, they were actually all serious people when it came to the exploration and research of Magic.

This made him feel gratified and hopeful.

So, he was not the only one who liked Magic. How wonderful; on this same path, he was actually not alone.

Thinking of this, the old mage rarely wanted to crack a joke: "Then."

Hearing their teacher and President speak, the mages present all pricked up their ears—well, some of them were furry ears.

"Then, you can just follow me and participate in the subsequent matters while transformed like this," the old mage said with an indifferent expression after taking a puff of smoke.

The 'cats' were all shocked; they had not expected that they had come specifically to plead not to participate in the subsequent ceremonies and activities, and had kept their Farah Desert Cat forms precisely because they did not want the President to make them participate in interacting with the locals.

Unexpectedly, the old President was going to make them participate in the matters even while transformed as cats. Wouldn't that mean they had delivered themselves right to his doorstep?

Meow meow meow?

They had originally thought that since the President needed a few mages to serve as a facade, he would likely pick a few mages at random from among them; they had not expected to have delivered themselves here.

"President! That would damage your dignity, meow~!" one cat said; he was so surprised that he was already standing on his hind legs and tail.

"Heh heh, in the eyes of those Church Priests and ordinary people, aren't mages supposed to be strange?" The old mage exhaled a puff of smoke, shielding the amusement in his eyes.

"President! That would damage the dignity of our Northern Magic Society, meow!" another cat also stood up and said.

"Heh heh, this is the Farah Peninsula after all, territory belonging to the Empire. In the eyes of the Empire's people, what dignity does our Society have to speak of?" The old mage held the pipe in his mouth, using the smoke from the pipe to shield the smile on his face.

"President! That would damage the image of all mages, meow! After all, the people here rarely interact with mages; if they see that mages are all like us cats, then we would have disgraced all mages, meow!" the third cat jumped up and said, but because he was too fat, he did not jump very high before falling back down.

"Heh heh, it's fine, it's fine. Anyway, compared to those mages who turn into undead or half-undead, your cute cat images will likely make the public look at our new-era mages in a different light." When the old mage reached this point, he could finally hold it in no longer and burst into loud laughter.

The three cats did not know what their President was laughing at, but the fourth female cat saw the President's intent and said, "Meow. The President is joking; he wouldn't really let us serve as representatives and make a fool of ourselves behind him. President, am I right?"

The laughter ceased, and the old mage tapped his pipe against the table to knock out the ash, looking at these oddball mages: "Alright, I was just joking with you. As I said before, everyone can do as they please; if anything happens, I'll cover for you. You are all dismissed."

"Yes!" The four cats on the floor stood up and, after letting out a sigh of relief, performed a mage's salute to the old President.

After the salute, these mages did not leave; they just started playing around in the Noble suite where the old mage and Mage Koni were staying.

Romping about everywhere.

Koni the mage could not believe his eyes; he had to rub them to confirm that these cats, which had just been speaking, were actually a few—no, several—senior animal-transformation mages.

Seeing the doubt in his Apprentice Koni, the old mage spoke to explain: "Animal transformation has a very bad drawback."

Hearing that his teacher was about to impart knowledge, Koni the mage perked up and listened intently.

"Humans have three types of minds: the God Mind, the Human Mind, and the Animal Mind. After transforming into an animal, the Animal Mind within one's consciousness is influenced by the animal one has become, and the power and influence of the Animal Mind will increase."

"Especially after transforming into an animal for a long time, although the mage's soul and memory knowledge are not affected by the transformation, the external consciousness still influences the deep consciousness. Eventually, even the soul will be affected."

Koni the mage asked: "So? Is this Animal Mind a bad thing? Can it be suppressed with spells?"

"That is not the case. Many a Warrior's martial arts and skills require the support of the Animal Mind within the human consciousness. And different Animal Minds are not all bad for a mage." Having said this, the old mage plucked a mage-cat from the air and asked this mage to give Koni the mage an example.

"Meow! The Animal Mind of a powerful animal is very formidable," the cat said.

Koni truly could not help himself; seeing this mage held firmly in the air by his teacher, he reached out and touched the other's fur.

"Meow!!! Koni! Where are you touching? Don't touch me! President, President, Koni is touching me and you aren't doing anything about it." The cat bristled its fur, waving its little paws in the air, wanting to scratch Koni.

"Powerful animal," the old mage reminded this mage.

"Yes, yes. Speaking of powerful animals, what if you transform into a Dragon? The Animal Mind will become a Dragon's Animal Mind. It will bring all sorts of benefits. Related research is still ongoing; Koni, if you want to understand it, when we return to the society, you can come find me to borrow some of our research manuscripts." The cat kicked its legs and waved its paws in the air, then said.

Seeing that this mage had explained the benefits of the Animal Mind, the old mage released his control. As soon as the cat landed, it slid into the small gap under the furniture in the room.

Watching this mage's behavior, which was just like a normal cat's, Koni the mage scratched his head: "It really is just like a cat."

Downstairs from the high-end hotel where the old mage was staying, a squad of Soldiers happened to be inspecting the area.

The old mage puffed on his pipe, looking down at the floor, his gaze seemingly piercing through the thick floor slabs of this multi-story high-end hotel. Turning his head back, the old mage discovered his Apprentice was playing with several mages who had transformed into local cats, and he gave a wry smile, tapping the wooden table in front of him with his finger.

*Thump, thump*, two light sounds.

Downstairs, a Soldier was following behind their Soldier Captain, holding the crystal ball sent from above for detecting Magic Power reactions.

From somewhere unknown came the sound of two light taps on a wooden table, and the crystal ball in the Soldier's hand emitted a seven-colored light.

"Captain! Captain, look, this thing is glowing!"

Without the Soldier holding the crystal ball needing to say more, everyone in the high-end hotel lobby, provided they weren't blind, noticed the anomaly of the crystal ball.

"What is going on?" Leaving the hotel Steward aside, the Soldier Captain rushed to the crystal ball to question his subordinate.

However, before the Soldier could answer with something like "I don't know," everyone in the entire lobby heard a voice beside their ears.

"No need to panic, Soldiers. Please come up to the sixth floor of the hotel; I have the answers you need here." An aged but majestic voice came through. The Soldiers on the scene looked at each other, then at the Magic Power detection crystal ball that was still emitting seven-colored light.

Taking a deep breath, the Soldier Captain ordered his subordinates: "Quickly notify the Priest and the Grand Captain in charge of this area."

"Yes!" Several Soldiers immediately saluted and left to carry out the order.

"Guard everything around this hotel; no one except us is allowed in or out!"

"Yes!" Two squads of Soldiers received the order and moved out, surrounding the hotel from the outside. Half faced outward to keep people away, and half faced inward to keep people from leaving.

The Soldier Captain turned to look at the hotel Steward: "Who is staying on the sixth floor here? Let me see the registration information."

The hotel Steward, who had been sweating since the voice sounded, immediately trotted over with the gold-leafed registration book for the hotel's high-end guest rooms. The Soldier Captain took the gorgeously bound registration book and flipped to the latest page, which detailed the registration information for the guests on the sixth floor at that time.

Date: Empire Calendar 772 - Farah Peninsula Month - Tide Month - 13th Day

Suite: Sixth-floor high-end Noble suite

Occupants: Earl Koni-Aobosi (one person) - Male

Old Butler (one person) - Male

Whether checked by the God of Nobility: Checked, is of Earl rank

Advance payment: 300 Empire Gold Coins

Remarks: From the Northern United Kingdom, Talin Abyss Kingdom

The Soldier Captain looked at this registration information and asked the hotel Steward: "A Northerner? An Earl?"

The hotel Steward kept nodding: "Yes, yes, Earl Aobosi is a very young and excellent Noble. They said they came here to travel and broaden their horizons. Isn't the Great Sea Storm coming next month? They came to witness the Great Sea Storm."

The Soldier Captain snorted coldly and pointed at the crystal ball still glowing with seven-colored light: "That was an old man's voice just now, right? So, this so-called Earl Aobosi has a Butler who is a mage? And is it related to the assassination incident that happened this morning?"

Although the hotel Steward was a Merchant with extensive connections, he knew how terrible the impact of the morning's assassination incident was. After all, in the last two years, the situation in their Tatullons Seaport City had been very oppressive, and the entire Farah Peninsula was the same.

The Empire was unwilling to be driven out of its rule over the Farah Peninsula, and those families and forces that had ruled the Farah Peninsula for generations were also unwilling to be driven out and purged by the Sun Ring Church.

The secret confrontation of the situation finally exploded completely after that mysterious assassination in the morning.

The Steward felt that he should talk to his partner about moving the high-end hotel they operated to somewhere safer.

However, those were matters for later; now, those two people living on the sixth floor had actually claimed to have the answer to the assassination incident.

This made the hotel Steward quite regretful. He knew that those young Nobles who appeared well-off were all hidden troubles. He should have thought more when he accepted those Gold Coins; a Noble with so much money to spare was either truly foolish and rich, or had other motives.

The Steward was soaked in sweat, feeling a wave of dizziness, and had to lean against the high-end oak wall beside him, slowly and shakily sitting on the ground.

The Soldier Captain glanced at the nervous hotel Steward. He read the registration information over and over again, finally waiting for the Sun Ring Church Priest in charge of this area and his superior, the Grand Captain, to arrive.

He told the two people actually in charge exactly and clearly what had happened. With those two leading the way, he picked ten Refining Qi elites from the squad, followed behind the two, passed the elaborately crafted rotating wooden staircase, stepped on the extra-long, soft carpet that local weavers had spent years making, and ascended to the sixth-floor corridor of the hotel.

There were only two high-end Noble suites on the sixth floor, located on the left and right sides of the staircase respectively.

The walls here were made of high-end oak transported from afar, and the wooden walls were also painted with a layer of pure white paint made from the white shells of the highest-grade pearl oysters.

The decoration of the entire sixth floor, in addition to the noble white paint, used gold leaf to wrap everything that people could touch with their hands, such as railings, windowsills, and the handles of the thick wooden doors.

In the empty spaces on the walls hung a painting on the theme of the Great Sea Storm by a local famous artist.

Just as the Soldier Captain was secretly clicking his tongue at the place where only high-end Nobles had the status and wealth to stay, the thick wooden door of the suite on their left slowly unfolded without anyone pushing it.

"You've finally arrived, everyone. Please, come in, come in." The old man's voice came from inside the wooden door, majestic and friendly.

The leading Sun Ring Church Priest narrowed his eyes. He could not see through everything inside the wooden door; it was as if, starting from the wooden door, the hotel suite inside was no longer in the same space as them: "Be careful, there is something strange."

After speaking, the Priest tapped his long staff. The Coal Stone embedded in the head of the staff emitted a white light. Under the Priest's control, this white light, contrary to common sense, did not scatter but only shone on them.

After being illuminated by the white light, the Soldiers all felt their minds clear and their bodies become much more agile.

"Stay alert to the surroundings later!" The superior of the Soldiers' officer, that Grand Captain, had red, overflowing power radiating from his body. He was a Knight Rank powerhouse. With the situation unclear, he stimulated all the life force in his body.

The two leaders were ready, and their group drew their blades, swords, staves, shields, and other weapons, charging into the opened wooden door one by one.

However, as soon as they entered, they regretted it; they discovered that all the preparations they had made outside the door were of no use whatsoever, and they should have turned around and gone downstairs right then to find the true powerhouses in the city.