The ceremony ended exactly at 8 a.m.
Valerius, with a threatening tone, reminded Elrik of their bet and the consequences of not honoring it. "You can try to walk away, but remember, there will be consequences."
Elrik was well aware of what those consequences would be.
He would be exiled from the Khaleji family, which meant he would have to leave the wizard community and settle in some remote corner of Serog where he would live among mere mortals, creatures he looked down upon. How could he allow that?
He gritted his teeth and got on all fours.
A tall and burly man was imitating a dog. At this sight, a few chuckles escaped from the crowd, and Elrik found his face burning up due to shame.
He raised his head, glanced at Valerius, and asked, "Is this good enough?"
Valerius said, "Dogs don't talk; they bark."
The implication behind his words was clear.
Just imitating the posture of a dog wasn't enough. Elrik had to act like one too.
"Cousin, you're taking it too far," Elrik said.
"Bark. Or you can forget about ever being a wizard," Valerius declared sternly.
"You're really going to be this ruthless?" Elrik asked.
"What do you think?" Valerius said as a menacing glint flashed in his eyes.
He was not the type of person to go easy on his enemies.
If he was given the opportunity to deal with his enemies as he liked, he would hit them so hard that they would never stand back on their feet.
In other words, he would thoroughly ruin them
If Elrik didn't bark, he would be giving Valerius the chance to destroy his future of becoming a wizard, and Valerius would no doubt take it.
The menacing glint in Valerius's eyes told Elrik just that.
Elrik lowered his head. It was a tangible sign of his submission and defeat.
He had been cornered into a situation where his choices were severely limited, and he decided to comply with Valerius's demand to avoid severe consequences.
"Woof!"
A moment later, the silence that hung in the air was abruptly shattered as Elrik let out a bark.
Seeing a grown man barking on all fours was too funny to ignore. The entire crowd almost burst out into unrestrained laughter. Despite the fact that they held back, a few chuckles escaped here and there, and each such sound was like a slap to Elrik's face
'It's still not completed?' Valerius thought, a slight frown appearing on his face.
Elrik had faced profound humiliation, but the ongoing quest was showing no sign of being completed. It meant only one thing. The lesson Valerius have taught Elrik was not enough. He had to spice up things!
"Good dog!" Valerius praised, adding insult to injury.
Hearing his words, Elrik felt as if salt had been rubbed into his wound.
The crowd, already teetering on the brink of hysteria at the sight of Elrik barking, completely lost it when they heard Valerius's comment. They burst into uproarious laughter.
Elrik's face turned as red as a steamed crab. He felt so overwhelmed by embarrassment that he wanted to dig a hole and crawl inside it.
Valerius watched as Elrik's last shred of dignity disintegrated, much like leaves succumbing to autumn's call. He wondered if this was enough to complete the quest.
As if in response to his thoughts, a monotone voice rang in his mind, "You've completed the last ongoing quest. You are rewarded with the magic item: Shielding Glove."
Valerius smiled in satisfaction.
Elrik, unable to bear the humiliation any longer, stood up and glared daggers at Valerius. "You'll regret this," he spat out, he said with gritted teeth, his fist clenched so harshly his nails dug into the skin of his palm, drawing blood and his entire body trembling with rage that was caused by the intense humiliation he had just suffered.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, loser," Valerius taunted.
Valerius's taunt was the final straw.
Thud!
Elrik puked out a mouthful of blood and collapsed, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.
Valerius stepped over his dead ass and went back to the carriage parked at the entrance of the ceremony site.
Armand was standing there, in front of the carriage. Even though his young master had outperformed everyone in the ceremony, not a hint of joy could be seen on his face. Instead, he had a solemn, somewhat dark expression as if he was pissed at someone.
'Why does he look like he has taken a stick up his arse?'
Valerius didn't need to think twice to conclude that the cause was him.
To be more exact, it was his success that ruined Armand's mood.
'As early as he presented me the pill that was tampered with and forced me to take it, I knew Armand bore ill will towards me, but I didn't expect it to be to this extent.'
'Just why does he hate me so much?"
Valerius felt puzzled.
He racked his brain, trying to recall any moment where he might have offended Armand, but nothing came to mind.
'This can only mean one of two things.'
Valerius thought that either there was a reason unknown to him that made Armand loathe him to the core, or Armand had an inherent dislike toward him. Whatever the case, he realized he had to be extra careful around Armand starting now.
Armand was a dragon with a nasty personality, but he was very professional. As Valerius stepped close, he put aside his personal feelings and opened the carriage door. He did what he should as the head butler of the House of Khaleji.
Valerius felt impressed by Armand's professional behavior. He didn't let his personal feelings come in the way of his work. That was quite admirable of him
'In this aspect, Armand is better than me.' Valerius thought, 'At least, I wouldn't be able to act subservient to the person I hate.'
Although Valerius felt impressed, he didn't say a word of gratitude. Armand had shown his obvious dislike for him. He wasn't going to act pleasantly with someone like that. He wasn't worried about retaliation. Armand was a dragon under the command of his adopted father. He couldn't attack a Khaleji.
Armand didn't feel outraged as Valerius ignored his act and walked straight past him. Valerius's behavior couldn't be considered offensive. After all, a master didn't need to thank his servant for doing his job.
"Brother!"
Before Valerius could step inside the carriage, a young voice called out to him from behind. He turned around and saw Quinlan running up to him.
After closing the distance, the young boy expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Valerius, "Thanks for the advice."
"No problem."
Despite being a young man, Quinlan's bubbly cheeks and elvish features gave him an appearance cuter than a doll's. Valerius, acting on instinct, gave Quinlan, who was a head shorter than him, a gentle pat on the head as he spoke.
Receiving a pat out of the blue, Quinlan blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Sorry," Valerius quickly apologized, realizing that his action might have been overly familiar given that they barely knew each other.
He knew everything about the protagonist, but to Quinlan, he was still a stranger. It wasn't right to behave so familiarly with him from the get-go!
"It's fine," Quinlan said in a reassuring tone.
He was accustomed to being pinched on the cheek and receiving head pats from the aunties in his neighborhood near the orphanage he lived in. He hadn't expected his new friend to behave like those aunties, but it didn't bother him; in fact, he rather liked it. So it was safe to say that he had not felt offended in the slightest by his actions.
"You can pat me again if you like," Quinlan offered as he smiled. Dimples became visible on his face.
His offer was rather enticing. But Valerius was far from being tempted.
Inwardly, Valerius thought to himself, "What are you, a kid?"
But outwardly, with a polite voice, he declined, "No, thanks."
Just then, Aric approached them and said, "Nice to meet you, Val. I've got some things to discuss with Quinlan in private, so I'm going to take him with me for a bit. Have a safe ride back home."
Without waiting for a response and seemingly ignoring what Quinlan might want, Aric grabbed Quinlan by the arm and marched away, leaving Valerius behind without a chance to say anything.
'He's almost like a kidnapper,' Valerius thought, though he wasn't surprised. Aric was known for his eccentric personality in the community, and eccentric people have a habit of doing unpredictable things.
With Aric and Quinlan gone, Valerius was once again left alone with Armand, who seemed to be in a foul mood. Ignoring why he had the same expression on his face that a lady on her period would have, Valerius got inside the carriage and sat down.
To his surprise, Armand followed suit, closing the door behind him. He sat opposite Valerius and was silently staring at him with a heavy gaze.
Under his intense gaze, Valerius couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy, wondering what had brought on this serious atmosphere. Just what does he want?