"Look." The boy screamed excitedly.
Dereck saw from a distance. It was John, his cousin. He was the third son of Veronica's eldest brother, the future duke. He was a few years older than him and had already joined the royal academy.
Looking at the four fireballs circling above his head, Dereck couldn't help but shake his head.
By the law of this world, being a circle mage means simultaneously casting four magic spells.
However, the difference between a true mage and the one in front of him was that they could cast four different spells simultaneously, not the same types of four spells.
Luckily for John, almost all of his audience are young nobles who know a little about magic—all except Dereck.
As a worker at Otherworld Inc., Dereck has two passive skills that he has accumulated and evolved over the years. However, the problem was that he could never overwrite the rules of the world.
However, now that he has become an executive, he can slightly bend the rule. As a four-circled mage, he can cast only four spells simultaneously. However, that is restricted to one type of element.
His teacher knew he only had 91% compatibility with water. What he didn't know was that he also had 87% air. So, Dereck could simulcast eight spells, four of each element.
However, as he was just a background character, he didn't want to influence the world too much. Still, he couldn't control the urge to tease his cousin, who was trying hard to impress some girls.
He was sitting at the back of the area. Only a few noticed as he cast the spell right in the middle of the four fireballs. However, they didn't see where the magic was coming from.
A twister formed in the middle and pulled fireballs inside.
Before the guard could understand what was happening, the fire tornado enveloped Jhon, and chaos erupted.
The fire vanished as he lost control of the spells, but the damage was done. Part of his hair was burned, as were his fancy clothes.
As the young nobles started running around, Dereck used the chance to escape. He moved to the part where many teenagers were fighting with wooden weapons.
Actually, only two of them were fighting while the others were watching from the small seating area around it.
Soon, the fight was over. Defeated, the loser limped off the stage while the victor teased the crowd in anticipation of his next opponent.
Another teenager came in. He wore casual clothing, but they couldn't hide the tight muscles beneath them.
A roar of cheers came from the other side of the ground. Only then did Dereck realize it wasn't just a simple duel. It is another way to show off their ability to attract a mating partner.
The last place was to showcase magical power, while this place was for physical might.
'These people don't even know what it is to have a simple birthday party.' Dereck couldn't help but shake his head.
The fight started on equal footing. As it progressed, the new challenger began to gain an advantage over the previous winner.
Whether it was from the jealousy of female followers of the challengers or because he was exhausted from the previous fight, the winner made a mistake.
The challenger delivered the decisive blow, or so he thought.
There was no way for a mana knight to notice that an invisible wind armor was cast on his opponent. He felt the resistance when he delivered the blow but failed to understand why it didn't do any damage.
And the momentary lapse of judgment was enough for the opponent to give the final blow. Even as he landed on his ass, he couldn't understand what had just happened.
As soon as he saw the joyful face of the winner and the smirk on his lips, he shouted, "You cheater."
And he lunged forward, bringing his wooden sword down with all his might. He was confident that his opponent was using some kind of mana armor. He didn't hesitate to use a mana edge on his wooden weapon.
Little did he know, Dereck had deactivated the mana armor. The weapon-laced mana hit his chest. The wooden sword shattered after failing to contain the effect of mana. However, it left a gashing wound on the opponent's chest, spraying blood everywhere.
There was a momentary silence before a few girls screamed, and chaos erupted. It looked like all this had nothing to do with Dereck.
He decided to calmly walk off the arena before returning to his room. Unlike the guests, he was a family member. Naturally, he had his room in his mother's old courtyard.
"If Ashley hadn't told me, I wouldn't have believed it."
"You didn't even believe me after I told you."
Dereck was sure there were at least a couple of females behind him. Also, they might have seen what he did. However, that doesn't mean he would accept that he had done it.
As they didn't call him personally, Dereck continued to walk as if he hadn't heard anything.
"Why are you walking away without greeting the third royal princess?"
Dereck continued walking. It wasn't until a couple of knights closed off the path before him that he finally stopped.
"What are you doing?"
"Didn't you see the royal princess talking to you?"
"Huh!" Dereck turned around to meet a couple of women standing behind her. He couldn't be sure they were mature women without looking at their status, but they were undoubtedly older than him.
"Forgive me, your highness. I had no eyes at the back of my head, so I didn't notice the esteemed princess talking to me. Even if I did…"
Dereck could already notice their dumbfounded expression. They didn't expect him to be more shameless, "I wouldn't have believed that such beautiful women would have something to do with someone like me."
Dereck had relied on his active skill, "charm," more than any other during his missions. He knew how to maximize the effect of his honey-dipped words by pairing them with his skill.
"Oh! Quite a talker, aren't you?" The princess, older than both the girls, hid her lips behind her folding fan and smiled.
The third princess, Tanisha, was the grand duke's granddaughter and the first consort's daughter.
However, the chubby girl beside her just frowned and shouted, "He is doing something again."
"Sorry?" Dereck couldn't help but be a little surprised by her remarks.
"You are using magic again?"
"Magic? I didn't do that."
"Don't lie to me." The more Dereck acted calmly, the more agitated the girl had become. Even if she was older than him, they were both at the same height.
Maybe to exert some dominance, she stood on her toes as she poked his chest, arguing, "I know you are a four-circled mage. You used magic to turn Kevin's fireball into a fire tornado. The wood sword missed him because of the magic you employed. Don't you dare to lie to me?"
"Am I a four-circled mage?" Dereck looked at others in utter confusion. Understandably, the guards around him were also surprised. "How can a young boy like me, who is yet to join the royal academy, be a four-circle mage?"
"Yes, that is impossible." Tanish nodded as she agreed with Dereck before adding, "Unless you are the third son of Count Longhorn." She smiled at Dereck, asking, "Are you?"
"Oh!" Dereck had never expected that the fact that he had become a four-circled mage had already reached the royal palace.
More importantly, he ignored Tanisha's title. She looked innocent; she was the same age as his brother, Daniel. As a matter of fact, they are called the golden bachelor pair.
The title he should have been most worried about was General of the East. After the king, the four people who hold the most military power might be the four cardinal generals. Tanisha ranked third among them.
After she voluntarily relinquished her claim to the throne, the king granted her the title of marquis.
'I should have expected her to be aware of the news of capital.' Dereck couldn't help but feel he had been too carefree, as he knew the mission would be completed even if he hadn't done anything.
"If you want to lie again, let me give you another piece of critical information—Ashley, here, is known to have the eye of the dragon. It enabled her to see the flow of mana."
"Your Highness, she was unable to discern the nature of the spell that had been cast, was she?"
"How do you know?" Ashley was shocked that someone could see through her weakness in a single blink.
Tanisha, on the other hand, looked at her and shook her head. As soon as Ashley understood her mistake, she looked away.
For Dereck, it wasn't much of a challenge. The fact that she knew he had cast a spell, but not the type of spell, was enough information for him.
"You are more mature than I thought."
"This subject is not worthy of your praise, Your Highness." Dereck bowed, adding, "If nothing else, I will take my leave. I feel quite a little tired."
"Should we recruit him?" Ashely asked.
"How many young nobles have you seen who have achieved four-circle, even three-circle, and didn't boast about it?"
"So, he is a humble one, isn't he?"
"There is always a price for everything. All we need to do is pay the right price."