It was already dark when Lucy drove out from Wallace's house, Wallace had just broken through during the day to rank 3. Lucy was stumped when she learned about his rate of advancement.
"Where are we going to?" he asked.
"To a banquet" She answered.
"Why a banquet?" he asked.
"The banquet was organized by the big shot of the town to congratulate those that just awakened their mage-root this year" She answered him.
"Do I need to go?" he asked.
"Yes you have to go so that you can link up with future mages like you and you will be able to help each other when you enter the academy," She told him.
"Hmm I want to sleep," he said as he yawned and slept.
*****************************
"Wake up" Without knowing how much time passed, the car already stopped in front of a two-storey building and Lucy woke him up.
"This is the house of the city mayor," She told him as they got down from the car and entered the house. There are only three cars coupled with Lucy's car making four and there are various exotic carriages parked outside. Carriage is the most common means of transportation while cars are only for those at the extreme top of the chain and mages.
Wallace entered the two-story building, the ground floor was a large hall where the occasion was being held. There are people inside the hall wearing different glamorous dresses. He looked around and saw kids of his age swarming around almost seven kids fawning over them while the seven had an expression of arrogance on their faces.
"There are eight people that awakened their mage root this year, those seven are from influential families in town while the eighth one is from the slums. She was discovered by the leader of the blacksmith organization and was brought back here" Lucy told him.
"Influential clans," He asked.
"Yes, the Martin clans are the ones that own a chain of boutiques around town. The Ouyang family are the sole controllers of the martial hall in this town, a hall mainly for mages and they have branches around the empire and the other two empires. There's the Battle hall that's controlled by the Dongfeng clan in this city, they also have branches around the three empires" She explained.
"Oh those seven are from the three clans, what about the eighth person" She answered
"The eighth person was discovered by one of the leaders of the blacksmith organization and was brought back to the blacksmith organization".
"The water in this city is deeper than it appears to be," He said.
"Yes, since you've just been in the house these days without coming out, you are ignorant of how deep the waters in the city are," Lucy told him. A middle-aged man walked towards Lucy. Wallace squinted his eyes because he was feeling a kind of pressure from the man. The man smiled as he arrived in front of Wallace.
"Welcome Mrs. Lucy" He greeted.
"Good evening city mayor. Thank you for organizing this banquet for our future promising mage" She answered.
"Who's this young man" The man asked as his eyes squinted when he felt Wallace's cultivation stage.
"He's just one of the mages that just awakened two weeks ago" She answered.
"Reaching rank three after two weeks of training is very extraordinary" The mayor complimented from his heart. One has to know that it took him almost one year to break through from rank 1 to rank 10 and he was called one of the most talented mages of his group. He is a rank 43 magico now.
"Thanks, sir" Wallace answered as he bowed.
"Let's leave the youngster to communicate with themselves and let's go and do our thing," he asked as he and Lucy walked away. Wallace walked towards one of the tables at the far end of the hall that's serving and sat down there. He continued observing everything going on in the hall. After almost ten minutes of sitting down, the mayor went to the stage.
"Thank you all for attending" he started as his voice rang through the hall and everyone turned to him.
"As we know, we are all here to celebrate our new promising mages. I'm glad to tell you that there are not only eight mages but they are now nine. The leader of the mage association has brought a young promising mage to our midst this day and it's worth celebrating because this year, the batch of newly awakened mages has surpassed those of the past year" He said and everyone clapped.
"Let me introduce to you, our new mage Wallace Ace," He said as he pointed in the direction of Wallace. Wallace's face changed, he already got an inkling of what was about to happen when the man took the stage. He just wanted to sit down for some hours for the banquet to close and leave but now his plan of being low-key has been ruined, he has to be in the spotlight.
With a poker face, he walked to the stage amidst the attention that had been directed at him but he was displeased in his heart. He arrived at the stage and stood there while the people in the hall sized him up. He simply felt like a product in an auction house. He could see the shining eyes of the ten-year-old to the fifteen-year-old lady in the hall.
"Let the other newly awakened mage step on the stage," He said as eight more people joined him. His eyes were trialed on a small girl with blue hair, she's the newly awakened mage from the slums. Among them, there was a tall boy with a cold demeanor, a short but stocky boy with an excited expression, and a boy and a girl who were alike, he guessed that they must be twins, another girl with an arrogant demeanor, another girl with brown hair and large eyes but her gaze is that of disdain and a boy with blond falling hair and has a pretty feature like a lady.
They looked at Wallace curiously, his delicate and pretty features and fair skin. The applause ended and they walked down the stage and the lightning in the hall changed. Soft music was slowly being played in the background and it was time for a dance. Wallace wanted to walk out but was stopped by the girl with brown hair that's looking at everything around her with disdain.
"Dance with me," She said as she stretched her hand out towards him. He smiled wryly as he took her hand and they went to the dance stage.
"Where are you from" She asked curiously.
"I'm from a village" he answered. He saw that her expression turned to that of a disgusted one when she heard that he was from a village.
"What's your relationship with Aunt Lucy" She asked.
"She's my teacher" He answered. After the answer silence prevailed as they continued dancing for five minutes before stopping. Everyone got into their group and they chatted softly. He quickly separated from the lady and walked out of the hall so that he would not be surrounded. He sat down on the walkway and looked up.
Memories of his foster family and the love that killed him on earth came back to him. His gaze turned melancholic as he looked at the stars in the sky. He looked at the white gloves on his hand and the memories of the former owner of this body that's associated with the hand. He continued looking at the stars,
"the stars are beautiful but the night is gloomy" he heard a voice beside him after some time. He turned and looked at the lady that's the newly awakened mage from the slums. She sat down beside him.
"My name is Maltida, Wallace," She said as she also looked at the stars in the sky.
"Your face tells that you've been through a lot," She said.
"Hmm," He hummed.
"Well, I'm from a village outside. I don't know who my parent are. I've been there since I was five years old. My village was destroyed by a stray beast and I was the only one that escaped. I was on the verge of death when I was saved by my teacher who brought me back to the city" She said.
"At first when I came here, I was abandoned by him but when I was able to awaken my mage root some month ago. He came to me all smiles" She said. He looked at her, her expression was that of sadness.
"It's strange how the world worked. When everyone found out that I'm a mage, people wanted to be my friend" She said.
"It's the way of the world" he answered.
"They suck up to you and they badmouth you behind you," She said.
"Hmm," he nodded his head. After the short conversation, they did not talk again as continued looking at the stars in the sky. Each to his thought.