When they returned to Stormwind again, it was already the next night. Jes and Greed followed the patrol troops back to Eastvale and then hurried back without stopping. They didn't even stay in Goldshire because if they stopped again, they might not be able to make it to work the next day.
At night, Jes asked the imp to continue copying books. When he woke up the next day, he was still late.
He rushed into the Mage Quarter without even taking a bath. As soon as he opened the study door of Marin, he saw Marin and his daughter Amy Marin already in the room.
"Uh, sorry." Jes caught his breath and said, "Master Marin, I'm late."
"I've been helping these two days." Amy turned her head and said half-jokingly, "Speaking of which, should you pay me some wages?"
"I'm very sorry, Amy. I'm very sorry, Master Marin. I really got into trouble." Jes said.
Amy said with a smile, "Your assistant is really... The first payment hasn't been settled yet, and he has been absent countless times."
"Mr. Jes Cetho probably won't be an assistant for long." Marin put the letter in his hand on the table. Only then did Jes notice that the opened envelope of that letter was ridiculously beautiful. Even the wax seal was a golden lion head.
"Not for long? There's no need to fire him, right, father." Amy said, "After all, it's really dangerous to go to Stone Fort now. I was just joking just now."
Marin held the letter and said, "The letter Master Andomas just sent me was sent by His Majesty from Stone Fort."
Amy took the letter handed over by Marin and took a look. Incredulously, she said, "Stone Fort was attacked by werewolves? Why is there no news at all here... Mr. Jes Cetho is the hero of the Stone Fort crisis? Is your hand injured because of this? Gnolls..."
"Mr. Jes Cetho encountered a gnoll warlock. His hand was burned by fire magic." Marin said, "Master Andomas told me that the messenger himself was extremely excited and vividly described how our Mr. Cetho repelled the gnoll siege on the watchtower. After all, the messenger himself almost lost his life because of the Stone Fort being attacked."
"It's so incredible." Amy sighed.
Jes looked at her and said jokingly, "I think although I don't have much magical talent, I probably have a bit of talent for group fights."
Amy quickly said, "Don't misunderstand. In fact, sometimes having too strong an affinity with arcane magic is not necessarily a good thing. If not handled properly, it often brings disasters. That's why the Wizard's Sanctuary tries to find those with talent as much as possible while recruiting young students."
"Talent is not important anymore." Marin said, "Keep reading. The king hopes that the Wizard's Sanctuary will accept Mr. Jes Cetho as a formal apprentice. This is not a troublesome matter for the Wizard's Sanctuary. Master Andomas said that if I am unwilling to accept him as an apprentice, he will take him on himself."
Amy was stunned for a moment and asked, "The king personally ordered?"
Marin said, "Strictly speaking, it's a personal request. But in fact, both the Wizard's Sanctuary and the royal mages serve the royal family. The king can completely use a commanding tone. He has just returned to his throne and wants to leave a good impression on everyone. Probably taught by Bolvar Fordragon. In fact, I hoped that Mr. Jes Cetho would have the opportunity to learn magic before. It's just that there are some regulations in the academy. If he becomes an apprentice, it will be more helpful for me to conduct research."
"Whether it's under Master Andomas or me, in the end, it depends on your own choice." He looked at Jes and continued, "Master Andomas is good at arcane evocation and mainly focuses on frost magic. His practice direction is more offensive. While I am better at transmutation and protection spells. I also have some research on fire magic. Mr. Jes Cetho, if you really plan to follow this path, this choice is very important. Don't consider our relationship. Think carefully."
Jes had already thought about it in advance. The power of shadow can help him solve the difficulties in the offensive direction. For arcane magic, what he needs is not the fire element, frostbolt, or the simpler and more direct arcane missile that is manipulated by arcane magic. All of these can be replaced by powerful shadow energy.
The truly irreplaceable part of arcane magic is its ever-changing nature and extremely strong flexibility. So his best choice is to let Marin become his teacher.
"I've made my decision, Master Marin." Jes said, "I plan to continue learning from you. Not only because we already know each other, but also because I think that transmutation magic and protection magic are more helpful for me to repay the king's favor and protect the people of the kingdom in the future."
Amy nodded in agreement. Eden Marin stood up, straightened his robe, and said, "That's fine. I will go to tell Master Andomas about this matter this afternoon. You can officially become a member of the Wizard's Sanctuary. After that, you will be my apprentice. But I hope you continue to assist me in matters related to the relationship between red dragons and orcs."
Jes certainly didn't want to give up this task. After all, there were still 10 silver coins a month.
After Amy left, Marin suddenly asked, "I heard Amy say that it's very difficult for you to connect with the Arcane Weave, right? She once tested your control over arcane energy with a small rune. As a result, you didn't make that rune respond at all."
That incident almost became a psychological shadow for Jes during that time. He showed off in front of an apprentice mage with confidence but was slapped in the face on the spot.
But it has been almost a month.
Jes said, "I don't believe that a 10-year-old child can master it through diligent practice. I can't be that much worse at 18."
"There are still some differences." Marin said, "But there is definitely not an insurmountable gap between them."
"Of course you can start learning magic at 18. The reason why many magic institutions are unwilling to accept students of this age is that after the Guardian Council of Tirisfal was established by the cooperation between elves and humans, humans had a relatively peaceful period. The council also hopes to reduce a large number of low-level members."
"So during that time, for most academies, magical achievements were more eye-catching than the number of magic students. Mediocre people would not bring any benefits to magic institutions. Since then, most magic institutions have changed their goals. That is to compete with elves and let humans surpass Quel'Thalas in magical achievements. Also to compete for the right to speak in the Council of Tirisfal. Do you know what the biggest disadvantage of humans in magic research compared to elves is?"
"Age." Jes said.
Marin continued, "Yes, age."