I Reject Quests - Chapter 243

“Two reasons. One, geographical ease. To go to any other nation would require more time. Two, they were afraid. They are nothing more than Tribe Elders. Their prestige and power are nothing compared to the Emperors. To ask for a compromise in front of an Emperor would put them at risk of getting imprisoned or even killed.”

Famin nodded, indicating that he understood. The answer was much more straightforward than he was hoping for.

“Here comes the main part of the mini-event. Listen carefully. The King didn’t manage to do anything to the Act but it doesn’t mean he didn’t do anything. To end the matter peacefully, he gave away his dynasty’s Second Ruler’s Crown to the three tribe Elders. The crown was one of the most valuable items in his treasury, only second to the Founder’s crown.

“Now you might ask. What is the value of the crown? Was it remotely enough to compensate for the reforms that the three Tribe Elders hoped for? The answer was – Nobody knew. Certainly, the crown was valuable but not in the way you are thinking of. The crown was incredibly mysterious. It was said that the crown was not the original crown of the Second King in the dynasty.

“It wasn’t gifted during his coronation. While campaigning, he accidentally entered into a [Pentagonal Landscape] and found it at the center. Naturally, he took the crown but for some reason, in his entire life, he refused to wear it.”

The educator paused, taking a look at the orange-haired young man’s expression.

“A [Pentagonal Landscape]…?” Famin wasn’t unfamiliar with the term.

According to Nihan, [Pentagonal Landscape] is the holiest place for Yvadians. Nobody knows where it is. Yet it is not considered to be a “legend”. The reason for that is even though it’s impossible to prove the existence of the place, several records have been found regarding it all over the world.

“If [Pentagonal Landscape] is in…”

The educator smiled, then shook his head. “It’s not as simple as that. The place where he was campaigning was researched extensively and yet, there’s not a single trace of a place like [Pentagonal Landscape]. It’s incredibly mysterious and fascinating.”

Famin appeared a little disappointed but patiently waited to hear the rest of the story.

“Now, get to the details and study. I’ll continue the next day.” Saying that the educator closed his book.

“…”

***

1st Grade Training Ground.

When Famin arrived at the training ground, he saw his Assistant Instructor Xovin instructing a couple of students from his class. As he stepped forward into the “Free Natural Energy fields”, the Assistant Instructor was alerted and he immediately turned in his direction.

“Hurry up.” Xovin raised his hand and motioned Famin to come towards him.

Famin did as he was told.

Xovin grabbed his wrist and muttered in a low voice. “Let me check…”

Famin didn’t struggle. He knew what his Assistant Instructor was doing. Every two days, Xovin checks the progress of his students to tell them how close they are to their goals. It helps in motivating students.

“Your progress isn’t bad. Two more days and you’d be the fifteenth person to become a mage. Congratulations in advance.” Xovin released the wrist and looked deeply at the young man in front of him.

He had basically zero opinion of him. His elemental affinity was one of the finest but his character itself was problematic. If he were to be brutally honest with his thoughts, he would admit that he had never seen such a wimpy kid in his long career. Regarding this, he had even personally consulted with Famin’s educator.

‘It takes time for a change to happen. It’s good as long as he manages to stand on his own. Let’s hope for the best.’

Famin smiled lightly, then turned around to walk away just when a face appeared in front of his eyes.

It was Francesca – one of, if not the most, influential figure of the class. Not only was she fairly beautiful, but she was also charismatic and intelligent. Compared with her good background, she was someone literally everyone wants to be friends with.

Famin was no exception to the rule. However, he was also aware of the disaster that would fall upon him the moment he tries to strike up a conversation with her. Therefore, he decides to stay away from her.

“Oh, hello. Good morning.” Francesca casually greeted him.

“Morning.” Famin gave a small nod before walking away. While walking away, he vigilantly looked at his surroundings to check if anybody had seen him or not.

Francesca didn’t pay attention to him and came to her Assistant Instructor Xovin.

“Sir, please tell me that I’m safe.” Her face was bitter.

Xovin rubbed his chin. “It’s hard to say… the decision hasn’t yet been passed down. As much as I would want to say that you are safe, logic seems to be a little bit tilted on the other side.”

“Please explain, Sir,” Francesca said with a face full of bitterness.

“If you had reported the matter, the higher-ups would have paid more attention to him. It wouldn’t be far from the truth to say that the whole incident could have been avoided.”

Francesca was stunned. “I… I could have prevented the incident from happening…?” She found it unbelievable.

“Most likely, yes. But then again, we don’t know their secrecy.”

“That makes me feel bad… but that piece of sh— hu…” Francesca took a deep breath to calm down. No matter what, she couldn’t bring herself to curse a dead man.

Xovin sighed. He also didn’t like the absurd rule. “I understand your frustration. If there’s any consolation, then let me just say that the academy you would be transferred to would be way more prestigious than the one you are currently in.”

Francesca didn’t say anything and was about to move when she had an idea. “Wait, will the academy’s decision change its direction if his family or close ones were to be the one who requested the decision to be changed?”

Xovin didn’t immediately answer. He thought for a while, then gave an honest answer. “I have no idea. It’s worth a try though because the case is peculiar.”

Francesca’s expression brightened and she quickly left.

Xovin helplessly smiled and looked at the clear sky. ‘Which reminds me… I promised him to properly repay him that day.’

The ‘him’ he was referring to was the late Rewen Klofar. He was dead but his death created a huge problem for Francesca. After all, making a sound in a spring-space room is considered an “offense” and if someone were to observe the person make that sound and not report it, that person would also be implicated.

In other words, Francesca was on the brink of expulsion.

From the gossip, she came to know that the friendly person she met some days ago was dead. Immediately after she heard it, she was petrified. It’s impossible for the academy (including the authorities) to not inspect his past activities.

She tried being optimistic but soon enough, she was brought by her Assistant Instructor Xovin to the Council of Staff where she was made to answer questions after questions for two hours straight.

On a corner of the training ground.

Famin’s entire concentration was into sensing the free natural energy in the air and converting it into mana. Although elemental affinity plays a huge role (about 90%) in this process, there is a tiny bit of requirement of intelligence.

Natural energy couldn’t be put into units, at least not in the lower ranks. It isn’t quantifiable.

Mana, however, could be put into units. For example, his own mana storage is 86 which is a quantity.

The reason for this is because free natural energy is a lot more similar to a non-visible aura which can be sensed. The process of converting free natural energy into mana couldn’t be hastened by just taking in large amounts of natural energy and converting it into mana hoping it would generate a lot of mana.

All the people who had tried to do this rested for a day in the infirmary.

The natural energy that should be taken is fixed. Taking less than that wouldn’t harm anyone in any way but usually, it ends in failure, i.e., no conversion of natural energy into mana.

One must be active and hyper-conscious during the process so as to not waste time and effort.

An hour later.

“Haa…” Famin groaned as he felt his back completely wet from sweat. His face had also reddened. It was primarily due to the heat.

As he tried to continue, he felt that the free natural energy had disappeared all of a sudden.

Immediately, he relaxed his arms.

The session was over.

‘Let’s see how much I’ve progressed.’ Even though he had an idea of his progress, he still wanted to check.

—

MP: 94/94

…

Becoming a Rank 0 Mage (94/100)

…

—

Famin appeared to be satisfied with the results.