End of the Magic Era

Mason had attended the auction, so normally, there should be no way for him to not recognize Cadgar…

But, Mason only had himself to blame. He had been fidgeting in his seat the entire time while waiting for the auction to end, and his eyes weren’t on the auction stage at all. His thoughts had been filled with his plans to deal with Lin Yun, to the point that he actually failed to recognize the one that had been conducting the auction…

“Is this how Monchi educates his son?” Cadgar looked grimly at Mason, repressed anger hidden behind his cold voice. Although he did not get up, the High Mage’s unique pressure filled the reception room, making it feel like a mountain was crushing them.

The swirling mana felt like a tornado as even the books in the bookshelves flew out…

“Are the noble guests of the Black Horn Auction House people that you can embarrass?” Cadgar stood up among the swirling pages. He raised his hand and the eight weapons flew out of the mercenaries’ hands one after the other, sticking themselves to the wall of the reception room.

The sound emitted was so piercing that everyone felt their ears go numb…

“Old man, you… You dare to make a move on someone of the Monchi family!” Facing this sudden unforeseen event, Mason was terrified. He was still holding the two glass bottles in his hands, but his legs had already gone soft and he couldn’t move. He could only use his mouth to appear powerful.

But before he could say more, he was pulled back by Jonathan…

“Young… Young Master… H-he… He is Cadgar…” As he explained, his head slowly lowered, and once he was done, he didn’t even dare to raise it again.

“What about Cadgar? Does Cadgar dare to make a move on someone of the Monchi family?” Mason reflexively demanded. But just after he finished his sentence, his face froze and he stuttered, “Ca… Ca… Cadgar?”

Mason might have not paid attention to Cadgar’s appearance, but that didn’t mean that Mason had never heard about him. Who didn’t know of Cadgar in Thousand Sails City? He was the Chief Auctioneer of the Black Horn Auction House, a High Mage, and a Great Alchemist.

Even if Mason was a fool, he knew what the name Cadgar meant…

“Of course, of course, of course it would be like this…” Mason stood there in a daze, still holding the two glass bottles in his hands, not putting them back. He was bewildered as he mumbled, “Of course, Mafa Merlin is always this lucky…”

The scene before him was all too familiar.

Mason didn’t know why he was so unlucky. Every time he wanted to teach that scoundrel a lesson, something would happen. In the Sage Tower, Solon stood up for him, in the auction house’s venue, Faleau stood up for him, and in the auction house’s box, even Solomon stood up for him. He finally managed to stop him here, but now Cadgar was standing up for him. How could he be so unlucky?

“Young… Young Master, quickly apologize to High Mage Cadgar…” Fortunately, Jonathan reacted fast enough and hurriedly pulled Mason’s sleeve to remind him.

This wasn’t some light offense. Drawing weapons in the reception room of a High Mage and threatening his guest, this alone was enough for the entire Monchi Family to suffer from the repercussions for provoking the prestige of a High Mage. Cadgar would even be justified in killing them on the spot.

They had truly jumped head first into a disaster. It would be useless even if Monchi himself showed up. All Jonathan could do now was to hurriedly apologize, hoping that High Mage Cadgar would be magnanimous and wouldn’t lower himself to argue with a nobody like himself. Otherwise, it would end up badly.

“Apologize?” Cadgar coldly snorted. Even the temperature in the reception room suddenly plummeted, while that mountain-like pressure made it hard for the two men to breathe.

Cadgar was truly angry this time. An esteemed High Mage’s reception room was intruded upon by a group of people led by Mason, and most importantly, they pointed weapons at Mage Merlin. He was the most important guest of the Black Horn Auction House, and Cadgar himself had spared no efforts to sweet-talk him in order to establish a cooperative relationship, yet this Mason suddenly came and asked him to eat two glass bottles. At least he was here when they smashed their way in… Otherwise, how would Mage Merlin have ended up if he really had been forced to eat two glass bottles?

‘If by any chance Mage Merlin reconsiders his deal with the Black Horn Auction House, could your Monchi Family compensate us for the loss?’

Thinking of this possible outcome, Cadgar’s frightening glare became a bit colder.

“H-H-Hi… High Mage Cadgar, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I really didn’t know you were there…” When Mason, who had always been spoiled ever since he was a child, saw the way this High Mage looked at him, he wept as he apologized. In fact, let alone Mason, even if Monchi himself was here in this situation, his legs would also have gone soft…

Crying was an obvious reaction…

No matter how foolish Mason was, he knew that a High Mage was an existence he couldn’t offend. In Thousand Sails City, provoking a High Mage was akin to ending one’s life. Mason hadn’t lived enough yet, so all he could do was beg and apologize as if his life depended on it, hoping Cadgar would let him off.

“What use is there in apologizing to me? You offended Mage Merlin, so if you want to apologize, then apologize to Mage Merlin. It would be best if Mage Merlin is willing to forgive you, otherwise…”

Cadgar didn’t say what would happen, but the cold voice and grim expression terrified Mason. At this time, Mason couldn’t care about the former grudges and directly forgot about the matter of the two glass bottles.

“Mage Merlin, I am wrong, I made a mistake…”

“Stop!” Lin Yun directly raised his hand, interrupting Mason’s performance. This show was a lot inferior to Faleau’s.

Originally, Lin Yun didn’t want to have to pass judgement on Mason’s life and death.

But Lin Yun knew that Cadgar definitely felt embarrassed right now, so he needed to address the matter, and he still needed to give some face to Monchi. Their family had two sons, and if he callously got rid of one, how could the Monchi family accept it? The same was true if Cadgar directly chose to kill him. But Mason had truly committed a grave offense, so it would be inexcusable if he didn’t give an apology.

Thus, Cadgar’s earlier words had been said in order to hand the authority over Mason’s punishment to Lin Yun. If Lin Yun was willing to let Mason off, then Cadgar wouldn’t offend either side. If he wasn’t willing to let Mason off, Cadgar would most likely clench his teeth and get rid of the kid, but in that case he would owe Cadgar.

If Cadgar offended the huge Monchi family for him, how would Lin Yun be able to refuse a special request in the future?

That old geezer was too sly…

Lin Yun inwardly cursed him, but he didn’t plan to owe such a favor. “Young Master Mason might have a small misunderstanding with me, nothing too serious. High Mage Cadgar, if you have time, please help me straighten him out. It’s not good to let such misunderstandings linger. There are matters waiting for me at the Gilded Rose, so I’ll go first.”

“Mage Merlin truly doesn’t have time to stay a while longer?”

“There truly is something, really…” Lin Yun firmly declined Cadgar’s invitation and took the four materials he bought, as well as the crystal card, before leaving Cadgar’s reception room.

But just as he was about to leave, Lin Yun recalled something and turned around. “Oh right, High Mage Cadgar, if you have time, please confirm for me that Young Master Mason ate the two glass bottles…”

“…”

Afterwards, Lin Yun returned to the Gilded Rose and went into the alchemy laboratory.

As the sun slowly fell, Lin Yun melted the frozen Dragon Blood and a drop of the precious blood was dripped into a beaker. At that instant, an azure mist rose up and an intoxicating aura spread through the laboratory.

“Done!” Lin Yun wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked at the azure ripples in the beaker with a rare expression of happiness on his face.

This was the Mana Baptism.

Mana Baptism could be thought of as shedding one’s skin to reach a higher level, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. At the peak of the magic civilization, every newborn kid would have to undergo a Mana Baptism. Not only would that Mana Baptism allow them to gather mana for the first time, but it would also thoroughly improve their constitution. Thus, in that era, nearly everyone was a talented Mage. What determined one’s degree of success would be their effort and luck.

In fact, it was a bit late for Lin Yun to use the Mana Baptism, as that first accumulation of mana wasn’t essential to him. The only really useful part was the improvement to his constitution.

But this was exactly what the current Lin Yun needed. The flaws in Mafa’s body were too serious. It was so serious that even advancing to become a Mage had been problematic. Fortunately it was Lin Yun who had taken over the body. Anyone else, including the original person, would have remained forever as a Magic Apprentice.

The only way to settle that kind of flaw was this bottle of Mana Baptism…