“Right, Ma Ke! I have just returned to the academy. Can you give me an overview of what is happening?”
“The Royal Advanced Magic Academy is really complicated. It is not as simple as the Intermediate Magic Academy, where it is enough to just practice. The current emperor is aging and has no successor. Therefore, anyone who enters the Advanced Magic Academy will have their status increase greatly as people in power will fight to recruit them. The whole Kingdom of Aixia is currently enveloped by darkness. Aixia is a kingdom that is famous for its magicians so of course the big powers are targeting Advanced Class Magicians.”
I frowned. “It’s so complicated! How many powers are there?” If Aixia had a civil war in the near future over the succession, it would greatly affect the fight against the Monster King.
Ma Ke continued to say, “Currently, there are three main powers. The first is Duke Te Yi. Have you heard of him before?”
I thought for a while. “I think I do remember hearing about him, but I’m not very familiar.”
“He is now extremely powerful as he currently controls the Royal Mage Union and he has a great influence on the kingdom’s economy, so he is a very strong royal competitor. The Royal Mage Union all graduated from this academy. Although there are only five hundred of them, their power is equivalent to that of the whole kingdom. Their power is definitely at least stronger than that of a Magister as the leader of the Royal Mage Union is one of the ten Magisters in the world. He is an earth Magister: Dun Yu Xi. Oh, right! It should be eleven Magisters instead! Ha ha!”
“Stop joking already! Dun Yu Xi is the leader of the Royal Mage Union. Why would he listen to a duke? Shouldn’t he only follow the direct orders of the emperor?”
“That is the most incredible point about the duke. I don’t know if it’s due to bribery or blackmail, but currently, Dun Yu Xi is standing on his side.”
“Who are the other two powers?”
“The two powers are….” Ma Ke suddenly stopped explaining in the middle of the conversation and stared in a fixed direction.
“Hey! Hey! What are you looking at?” I followed to look in the direction that he was looking in.
97
Volume 4: Chapter 6 – Situation in the Academy II
It was Hai Yue! It had been a few years since I had last seen her, and she had become a young woman. Her elegant look hadn’t changed at all! If anything, she had become even more graceful. I had wondered why Ma Ke had suddenly stopped talking – so it was because he had seen the girl of his dreams.
I lamented, “Hai Yue became even more beautiful. No wonder you can’t get over her.”
Ma Ke sighed, “The guy at her side is her current boyfriend, Feng Liang Ri!”
Only then did I notice the twenty years old man by her side. He was almost the same height as me, approximately 1.9m. His lean body contained strong powers. Although his looks were average, his large and lively eyes suited his face. It was likely that girls often grew fond of his looks.
I whispered to Ma Ke, “Let’s go and greet them!”
Startled, Ma Ke said, “No! She will definitely treat me badly.”
I pretended to be angry and scolded, “You are such a coward! No wonder she hasn’t developed any feelings for you. Quickly follow me!” After saying so, I took the initiative and walked up to them. Ma Ke had no choice but to follow behind me.
When I neared them, I laughed and said, “Why aren’t you greeting your old playmate?”
Hai Yue looked up and down at me and showed a sudden expression of understanding. “Ah! You’re Zhang Gong, it has been a few years since I last saw you!”
I pointed at Feng Liang at her side. “Aren’t you going to introduce him to me?” Feng Liang’s eyes flashed with caution.
Hai Yue’s face reddened. “He is my boyfriend, Feng Liang Ri.” I felt Ma Ke’s body tense up behind me. Hai Yue pointed at me before saying, “He is Zhang Gong Wei. He was my classmate when I was at the Royal Intermediate Academy. He even fought against my brother!”
I extended my hand and Feng Liang shook it asking, “Hello, are you also studying in this academy?”
“Yes! I just transferred to the Year 3 Class 3. Today is my first day. Please look after me.”
I pushed Ma Ke to the front. “Since we are all friends here, quickly give them your greetings!” Since I was much taller than Ma Ke, Hai Yue did not notice him standing behind me. Once she saw Ma Ke, her expression darkened.
Ma Ke awkwardly smiled. “I hope you’re doing well.”
Hai Yue did not give him any face and interrupted. “Well? How am I well? I don’t feel well at all when I see you. Zhang Gong, if you are here to be a middleman to convince me to go out with him, you’re just wasting your time!”
I curiously asked, “What middleman? Oh~ you are talking about that year when Ma Ke pursued you. You don’t need to worry about that. You still hate him after so many years? He didn’t do anything to you. We’ve already known each other for so many years. You don’t have to always treat him as though he is an enemy, even if you don’t get along.”
It was Hai Yue’s turn to become awkward. Feng Liang, who was at her side, stood in front of her. “What Zhang Gong said is right. Hai Yue, you don’t need to continue bickering over past things. Class is starting soon, let’s head back.”
Hai Yue snorted and walked away without another word.
Ma Ke’s energy level deflated like a balloon and he lethargically said, “Boss, now you have seen it. I obviously don’t stand a chance.”
I gave him a violent slap on his head and angrily said, “You’re truly worthless! I’ve never seen anyone more cowardly than you. You’ve yet to be defeated but you’re already cowering. How could she fall for you? She doesn’t like a guy who’s only heroic on the outside. I really don’t understand what you’re thinking. When you see Hai Yue, you are just like a mouse meeting a cat. Let’s go! Class is starting.”
Ma Ke followed me in frustration back to the classroom, but did not go back to his. He sat in the same back row as me in my classroom. I did not listen much to the lesson. I started to ask Ma Ke, “Please continue to tell me about the academy’s situation? Let’s leave the talk about Hai Yue for next time.”
Ma Ke regained some of his mood. “The three main powers are the Ri, Yue and Xing families who formed an alliance to form an elder group. As all of the families held powers over the kingdom for several generations, they all are already deeply rooted to the country. They could also influence all of the territories in the country, making it impossible to ignore them.”
I curiously said, “If they are allies then why did Hai Ri still encourage you to chase after his sister? If Hai Yue marries the eldest son of the Ri family, won’t it lead to a more beneficial marriage?”
Ma Ke bitterly smiled. “You think Feng Liang is such a good guy? I heard that he has already gone out with many girls and that they’ve ended up the same way. He plays with them and then dumps them. Brother Hai Ri knows I’ve been chasing after his sister for many years, so he knows that I’m seriously in love with Hai Yue. He doesn’t care about Feng Liang at all so he encouraged me to chase after her.”
“Oh. So it’s like this! Ok now tell me who the last big power is.”
“The last big power is the Emperor’s blood related younger brother, Prince Ke Zha. He was also a great general in the Wang Kingdom so he holds lots of influence in the military. When comparing the Emperor’s strength to his, he is definitely stronger. Brother, I have been hiding something from you. Please forgive me after hearing me out.”
I seriously looked at him. “Just say it. Is it about your family?”
Ma Ke was surprised and said, “How did you know?”
I smiled. “When you previously refused to head out with me to gain experience, I’d already guessed that your family was not that simple. You can just tell me directly that you are from one of the three families.”