104 A Cheap Trick

"I'll tell you, Brother Felic, it'll most likely be an Archmage from Sienna who'll be assigned to our team." The look on Mason's face was unusually mysterious when he said this.

"How do you know?"

"Heh heh…" Mason took a glance at the surroundings, then revealed the lewd smile on his face again. "My uncle arranged for it. He's old friends with the Sienna Archmage. When the time comes… Heh heh…"

"…" Lin Li was startled to hear that all the Guilds of Magic would actually risk doing anything for the trial. It was kind of Gerian to send a level-twelve Magic Shooter to cheat; look at Mason's uncle—he had simply manipulated the rules of the game by bringing in an acquaintance into the team. What was the point of all this in the end? The Archmage could just interfere when the time came and everything would be settled then. Anyway, it would only be the few of them who'd know; if no one said a thing, who else would know what had happened in between…

"So… Brother Felic, just rest assured and follow my lead. I guarantee you won't lose out."

Mason smiled proudly, but the closed door suddenly opened again and Orrin walked out with a gloomy expression on his face. He looked at Mason as if he was looking at some rare animal. After sizing him up for a while, he said coldly, "An idiot who only knows how to daydream."

"F*ck…" Mason was smiling in self-satisfaction when he heard what was said, and he immediately sprung up from his seat.

"Why, you want to fight?" Orrin stood there without budging, and a sarcastic sneer came across his face. "You think that only you have an uncle and everyone else is an idiot?"

Although Mason talked without much consideration, he was not a real idiot, after all. He held back his anger and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. We in the Rotterdam Guild have received news long ago. The Archmages who will be following the teams will all be sent directly from the Supreme Council. The reason why the Supreme Council made such a decision is to target people like you."

"What!?" Mason was taken aback. This was not a joke. In order to get Sienna's Archmage into his team, whether it be Uncle Morris or the Chevan City's Guild of Magic, much consideration and effort had been made for the past few months. His Uncle Morris had sent several pieces of priceless magic equipment, including a magical staff worth at least a million gold coins, just to convince the Sienna Archmage.

If the truth was really as what Orrin said—that the Archmages who would be following the teams would be sent directly by the Supreme Council—then things would be bad. By that time, the gold coins and what they bought that would fall through wouldn't matter much; messing up the trial would be the real problem instead…

Mason suddenly felt his head pounding.

His two teammates… one was totally incompatible with himself, and would absolutely end up in a fight with him in three sentences; the other one, though easy to talk to and with personality much to his liking, well, in terms of strength… His uncle was right—Jarrosus Guild of Magic had been in a terrible state of decline these two years. They had actually sent out a level-seven mage for this trial… And he didn't even look like he had any impressive magical equipment with him…

This, this… How were they going to go about doing this?

Orrin glanced coldly at the pale Mason, then turned around and left the living room. Before he left, he gave a piece of advice to Lin Li. "You're Felic, right? I would advise you not to hang around with people like Mason. The trial depends on strength, not schemes and intrigues. Otherwise, even if you complete the trial missions, you will lose in the final guild qualifiers."

"Ah?" Lin Li was baffled by what Orrin said, but when he wanted to clarify, Orrin had already disappeared, so Lin Li had no choice but to turn to Mason…

"He's right." If it had been a while ago, Mason would have been talking big again. However, the bad news that Orrin had delivered had dampened his mood for bragging. At present, there was only one thing on Mason's mind—how to convey the bad news to his Uncle Morris. As for Lin Li's question, he briefly explained it. "After the trial mission is completed, a guild qualifying competition will be arranged to determine the final ranking according to the outcome of the competition. Alright, Felic, I have to go out now. I'll elaborate on the details when I come back."

"See you later." Lin Li nodded and watched as Mason left.

In the twinkling of an eye, only Lin Li was left alone in a room where three people stayed.

"There are three people sharing a room, and it turns out all three are cheaters. I wonder what the other teams are like…" Lin Li chuckled and began to tidy up his bedroom.

He had to admit that the Alanna Guild of Magic did a good job with the accommodations. The bedroom had been tidied up for Lin Li even before he arrived. The room was cleaned spotless; there was a rattan chair in the corner beside a small wardrobe, and the bed was covered with white sheets and a soft blanket. Although the bedroom was not spacious, it gave him a comfortable feeling.

Lin Li opened up the Ring of Endless Storm and took out a set of clothes to change into.

While he was taking his clothes out, he suddenly felt something familiar—the two crumpled rags.

Seeing these two rags, he thought of Andoine and wondered how the old fellow had been recently. Was he still bombing the potion lab every day like how he used to…?

He had heard from Old Grimm that the old fellow had been in Alanna. It seemed that he had to ask Old Grimm out for a chat someday and enquire about Andoine's whereabouts while he was at it. The old fellow had fooled him by saying that he'd return to Jarrosus in a week or two, but it had been more than a month, and he was still nowhere to be seen…

At the thought of Old Grimm, Lin Li fumbled through the Ring of Endless Storm once again.

Before Old Grimm left, he had left behind a ring with instructions that Lin Li would be able to find him at the Pharmacists Guild if he brought the ring there.

I'll go look for Old Grimm on the way to the Silver Hand tomorrow…

After deciding on the schedule for the next day, Lin Li started to feel a little sleepy. To be honest, he was really worn out these two days—the long journey was energy-consuming on its own, and they were met with the robbers at Blackhills Town. He had not had a good shuteye all night. Now that he was finally lying on a soft bed, he felt a wave of drowsiness overcome him…

That night, Lin Li had no idea when Mason and Orrin returned. He slept like a log in his room until dawn the next day, when he was awakened by a sudden knock on the door.

"Felic, wake up!"

Lin Li recognized Mason's voice. He hastily put on his Robe of Wrath and opened the door with a sleepy face. "Big Brother Mason, why did you wake up so early?"

"I've got no choice, I was forced as well…"

"What happened?"

"All mages participating in the trial must gather in the guild hall before nine o'clock this morning; if they fail to gather before the stipulated time, it'll be treated as forfeiting," Mason said in one breath, and looked at Lin Li in puzzlement. "Why, nobody told you about it?"

"No…"

"Who brought you here yesterday? How could he not have told you about such an important matter? It's so irresponsible of him…"

"It probably slipped his mind…" Lin Li smiled apathetically, but in his heart, he made a note of the middle-aged mage called Darian. From the first meeting the previous day, Lin Li felt that this man's attitude towards himself was a little out of the ordinary—he had been too harsh and too cold. They had no previous history of antagonism; even if he was unimpressed by his late-coming, he could have just reprimanded him. Why did he stoop to such a cheap trick and leave out such an important notice?

Lin Li could tolerate many things. For example, Mason's bragging in front of him, and Orrin's arrogant attitude. But playing such a petty trick behind his back was something that he could not tolerate…

It seemed like… he had to find a chance to talk to this Mr Darian.

Lin Li hurried to tidy up. Just as he was about to go out, Orrin came out of his room.

This fellow was still looking as if everyone owed him millions; he merely shot a cold glance at the two of them and left without turning back.

"So cocky for what…" Mason groused bitterly as he watched Orrin's receding figure.

But the Mason today seemed to be a lot more low-key; he said nothing more after the grousing.

Lin Li guessed that his uncle had brought him some bad news when he'd gone out the previous night.

By the time they arrived at the hall, there were already many people standing around. Over 20 young mages were gathered in groups of twos and threes, chatting away. A little farther away, there were some middle-aged men in long gowns engaged in discussion. Lin Li had a better vision—looking ahead, he spotted the fellow named Darian. The latter was talking to an elderly man with white hair and white beard. He looked very respectful, totally different from his cynical attitude the day before.

"Big Brother Mason, do you know who that man is?" Lin Li asked Mason, who was next to him, quietly.

"You mean the white-bearded one?" Mason looked at Lin Li with some doubt. "Come on, Brother Felic, you don't even know him?"