Chapter 38：Theocritus

After some time, a fifty-year-old Mage entered through the door, and the cold look on his face suggested that he was in a bad mood.

When the Mage saw Rick standing up as soon as he entered, he said politely, "Rick, my old friend! Didn't I tell you not to bring anyone here? I don't welcome outsiders, not even you! Why are you here when you should be fleeing to Westfall? You…"

Before Theocritus finished his sentence, he noticed Sean and was startled. He frowned while asking half-questioning, half-affirming, "A Low Rank Mage?"

All Casters could sense wandering Spell Energy, and could determine a person's real strength through their Mana. Needless to say, it was very difficult for a Low Rank Mage to judge a High Rank Mage's strength, but since Theocritus was a Mid Rank Mage, he could tell Sean's Level with a glance.

Of course, Theocritus was not going to bluntly say that Sean was a Low Rank Mage; that would be impolite. Although Theocritus was far from Stormwind City, being an old Mage who had lived in the city's Mage Quarter for decades, he was well aware of the etiquette between Mages.

Rick looked at Sean in surprise.

He had already made an early judgment, but was still surprised when he really found out that Sean was a Mage.

Rick had lived in Saldean's Farm for a long time, and he was certain that nobody at the farm knew that Sean was a Mage.

Sean's hidden abilities and various mysteries filled him with amazement and admiration.

Sean immediately got up to perform a Mage's salute to Theocritus before responding, "Greetings, Mid Rank Mage Sir Theocritus, I'm Sean, an Independent Mage."

He pointed out his identity openly - an Independent Mage.

Theocritus despised Stormwind City's politics, so he naturally disliked Court Mages or Battlemages who served the government. On the other hand, he might be more fond of Independent Mages like Sean.

After all, in the beginning, there had not been many Mages at the Tower of Azora. Most of them had come to seek shelter from Theocritus after learning of his reputation, as well as to study Arcane Magic.

As expected, Theocritus became more at ease after hearing Sean's introduction, so he gestured a Mage's salute too. "Mage Sean, why have you come to the Tower of Azora?"

He got right to the point!

Sean realized that he could not identify Theocritus's specific Level through Appraisal Sight, which meant that the Mid Rank Mage had a high Level, and was probably close to being a High Rank Mage. He quickly replied, "Well, I only recently became a Mage and I'm Independent. I'm not acquainted with other Mages yet, so I'd like to associate with you and the other Mages here. We can exchange materials and improve together."

Theocritus nodded.

It was what he had expected because this was how Mages communicated with each other. Those who pursued truth and knowledge were not bothered about Gold and Silver, they were only interested in Magic.

That said, Theocritus had a feeling that Sean's identity was not as simple as was claimed. For all he knew, Sean was a Mid Rank or High Rank Mage's Apprentice. This was because the badge on Sean's chest and the ring on his right little finger were not common items. They contained strong Mana, as well as powerful Enchantments.

Even Theocritus did not have many of those items.

After some thought, instead of calling the other Mages, he invited Sean to sit before asking, "What would you like to trade? Don't worry, I basically have everything that a Low Rank Mage needs. Though, I don't know what you can offer us."

Unlike Argus and Gryan, Theocritus was clearly not a cunning man. While he was hot-tempered, he was also straightforward. As a result, Sean was more comfortable communicating with him and was not worried about being fooled.

'What a joke! I'm known as Sean Connery, how humiliating would it be if I'm the one always getting fooled? I can't embarrass myself!' Sean wondered.

Sean proceeded to place his bag on the table, and gestured for Theocritus to open it.

Theocritus looked at Sean hesitantly.

The huge bag looked like it weighed at least 10 kilograms. Though Theocritus had no idea what was inside, he could tell from the strong Magic it carried that there were some Magic Items, and that they were not too bad.

'Is this young Mage going to trade these items?'

After hesitating for a while, Theocritus opened the bag.

The first item that came into view was a staff.

Its style was different from a regular staff as it was only the length of one's forearm, which made it unsuitable for Humans. Theocritus picked it up, inspecting it for some time before looking at Sean to ask, "Is this… A Murloc's staff?"

Sean nodded, a smile on his face. "Sir, you're very knowledgeable indeed, it was used by a Coldlight Seer. It can't compare with a Human Mage's staff, but it's still a staff. Would you be interested in it, Sir Theocritus?"

Theocritus nodded as well. "The staff is too small, but the workmanship is excellent. IUt's definitely a fine product. Besides, it's useful for ordinary Mid Rank Mages, not to mention Low Rank Mages. Although it's not long enough, it can be mounted on an ordinary staff. Mage Sean, are you really going to trade this?"

Sean smiled as he nodded.

Theocritus found it strange that Sean was willing to exchange something so useful instead of keeping it for himself, but he did not ask more questions. Theocritus nodded then put the staff down before opening another bag.

In actual fact, excluding the staff, there was only one thing left in the bag. It was wrapped in a separate bag.

When Theocritus opened the other bag and saw what was inside, he gasped.

Rick, who was watching, almost sprung up from his seat. His heart was pounding as he thought to himself, 'I actually had no clue that Sean carried something so valuable! I would've taken the risk and fought him! Even if I might die…'

Yes. All the items in the bag that weighed tens of kilograms were pearls! Pearls from the sea!

Theocritus squinted his eyes while picking one up to feel it.

The pearl contained a faint Water Elemental, as well as weak Arcane energy. In other words, it was not a common pearl, but a Magic Item. Even though the pearls were Magic Items of the lowest Level, there were at least a hundred of them in the bag?

Perhaps a thousand?

A thousand Magic Items were very, very valuable, and could not be measured with money.

In truth, Sean had never intended to exchange the pearls for money. Instead, he had planned to trade them for something that he wanted dearly, but had not yet acquired.