Chapter 60: Florida Man Wins $100,000 Scholarship by Surviving Two Weeks in Haunted City and Dying Thrice

Not expecting any customers or visitors, Felix rolled his eyes and slouched his shoulders. He looked down and saw his scorched shorts and a burnt cigarette pack. He sighed.

"How many times do I have to buy new clothes? Man, I loved those boxers."

After changing into new underwear and pants, Felix combed his hair with his hands and peered over the ledge. He saw an elderly man waiting at the front entrance. However, he was within the barrier domain, but the defense mechanism didn't repel him.

Instead of going down to welcome the archmage, Felix spoke to him from the rooftop.

"What's up, grandpa? Do you need help?"

The archmage, Garudeer, looked up. His eyes gleamed as he detected Felix's mana and assessed his strength. Garudeer thought, 'A second-circle fire mage? I thought he was at least at the fifth circle the other day.'

Although disappointed, Garudeer was still impressed, as Felix's mana volume surpassed that of the average second-circle mage by tenfold. Looking at Felix's face and skin and estimating his age, Garudeer believed Felix should be about 17-18 years old, a little older than students at his academy. However, judging from Felix's strength, he was more talented than the noble children there.

Excitedly, Garudeer mistook Felix for a diamond in the rough and hoped to recruit him to the capital city. However, before that could happen, Garudeer needed to address the Lamia situation first, starting by investigating who Felix was.

"Young man," Garudeer called up to Felix. "Who is your master? Who created this barrier formation?"

Felix frowned, confused by the mention of a master. Since he had no master or teacher, he ignored the question and replied honestly.

"I built this house. Is there something wrong with it?"

Garudeer was astonished. He pointed at the barrier around the house, "This barrier formation—did you create it too?"

"Yeah, so?" Felix shrugged, claiming credit for the system perks he couldn't explain.

"You're quite talented, young man. Who is your mentor or master?"

Again, Felix didn't understand why Garudeer was so focused on the identity of his mentor. He replied, "No one. I'm self-taught."

"…I see." Garudeer coughed and glanced at his colleagues in the sky, who were on guard against those inside the house. Garudeer stepped out of the barrier domain and signaled his comrades not to harm the occupants.

Seeing Garudeer's gesture, the archmages descended and looked up, waiting for Felix to invite them in. Meanwhile, Garudeer reentered the barrier domain to continue talking to Felix.

"Young man," Garudeer resumed his inquiry, as they were there to investigate the Lamia's movements and the city's condition. "Were you the one who drove off the Lamia army?"

Felix again took credit. "Well, sort of. I was just protecting my house."

"I see. I saw you fight the other day and thought you were a fifth-circle mage. How many circles do you have now?" Garudeer asked.

Felix was unfamiliar with magic circles and sorcery terms. He shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about. How do you measure that 'Circle'?"

Realizing that Felix was unaware of circles and their strength measurement, Garudeer inwardly celebrated. He confirmed that Felix didn't have a mentor and that he should be a rogue mage.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Archmage Garudeer of the Royal Magi Academy and headmaster of the Storm Tower," Garudeer reintroduced himself to gain Felix's trust.

Felix frowned as he disliked schools. On Earth, he had considered colleges a scam, so he had no interest in entering any school, wasting years, or paying high tuition fees.

Before Felix could refuse the offer, the entrance door was unlocked and opened to welcome the guests. Valley and Jane rushed out to invite Garudeer inside.

Valley was a student of Aero Academy who had attended Garudeer's class at a public event, and Jane had been Valley's personal maid. They knew these gentlemen, and they couldn't afford to offend them.

Valley and Jane both bowed. "Your Excellency! Please come inside!"

"Hey!" Felix yelled at Jane and Valley for inviting unknown guests into his house without permission. He restrained himself from cursing. Glancing at the system map, Felix saw four large yellow dots on top of his house, indicating dangerous foes.

Felix couldn't defeat them yet. He also didn't want to turn a neutral faction into enemies.

Garudeer smiled brightly, though he didn't remember Valley and Jane. He turned to his colleagues, inviting them into the house as well.

The three archmages removed their hoodies, revealing their white hair and wrinkled skin, though they had fewer eyebrows than Garudeer. Besides the Saruman-look-alike wind archmage, the trio were also wind magic specialists from the Storm Tower. They passed through the barrier wall with ease, showing no hostility.

Entering the house, they encountered a faceless humanoid golem, which, despite lacking eyes, seemed ready to fight. The archmages found the golem cute, as they were familiar with such sentry golems in noble households and had helped build similar ones.

The archmages quickly noticed an anomaly: the interior was many times larger than the exterior. They looked around, astonished by the expanded space. Although they wished to exit the house and measure the house's size, they chose to remain inside out of respect for Valley's courtesy.

The first floor, intended as a general store, had shelves along the walls. However, as Felix hadn't expected any customers, the center area was left empty.

Jane quickly brought wooden chairs for the guests and served fruit juices she had made. Valley chatted with Garudeer and introduced herself.

When Garudeer learned that Valley was the last surviving member of the Lundop House, he glanced at his subordinates, who took notes discreetly. Garudeer began questioning Valley to gather more information about Felix. S~eaʀᴄh the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

…

Felix rushed downstairs to the first floor. As he sprinted, he put on a shirt and long pants to avoid offending the powerful mages. When he arrived, the four archmages were already inside, admiring the wooden interior and the house's expanded space.

"Valley! Jane!" Felix called out, gesturing for them to leave him alone.

Garudeer intervened, "They can stay. It will be a brief conversation. We won't trouble you for long."

Felix frowned, glaring at the two women. Valley and Jane shrank back, avoiding eye contact.

Seeing their reaction, Felix stopped blaming them. He turned to the four archmages. Sitting on an empty chair Jane had provided, Felix leaned forward.

"What do you want?" Felix stopped being polite.

Garudeer brightly smiled. "I'll ask you again. Do you have a mentor?"

"I said I don't have one."

"Then, everything in this house is your work?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all," Garudeer laughed. "I'm getting to the point. Are you interested in moving to the capital city and joining our academy?"