The bright sunshine, slightly humid air, the faint smell of fish, the retro and elegant buildings, and the lively and noisy crowds constitute Lucian's first impression of "Puerto Padre", the largest seaside city in the Kingdom of Holm.
Several carriages drove smoothly and slowly through the streets, and Lucian looked out of the window and looked back at Lazar, the sorcerer who was in charge of welcoming him and his apprentices.
"Hehe, Mr. Evans, are you satisfied with the Holm Kingdom?" Lazar asked with his signature smile as bright as the sun.
Lucian was very relaxed and replied humorously: "The ladies and ladies are very beautiful, and their costumes are very different from the mainland style, there are complicated cake skirts, light long skirts, bright colors, beautiful lace and ruffles, pleats, etc., but what disappoints me is that they seem to be a bit conservative, all the clothes are high necks, only a white neck is exposed. By the way, Lazar, just call me Evans."
"Haha, Evans, this is something you don't know how to appreciate." Lazar let out a laugh that all men understood, "I always think that conservatism and concealment can give people a greater desire to explore. Human nature is like this, and we always don't know how to cherish things that are easy to obtain."
Lucian nodded slightly: "But what impressed me the most was that the Holm Kingdom, whether men or women, seemed to like to wear a hat?" This is very rare in Aalto, and often only clergy and older gentlemen like to wear floppy hats.
"Evans, you observe carefully, this is the good quality that a magician needs to have. In Holm, wearing a hat is a form of etiquette, and you will need to get used to it in the future, such as the formal hat for ladies is a wide-brimmed hat with a beautiful long ribbon and tassels at the back of the head, and a gauze hat with a hazy veil, usually a light small soft hat inlaid with feathers and flowers. Men's hats are much more modest, ordinary commoners wear bowler hats and wide-brimmed hats, while we gentlemen wear top hats of different heights and everyday soft hats."
Lazar pointed to the top of his head, "Of course, ties, bow ties, suits or double-breasted dresses are also indispensable.
After slowly using the conversation between men to shorten the distance with Lazar, Lucian changed the subject without a trace: "I don't know what are the restrictions on magicians performing magic in the Kingdom of Holm?"
"Like a sword. If you hurt someone, you will be punished by law, but official magicians have the status equivalent to a lord, and less serious things only need to pay a certain fine. As for the rest, look there." Lazar pointed out the car window.
Lucian turned his head to look and saw dozens of children surrounding a middle-aged man in a gray suit next to the fountain pool in a square. He took his black top hat in his hand, and kept taking things out of it, flowers, bread, stones, etc., and finally a flock of white pigeons flew out, causing the children to applaud and cheer happily.
"Magic tricks, magic apprentices?" Due to the distance, Lucian asked suspiciously.
Lazar took a sip of his lipstick wine and nodded with a smile: "Yes, since the council began to educate apprentices in schools, the number of magic apprentices in several countries has grown rapidly, and there are more and more people who cannot become official magicians. But they all know the words, they all have a lot of knowledge, and it is easy to make a good life for themselves.
Lucian, who had already learned from Astal and Tom that there was a magic school in the council, was puzzled and asked casually: "What is the current percentage of magic apprentices who have been promoted to official magicians in the magic school?"
"It's a lot better than the ancient inheritance. In ancient magic empires, without strong spiritual talents, they could only rely on potions and various dangerous magic rituals, and often none of the thousand apprentices could advance to magicians. And now, with the study of arcane, the requirements for the spiritual strength of the apprentices have been greatly reduced, and about five out of a hundred apprentices can become official magicians."
Lazar looked at Lucian with a bright smile: "However, this is not what you need to worry about, Evans, you are already a formal magician and have surpassed many apprentices. You just need to work hard and learn arcane without any prejudice, and I believe that in a year or two you will be a qualified real magician. By the way, what kind of magician are you?"
Lucian did not hide it: "I am good at astronomical and elemental magic, but I haven't thought about what I will specialize in in the future."
"Hehe, I happen to be an elemental mage, a member of the 'Elemental Will', have you heard of 'Elemental Will'?" Lazar played with the empty wine glass in his hand.
Of course I've heard that I have the Holm Crown Ring now, Lucian replied with a smile while thinking: "I heard Mr. Astal mention it, do you want to invite me to join Lazar?"
"Haha, Evans, you're thinking too much." Lazar said jokingly: "Unlike the 'Pale Hand' organization that absorbs both good and bad, those who can join the 'Elemental Will' are all elite magicians who have been assessed, and they need to have at least a formal arcanist level. Hey, 'Pale Hand' they really don't need to distinguish between good and bad, anyway, what matters to them is the corpse, if it's not good enough, there are corpses that can come in handy."
Lucian listened to Lazar's slander, and could only silently think that "Elemental Will" and "Pale Hand" were indeed full of contradictions, and even Lazar, an obviously not intermediate magician, couldn't help but sneer when he mentioned the other party: "So, Lazar, you have an official arcanist level?"
Originally, Lucian wanted to say, "So, Lazar, you are an elite magician?" But thinking about the irony, he changed his mind to ask about the level of the arcanist.
Lazar's back straightened slightly, and he paused his right hand playing with the wine glass, trying to flatten his smile: "One of the first-level elemental magic I improved at the beginning of this year, 'Lazar's Burning Hand', was evaluated by the council's 'Arcane Review Committee', and I got two arcane points, plus the previous eight, and finally became a first-level arcanist and a second-ring magician. After that, he was absorbed into the 'Elemental Will' as a member."
Although he tried his best to cover it up, his tone and description still clearly revealed a sense of self-satisfaction and satisfaction.
"Lazar, you don't look very old?" Lucian didn't understand how difficult Arcane Points were for beginner magicians, but he was slightly surprised by Lazar's second-ring magician level.
Lazar picked up the red wine bottle on the small wooden table fixed between the two of them, and poured some red wine into his glass again: "I just turned twenty-two, hehe, two years older than you, Evans."
Because of his calm temperament and lack of immaturity, he is often mistaken for being around twenty years old, so Lucian took the opportunity to report his age as twenty years old, which is different from the eighteen-year-old musician Lucian Evans: "Lazar, you are really an outstanding genius."
"Hehe, nothing, I'm too far away from those real geniuses. For example, Mr. Ulysses in "Elemental Will" has unimaginable talent in the field of elemental magic, and at the age of twenty-two, he has become a second-level arcanist and an intermediate magician, and now at the age of thirty-three, he is a fourth-level arcanist and a five-ring elemental mage. And there are many geniuses like him, like Larry and Mr. Timothy in the organization."
Lazar didn't have much jealousy for these geniuses, because their achievements had long been destroyed by their comparation. "And the genius I admire the most in the field of elemental magic, in addition to the great arcanist Lord Hathaway, is Lady Meredith, the princess of the Kingdom of Holm, who won the 'Crown of Holm' award at the age of twenty-three, and is also a rare genius whose arcane level exceeds the magic level since the establishment of the Magic Council. After winning the award, she was only a ring elemental mage, but she turned out to be a level 4 arcanist, but unfortunately ......"
Touching the "Mo" ring in his pocket, Lucian felt like he was hearing an acquaintance in a foreign country: "I know the story of Ms. Meredith, except for the final choice, it is sincerely admirable."
Lazar shook his glass, watching the blood-red liquid rippling in the transparent glass, his smile becoming brighter: "As a member of the Elemental Will, I thank Evans for your admiration on behalf of the deceased Ms. Meredith. Hehe, although we haven't invited you to join yet, I don't think any organization will refuse to observe you, a genius who can learn ancient magic and become a full-fledged magician before the age of twenty."
"In addition to the guidance of intermediate and advanced magicians, numerous arcane research materials, complete laboratories, sufficient materials and wealth, you may also obtain the advanced ritual of two legendary magic professions, one is the 'Elemental Dominator' jointly owned with the Council and the Royal Magic Academy of Holm, and the other is the 'Creator' who learns both alchemy and elemental arts at the same time, and is also our unique 'Creator'."
"Evans, as long as you can obtain the official arcanist level before the age of thirty, the door to the elemental will be open!"
In fact, it might be more appropriate for me to replace Ms. Meredith, bored and scolded Lucian, who was playing with the Holm crown ring, and was more satisfied that he did not receive the invitation directly.
In this regard, Lucian agreed with Astar's words, when the level is low, it is best to avoid getting involved in the competition within the magic council, study and research with peace of mind, and wait until the strength grows before it is too late to choose.
"I am good at astrology and elemental systems, and if I want to join an organization in the future, I will definitely give priority to elemental will." Lucian tried to be as sincere and perfunctory as possible.
Seeing Lucian's statement, Lazar nodded in satisfaction: "If you specialize in star systems, you can also choose the tower."
It seems that the relationship between "tower" and "elemental will" is not bad.
Then he looked outside: "Evans, are you playing in 'Puerto Padre' for a few days, or do you go directly to Alinge?"
"I can't wait to go to Alinge." Lucian replied without hesitation.
Lazar smiled and put down his wine glass, then asked the coachman to drive directly into an ordinary-looking garden villa.
As soon as he crossed the gate, the surroundings immediately became gray, as if a mist was coming.
When he came out of the "mist", Lucian saw a scene he couldn't imagine at all, eight rails were spread in pairs in front of him, and a dark and gloomy eight-car "train" stopped closest to him.
Annick and other apprentices in the back carriages were shocked by this strange sight and made noisy sounds.
"Welcome to the magic steam train to Allinge."
Lazar was satisfied with Lucian's surprise, stretched out his right hand, and made an inviting gesture.
(End of this chapter)