Chapter 228: Chapter 227 From today on, you will have countless dads Chapter 228: Chapter 227 From today on, you will have countless dads “Welco to White Stone Tower,” the witch Madeth greeted with a smile. However, in the next mont, her smile vanished, and she adopted a serious deanor as she addressed everyone. “But, how long you can stay here will depend on each of your abilities.”
Uh, this…
The crowd was stunned. Madeth stepped aside and after a few steps, she turned back and coldly scolded the still-standing crowd, “What are you doing standing around like a bunch of silly geese? Planning to sunbathe? Didn’t you see I’m leaving? Follow !”
“Uh, yes.” Startled, everyone hurriedly followed, trailing Madeth for several hundred ters until they stopped in front of a small stone house in the corner of a plaza.
With a “squeak,” Madeth opened the door of the stone house and walked in. She fiddled with the doorfra at the entrance, then sat down behind a desk inside the stone house.
Looking at the people outside, Madeth spoke, “Alright, now I will conduct a pre-enrollnt talent test for you all. Each of you will co into the room one by one. Who’s first? Don’t waste my ti! Hurry up!”
Everyone looked at each other hesitantly. Just then, Richard saw Nancy take the lead and walk into the stone house.
Richard noticed that the mont Nancy entered the stone house, a flash of light passed over the door, seemingly from so magical tools being activated, probably for testing a wizard’s talent—a thod seemingly more convenient than the spell used by the deceased Third-level Apprentice Hua’er in Cuijin City.
Indeed, after the bright light flashed over the doorfra, Nancy walked inside the stone house. Madeth raised an eyebrow, her expression softened, and she said gently, “Ah, a high-level talent, and a beautiful girl at that. Tsk, not bad. What’s your na?”
“Nancy,” Nancy replied.
“Nancy, huh.” Madeth nodded as she rummaged under the table and pulled out a rectangular, rounded tal naplate about two centiters wide, seven to eight centiters long, and a few milliters thick. The tal naplate glead with a bright golden luster, looking very sturdy—its composition was unknown. The reverse side bore a series of characters and a miniature image of White Stone Tower, while the front side was blank.
“Nancy, nice na.” Madeth mumbled to herself and gently ran her onion-white fingers over the front of the tal naplate. The “shush” sound of etching resonated as tal powder fell onto the table, with Nancy’s na now engraved in the center of the naplate’s front.
Tossing the engraved naplate to Nancy, Madeth spoke, “This is your identity badge. With it, you are now a student of White Stone Tower Academy—from now on, an elite student. Alright, nothing more for now, go out and wait.”
“Yes,” Nancy said, as she walked out of the stone house.
Madeth looked up and called, “Next!”
A boy walked in, and the stone house’s door fra flickered again, the light dimr than when Nancy had entered.
Madeth’s face fell, and the previously llow tone of her voice grew colder, “An interdiate talent, and not a particularly handso boy either.”
The boy inside the stone house twitched the corners of his mouth awkwardly.
“Nevertheless, it’ll have to do; you can still be considered a formal student,” Madeth stated, then asked the boy, “What’s your na?”
“Terence Julli Axi Burn Angustav,” the boy hurriedly pronounced his full na.
“Terence Julli Axi…” repeating less than half, Madeth stopped, frowning, “Such a long na?!”
“That’s right, Witch Madeth,” the boy hurriedly explained. “I’m from Amar. In our tradition, we incorporate the nas of distinguished individuals from both our father’s and mother’s lineages into our own nas. From my father’s line, there’s General Angustav who won many wars; from my mother’s line, there’s the esteed poet Axi Burn, who penned many cherished poems. So I…”
“Stop!” Madeth snapped coldly, cutting the boy off rcilessly, “I don’t care where you are from or what traditions you have, but I really dislike such a long na.”
“So…” the boy started.
“From today onwards, your na will be John,” Madeth declared, giving the boy a common na that had no connection with his original na whatsoever, and her tone left no room for objections, “John will be your only na!”
The boy couldn’t help but widen his eyes, staring at Madeth blankly, clearly not expecting this outco.
“Change the na if it’s long? That’s unreasonable, isn’t it? He’s used his original na for over a decade, and now without any preparation, it’s suddenly changed to John? Isn’t that a bit abrupt?”
The boy felt like a thousand wild horses were racing through his heart, but when he looked at Madeth, his lips moved, yet he dared not utter a word in rebuttal.
At that mont, Madeth had taken out another tal naplate, similar in size to the one given to Nancy—rounded rectangular shape, two centiters wide, seven to eight centiters long, a few milliters thick. However, the material was slightly different; it was silver-white in color and seed a little less impressive than Nancy’s golden naplate.
“Swipe!”
Madeth’s pale fingers swiftly moved across the naplate, engraved John on it, and then tossed it to the boy.
“Next,” Madeth commanded.
“Uh, yes.” The boy, now called John, took the silver naplate, his expression hesitating as if he wanted to say more but just walked out.
Another boy walked in.
Madeth took out a silver naplate and held it in her hand, looking at the new boy, her tone not as cold as before, sowhat languidly asked, “What… what is your na?”
“I…” The boy hesitated.
“Hurry up!” Madeth urged.
“I… my na is John,” the new boy replied briskly, quickly adding, “Teacher Madeth, my real na is John.”
Madeth: “…”
Silence reigned in the stone room for a mont.
“John?!” Madeth’s eyes sharpened, staring at the boy.
The boy, sowhat fearful, quickly tried to prove it, “Teacher Madeth, I swear, my real na is John, full na is John Paul Bacon.”
“John Paul Bacon?” Madeth squinted, her fingers rubbing on the tal naplate as the tal powder fell off, the engraving completed, then tossed it to the boy.
The boy then saw clearly engraved on it: Bacon.
“From today onwards, you are not allowed to call yourself John. Your na will be Bacon—only Bacon.”
The boy: “…”
Madeth waved her hand, “That’s it! You, go out, next!”
The boy, now nad Bacon, walked out helplessly, and another boy walked in.
Madeth spoke up, looking straight at the incoming boy, “Don’t tell , you also go by John.”
“I…” The third boy was noticeably nervous, intimidated by Madeth’s formidable presence, and couldn’t speak for a long ti.
Impatiently, Madeth took out a silver naplate, her finger swiped across, engraved the na, and tossed it to the third boy.
After receiving it, the boy saw it clearly engraved with another very common na—Johnson—signifying ‘son of John.’
The boy: “…” Instantly felt like he had countless fathers.
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