Colin hadn't reached the door when it was pushed open, and a red-haired man walked in.
"Lord Red Fla," Leiden and Jero hurriedly greeted in unison, with respect.
"Instructor Banette," Colin also hurriedly greeted.
He listened to the way Leiden and Jero addressed Berkeley and felt a bit surprised in his heart.
'So Berkeley is the Lord Red Fla they spoke of?'
Berkeley glanced over the three of them, casually nodded, and then walked straight toward the bookshelves on the left.
He seed rather busy.
Colin watched Berkeley's retreating figure for a mont before continuing towards the outside of the door.
The island was really small; he hadn't expected Berkeley, whom he had t by chance earlier, to be his imdiate superior now.
Jero had previously introduced to him upstairs: In the School, logistics, protection, and mining were each managed by three special Advanced Wizard Apprentices.
They were stronger than the typical Advanced Wizard Apprentices and were known as Peak Wizard Apprentices.
They were the three most hopeful candidates in the School to advance to Official Wizard.
The Peak Wizard Apprentice in charge of protection, also the direct superior of both the Guard Team and the Patrol Team, was the Lord Red Fla they ntioned.
That was the Berkeley Barnett he knew.
Colin gently pulled the door open.
"Wait a mont."
Just then, as if rembering sothing, Berkeley suddenly turned and called out to him.
He looked at the silver badge on Colin's chest with so surprise and said, "You've advanced to Interdiate Apprentice?"
"…Yes, Lord Banette."
Colin frowned, apprehensions rising in his mind as he reflexively glanced at Leiden.
'Hadn't he reported this to Berkeley already?'
Seeing Leiden's unnatural expression, he seed to understand sothing and added for Berkeley:
"I've just advanced not long ago... The School assigned to the Guard Team, and today is my first day reporting."
"Hmm." Berkeley nodded, then asked, "Have you received your equipnt?"
"I have."
"Good, do well here at headquarters in the future."
The mont Berkeley's words fell, Leiden and Jero's faces suddenly turned sour.
They both looked at Colin with pleading eyes.
Colin finally understood.
He lowered his head, pretending not to see the look in Leiden and Jero's eyes, and said solemnly, "But wasn't I assigned to West City, Lord Banette?"
Berkeley raised his eyebrows, looked at the puzzled Colin, then turned back to Leiden and Jero.
"My lord, I think I rembered wrong and accidentally assigned him to West City!" Leiden hurriedly explained.
Berkeley's expression cooled, and anger flickered in his eyes.
He clearly saw that Leiden was lying.
The assignnts for the Guard Team were always rotated; after the East City was last, it should be headquarters in the Middle City this ti.
If one wanted to change to another location, there had to be a mutual agreent for exchange, and both parties had to be willing,
and finally, they had to apply to him, and only after his approval could the switch be made.
Colin in front of him was clearly unaware of this, and Berkeley had not received any applications, let alone given approval...
Berkeley suppressed his anger and said nothing, just kept a cold face and continued to stare at Leiden and Jero.
Under his icy presence, Leiden's defensive voice grew fainter until, unable to bear the pressure, he spilled the beans at last.
"…That's the situation, Lord Red Fla, it was my greed that blinded !" Leiden said, hanging his head low.
"My lord, it's my fault too, I shouldn't have covered for him!" Jero added regretfully.
After listening, Berkeley stood expressionless for a while before finally, he began to speak slowly:
"I'll deal with the two of you in a mont."
He turned his head toward Colin and asked,
"What's your choice, Leonard, to stay at headquarters or to go to West City?"
Colin reflexively wanted to answer stay in the city, but when he looked up and t Berkeley's calm gaze, he suddenly changed his mind and said,
"...Can you tell the difference between the two, Instructor Barnett?"
Berkeley's expression remained calm as he nodded and replied,
"If you choose to stay at headquarters, it'll be as usual, no different from the norm;
If you choose to go to West City, the eighty Magic Stones Leiden ntioned will all be yours."
His tone was calm, unbiased, rely stating the facts.
Colin pondered for a mont, then asked, "What specifically is the difference between West City and the city center, Instructor? I've heard that West City is especially dangerous, and even wizards have died there..."
"...West City isn't as bustling as the city center, with taverns and restaurants being quite rare, but it's closer to the Magic Vein, therefore the concentration of Magic Power is higher."
"Because it's close to the Dark Forest, fierce beasts occasionally erge, making it indeed very dangerous, but fierce beasts serve as good practice for witchcraft."
"Regarding the wizards you ntioned who have died, this is true... However, casualties among our Guard Team mbers are exceedingly rare."
"For a newcor like you, there will be a month's buffer period. During this month, you don't need to do anything, just need to learn the four spells provided by your School."
"Once you've learned them, you'll start being responsible for patrols, and usually, in the beginning, you'll be paired up with older apprentices."
Berkeley paused, then added,
"Of course, this doesn't an you're guaranteed to be safe from life-threatening dangers, as I said. It's rare for the Guard Team to have casualties, but it's not non-existent."
Colin thought quietly to himself, and soon, he made his choice.
He looked calmly at Berkeley and said, "I choose West City, Lord Barnett."
After hearing so much about it, he was clear about the differences between the city center and West City.
If this had been in the past, he would have definitely preferred to choose a comfortable life within the city, but now his mindset was completely different.
Power is the foundation for standing in this world!
To give up the pursuit of power is tantamount to a slow suicide.
The drawback of the lower concentration of Magic Power in the city center was intolerable for him.
His hesitation before was due to the dangers of West City.
But now, after Berkeley's detailed explanation, he understood that West City was not as dangerous as he had imagined.
Most of those who had died were probably wizards from other forces, perhaps even just Basic Level Wizard Apprentices.
As an Interdiate Wizard Apprentice of the School, and with Golden Paper at his disposal, he believed that being cautious would be enough to avoid losing his life.
Moreover, if he chose to stay in the city center, wouldn't he be missing out on eighty Magic Stones for nothing?
Eighty Magic Stones was not a small amount, and Colin had never had access to so many Magic Stones before.
Although he didn't imdiately need so many Magic Stones, it was always good to have more.
For now, at least the Limit Breaking Points needed for Bright Crystal Making I to break limits again had increased tenfold.
If the second Limit Breaking also required a tenfold increase, it wouldn't be long before he found himself in short supply of Magic Stones.
So he needed to start accumulating Magic Stones as early as possible.
Upon hearing Colin's choice, Berkeley nodded, not saying much else.
He simply instructed Leiden to take out eighty Magic Stones and hand them to him.
Colin was sowhat surprised; Berkeley now had Leiden directly give him the Magic Stones, undoubtedly saving him a lot of trouble.
Leiden, looking sowhat pained, took a purse and fished out eighty Magic Stones to hand over to Colin.
Colin accepted the Magic Stones without a word, glancing at Leiden.
Leiden's face was full of pain, but beyond that, there seed to be no other emotion.
"Thank you... Lord Red Fla, I will now go to West City to report," Colin turned his head to Berkeley and said.
"Off you go," Berkeley nodded.
Colin pushed open the door and walked out.
It was getting late, and he needed to hurry to report to West City.
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