Chapter 003: The Gatekeeper

Upon hearing Du Fan’s words, the two magicians exchanged a glance. After a moment, the one with a gentle expression seemed to take a breath and said, “Are you Lord Du Fan, the third young master of the Green family?”
Du Fan nodded slightly and replied, “That’s right.”
The magician studied Du Fan again, a hint of sarcasm appearing on his lips as he seemed to mutter to himself, “Some so-called genius? He’s just a complete novice who knows nothing…”
After saying that, he glanced at his companion.
The cold-faced magician snorted and said, “Since Miss Kristi invited you… let’s forget what just happened. But, novice, I warn you—we’re still being polite. We might overlook your misuse of mental energy, but if you act recklessly once inside the guild, even with Miss Kristi present, she probably won’t be able to intercede for you… Do you understand what I mean?”
Du Fan saw sincerity in the magician’s eyes and was slightly surprised. But since the magician’s attitude had suddenly changed drastically, Du Fan couldn’t help but show respect. He nodded and said, “I understand. I definitely won’t act recklessly once inside.”
The magician nodded and said, “That’s good… Then, please come in!”
With that, the two magicians waved their wands almost simultaneously. It was unclear what spells they cast, but lightning flashed from both wands and struck the wall inside the gate.
The seemingly impenetrable wall melted rapidly like cheese under a hot iron under that lightning, and a passage appeared before Du Fan.
The gentle-faced magician smiled and said, “Young Master Du Fan, please come in… This spell won’t last long.”
Du Fan sensed some hidden meaning in his smile and shook his head, looking at the passage ahead.
Feeling the sarcasm in the magicians’ eyes, Du Fan shook his head again but didn’t overthink it. He simply gritted his teeth and stepped through.
What seemed like a very long passage was crossed in just a few steps. In an instant, Du Fan was already inside the magicians’ guild.
As soon as he entered, he was overwhelmed by a strong magical aura.

Here, in the sky, it seemed to be covered with a faint glow. The originally blue sky took on an extremely pale hue due to the effect of the magic circle. Du Fan frowned and glanced several times but couldn’t figure out what purpose this colored sky served.

Beneath this colored sky, the vast Mage Guild wasn’t as mysterious as Du Fan had imagined; instead, it had a somewhat mundane atmosphere. The people coming and going were dressed in various colored magic robes. Although Du Fan didn’t understand the ranks represented by mages, he knew that these people’s status couldn’t be very high. They all seemed indifferent, holding either piles of documents or lots of magic tools and materials, appearing extremely busy.

After observing for a while, Du Fan realized that not even one-tenth or one-twelfth of the magic tools and materials could be recognized by him. This Mage Guild headquarters was truly extraordinary.

As Du Fan was watching intently, he suddenly heard a cold voice beside him say, “Those magic apprentices mostly do menial work for mages. The things in their hands are just ordinary documents, tools, and materials—what’s there to see? The truly valuable items are still beyond their reach given their status.”

Du Fan was slightly surprised. He naturally knew that so-called magic apprentices were those who, though somewhat talented in learning magic, couldn’t even qualify as first-level mages… Of course, in a sense, he was also a magic apprentice now…

Looking at these busy magic apprentices, Du Fan couldn’t help but say, “Respected Mage, didn’t you say that mages below level five aren’t allowed to enter this place?”

The cold-faced mage stepped forward a few paces, glanced back at Du Fan, and poured all his disdain into his eyes: “You’re indeed an amateur. I only said that mages below level five aren’t qualified. When did I say that magic apprentices aren’t allowed in here? Young Master Du Fan, don’t forget—although mages conduct various magical researches, they’re still human beings who need to eat and sleep. Moreover, such researches require various materials, supplies, and tools… Do you expect those high-ranking mages to handle these things? They don’t have the time for such trivialities… So naturally, these messy tasks fall to the magic apprentices… Perhaps now you can understand a bit better—these magic apprentices are like servants to the high-ranking mages… Only their status is many times higher than that of ordinary servants!”
Du Fan sighed slightly, having understood. Mages, with their lofty status, naturally couldn’t hire a bunch of servants to do chores like ordinary nobles, as it didn’t fit their “noble” identity. But having these magic apprentices, who couldn’t even pass the exam for level one mages, do such tasks was not only convenient but also justified.
As for these magic apprentices, they merely bore the title of mages while doing work meant for lower-class people—which could be considered a form of tragedy.
Seeing Du Fan’s expression, the cold-faced mage snorted and said, “Young Master Du Fan, I’ll kindly remind you again—whether we’re mages or magic apprentices, none of us are easy to provoke. So it’s best you drop that pointless pitiful attitude… If you suffer heavy losses, we won’t be able to explain it to Miss Kristi.”
Du Fan nodded slightly, turned to look at another mage behind him, and was about to say thank you when he couldn’t help but exclaim in shock at what he saw.
From this angle, the wall at the entrance of the Mage Guild was gone, revealing the exquisite scenery outside clearly.

The mage with a gentle expression saw Du Fan’s look and smiled, saying, “It’s alright, Young Master Du Fan. There’s nothing to be surprised about… This gate has always been like this. We’ve set up a magic array at the entrance. To outsiders, it just appears to be a wall. Only those with a mage rank badge can enter from the outside without any hindrance… As for looking out from inside, there are no obstacles either, which is why we could see you when you were standing at the entrance just now.”
Du Fan frowned and asked, “So, if one doesn’t wear a mage rank badge or use the magic you just mentioned to guide the way, it’s impossible to enter?”
“Of course,” replied the cold-faced mage behind Du Fan with a sneer. “If outsiders break in, leaving aside whether they can enter this magic array or not… this magic array is actually a space magic. Without a special method, we don’t even know where they might be transported… Those lucky enough might end up in the jungles of the south or the ice fields of the north, which isn’t too bad… But those unlucky enough to end up in deserts, swamps, or places filled with magical beasts… it’s not our fault.”
Du Fan gave a bitter smile, inwardly marveling at how impressive the Mage Guild really was. As far as he knew, setting up such a space magic array required a considerable amount of magical materials.
Seeing Du Fan’s expression, the two mages showed no reaction, with the cold-faced one continuing, “Well, Young Master Du Fan, if you’re interested, go around and explore the Mage Guild. It’s rare to come here, so it’s good to take a look… As for Miss Kristy, we’ll send someone to inform her… She should be coming to find you soon. Just remember, don’t act recklessly inside the Mage Guild.”
With that, the two mages stopped looking at Du Fan and stepped back together, ending up on either side inside the gate.
Du Fan couldn’t help but be surprised inwardly. If he wasn’t mistaken, these two extremely powerful mages were probably just gatekeepers… The Mage Guild truly had many talented people. Although Du Fan couldn’t tell their ranks, they must be at least level five.

Mages above level five—let alone in the homes of minor nobles, even in the wealthy families of the capital—if such mages were willing to serve one’s family, the sacrifices they would be willing to make would certainly be substantial. Moreover, these two mages’ strengths were definitely beyond level five!
But currently, these two mages in the Mage Guild only held the position of gatekeepers, and their status was probably not much higher than that of ordinary magic apprentices… Thinking about it this way, the Mage Guild is indeed generous… At least in Du Fan’s family, they wouldn’t even use warriors above level three to guard the gates, let alone mages above level five?