Chapter 19: Black Iron Mage, Skill Exchange (1)

After waiting at home for the butler to return, giving him some instructions, and resting for a night, Donald set off again. By the time he arrived in Stone City, it was already the next morning. To avoid revealing his ability to create spatial imprints, Donald rented three carriages to transport all the corpses of magical beasts to Stone City.

Originally, Donald planned to go straight to the auction house, but recalling Master Messehl’s thorough guidance last time and the help he had received when verifying his identity at the Stone City Mage Association, he decided to give one level-five magical beast to the master as a token of gratitude as an apprentice.

So, he instructed the drivers to take a detour to the entrance of the mage association. The drivers couldn’t enter the association, so Donald arranged for them to watch over the carriages while he carried a corpse of a level-five magical beast alone and entered the association.

It was still waiter William who was in charge of reception in the front hall. Upon seeing Donald again, William approached him warmly.

“I have a gift for Master Messehl. I wonder if he’s in the association?”

“Sir Knight, what a coincidence! Master Messehl has just returned from outside. I’ll go inform him for you!”

Donald handed over a Silver Moon and said, “Thank you, William!”

William accepted the reward and thanked him respectfully before turning to enter the association. Soon after, Master Messehl, whom Donald hadn’t seen in days, came out personally to meet him.

“The master has come to see me in person. It’s Donald who is rude!”

The old mage waved his hand dismissively and said nonchalantly, “Among mages, there’s no need for all the formalities common among nobles. I only learned that you’re a rare summoner after hearing about your competition with Mage Xue! You’ve given me a great surprise! You’re now the only summoner in our North County, and you even defeated a level-three mage during your apprenticeship—many mages in the association are eager to get to know you!”

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Donald opened the bundle in his hands and said, “It was just luck. I didn’t tell the master last time because I myself didn’t understand the difference between a summoner and an ordinary mage. It was only after the master advised me to read the association’s books that I realized I had awakened a summoner’s talent! This magical beast is a gift from me, hunted by myself, as a thank you for the master’s help and guidance!”

Messel glanced at the corpse of the magical beast and said in surprise, “This is a level-five magical beast, the Sloth Bear. Have you already reached such a level? You’re truly a genius! It seems I need to change my teaching method for you!”
He then added, “Magical beast materials are very important for mages and have always been scarce. I’ll take these this time. If you have any more corpses of magical beasts in the future—whether it’s crystal cores, bones, or blood—I’m sure the mages at the guild will be happy to purchase them at market price.”
Donald was intrigued and asked, “Does the guild also buy magical beast materials? I thought only merchants bought those!”
Messel smiled and said, “Most of the materials those merchants buy end up in the hands of mages anyway!”
“Then wouldn’t that cost a lot more?”
In response to Donald’s confusion, the old mage explained, “Mages aren’t poor. For those who urgently need materials, especially alchemists, spending a little more gold sol to buy from merchants saves a lot of time. The extra cost is worth it!”
After processing this, Donald bowed to the old mage and invited him, “In that case, I have a deal to make with the mages at the guild! Please come with me!”
The old mage followed Donald out of the guild, somewhat puzzled. Seeing three cargo carts in front, along with a strong smell of blood, he exclaimed in astonishment, “Could it be that all of these are…”
“That’s right!” Donald replied with a smile. “I caught quite a few magical beasts this time, mostly at levels three and four. Since the crystal cores are useful for my summoning spells, I took them all out. I originally planned to sell the remaining intact corpses to an auction house, but since you mentioned that the guild’s mages need magical beast materials, I’m willing to sell them to you at 10% below market price!”
The old mage greatly appreciated Donald’s approach but said, “No need for a lower price. Mages aren’t short of a few gold sols, and the market price is already much cheaper than buying from merchants! Have the drivers get off the carts. Leave these to me!”
Amidst Donald’s curiosity and the drivers’ shock, the old mage waved his staff, and the doors of the three carts opened on their own. One by one, the corpses of the magical beasts flew out, gathered in midair, and then passed through the barrier outside to enter the guild.
Donald realized this was the result of Messel using his powerful mental strength combined with a simple first-level spell, Mage’s Hand.

Both Mage Hand and Mage Trick are spells that use mental power to control objects. However, while the first-level Mage Trick can only move light objects such as dust, feathers, or small stones, first-level Mage Hand is generally capable of lifting objects weighing dozens of kilograms. Yet only someone like Maelthor, who is just one step away from becoming a high-level mage and possesses strong mental power, can easily cast several instances of Mage Hand at once to move the hundreds of kilograms of monster carcasses in those three carts. After completing this, the old mage showed no sign of fatigue, still looking relaxed. Donald, deeply impressed, went up to offer some praise before returning to the club with the old mage, leaving the three astonished cart drivers standing there in shock. As the leader of the Stone City Club and the most powerful mage, Maelthor gave the order, and all the notified mages gathered in the club’s council hall. Even several mages located elsewhere in Stone City rushed back upon receiving the message. Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, the old mage stood up from his seat at the head of the table. “Gentlemen, I’ve called everyone here today to announce two matters!” he said, pointing to Donald beside him. “The first is to introduce my apprentice, Donald Merlinar. He is the rumored sole summoner in the North County. Since Merlinar’s abilities have surpassed those of a third-level mage, everyone should treat him with the respect befitting his strength, rather than treating him as just another ordinary apprentice!” “Greetings, masters!” When the old mage mentioned his name, Donald quickly stood up and performed a standard mage’s salute to all the mages in the hall. Then he stood straight, meeting their gazes with firmness and unwavering confidence. Faced with the stares of over a dozen mages, each at least at the second level, even Donald, though very confident, felt a bit uneasy. It was similar to when he was in university in his past life—standing alone on the award stage in the auditorium, facing the attention of thousands of people below, causing his legs to tremble and his speech to become slurred.

It wasn’t a psychological issue with Donald; rather, it was because mages possessed mental strength far beyond that of ordinary people. Some mid-level mages at the fourth or fifth level could even have mental strength dozens of times greater than that of ordinary individuals. Moreover, mages were capable of projecting their mental energy. Even if they didn’t deliberately do so, this powerful mental energy would involuntarily spill out, creating a mental aura that suppressed any creatures within it. Only those of higher rank could control it freely and suppress their aura like ordinary people.

The mages were quite satisfied with Donald’s performance. Being able to withstand the mental auras of so many mages with an apprentice-level mental strength clearly indicated exceptional talent and potential—something they had never encountered before.

Faced with this suddenly appearing genius apprentice, most of them adopted a friendly attitude. A few, like Messehl, even nodded at him with a warm smile.

Of course, there were a few mages who looked down on him, but none of them showed jealousy or disdain like the second-level mage Narlon and the Snow Mage. This made Donald feel somewhat relieved. As for the Snow Mage, having lost to an apprentice, he and his friend Narlon were too ashamed to show up in public and hadn’t returned to the guild for two or three days. These were the details William, the front desk attendant, had told him.

After meeting the mages formally and becoming somewhat familiar with them—though not all of them, as the guild’s records showed there were around 140 full-fledged mages in the entire North County, only a dozen were present—most of the third-level and above mages in the North County were here. Together with Messehl, they represented the highest-ranking mage forces in the region, which would be very beneficial for Donald’s future development.

Then, Messehl used a minor spell to open the room on the left side of the council hall and said loudly, “The second item is that this apprentice, Merlinna, has provided our guild’s mages with 39 fresh monster corpses at the third level or above. Everyone can buy what they need at market price! Originally, Merlinna planned to sell the monsters at a price lower than market rate, but I rejected that idea. We are all full-fledged mages and seniors who have been mages for many years—how could we let an apprentice suffer a loss? Moreover, even at market price, it’s much cheaper than what those greedy merchants charge. So, since the number of monsters is limited, everyone here should discuss and decide how to distribute them! I won’t get involved in that!”

Having reached the peak of the intermediate level for many years, Messel no longer cared much about magical beast materials below level five, so he didn’t compete with the other mages for those beast corpses. Besides, he already had one level-five magical beast. Seeing so many beast corpses, the dozen or so mages all showed excited expressions—these were the perfect materials for their levels. Even a few younger mages cheered. This time, the mages found Donald increasingly likable, and even the two mages who had previously disdained him now looked at him more kindly. For most mages, there are only two criteria for forming friendships: the knowledge and strength of the other person, and their attitude toward others. Arrogance doesn’t arouse disgust among mages as long as you meet the criteria for it, but greed and ignorance definitely provoke their aversion.