BXBX NOVEL Chapter 113 - Intermediate Mages
"Hm? Oh, Kai Kai," Song Qian Long said while standing up, just as he was about to turn off the lamp on his desk. "What brings you here today, my godson?"
I wordlessly shut the door behind me, and closed my eyes. "There\'s something I need to inform you of. Well, actually, two things, now..."
"Hm...this seems serious. I am listening," Song Qian Long replied, sitting back down in his chair.
I took a seat opposite from him, and began explaining. "Alright. First thing - I have a request to make of you."
"A request? Hm...I cannot promise I will be able to fulfill it, but I will certainly try my best."
"Don\'t worry. If you can\'t even accomplish this, then you can\'t do anything else either," I replied ruthlessly. As he made a melodramatic pained gesture, I sighed. "All I need you to do is register a girl as a student here at this school."
Hearing this, he stopped his little act, and raised an eyebrow. "What is this? You found yourself another girlfriend? Goodness...Xuan Ying, Ruo Lan, I do not know if I should be feeling happy that my godson is such an attractive body, or angry that he\'s a womanizer..."
I desperately tried to hold back my anger as I clenched my fists. I was asking him to do something here, so I couldn\'t lose my temper. He was really pushing it right now though.
"In any case, I see no problem," Song Qian Long said at last after some thought. "Who exactly is this girl? I need her basic information in order to add her to the database."
I sighed in relief. "Her name is Obsidia. Black hair, red eyes, slightly shorter than me. She\'s a dragon, and her age...hm, her age...what?"
As I was busy contemplating how old Obsidia was, I noticed Song Qian Long staring at me with his jaw dropped open. I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"H-Hold on, Kai Kai...did you just say \'dragon\'?" my godfather said nervously.
"Uh, yeah. She\'s a dragon. Quite a rare species, too," I replied casually. I decided to just pass off her black scales and red eyes as a \'rare species\', since Song Qian Long didn\'t exactly know about the Chaos within me. He knew I could use all 21 Elements and had amplified magic power, but that was about the extent of it. In other words, he knew what I could do, but not why.
"I-I see...and you are certain this is true?" Song Qian Long furrowed his brows.
"Yeah, I witnessed her dragon form myself," I answered truthfully.
"Goodness...what am I going to do with you, Kai Kai...?" the old man before me sighed and murmured to himself.
I rolled my eyes in impatience. "Get on with it - can you do it or not?"
"If you mean enrolling her in the school, then yes, I can do that. However, you have to be very careful not to leak her identity as a dragon."
"No need to tell me that, I know."
After that, Song Qian Long quickly fired up his computer and the process was soon finished. In the end, we settled on listing Obsidia as 14, the same age as me. She would also be placed in the same class, just so I could look out for her and prevent any trouble from threatening to expose her identity. As an aside, we also determined her to be an Intermediate Mage...though her true power was far beyond that (then again, I was exceptionally strong for an Intermediate Mage as well).
"Alright...and that, is that," Song Qian Long let out a deep breath as he shut down his computer. "Now then...Kai Kai, you mentioned two things earlier. The first is now done, so what might the second be?"
"The second...it\'s far more severe."
Song Qian Long narrowed his eyes. "What happened, Kai Kai?"
"Just now - on the sidewalk right outside our school boundaries, I was attacked by a member of the Midnight Syndicate," I explained quietly.
"Impossible...The Midnight Syndicate? Did we not wipe them out last time?"
He was referring to the Ghosteye incident, of course. At the time, we had discovered a map which listed every Midnight Syndicate lair in Shenzhen. We then proceeded to investigate and eradicate each one. In other words, all traces of the Midnight Syndicate here in Shenzhen should\'ve been eliminated. However...reality says otherwise.
"We should have, but..." I trailed off. "Anyway, I have a good idea of who sent him, and that man\'s intentions."
Song Qian Long looked at me in surprise. "You do? Who is it? Who dares to harm my godson?"
Despite knowing full well no one else was in the vicinity and listening in, I still lowered my voice. "It\'s the Xuan family. Or more precisely, the current patriarch - Xuan Yang."
A vein bulged in the old man\'s forehead, and he slammed his fist down on the table. "That bastard...colluding with the Midnight Syndicate, eh? He puts his ancestors to shame, he puts the honor of the Four Great Families to shame!"
"Anyway...this is something I must solve myself," I said fiercely. "I just wanted to inform you of this, since you\'re the principal of this school. Make an announcement not to wander around at night or something. I don\'t want anyone else caught up in this."
"...Very well," Song Qian Long replied after a long silence. "I understand...the feud between you and that man date back to a year ago. I will not interfere in this matter, as much as I would like to."
I bowed my head slightly. "...Thank you."
*****
The next two days passed fairly peacefully. I stayed within school grounds at night, and told the girls what happened so they can do the same. Knowing the Midnight Syndicate, they wouldn\'t even hesitate to use underhanded tactics such as kidnapping someone close to me, after all. Thus, I had to warn the girls. I didn\'t tell them about the Xuan Yang part though, since that was family matters.
Today, school would be starting again for us. I was currently on my way to the Main Campus, along with the four girls. Mei Gui stayed behind as usual, but thanks to our shopping spree a couple days ago, I didn\'t need to worry about her starving to death. If she got bored, she also had her phone to play around with.
In addition to Feng Mian, Qing Yue, Yu An Xue, and Yu An Yan, I also had one more companion - Obsidia. In other words, I was walking not with four different beauties, but with five. Each had a different air and personality to them, but they were all goddesses in the eyes of others. As for me...I was just seen as even more of a womanizer (to the females) and a prick (to the males).
The reason we had Obsidia come with us today was mainly because she was a new student. If we left her alone, everyone would probably be trying to talk to her, given her looks. I wasn\'t against her socializing with others, but in the end, she was a dragon. If anyone else found out about that...it could spell massive trouble. And so, we collectively decided to have Obsidia stick with us. She didn\'t mind, either.
Anyway, we soon arrived at the school. Once we entered our classroom, however, we were immediately instructed by Mr. Wang to go to the Assembly Hall on the 1st floor. We complied, and began heading for the stairs.
The Assembly Hall was one of the few facilities at Shenzhen Magic High School that was shared between all students, regardless of age and gender. It was a massive room located off to the side on the 1st floor. Just like its name implies, it was a place where important assemblies were held. I had a good idea what today\'s assembly was going to be about, given that it was right after the Advancement Exams were finished...
Around 15 minutes after we entered the hall and found ourselves some seats, the assembly began. As an aside, I had insisted to sit in the corner, since I felt more comfortable there. Don\'t ask.
Song Qian Long stepped up to the podium, adjust the mic\'s level a bit, and spoke with a warm smile. "Good morning, students of Shenzhen Magic High School. I hope you are all having a wonderful day."
All chatter immediately died down within the room, and everyone turned to face Song Qian Long, who seemed pleased at this. He continued.
"I believe many of you already know what this assembly will be about, but for those of you who don\'t, allow me to explain. As you all have witnessed, this year\'s Advancement Exams finished very recently. It is tradition to host an assembly like this every year, after the Advancement Exams are over. Not only is it to formally congratulate all those who participated and passed, but it is also an imperative process to update or present the participants\' Mage IDs."
Obsidia, who was sitting beside me, patted my shoulder lightly. "Xuan Kai, what are Mage IDs?"
Being a dragon, I guess she has never heard of the term before in her life, huh?
"A Mage ID is a card issued to someone to prove their identity. Novice Mages don\'t get them since they are considered too young, but all Intermediate Mages are given one after they pass their Advancement Exams. This card will then go on to accompany them for their entire life, updating every time they pass an Advancement Exam," I explained. "The information on the card include the mage\'s name, age, gender, rank, and a picture of them."
"Huh...I see," Obsidia murmured in response, then turned back to look at Song Qian Long still giving his speech.
"We will first begin with the 6th Years, then move down from there," Song Qian Long announced. "All 6th Years who passed the exam, please stand up and form a line in front of me."
The 6th Years did as told, and soon all shuffled from their seats into a line running straight down the middle of the room, which was originally a pathway leading to higher seats. Now that I think about it, the layout of this room is pretty similar to a movie theater.
One by one, the students went up onto the stage and handed the principal their Mage IDs. He then in turn verified that the student in question did indeed pass by looking at a database in his laptop, perched atop the podium. After that, he slid the card through a special machine I couldn\'t make out from where I was sitting, then returned it to the student.
From what I knew, age automatically updated, but rank had to be manually changed with a special machine only certain individuals (usually principals of recognized schools) had access to. I assumed it was just some sort of technology or magic at work here, and didn\'t think too hard about it.
Song Qian Long then repeated the same process with the 4th Years, and after a long while, it was finally our turn - the 2nd Years, soon-to-be 3rd Years. Like the other years, we all formed one massive straight line spanning from the podium all the way to the end of the room, in between sets of seats. Like I said, the layout was similar to a movie theatre. Everyone in the 2nd Year passed their Advancement Exams, so our line was considerably longer than even the other years. As you go up, the exams get harder, after all.
Since we had been sitting near a corner (as I insisted), we ended up being last in line. It would probably take a while to get to us, but I didn\'t mind.
"Alright, 2nd Years. Starting today, you are all formally recognized as Intermediate Mages. And thus, you will all be receiving a Mage ID of your own. When you come up to the podium, state your name. I will hand each of you your respective cards," Song Qian Long instructed.
The first one to go up was Zhang Zhe Rui, Li Yi Fei\'s ex-lackey. Since his \'master\' had gotten expelled after trying to kill me in our team match, he now had no one to rely on as backing.
"Good morning, principal Song. My name is Zhang Zhe Rui, Class 2-A."
Oh, that\'s right. We\'re class A now, huh? That was one the rewards to come with winning the tournament.
Song Qian Long then began searching for something on his laptop. "Zhang Zhe Rui...Z...ah, found it. Alright, can you look at the camera here?"
There was apparently a camera installed on the back of his laptop, but I couldn\'t see it since I was too far away still. I assumed it was there to take pictures of us since we were getting new Mage IDs, and we needed a fairly recent picture on it. Zhang Zhe Rui complied, and the process was quickly over.
"Alright, that\'s done..." Song Qian Long muttered to himself.
Suddenly, the machine beside him began producing a static sound, and a card was slowly printed out. Song Qian Long grabbed it, reviewed the information on it one last time to make sure everything was right, then handed it to Zhang Zhe Rui.
"Here is your Mage ID, student Zhang Zhe Rui. Keep it safe."
"I will, principal Song," Zhang Zhe Rui replied, bowing slightly as an act of courtesy.
Losing your Mage ID was quite a problem, so the friendly reminder made sense. It was your very identity as a magician, after all. Some people even view their Mage ID as their true identification, instead of their normal ID Card issued when they were born. It was the only way you can prove your identity and rank in terms of magic, after all - hence why losing it was a huge problem. There were facilities around the world where you could apply for a replacement, but the process was a hassle and could take very long. Therefore, treat your Mage ID like you would treat your wallet.
Soon enough, all the other 2nd Years had finished receiving their own Mage IDs, and it was finally my little group\'s turn. Feng Mian went up first, then Qing Yue, then the Yu sisters (the older one went first), then Obsidia. And finally, it was my turn.
"Greetings, principal Song," I said in an exaggerated formal tone. "My name is Xuan Kai."
On the surface, I was just any other student, so I still had to keep up the appearances. If we were in private, I would\'ve just called him \'old geezer\' and be done with it.
"Xuan Kai...X...alright, look into this camera here." Song Qian Long snapped his fingers as he finished taking my picture and the machine beside his laptop began running once more. Soon after, it slowly printed out my very own Mage ID. "Here you are, student Xuan Kai. Remember, keep it safe."
The words he spoke were casual and just like something he would say to any other student, but I didn\'t miss the little wink he gave me at the end of his sentence. I took my Mage ID and smirked.
"Yeah, yeah..." I murmured quietly, rolling my eyes in the process. Since I was facing away from the other students, no one could tell, which was good. I then headed back up to the very corner of the room, and sat down in my seat with a sigh. Glancing down at the new Mage ID in my hands and focusing on the rank listed, I couldn\'t help but grin slightly.
Song Qian Long then cleared his throat, and gazed around at his vast audience.
"Well then - let me toast you once more, 2nd Years of Shenzhen Magic High School - Congratulations on formally becoming Intermediate Mages!"