Anton enjoyed his time in the Wizard’s Hall discussing several topics with his colleagues. Even though technically he was supposed to be “above” the mages there since he was already an archmage and he was not supposed to mingle with the lower ranks, knowledge-wise when it came to wizardry, he was way below compared to the mages who had been in the business for decades.
He felt like he was an employee in a company solving difficult match questions by just entering the question in a computer and just waiting for the answer while the mages here were the ones who toil in solving the problems using a pen and paper and extremely difficult manual calculation.
It felt a little bit like he was a fraud but he had been very open that most of his magic came from his bloodline that for some reason awakened. The mages even understood and speculated that it happened due to the situation in Redindura. They even cited examples in history of the same situation happening. The fact that he was able to learn regular magic meant that he was truly a mage and not some sort of mutant who was able to wield bloodline power.
He even briefly saw Anna and her friends in the Hall but did not go to them since they were all girls and did not want to intrude and make everyone feel awkward.
When the mage group that he was with learned that Anton killed one of the ghosts, they were hugely impressed since everyone was aware that the ghosts were able to kill High Wizard mages.
“How did you kill the ghost? What kind of spell did you use and is it very powerful?” Edmond, one of the mages in the group asked.
“I have a spell that lets me summon spirit wolves and they’re able to see ghosts. They killed the ghost even before the Supreme Numinor appeared.”
“The ghosts were supposed to attack High Wizards and above! Are you a high wizard?” Rosa asked and Anton just shrugged.
The mages looked impressed, especially considering how young he looked. Anton did not enlighten them that he was supposed to be an archmage since he did not know how they would react.
Even though the group learned that Anton’s wizardly rank was high, due to the fact that his behavior was humble, the group continued talking with him amenably.
Since it was getting late, Anton left the group and returned to the suite. When he arrived there, there was time before dinner so he went inside his room and continued leveling up his Paladin character.
At around seven in the evening, he exited the game and was glad that his Paladin reached level twelve.
Anton’s Paladin still had very few skills that were not useful in real life but he still decided to adjust his schedule and add an hour of spell combination practice so he could utilize two or more skills of his characters in a single cast. He knew that it was going to be a very difficult endeavor but the recent fight with the three undead ships showed him that his spells needed more power and versatility and the only way for him to achieve that was to learn how to control his mana better and learn how to combine his spells.
In the living room, they all waited for his father and soon he arrived. Surprisingly, Anders was followed by a very beautiful woman. His father then announced that the woman was his new girlfriend. His father actually said his “woman” but Anton found the term funny.
While Selena was introducing herself to everyone, Anton saw his father inviting him to his room so he followed Anders.
“Is there a problem, Father?” Anton asked upon entering the room.
“What do you think of Selena?”
“She’s awfully young. She’s more than twenty years younger than you but considering how you look now, I guess it’s acceptable. The important thing, Father is for you to be happy.”
“She has a younger sister and a younger brother guarded by a very old guard retainer back in New Drennor and I promised her that I would look after her remaining family. She boarded the ship to find a rich noble husband who could support her and her family and I’m willing to shoulder that responsibility.”
“I know you know what you’re doing Father. You have been a mercenary and a farmer and you have taken care of our family for decades. I just wish that she will not hurt you.”
“I’m experienced enough to avoid something like that but I have to admit that part of this is your fault. Because of your magic making me young, my loins became active again and Selena is truly beautiful. I’m not sure if what I’m feeling is love or just lust but right now I need a woman and again Selena is beautiful,” Anders laughed and Anton rolled his eyes.
“She’s afraid of you actually. I admitted to her that the success of our family is because of your power and even though I’m considered the Patriarch, you’re still the backbone. She told me that she knew that if you don’t accept her, the family will not accept her,” Anders continued.
“We’re not true nobles, Father. At our core, we’re still peasants with peasants sensibilities and we will not conform to the behavior of the nobility or their drama,” Anton laughed.
“Our family is small and we’re still struggling to survive. In my opinion, the important thing right now is to allow ourselves a little happiness to enter our lives since we don’t know what will happen in the future. I’m glad that you have found a little happiness and if I was old enough, I would try to find a girlfriend of my own and would even join Devon in his adventures in the red light district,” Anton laughed and his father joined him.
“You are old enough now Anton so if you want to learn about the going on between a man and a woman, I now permit you to do this. I know I don’t have to tell you the details since you admitted that your ability to gather movies included those forbidden ones that let you see what is happening in the bedroom. Heck, you can even cure yourself if you acquire a sexual disease,” Anders said and Anton just shook his head.
“Don’t worry, Father. I will not spend time doing something like that since right now I’m focused on increasing my power so our family will be safe. You can also assure Selena that I’m fine with your relationship with her.”
“Thank you, son. I have to admit that this is a load off my chest.”
“What are you going to do about Anna? What if she will not accept Selena?”
“I’ll handle it,” Anton’s father said but he did look a tiny bit worried.
When they went outside Anton’s room, their worry that Anna would not accept Selena was laid to rest since it looked like she accepted Selena without any problem. As a matter of fact, they even looked like they were sisters talking to each other.
Anton had to admit that his father’s new lady was very capable and charming, able to conquer everyone in the family with ease. If a problem would happen in the future because of her, Anton would just face it then since right now, the important thing was his father was happy.