Volume 4: Chapter 17 – Secret Talk in the Dark of Night
I respectfully replied, “I was just lucky. Ma Ke’s not far from reaching the Magister level either.”
The prince laughed. “You’re a really humble child. You have accomplished so much, but you aren’t arrogant at all. It’s really rare for this to happen. I’ll need you to help me discipline Ma Ke in the future as I have high expectations for him. Since his elder brother doesn’t have much abilities, I plan to pass all of my duties to him.” The prince seemed to be a very good natured elder.
I smiled and replied, “Ma Ke has been really hard working. I’m sure he will meet your expectations.”
The prince replied, “Let’s hope so. Since you are a friend of Ma Ke’s and the same age as my son, I’m not being formal to you, so please stop calling me prince. It makes me feel like we are far from each other. From now on, you can just call me uncle Ao Er.” Even though I knew he’s trying to pull me to his side, my good impression of him kept on increasing.
The prince continued to say, “Yesterday, I was in shock when I hear from Ma Ke that you’ve met the Magic race. The Magic race is our human race’s enemy. If we allow them to invade the northern side of the world, then our human race will go extinct. Can you tell the whole incident to uncle in detail?”
I replied, “Alright!” I told him the story of meeting the demon race at Serene Dream lake. After the prince heard what I said, he sighed. “I really don’t know how they managed to do that. They actually crossed Si Te Lun to reach our land. It’s just too unbelievable!”
I asked, “Could they have climbed over the Heavenly Falling Mountain?
Ma Ke replied for his father, “It’s impossible. The Heavenly Falling Mountain reaches high above the clouds and the midpoint of the mountain is completely covered in snow and ice. It’s impossible for any life forms to pass through that point.”
The prince said, “It’s been two years since that happened. If they wanted to invade us, why is there no movement at all? Is it because they are unprepared? No. Currently, the Kingdom of Aixia has enemies in and outside of it. Zhang Gong! You should know that the three main powers, including mine, are waiting for the time where the Emperor cease to live. His Majesty had come to find me and said that he wanted to pass the throne down to me, but the current situation won’t follow the Emperor’s decision. The three main powers and Duke Te Yi have already prepared to team up to deal with me. If it’s just military force, I am not afraid of them, but they also have many advanced magicians. My force’s magical abilities can’t be compared to theirs. Moreover, I can’t assemble the whole kingdom’s army. With my current power, it’s impossible to fight against them.”
I asked, “If they aren’t royal, how are they going to fight for the throne?”
The prince replied, “From what I know, they want to form a democratic government and use policies to decide future matters so there’ll no longer be any election of another Emperor. If that happens, the kingdom that our Ao Er clan that has always painfully governed will be taken over by them.”
I asked, “Is it impossible to use the issue of the Magic Race to negotiate with them? Fighting against the enemy should be the first priority!”
After hearing my words, the prince eyes brightened. It was obvious that he had been moved. “That idea is not bad, but it’ll not be able to solve the competition to get the throne. Even if we come to a truce for a moment, it’s still impossible to solve the contradictions with their natural instincts. If….”
The prince didn’t continue speaking and only shook his head. Ma Ke anxiously asked, “Father, if what? Please quickly carry on saying the rest of that sentence.”
The prince helplessly said, “Saying it out is useless anyways as it won’t be able to happen.”
I said, “Since you have thought of a solution, you should just say it so that we can try to help think with you and maybe even think it through.”
The prince replied, “If we can manage to suppress them with the highest level of magic, I definitely will have the confidence to successfully win the power battle. After all, this is a magic Kingdom. As long as our magic power is really strong, it will be the most useful negotiating tool.”
I thought before asking, “Does the highest level magic competition refers to the competition of how many Magisters there are in both of the opposing forces?
The prince nodded.
I continued to ask, “How many Magisters do the opposing forces have?”
The prince replied saying, “In the northern part of this world, there are ten Grand Magister. This kingdom has eight Magisters. The opposing three main powers, including the Royal Magic Union Mage Union’s leader earth Magister Dun Yu Xi, has four Magisters in total. Dun Yu Xi has also always been the second rank of the Magisters.”
I wondered, “Who are the other four Magisters?”
The prince explained, “One of the other four Magisters is the Royal Advanced Magic Academy’s principal, Chuan Song Zhen, a Spatial Magister. (He is worthy of learning spatial magic as even his name is related to time as his name means to be able to change time?) The third ranked Magister is the Royal Intermediate Magic Academy’s principal, light Magister Lao Lun Di. He is also your teacher. The seventh ranked is the Intermediate Magic Academy’s vice principal, fire Magister Xin De Long, Ma Ke’s mentor. The ninth ranked is the Royal Advanced Magic Academy’s vice principal, fire Magister Si Di Lie.”
I continued to ask him, “Don’t you and the opposing force currently have an equal number of Magisters?”
The prince smiled, “How can it be that easy? Currently, only Ma Ke’s Teacher Xin is helping me. The other three Magisters hold neutral positions. If they decide to help me, with their reputations and many years of teaching experiences, when it is revealed to the public, the power I holds will rise drastically. I will then stand a chance against the opposing force. The overall situation now is that the opposing force’s Magisters are ranked second, fourth, fifth and sixth, but our rankings in Magisters will be the first, third, seventh and ninth rank. We’ll still be in a disadvantaged position. Moreover, there is also no certainty that the other three Magisters will be on my side.”
‘I finally understand why the prince called me here. First, he wanted to ask about the Magic Race, and second, he wanted to ask me to convince Teacher Di. Teacher Di and the Royal Advanced Magic Academy’s principal Chuan Song Zhen have deep relationships. This way, the prince can gain the support of four Magisters, including me. He will then gain an advantage. He’s really crafty!’
The prince, seeing me deep in thought, did not say anything or even pressure me for my answer, and just waited for me to speak.
I silently sighed. ‘For the commoners of the kingdom, how can I not help him? Moreover, this concerns Ma Ke as well.’ I raised my head and said, “Uncle Ao Er, I hope you’ll treat the citizens of the Kingdom of Aixia kindly. I’ll do my best to convince Teacher Di.”