Next morning, Emery immediately made his way to Magus Xion's residence. As the magus had been helping him a lot throughout his journey, he always felt gratitude and excitement when he met the esteemed man. Especially now that he had a lot of things on his plate.
When he arrived at his destination, Emery could see another figure sitting next to his master, talking about something. The blonde man was wearing all white clothes that caught his attention at first glance.
Noticing Emery's arrival, Magus Xion beckoned him to come closer, "You are here, Emery. Come, let me introduce you to this gentleman here. He is Urix, a magus instructor from the Institution of Light."
Emery placed one hand on his chest and did a slight bow to the magus as a sign of respect. After that, he straightened his body and looked at Magus Xion silently, waiting for the magus to speak.
"See, Urix? You can see yourself! The kid is really respectful toward the elders. You definitely will not regret this."
Annoyed by Magus Xion's constant bragging, Urix waved his hand and said, "Yes, yes! I already lost. So don't put more salt on my wound, alright?"
Satisfied with the reaction Urix gave him, Magus Xion stopped his teasing and gestured to Emery, "Hahaha, of course. Right. Emery, come here. Sit with us."
Emery was confused, he did not really get what the two magus were talking about. He could only deduce they were talking about something related to him. Shaking his head, he threw his doubts to the back of his mind and slowly walked forward taking a seat together with the two magus.
When Emery sat, Magus Xion opened his mouth, "Emery, unlike my poor self, this gentleman here, Magus Urix, comes from a prominent family, the Wellenstein family."
Seeing the curiosity on Emery's face, Magus Xion proceeded to give his disciple a quick background summary about the matter. Apparently, the Wellenstein family was also considered one of the most prominent factions in the universe.
Magus Xion paused in the middle of his run-down, turned his head towards Magus Urix and asked, "Your Wellenstein's is a Grade 3 faction, isn't it?"
Magus Urix coughed lightly, "Ehem..l soon to be Grade 4, actually..." the magus said, maintaining his cool expression.
Magus Xion put on a shocked expression as he said, "Wow! Amazing! Oh yeah, I remembered! Your father almost reached the Supreme Magus level, I heard."
"Yes… the third Supreme Magus in the faction, so…"
"Wow! So amazing!" exclaimed Magus Xion. Rubbing his chin like an old man, he continued, "Indeed, as expected from a Grade 4 faction."
At the moment, Emery noticed his master was acting a bit weird today. He seemed to dislike the magus sitting next to him, but still trying so hard to talk good things about the man.
After a few seconds more of buttering, Magus Xion finally turned to Emery, "Anyway Emery, Magus Urix has some good news for you," said the magus, pointing towards Magus Urix, who strangely wore a blank expression.
Emery was startled when he heard Magus Urix was the one who had the good news, not his master. While Emery was trying to process, and possibly guess what Magus Xion's words meant, Magus Urix already took out a parchment from his storage ring and laid it on the table for Emery to see.
"Emery Ambrose, we, the Wellenstein faction, are offering you the opportunity to become a member of our family. Here are the documents that you need to sign."
Emery was silent, processing the words he just heard.
"..."
"..."
"!!!"
"What?!" Emery said, subconsciously shouting it. The shock the words brought made him leap from his seat. He was startled, surprised and shocked by the offer that came out of nowhere and from a magus he never met before.
Amidst his utter confusion, Emery looked at Magus Xion, his master; his gaze was asking the magus what was going on.
"M-Master... W-What is this? Wh-What is this mean...?"
"This is good news, Emery! With you joining a faction as good as the Wellenstein, your future will undoubtedly be bright."
Emery was speechless, lost for words. Even though he trusted his master, there was no way he would sign something he did not understand about.
Realizing Emery was in doubt, Magus Xion added, "Emery, I have already checked the contract and found no problem in it. In fact, it's very favorable for an acolyte such as you."
Upon hearing that, Emery let his doubts slightly go and picked the parchment as he gave its writings a brief read. The content of the parchment was basically what Magus Urix said, an agreement to join the Wellenstein faction as an inner member.
Wait, an inner member?
"Inner member?" asked Emery, looking at the two magus. Seeing that Magus Urix wasn't paying attention, he turned to Magus Xion.
He then explained about the matter. Normally, there were different types of members in factions, such as outer members, inner members and core members. Each type received their own privileges and treatments, different from each other.
Emery then began reading the parchment carefully, as he read through he got shocked once again. The agreement involved an enormous amount of spirit stones and Spirit Foundation Pills.
If he agreed to join the faction, he would immediately receive 100.000 spirit stones and one Spirit Foundation Pill. Moreover, he would get the same amount every year, for the next 10 years. These benefits could also increase if he reached a higher realm in the future.
He also had an opportunity to receive Tier 4 Artifacts if he reached Rank 9, and Tier 5 Artifacts after breaking through to the Magus realm.
Emery's eyes were bulging with surprise as he read through the parchment.
"M-Master... Th-This… I don't know what to say…"
"This is a very good deal, Emery. It took me days to convince the faction to agree on these terms."
It then hit him. Emery finally realized the reason his master went out for days, losing contact with him. Apparently, he was doing something for him, again. Emery truly did not know how he should repay the kindness and care his master had given him.
Emery saw Magus Urix wryly smiling, when he heard Magus Xion's speech. This showed how hard it was for this agreement to be made.
"Thank you, master. Thank you, Magus Urix. But... I know that nothing in the world is really free. Please tell me, what should I do to deserve this?"
Hearing Emery's words, Magus Xion smiled and glanced at Magus Urix, "Haha… See? I told you he's smart, didn't I?"
Magus Urix wisely ignored Xion's remarks and pointed his finger at the bottom part of the agreement, "In here it is stated, when you reach Magus level, you will have to provide service to the Wellenstein faction for 100 years."
Emery could roughly guess what kind of service he would have to provide. He knew Lord Izta was serving the Nephilim faction for 2.000 years. Hence it appeared 100 years to exchange for such extensive support was very favorable for him.
Emery was sure this offer took into account his dark core and bloodline, his unfavorable situation, before it could be carried out. Therefore, he believed the faction was at least worth giving his service for.
Emery really considered accepting the deal when he realized that Magus Xion was still excited and had something else to say.
"That's not the best part, Emery!" The magus' eyes seemed to lit up as he said, "The Wellenstein is willing to pull favor and let you come to their planet when you finish your second year. This means that you could spend your three years in their facility, training under their special tutelage."
"..."
Emery was startled, this actually brought more hesitation to Emery than the 100 years service. After all, he still had many unfinished business on Earth.
"I am sorry, master... the last part will be difficult for me..."
"Aah, the boy is one of those..." said Urix. "He's the type that cares more about home than his growth."
Magus Xion was also shocked by Emery's unexpected words. He tried to convince him, saying that when he became a magus, he would not need to worry about anything else back home. After all, the status and prestige the Magus gave would take care of Earth by itself.
But halfway through his attempt of convincing, Magus Xion realized Emery was quite adamant about it.
"Thank you very much for your offer, Sir Urix. But this matter, I really need to think about it first. Please give me some time to consider." Emery firmly said, while giving his utmost respect to the magus.
Magus Urix appeared to be annoyed by Emery's rejection, but he still tried to keep his cool. Knowing the boy would not budge, he decided to give Emery time only until the last week in his second year.
As for Magus Xion, although visibly disappointed, he could understand Emery's decision.
Before Emery left, the magus mentioned about an invitation from the headmaster to watch a certain important meeting next month. It had something to do about Earth, part of the headmaster's promise to Lord Izta.
"I will definitely be there, master."