That is one of the most powerful spellcasters in the Typhon Empire, the supreme ruler of the Royal Mage Association, and the Chief Magical Advisor to His Majesty the Emperor, Lady Windsor Mapel, who ranks higher than the Duke.
She is much more ordinary than Mary imagined.
Mary carefully looked at the big man standing in front of the desk with an emotion that was almost awe. She originally thought that the legendary powerful magician would be a more distinctive lady— —Maybe she is an old lady wearing a starry robe, full of majesty, or maybe she is a stunning beauty who has used magic to change her body and age, but it is neither of them. Windsor Mapel looks like an ordinary person. She is an ordinary middle-aged woman, between thirty and forty years old. Although she still has a charming appearance between her eyebrows, the traces of time have appeared on her face. She wears an ordinary purple robe and has the same lavender hair. Her long hair was tied back casually, and she stood there quietly without even showing any aura.
Then Mary saw her mentor move, and the old mage walked up to Windsor Mapel unhurriedly, with a look that showed no respect and could even be said to be a little rude. Looking the other person up and down, under the astonished gaze of the young apprentice, the old mage nodded: "You have finally reached this position."
"You are still my mentor," Windsor Mapel With a complicated look on her face, and under Mary's shocked and even horrified gaze, she bent down to the old mage and said, "Always."
The old mage waved his hand: "But you are not. "My apprentice."
Mary suddenly took a deep breath - for a short moment, she had been so shocked that she forgot to breathe, and the sound of her breathing also attracted Daniel's attention. Attention, the old mage waved to her: "Come here and say hello to Windsor Marpel, she is the president of the Royal Mage Association."
Mary walked forward dizzy, and Before she spoke, the formidable lady glanced at her - as if the lady had not noticed the stranger in the room until just now: "Who is she?"
"My apprentice," Daniel chuckled, "is less talented than you, but smarter than you."
This is the first time in Mary's life that she has heard praise for herself from Daniel - although it is not Not specifically to her.
"Your...apprentice?" Windsor Mapei said in disbelief, but she quickly returned to normal and nodded to Mary, "Hello, I am Windsor Mapei. Er, mentor Daniel’s first apprentice. Since you are also mentor’s apprentice, you don’t need to care about my status as president.”
“My...my name is Mary,” Mary said with fear. ...It's an honor to meet you."
Winsor Mapel frowned and asked subconsciously: "No surname?"
"She. I picked it up in the countryside, where did the last name come from," Daniel said casually, and glanced at Mary with a little dissatisfaction., waving his hands impatiently, "No progress - go and stand aside and don't interrupt."
Mary immediately backed away obediently. Although she was full of questions, she closed her eyes tightly. Mouth, dare not say a word.
Winsor Mapel took a deep look at Mary, who was not an excellent mage from all aspects and had weak magic reflexes in her body, and then turned to Daniel solemnly: "Mentor, I have been looking for you all these years..."
"As the president of the Royal Mage Association, if you really wanted to find it, you would have found it long ago," Daniel let out a hoarse chuckle, "And What do you want me to do? Do you want me to continue to accept those idiotic ridicules? Or invite people from the association to visit a famous freak?" Windsor Mapel's face changed slightly, and she immediately shook her head: " Mentor, you know what I mean, no one underestimates your achievements in the field of magic, it is just your neural interaction magic..."
The president of the association suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
She widened her eyes and stared at something in her sight - behind Daniel's black robe, restless artificial nerve cords were squirming, and several slender, flickering The electric, twisted thing that seemed to be a mixture of flesh and metal extended from the hem of the robe, swinging slowly in Windsor Mapel's sight, like a blind digging insect, with some kind of... A blasphemous scent.
The powerful spellcaster exclaimed in a low voice: "You...did you...did you succeed?!"
"I failed, but I also succeeded. , those idiots who stick to the rules probably won't admit my success, but I don't care - the neural interaction magic theory makes sense after all, I can break through the limitations of my talent and do things that I couldn't do before," Daniel said in a low voice Said, "Winsor Mapel, we are not here to talk about this today."
"...Yes, we are not talking about this," Windsor Mapel was silent for a moment and sighed slightly. The tone was, "Teacher, I almost couldn't believe it when I received your letter, but you are actually here - are you really willing to return to the Mage Association and serve Typhon again?"
Daniel snorted: "Hmph, I will work for Typhon, but I am no longer interested in this association. As far as I know, our Emperor does not require mages who respond to the recruitment to join the association, right? ?"
"...Indeed," Windsor Mapel frowned, then adjusted her posture and looked at Daniel solemnly, "You are in the field of mathematics and ancient Gondor magic. Your achievements are unparalleled. Even without my recommendation, His Majesty the Emperor has heard of your reputation. He will be very happy that a wise man like you is willing to serve the Empire again. I will immediately order someone to prepare you again. The laboratory and the mage tower - the association has kept them all these years."
"No need, I am not used to working in places with too many people - and I'm afraid neither are the people in the Royal Mage District.I'm willing to live on the same block as a reformed freak." Daniel sneered and shook his head, "I have already found a place to stay, and I plan to rebuild a laboratory myself. You know my habits, I just Trust the experimental environment you create and don’t want anyone to interfere or disturb you. ”
Winsor Mapel looked into Daniel’s eyes. Although the latter was much older than she remembered, even the age was abnormally large, and his temper and personality seemed to have changed a lot. But the persistence and stubbornness in her eyes were still exactly the same as in her memory. She gave up her plan to continue persuading, but nodded slightly: "I understand, and I will arrange it according to your intentions. "
After saying this, Windsor Mapel paused. With a slight hesitation, she looked at Daniel and said, "Teacher, where have you lived in the past few years? ”
“Is this part of the investigation? "
Windsor Mapel did not hesitate this time: "This is my responsibility. "
"That's a good answer - I have been in Typhon for these years, and in the southwest, the Royal Mage Association can investigate at will, including anyone I have come into contact with, you can investigate. Any more questions? "
Windsor shook his head: "No more. "
"Okay, then I'll leave - this place is not comfortable to stay. "
Daniel called Mary, who was still in a daze next to him, turned around and walked towards the door, but at this moment, the president of the association suddenly spoke again: "Teacher, were you really There is no need to leave. Those who have excluded and ridiculed you are just mediocre people. They are all now..."
Daniel stopped and looked back at Windsor: "Because I am jealous of you. . "
Winsor Mapel's voice stopped suddenly. She stood there with a complicated expression on her face. After a few seconds, she broke the silence: "Teacher, you know I am Don't believe it. ”
“But this is a fact-perhaps many mediocre magicians think that it is an honor for their apprentices to be promoted to legends, but I am never proud of it because I Know that you were promoted to legend just because you have such a talent. That is not my credit. It is a talent that cannot be made up for by hard work, cannot be changed by any acquired means, and has nothing to do with the personal ability of the mentor. Any talent. Even if a mediocre and crappy mage becomes your mentor, you can be promoted to legend, but even the arrival of the goddess of magic cannot help me break through to the high level. ”
Daniel finished saying this quietly, then turned back and left the association president’s room without any pause.
Windsor Mapel watched quietly. The old mage's rickety back disappeared behind the door without saying a word.
She knew that her former teacher was not jealous of her. What he really resented was the ironclad belief that "talent determines everything." General rules.
He doesn’t mind if his apprentice can be promoted to a legend early, and he doesn’t mind learning.Tu Neng far surpasses himself in magic attainments, but he cannot accept that everything is determined by talent, and cannot accept that there is a boundary in the middle, and this boundary cannot be shaken at all through acquired efforts.
Winsor Mapel sighed softly - perhaps before she reached a high level, before her mentor encountered his own talent bottleneck, the latter had already foreseen what was going to happen. That's why he started what was considered a deviant and whimsical research project.
Neural interaction magic theory.
Technology that transforms the human body through means such as implants, neurosurgery, and lifelong enhancers.
The mentor who never believed in fate chose to fight against fate more than 20 years ago. At that time, everyone thought he failed, but fortunately, he is back now.
Although he has changed a lot, although he said that he used surgery to turn himself into a "monster", everything will be fine.
......
Daniel was silent along the way. Mary could only carefully close her mouth and follow the old mage quietly. She really had many questions to ask. , because what happened today really challenged her cognition, and even challenged the three views she had established so far - the president of the Royal Mage Association was actually the apprentice of her mentor? The female magician who broke through the legendary rank at the youngest age in Typhon's history is actually his "senior sister"? The mentor was once such a big shot?
All this is something Mary never dared to imagine!
However, she did not dare to ask a word before her instructor gave her permission.
This depressed state lasted for a long time. It was not until he walked out of the gate of the Royal Mage Association that Daniel finally broke the silence: "There are a lot of questions, right?"
"Ah... yes ," Mary was startled, then nodded quickly, "I...I didn't expect that you were so...the president of the Royal Mage Association was actually your apprentice!"
"Stupid question, what the hell? Now I still need to ask again," Daniel glanced at Mary, "She is indeed my apprentice, but she became the president of the association after I left, including her promotion. When she left, she was just an ordinary high-level mage like me."
"Then did you really leave the association because of your research on neural transformation? Now you have succeeded. Those who have ridiculed you will be ashamed..."
Mary spoke quickly, but after she said the words, she suddenly realized that she had said something too bold: Daniel never likes people to mention As for any relationship between him and the Royal Mage Association, this is a forbidden sentence that will result in punishment if spoken under any circumstances!
The poor girl immediately became nervous, and all the muscles in her body were tense in tension.
Daniel sneered: "Success? If you think these nerve cords are successful, I will install them on you today."
Mary trembled all over, but just when she thought she would really suffer such a terrible fate, she discovered that it was just a joke made by the old mage——
" Looking at you, do you think I have the extra patience to do this kind of transformation for you?" Daniel waved his hand, "Your talent is like a monkey, any transformation is a waste of materials."
Mary didn't care at all about her mentor's evaluation of her talent. She just felt greatly relieved, and then said with some sigh: "Others will not believe it. Ms. Windsor Mapel turned out to be our senior..."
“You don’t need to be so in awe of Windsor.”
Daniel suddenly interrupted Mary’s sigh, and then in the latter’s slightly dazed sight, he raised his head and looked at The foggy streets of Alder South.
"If you knew His power, you would not be in awe of anyone."
The old mage took steps forward and took Mary to continue towards the fog in Aldernan. Go in.
"Don't waste Master's time, we still have a lot to do."