Chapter 236.

It was the start of the school year, but Jace didn’t have class on Monday, and he came into Marin’s study early in the morning, wondering if he still had to clean it as an assistant.

In fact, he had wanted to be lazy, but ended up thinking about that spell from last night, contemplating whether he should go to the market today and buy a lamb, or go out to the farm and get one back, and calculating that the work had already begun.

It wasn’t long before Amy Marin entered.

“Ah, there you are, Jess!”

“Amy.” Jess asked, “How’s that pen working out?”

“How could I part with it!” Amy said, “I’m afraid of getting dust on it just from sitting there alone, let alone letting it touch the ink. Speaking of which, I heard my dad say you met a black dragon, is that true or not?”

“It’s true, in Southsea Town.”

Jace told the story of the encounter with the black dragon from beginning to end, of course, following the version that Grid had told the soldiers in Southsea Town, and ended by saying that he’d shaken the black dragon’s eyes with his light spell.

Amy took a deep breath and shook her head as she listened.

“You don’t believe me?” Jess asked.

“I was just thinking that if I encountered a dragon …… I should be too panicked to do anything.” Amy said helplessly, “Let’s hope that by then I’ll have the same courageous will to fight evil as you do.”

“Never know how you’ll react until you actually get there.” Jace said, “Actually, before I met that black dragon, I thought I’d be dumbfounded if I was in a situation like that. But when he actually flew overhead, it felt like he had to be made to pay.”

“I can kind of see how you were able to face so many jackals on the stone fortress.” Amy smiled, “Right, so is that how you met that Ms. Aselwin? Meeting a Quel’thalas Ranger in a battle of dragon slayers? It’s almost like something out of a poem.”

Jace froze.

Amy said, “I saw you go to dinner with that elf, you don’t think it’s some big place around the Wizard’s Sanctuary do you? I saw her waiting for you there when I went out. I can’t even tell you which surprised me more, your encounter with the black dragon or your date with the elf.”

Jace sighed and said, “We met in Dalaran, she came here to investigate the orcs and thought I might know something before she approached me. As for dating …… I don’t see her having much luck with humans.”

By the way, I wonder if Walesa has left Stormwind and if the key has been returned?

“Has she been here in the last two days?”

“That’s not true, I haven’t seen her since that day, and you’re not kinda concerned about her?” Amy asked coming closer.

“You don’t have class this morning?!” Jess asked suddenly.

“Ah …… right!” Amy said darkly as she hurriedly picked up the book, “Damn ……”

The female mage scurried out of the room, and Jace stared at the half-covered door, thinking to himself that this sister was quite the gossip.

Just as he was staring at the door, Marin suddenly toppled it open holding a stack of books.

“Good morning!”

“Good morning, Master!”

Marin placed the pile of books on the table all at once and sighed to himself, “Another batch of dumbasses.”

“So.” He looked up this way and asked, “You didn’t come to ask me what I had to do for the past two days, and you had to come today when classes started? Don’t forget you’re still my assistant, Mr. Sesso.”

“Sorry, Master, I did get a little busy the last two days ……”

“Too busy killing that river claw jackal?”

“You know?”

“Of course I do! You’ve basically made a name for yourself as the Jackal Slayer.” Marin said as he sat down behind the table.

Jace remembered the outrageous things he’d heard yesterday at the Western Springs Fortress and slapped his face in embarrassment.

Marin picked up a letter of faith held in the book and said, “Mr. Jace Sesso, the mage of the Sorcerer’s Temple …… Ha, the thank you letter from the magistrate of the Western Springs Fortress is written clearly, I didn’t expect that you were quite vindictive, and that you must pay back after you have received a beating, right? How much bounty did you get?”

Jace said, “Sixty silver coins split between the two.”

Marin nodded and said, “Not a small amount of money, but a bit less considering the trouble it caused.”

“I would have thought the king would have another six months of headaches. After it’s dead the western part of the Elwyn Forest will be peaceful for a while, and the remaining jackals will probably flee west of the Nafriti River and join their kin, and that’s the problem with Sentinel Ridge.”

“The great vitality of that group of Riverclaw Jackals has always been a problem, in fact two weeks ago King Varian wrote a letter wishing Master Andromas to send investigators before we had a chance to make preparations. Since you were involved in the battle, why do you think those Riverclaw Jackals were so special? Were they able to defeat such a large contingent of mercenaries?”

“There are undead among those jackals.” Jace said, “We suspect that the necromantic power of the Twilight Forest affects north of Nafriti, Master, as my companions and I can see.”

Marin sighed and said, “So the jackal walker thing is true? I used to think it was just a rumor. It’s just that now there are mages going to Minethil Harbor, some are in Red Ridge Mountain to help the kingdom deal with the jackals, some are in the Twilight Forest investigating the effects of Karazhan, and some are in the Black Marsh searching for orc warlocks……. There’s simply no room to investigate the undead of the North Shore any more, and thankfully, this matter is sort of over, so not only did you save those Western Springs Fortress’s populace, but also saved those mages, Jace, I should let Andromas pay for it and purchase you a new vestment.”

He pointed to the eye of the arrow in Jace’s chest.

“Really?”

“Really, I’m going to see him this afternoon about this, why should I let my students solve trouble for the Sorcerer’s Sanctuary with no reward at all, don’t get in the way, this place was broken by a jackal, wasn’t it?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“You see, that’s the thing, you can’t be allowed to solve these problems at your own expense.”

Jace nodded vigorously, thinking that was so true.

Malin said, ”I learned about your encounter with the Black Dragon in Southsea Town, Jace, the words of praise I think you have heard a lot of them, remember our initial suspicions? The Black Dragon helped the orcs coerce the Red Dragon …… I have a vague feeling that the Sorcerer Sanctuary is on the verge of touching the edge of the truth. While those mages of theirs are going to the wetlands to investigate, we can’t slack off on our side, I’m going to let you make another trip to Red Ridge Mountain, when are you free?”

“Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.”

“How about this Friday?” Marlin said, “If you can’t make it back on Tuesday, I’ll get you your vacation.”

“What mission?”

“Someone claimed to have found the scales of a black dragon, now you’re the only one I can find who has seen a real black dragon with his own eyes, go there, determine if that’s a black dragon or not, and if it is, negotiate a good price to buy it, and the Sorcerer’s Sanctuary will pay for it for you.”

“Dragonscale ……,” Jace said with a nod, “I see.”

“I didn’t remember all the specific information at once, so I’ll go copy a letter and put it in your apartment tomorrow, okay?”

“Don’t …… I’ll come and get it the day after tomorrow, maestro.”

“That’s fine too.” Marin Dude glanced at his pocket watch and said, “I was going to talk to you about that Death Knight, but it’s been delayed for too long, so we’ll talk next time. Your mage armor spell, that accident last time didn’t leave you with a mental image, did it? Or are you planning on taking a course in the Protection School for a while before trying it?”

“Could try it now.” Jess said, “I think I’ve learned quite a few new things on this trip yet.”

He remembered that he had stolen the spell himself …… which meant he shouldn’t be particularly skilled at it.

“Do you still need me to demonstrate one?” Marin said, “You were close to it last time, so just do it yourself.”

The old mage reached out and pointed to the center of the room, and Jace nodded and walked over to the violet colored carpet.

Thinking that he should cast the spell slower, he tried to act as if he was still unskilled and began to recite the spell, and just as he got to the beginning of it he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

“Wait, Sensei …… mantra …… I haven’t memorized it yet.”

Marin put his right leg on his left leg, rested his hands on his knees, narrowed his eyes, and said, “It’s the first time I’ve seen an apprentice who opened his mouth and started chanting before remembering that he hadn’t memorized the incantation. Let’s also stop pretending and let me see the results of what you’ve secretly practiced in the past two months.”

Jace scratched his head and said, “Seen.”

He skillfully finished a mage’s armor, the arcane energy flowing through his body giving the small study a beautiful glow.

Marin nodded and said, “I can tell your energy level has grown quite a bit from before you left Stormwind, Mr. Sesso …… Still, there are two minor problems in your spell, I’m guessing you came to me purely by Arcane Wisdom memorizing the spell I recited before you left? Luckily, I thought you were the one who stole open my locker earlier.”

Jace was really convinced now.