Chapter 0098: No One Dared Challenge

"Do you mean the minimum requirement for this contest is a formal wizard? Could it be... could it be..." Grim's tone wavered slightly; from what he knew of the wizarding world, he seemed to remember hearing something about it.

"Correct. The contest I want you to enter is the Arcane Wizard Promotion Tournament, to be held in Sky City five years from now. So long as you can help our Byron family preserve our right to sell in Sky City, then after you succeed, our family will also offer you a tremendous reward."

"I understand what you mean. What you need is a promise. As long as I promise that within three years I can advance to a formal wizard and represent your Byron family in that contest, you will protect us for those three years. This is a trade each side needs most, entirely in keeping with the wizarding custom of fair exchange, so I am willing to accept."

"Heh, good! Remember, you only have three years. The moment that Toriel officially advances to wizard, our contract is void. After all, no one wants to make an enemy of the most battle-hardened bloodline wizard!"

"Understood. I will advance before him, no matter what!" Grim promised solemnly.

Seeing that Grim's expression was sincere, Wizard Angus flicked a hand. A gray cloud burst before Grim and instantly凝聚成 a sorcerous contract.

Grim stepped forward and carefully studied the contract three or four times, until he confirmed that no verbal traps or hidden clauses had been set within it. Only then did he cautiously leave behind his own arcane mark.

Under ordinary circumstances, spellcasters signing contracts disliked leaving a soul imprint. Though such an imprint carried stronger binding force, it also made it all too easy for one's soul aura to fall into another's hands. To deal with this, wizards had devised the arcane mark: a special imprint formed by combining one's unique mental fluctuations with elemental power.

In this way, one did not have to worry about one's aura being exploited by enemies, while outsiders would also be unable to counterfeit it. For that reason, it had been accepted by all spellcasters.

The arcane mark Grim had fashioned for himself was a blazing iron fist raised high toward the heavens.

The flames coiling around the fist represented his innate affinity for fire, while the iron fist itself represented strength, and even more, the surging ambition that had begun to take root within Grim's heart.

After retrieving the contract, Wizard Angus tossed Grim a badge bearing the Byron family crest.

"Carry this. So long as you are in the Dagon region, no one will dare provoke you first. All right, you may leave."

Once the deal was concluded, Wizard Angus ushered Grim and the others out. To him, this was merely one of countless contingencies arranged for the family; it was nowhere near important enough to warrant special attention. He had heard far too many lofty claims from intermediate apprentices who said they could become formal wizards in three years, but the number who truly reached that point was vanishingly small.

So before that little fellow became a true wizard, everything was merely a piece in reserve.

When Grim and Mary respectfully withdrew from Angus's quarters, they were startled to find more than twenty elite apprentices gathered at the entrance, split into two factions and facing off against each other. And the moment Grim appeared, the gaze of the leaders of both sides fell upon him at once.

When their eyes swept over the badge pinned to Grim's chest, the expressions of both leaders changed at the same time: one twisted with fury and grinding hatred, the other beaming with delight, even taking the initiative to put an arm around Grim's shoulder.

"What, so you've seen it too?" Kevin's face was full of gloating: "Grim is already a member of our Byron family. What are you still doing here? Why don't you all hurry and leave?"

The leader of the other faction was someone Grim had vaguely seen in the training camp; he seemed to be called Hamill, and was also a quasi-wizard. Yet from the unrestrained fluctuations of his aura, it was obvious that his strength was far below Toriel's.

"Grim... very well..." Hamill threatened viciously, "You're lucky, boy, knowing enough to hide under Lord Angus's wing. Otherwise, I, Hamill, would certainly teach you the consequences of offending our Worton family."

Grim gave a cold smile.

"The reason I joined the Byron family is because Wizard Angus cares for me and did not want me to fall to the sinister ambushes of shameless villains. But as for cowards like you, who can only act fierce with their mouths, I have no fear at all!"

"You..."

"Since you are willing to avenge that Toriel, why not find a chance tomorrow for a fair match? If you can defeat me in a proper duel, I will willingly give up Lord Angus's protection. How about it? Do you dare?"

"You..."

"Arrogant..."

"Impudent..."

At once, all the elite apprentices behind Hamill could not restrain themselves and cried out furiously. Yet Hamill himself, though he kept roaring in rage, had flickering eyes and a darkening face; clearly he did not dare accept Grim's challenge head-on.

Grim gave a few sharp, icy laughs.

"You lot are the same. Anyone who wants revenge for Toriel can come duel me fairly. So long as the wager satisfies me, I'll certainly keep you company. Well now, who among you is willing to fight me fairly?"

By the end, his voice had grown stern and cutting. His eyes flashed with sharp light as he glared at the group of outwardly fierce but inwardly hollow cowards before him. The pressure hidden in that gaze even made Kevin, who stood closest to him, feel a chill in his heart.

Clearly, they had come as a party to seize this insolent upstart who had offended the Worton family's dignity. Yet now, faced with the intimidating ferocity radiating from their target, these men who had been shouting only moments before had all fallen silent, even turning their heads aside to avoid Grim's gaze.

In that instant, more than a dozen elite apprentices and quasi-wizards of the Worton family were forced into utter embarrassment by a Grim whose strength was only that of an intermediate apprentice.

Though they knew they would surely be punished by the family for such humiliation, none of them was willing to be the first to step forward and bear the blow from this maddened young man who was riding such a wave of momentum.

At present, the disgrace was shared by all, and there would still be room to maneuver once they returned. But if, in a moment of hot blood, they accepted the wager, then it would no longer be a matter of losing face. They might very well smash to pieces the reputation they had painstakingly built over seven or eight years in the training camp, becoming a laughingstock for all to mock.

If it were anyone else, they would never have been so spineless. But this boy before them was too sinister. He... he had actually managed to bring down Toriel, who was about to undergo his advancement ceremony—and, what was more, he had done it in a one-on-one fair duel.

At the moment Toriel was wounded and collapsed, the formal mage stationed by the Worton family in the Nether Grotto was right there on the scene. But it was truly inconvenient for him to intervene personally and seize this brat. If Grim had dared directly insult the dignity of a wizard, then even if the wizard himself had taken action and killed him on the spot, no one would have dared to stop it in the slightest.

But the trouble was precisely this: the boy had defeated Toriel into unconsciousness in a fair duel. If the wizard had intervened at that point, the other families would surely have mocked them for having no one to succeed them, for needing their family wizard to handle even a trifle like an intermediate apprentice.

Thus, after much consideration, they had all come together to bring charges and capture him under the pretext that he had offended the family. But now that the other side had become a member of the Byron family, a reckless beating was certainly impossible. As for taking him down one-on-one, none of those present had any confidence at all.

Humiliation. Utter humiliation.

Bitterness, words could not express the bitterness.

The faces of more than a dozen elite apprentices from the Worton family had gone livid with suppressed rage, their whole bodies seeming to be infested by millions of ants. It was impossible to describe how awkward and miserable they looked.

"Let's go. We'll settle this account with him slowly later." Seeing the situation threaten to spiral out of control, Hamill waved his hand in frustration and led his people away at once.

Watching those elite apprentices who had just moments ago been so aggressive and sword-ready slink off in such embarrassment, the Byron family members left behind could not help exchanging looks. They were all old hands at the training camp. Though the two families were not especially cordial because of their rivalry, they were still acquainted. If the positions were reversed, their own performance likely would not have been any better.

It was not that they were useless. It was simply that this damned boy was too bizarre.

Kevin had the most experience with such scenes, and he promptly pushed Grim away from the spot.

"Brother, now that you're one of us, I won't stand on ceremony with you anymore. Rest assured, here in Dagon, so long as you show our Byron family crest, anyone who dares make things difficult for you can tell me. I'll bring men and wipe them out!"

Grim immediately broke into a smile and thanked him repeatedly.

What Kevin said was not mere boasting; it was the truth.

According to the records of wizard family history, there were more than a dozen named wizard families in the Dagon region alone. Among them, Kevin's Byron family could at the very least rank in the top three. As for the small human kingdom jointly supported by the Byron family and the Mises family, it occupied vast tracts of fertile land in the central Dagon region.

So what he had said about covering Grim was no empty talk in this Dagon region.

And this was not unique to Dagon. It was much the same throughout the entire world. In this realm where wizards stood supreme, human nobles and even royalty were merely tools and servants used by wizard families to manage the common people. Offend the wizard family that backed you, and even if you were a king of a human kingdom, you could still be forced to abdicate in an instant or die of "illness."

As for Kevin, merely by virtue of being Wizard Angus's nephew, if he made a trip to that human kingdom, he would receive the most luxurious, grandest reception and service imaginable. So long as he nodded, even if he wanted princesses sent to attend him, His Majesty the King would smile and personally deliver them to his bedside.

This was the truest and cruelest face of the wizard world as it stood today.