Valerian, The Legendary

132 Rewards Taken, Wishes Granted.

Valerian stood in the center of the arena as the people clapped and applauded his skills and victory. He was unaware of the wave of discomfort Fallax had set in the high observation tower. He bowed to the two people to show his gratitude that they agreed to spar with him and allowed him to learn about his weak points.

The two also did the same and then Kartan Shin said, “The winner of the battle is Valerian Verus, and thus he is announced to be the strongest student of the year.”

Valerian said thanks to the teacher before he was led to meet the elders in the observation tower along with Fallicia and Constans. They were going to receive rewards from the elders. The silver-haired boy had no hopes as he did not expect anything from the so-called elders, as he was aware that these people did not wish for battlemage to flourish and overpower their mage and warrior students.

The scene inside the observation tower was not what they expected, all the mage and warrior elders were looking at Fallax who was sitting at the side with his hands crossed against his chest and a face that said, “I am pissed.”

Kartan Shin said, “Elders, the students are here.”

The person could not help but cast a gaze at the two ladies sitting in the front with a dignified expressions on their faces. Only one creature acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary, that was the small white kitten sleeping in Fragrantia’s lap. As if sensing the presence of Valerian, she stood up on her four limbs, stretched her body lazily, and yawned, before gracefully she jumped down the soft lap, and made her way to stand beside the boy.

Valerian bent down, picked up the kitten, and patted her gently before placing her on his shoulder. The kitten expressed her love and longing by rubbing her head against his cheek. A blurry man said, “Constans, you have done well. I will guide you personally for a week.”

Constans nodded and bowed as he said, “Thank you, Sir.”

This person was none other than the Supreme Master of the warrior building. He was a person who could take down a small mountain with a blow. Valerian could tell that this old man was not easy from the aura control. If they did not know the identity of these people then this old man would have been classified as an ordinary person.

.....

His guidance must hold great significance for Constans to reveal a smile on his stone-like face. The supreme mage of the fire magic tower said, “Fallicia, I reward to your a session of guidance for a week and a Solaris stone. It can be used to upgrade your wand to another level.”

Fallicia smiled and said, “Thank you, master.”

She was the personal disciple of the old man but hardly received personal guidance. Following this the supreme mage of the shadow tower also gifted Fallicia with a rare book of shadow spells and a feather of a magical beast called, Night raven, to upgrade her wand.

Fallax said, “Since everyone is gifting things, then I will not shy away. Student Constans, you can come to me for a month and learn the skill of dagger fighting. As for student Fallicia, I will guide you in the knowledge of shadow magic for a similar period, but I hope that you both can take on my training.”

The two students were surprised, this was a Magnus Magister in front of them, and he was willing to spare a month for them. However, when they heard about the training, they cast a gaze on Valerian. This child also went under training and made it through. Isn’t his strength enough to defeat them? They will learn from the old man too.

They both bowed sincerely and said, “We are much obliged, Master Fallax.”

The old man nodded, these children were obedient. He did not mind teaching them a few things. This was a trivial matter to him, but now that it is done, he said, “Old people, do you need me to guide you?”

A chuckle sounded and the old man with a long beard spoke first, “Student Valerian, I am called Ra Sha, I am a light mage, today, you showed me something that I have not imagined ever in my life, the aggressiveness of light. You also used the same light to help your opponent, displaying the heart of a true light mage. I reward you with the complete codex of grade seven light magic that I have comprehended personally. It will help you advance in your realm.”

The old man took out a thin book from his magical pouch and passed it to Valerian, who received the book with both hands and thanked the old man. The old man from the earth magic tower gave him a spear, this spear was a magic weapon and was something that the old man won from a rival in his youth. Since he did not have any use of this thing, it might as well be used by this kid.

Fallax snorted and the old man from the wind magic tower took out a small bead from his magical pouch and said, “This bead belongs to a fully grown Haze Swallow, you can use it to refine a flying type magic artifact, or a magic weapon of your choice, and it will not be inferior to the wand that Student Fallicia used.”

Valerian took the bead and nodded, he could tell that the eyes of the kitten were fixed on the bead and she was trying hard to resist the greed to jump and swallow the bead whole. Thinking that if this kitten could not control herself things will become unspeakably chaotic, he kept the bead inside his magical pouch and said, “Thank you elders for your blessings.”

The warrior tower leader said, “Valerian, you have good skill, but you still have a lot of things to learn. I will not say much, but I like talent, you are welcome to visit the sparring hall of the warrior department as you wish.”

Then this old man tossed the young man a medallion and told him that it was the key for him to enter the place. After this was done, Instructor Chug said, “Valerian, you can now ask for the elders to fulfill one of your wishes.”

The child nodded and said, “Elders, I wish for the non-gifted humans inside the academy to be treated with the dignity and kindness they deserved. It is not their fault that they were born without gifts. These gifts can bless anyone, at random, so what is there for us to be so proud of? Despite these blessings do we not feel pain and hunger the same way?

I implore you all to look at this wish as a human and not as a gifted because even if we are all gifted, we are humans.”

These words were conveyed to the crowd outside. People began whispering and discussing things within themselves after they thought about things from a logical point of view.

The elders exchanged glances and they all knew that this wish was not too difficult to meet and this boy also did not ask them all for something precious, if they failed in even doing so, they will not have the face to stand in front of Fallax.

So, they nodded and the elder from the light mage tower said, “If this is what you wish for, then so be it. Let it be heard that the common humans inside the academy grounds are to be treated with dignity and kindness, and none of the gifted are allowed to find trouble with them without any reason.

If anyone is found to be violating this commandment, you will be stripped of your status and expelled from the academy.”

The matter was done and dusted and now the administrative office will pass on the memo for the commandment to be in act. The crowd applauded the spirit of the young man, and Valerian thanked the people and the competition came to an end.

Fallax led Valerian and Fragrantia to the battlemage tower after they finished greeting the rest of the people. The empress had bought a lot of good things for Valerian to eat. Turns out she also took time to prepare some sweets for him.

The boy smiled and thanked her with a hug before he ate the sweets, he also asked her about the situation back at home, and finally, Fragrantia asked, “What do you think about that young princess?”

Valerian raised his eyebrow and said, “She seemed to have changed completely, her attitude has become extremely opposite to what it was like in the past. I was shocked to see that one chatting session could hold such an effect. I know you doubt her, but let me assure you, I share the same feeling and have been very cautious around her.”

Fragrantia nodded and said, “If only the rest of my children were the same as you, my dear. I would not have developed gray hair at the peak of my youth.”

Valerian looked at her straight and she also looked at him before the both of them erupted in laughter. The dignified empress was willing to belittle herself for the sake of his smile, which showed how much she loved him. After a few more minutes of chatting, Valerian asked, “How do you add emotions to other things?”

This question stumped the empress and she asked, “Why do you ask?”