BXBX NOVEL Chapter 155: Recruiting
As Felipe was talking on the stage, the necromancers and apprentices began to pay attention to him and started to whisper to each other.
Viscount Carendia also showed holding his glass of wine, and he stood behind Lucien, "Mr. Professor, I can probably guess your intention of coming to the Feast of Death, but let me remind you that, if you want a fight, finish it as soon as possible, or I’d have to ask you two to leave. Although I would like to see a fight between two top fifth circle sorcerers, the last thing I want to see is my castle being destroyed."
Lucien took a quick glance at the viscount. Inside his mind, he responded to the viscount’s words in a sarcastic way, "You know my intention? Come on... Even I don’t know why I’m here and what I’m doing right now!"
The whole thing was now totally out of Lucien’s expectation, and now he was tasting the bitterness caused by his boldness.
"What if I’m only here to take a look around?" Lucien’s face was covered by his hood, and he answered politely, "Sometimes, fighting is the most useless thing."
"Interesting." The viscount shortly commented and then turned to look at the people standing on the stage.
Besides Felipe, now there were another four necromancers who were the chosen representatives of the crowd: the old necromancer, Cessy; a plain-looking female necromancer, Tess; a young necromancer named Quentin; and and a horrible-looking necromancer named Sidney whose face and hands were covered with big scares sewed by threads. They were also the only four middle-rank sorcerers from the land which originally belonged to Wilfred, who inherited the tradition of the ancient magic empire. Two of them were of fourth circle, and two of them were of third circle.
"You don’t want to get on the stage?" asked the viscount in a joking way.
Lucien rolled his eyes under his hood and answered ironically again in his mind, "Sure I’ll get on the stage and find a perfect way to get myself killed... Why not?"
Of course, Lucien could not say something like that to the viscount. Therefore, pretending that he was profound and mysterious, Lucien said to Carendia, "Sometimes standing away from the stage can make you see more."
The viscount clinked his glass with that of Lucien and commented, "No wonder your pseudonym is Professor."
On the wood stage, Cessy kept his usual expressionless face when he asked, "Mr. Felipe, thank you for inviting us here and offering us a chance to gather together and exchange our knowledge and magic materials. The gathering is already a feast for us who were hiding all the time in the darkness like mice living in caves. I wonder what else do you want to discuss with us?"
Felipe’s eyes were staring at Lucien. Seeing that Professor was not planning to disturb his speech for now, he turned to all the sorcerers and apprentices present and started to talk again in his deep but loud voice, "I’m sure that all of you have suffered and are still suffering lots of difficulties here, the land which once belonged to the greatest necromancer, Wilfred. You folks are worrying that one day the Church might come for you. You folks are worried every single day, even during your meditation, that one day you’d be killed by some random adventurers, knights, priests. And you folks are so disturbed that you cannot fall asleep at night..."
In the nations controlled by the church, every sorcerer and apprentice shared more or less similar experiences. After hearing the Felipe’s words, they could not help but nod, even including Lucien.
"Wow... Mr. Professor, are you agreeing with Mr. Felipe?" Viscount Carendia was a bit surprised to see that Lucien was nodding as well.
"Of course. What he just said is true," said Lucien in a tolerant manner.
"You cannot tell your relatives and friends who you are," Felipe continued. "You have no one to share the outcome of your research and experiment. You have no one to share your happiness and sadness. And you know that you can never achieve what you want in your life, even though you deserve it!"
The crowd was oppressed by the silence. They all had their bitterness that they could only handle on their own because of their status.
"So, tell me, do you want to continue to live in this miserable life?" Felipe asked aloud.
An apprentice was touched, and he burst out a cry, "No! Not at all!"
And his answer called upon more responses. More and more of the necromancers and apprentices present started to cry out, "No!"
"We can’t take it anymore!"
"We don’t!"
The crowd in the hall became irritated and the people were shouting out of their long-repressed anger.
Lucien did not say anything but stared at Felipe quietly. He was waiting to see if there would be any useful information for him in Felipe’s speech.
Until the crowd slowly calmed down, the four representatives exchanged a look between each other and then Cessy took the initiative, "We never wanted a life like this, Mr. Felipe. We’re living this life because we’ve got no choice. Can we get rid of all that? Can the Continental Congress of Magic help us?"
Finally, a relatively gentle smile appeared on Felipe’s pale face. He nodded and answered determinedly, "Yes. And I’m here to help you all."
There was a stir in the crowd again.
"In the a few countries where magic study is protected by the Continental Congress of Magic, we don’t have to hide at all. We can feel totally safe when we meditate at home, conduct experiments in a lab without having to worry about the Church. Not only that, these kingdoms also allow sorcerers to become their city councilors, which is the equivalent of the status of a noble. And if you have enough power and prestige to become a member of a Royal Magic Academy, you’d be a councilor from the House of Lords..."
Felipe’s words totally shocked the necromancers and apprentices. Although some of them did actually hear the name of the congress before, they never thought that the kingdoms that were protected by the congress could be such a paradise for them.
"Please let me finish, ladies and gentlemen." Felipe pressed his hand down in order to let the crowd quiet down, "More importantly, in the Continental Congress of Magic, as long as you’re capable enough, you can learn different levels of meditation, get all kinds of magic materials and items, and even have the access to learn arcana and the most cutting-edge researches in your field. Ladies and gentlemen, do you want to join us?"
"Of course!" Some of the apprentices answered directly out of great excitement, while some felt that what Felipe just described was almost to good to be true.
Some of them started to feel suspicious. After all, nothing is truly free in this world.
"Mr. Felipe," Cessy coughed a bit and said to him, "I’m sure that many of us are willing to join the congress for sure. However, what I want you to be clear here is... what do you need us to do?"
Seeing that they were heading toward the right direction, Felipe nodded with satisfaction, "Since the church has blocked the path toward the headquarter of the Congress of Magic, it is not easy for us to lead all of you to break the blockade."
Then Felipe stopped himself and shifted to another topic, "Back in the days when the ancient magic empire still existed, the conflict among the eight major factions was already there. And it is the same with the Congress of Magic today as well. Facing the competition and conflict, the best solution for individuals to survive is unity."
Then Felipe cleared his throat and addressed the crowd in an even louder voice, "I’m a member of the Hand of Paleness, which is jointly established by the grand arcanist, Vicente Miranda, known as ‘Thanatos’, and the legendary archmage, Congus, known as Demigod-lich. The Hand of Paleness is an influential organization that is still fast growing for the sake of the unity of necromancers, and that’s why it is also the most ideal choice for all of you to join."
Lucien was listening to Felipe’s speech with interest. Now he felt what Felipe was conveying was almost like multi-level marketing.
Although many of them had no idea what did the title of grand arcanist stood for, they knew how powerful a legendary archmage should be. At this time, Tess took a step forward and asked, "If the Hand of Paleness is really like what you just described, I personally would like to join you without doubt. But what I want to ask you is what do we have to do after we join the organization."
Tess still remained relatively calm. She knew that there was always a price to pay for everything.
"Good question." Felipe nodded, "Let’s tap about what benefit you can have after joining us first. First of all, you can get a magic item according to your current power level. Secondly, you’ll have powerful and profound sorcerers to be your supervisors to introduce you to the contemporary magic system. Thirdly, we’ll never take away your own research outcome and your own property. That is to say, what is yours will always be yours."
"However," Felipe paused a bit, "we do have one requirement for our members. When you receive a task from the organization, you cannot turn it down. If the task was completed, you’d be awarded, but if you fail, you’d be punished as well."
"More and more like multi-level marketing..." Lucien thought to himself. He was still waiting for the possible information from Felipe about the liaison in Sturk.
Alluring as Felipe’s description was, the requirement woke the necromancers and apprentices up immediately.
For sure, there was nothing truly free in the world.
"What if someone turns down the task?" asked Cessy carefully.
"Two situations. For senior-rank mages, penalty or alternative task. Below that level, penalty, physical punishment, mental punishment, or death... depends on the given task," answered Felipe directly. "According to the latest finding of arcana, energy is conserved. You pay for what you get. Everyone should make their own choice. And due to the restrictions, we can only bring sorcerers to the headquarter of the Congress of Magic. For apprentices, as long as you sign the magic contract, I will leave you some books and materials to help you grow to become a sorcerer as soon as possible. Every year there will be a liaison bringing new sorcerers to the congress." Felipe further explained.
Due to his words, some of the senior apprentices present started to feel excited again since they had been struggling with their next-level breakthrough for a long time. Now they finally found a possible way out. Besides, some tasks from the organization might now be that dangerous, they thought.
After Felipe finished his speech, he stared at Lucien with his cold eyes, because that moment was the perfect time for Professor to ruin his recruiting.