SOUL FORGE CHRONICLES
Chapter 8 — Noble Recruitment
News of the Iron Bear Gang's defeat spread quickly throughout the airship.
After hearing the news, the students discussed it with great enthusiasm. Most felt relieved that Rael had finally been dealt with, and the girls who had previously been victimized by the Iron Bear Gang cheered with joy.
But none of that concerned Aldric in the slightest.
Aldric was currently sitting calmly in Room 225, recovering his magic reserves while casually observing the nobles who had filled his room.
"Won't you introduce yourselves first?"
Aldric sat on the stool with complete ease, Elara standing nervously beside him.
Aldric, with his low social standing, didn't know any of these nobles. But Elara knew them like the back of her hand.
They were all descendants of influential noble families from the Kingdom of Valdenmoor. Normally, even Elara's father would have had to pay a considerable sum just to get a meeting with them.
"I'll go first."
A tall man with a sharp jaw and golden blonde hair sat across from Aldric.
"I am Kevan Aldros, and I have come to invite you, Aldric, to join our alliance."
"The Aldros family!" Elara couldn't help but exclaim.
The Aldros family was one of the most prominent noble families in the Kingdom of Valdenmoor. Their direct and vassal territories covered nearly a quarter of the entire kingdom.
Among commoners, the story of the Aldros family's rise from small merchants to great nobility was the envy of every merchant.
Aldric rested his chin on his hand and said calmly, "Sounds like an important person."
The Aldros family's power only existed within the Kingdom of Valdenmoor. On this airship, there was no distinction between noble and commoner — only strength and death.
Passing the exam meant life. Failing meant death.
Kevan was not surprised by Elara's reaction, but Aldric's indifference caught him slightly off guard.
From his reaction, noble status and the Aldros family's great name meant very little in his eyes.
This gave Kevan a slight headache — yet also made him somewhat impressed.
Not everyone could change their way of thinking this quickly. Someone who could master sorcery in such a short time must have something extraordinary about them.
After a moment of thought, Kevan decided to humble himself first.
"However, compared to true sorcerers, the Aldros family is just a group of ordinary people with a little worldly power."
Aldric smiled slightly. Young Master Kevan appeared to be quite a clever man.
"In that case, Young Master Kevan, how strong is your organization? What position could I hold? What benefits could I receive?"
Aldric had no interest in engaging in long-winded noble-style arguments. His questions went straight to the heart of the matter.
This caused Kevan — accustomed to the roundabout nature of aristocratic negotiations — to pause for a moment.
"Well..."
Kevan stumbled slightly, his mind racing to formulate an appropriate answer.
But that hesitation gave someone else an opening to speak.
"You... Aldric, I think you should think more long-term."
A heavyset red-haired noble suddenly spoke up from behind Kevan.
The man had an oily face, and despite trying to speak calmly, his contempt for Aldric couldn't be hidden at all.
"Joining us is an opportunity for you. Our organization is full of nobles." The heavyset man said haughtily. "Once you join, you too can become a noble."
The moment the heavyset man finished speaking, Kevan knew everything had gone wrong.
Would someone who didn't even care about the Aldros family name care about a noble title worth nothing in the sorcery world? They could offer him a duke's title and he would probably still refuse.
Sure enough.
After hearing the heavyset man's words, Aldric immediately burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, Kevan, did you hear that? Your subordinate is offering me such a generous offer."
Aldric looked at the group of nobles behind Kevan with a sardonic gaze. Although they tried to appear composed, their disdain for him couldn't be concealed at all.
In contrast, Kevan — from the most prominent family among them — had genuinely humbled himself to try to recruit him.
"I should clarify — I come from the honorable Briston family. The Aldros family cannot make me Kevan's follower," the heavyset man explained earnestly, as though this were an extremely important distinction.
He didn't understand why Aldric had laughed. Joining them and receiving a noble title was something most people in the Kingdom of Valdenmoor couldn't achieve even with unlimited money.
Yet this commoner received it with mocking laughter instead of gratitude.
Truly incomprehensible.
Commoners would always be commoners. Even if this one was lucky enough to become a sorcerer, his dull way of thinking would never grasp deeper matters.
Kevan took a long, deep breath.
He wasn't afraid of formidable opponents — he was more afraid of incompetent allies.
The heavyset man's words had nearly destroyed this entire recruitment effort. But he still wanted to try to salvage it.
If Aldric, this sorcery student, joined them, the alliance would not only gain significant additional strength — it would also eliminate one dangerous threat.
"I swear upon my family name! Polwick, if you utter one more word — even one syllable — I will expel you from the alliance right now!"
Kevan's voice was filled with barely contained anger, and those harsh words made Polwick's chubby face immediately flush red.
He opened his mouth as if to respond, but seeing Kevan's icy gaze, he finally closed it again.
"Aldric, just ignore Polwick's words. He only recently received his noble title, so he's still too proud of his new status. Not all of our members are like that," Kevan turned back to Aldric, his face immediately replaced with a sincere, polite smile.
"In our alliance, there is one full knight, two prospective students who have connected to the Soul Sea, and five knight's guards. Although I don't know the situation on other airships, our alliance's strength is more than enough to get through this exam."
Kevan leaned slightly closer to Aldric, his voice dropping to a lower, more mysterious tone.
"Furthermore, our alliance also has a descendant of a legendary knight."
Aldric's eyes lit up slightly at that.
"Have you ever heard the legend?" Kevan continued. "The legendary knights who founded the Seven Kingdoms are said to have all come from the realm of the gods, and their descendants carry divine blood."
Aldric had indeed heard that legend. In ancient times, seven legendary knights descended from the realm of the gods into the mortal world and founded the Seven Kingdoms in the midst of wilderness filled with ferocious magical beasts.
Legend had it that some of these knights possessed extraordinary powers — some could breathe fire, some could transform into wild beasts, and some were immune to all weapons.
But from the way Kevan spoke, these legendary knights must have had a close connection to sorcerers.
"How could that be? Could it be that those legendary knights were all descendants of sorcerers?" Aldric guessed.
"Not entirely, but close enough."
Kevan's eyes glanced carefully around.
"It seems this is a secret; I'd have to join to find out the full story," Aldric murmured.
Aldric considered for a moment. His gaze shifted from Kevan to the group of nobles behind him, then back to Kevan.
"I have one question. If you can answer it, I'll join."
Aldric sat up straight, his expression becoming serious.
"Please, go ahead."
"Why would that full knight and those two sorcery students agree to form an alliance with you?"
Aldric felt there was something abnormal about Kevan's alliance.
A good alliance should consist of members who were all useful, or at least mostly so. But aside from the knight and two sorcery students, the other members of Kevan's alliance contributed almost nothing meaningful in an exam that bet their lives.
An imbalanced alliance like that shouldn't theoretically exist. Its existence meant there was something Aldric didn't know — a hidden backing that made those stronger members willing to join.
Aldric suspected that backing was related to the magic artifacts the nobles had been discussing in the observation deck.
"The answer is simple," Kevan seemed slightly relieved, "because most of us have..."
"Kevan!"
A sharp, brief shout cut off Kevan's sentence.
It was the voice of a noble woman wearing a deep purple gown. Purple was the color of the highest nobles in the Kingdom of Valdenmoor — wearing it meant one's family had produced at least a duke.
Aldric shook his head helplessly.
"It seems our cooperation cannot continue. Please, everyone, see yourselves out."
Aldric stood to escort them out, giving Kevan no further opportunity to explain.
If these nobles had half — or even a third — of the respect Kevan had shown, Aldric would have considered joining seriously.
Among so many prospective students, Kevan was certainly not the only one forming an alliance. In the exam ahead, the primary targets of these alliances would be students traveling alone.
But the attitude of these nobles made Aldric unwilling to entrust his back to them.
Besides, Elara had already become a prospective sorcery student. Wouldn't working together with Elara — someone he knew well — be far better than allying with nobles who looked down on him?
Seeing Aldric's firm stance, Kevan said nothing more. He shook Aldric's hand politely and left with his group.
After they left, Aldric opened his palm.
A small note written in sorcerer's script appeared there — slipped in by Kevan during the handshake.
"This Kevan is interesting." Aldric smiled and casually pocketed the note.
Half an hour later, the airship maintenance was complete and the ship resumed flying at full speed. All students returned to their respective rooms.
Aldric sat on his bunk, reflecting on the earlier encounter.
He had fired eight Mana Bolts, consuming roughly half of his magic reserves. That meant if he used his entire Mana Flow, he could fire a total of about fifteen Mana Bolts.
Although the books described Mana Bolts as weak spells that no experienced sorcerer would bother with — their actual power, comparable to a pistol bullet, still impressed Aldric.
Fifteen Mana Bolts. Fifteen bullets.
With power like this, Aldric was confident that as long as he wasn't ambushed or surrounded, he could definitely pass the exam.
After finishing his reflection, Aldric pulled out the note and read it.
The contents were simple: Kevan intended to hire Aldric with one magic stone in exchange for protecting him during the entrance exam. Payment would be made after registration was complete.
"Nobles who build their wealth through business truly are far smarter than the others," Aldric remarked, casually pocketing the note again.
In this arrangement, Aldric barely needed to do anything he hadn't already planned. Kevan would get the protection he wanted — and for a sorcery student who was a predator in this exam, trading future benefits for safety during the exam was certainly worthwhile.
This was a mutually beneficial deal.
...
After maintenance was complete, the airship never slowed down again.
For ten consecutive days, the ship flew without stopping toward the designated location.
As the head recruiting sorcerer, Eriel — who always held her massive sword — looked ahead and spotted a grey tower soaring high in the distance, piercing through the clouds.
"Prepare to land!"
The Grey Tower Academy of Magic had arrived.
— End of Chapter 8 —