“So if all of you agree, I shall prescribe a training plan for each of you.” Michael said, ignoring his father's grumblings.

“I agree, I agree!” Karina continued to cry out.

“I would like to Michael, but your father and I have work, and your sister has school. Would we still have time to learn about magic and swords?”

“Well, you guys can keep working if you want to and it will take me time to prepare if dad wants to become a knight anyway. I don’t want to force this decision on you as cultivating requires both patience and hard work, but if you guys don’t want to work, I can provide enough money for the whole family. If you guys wanted, you could just enjoy a life of luxury without working or cultivating.” Michael explained. He had prepared for any of the possible outcomes, it would be much easier in the future if his family had some measure of self-defense.

A silence once again ensued.

“What do you think, honey?” Melinda asked.

“Don’t try to stop me honey, I want to be a hero- I mean a knight. And I want to quit my job. I think I’m more suited to saving damsels- I mean fighting monsters.” Paul said, mixing his real thoughts into his words. “A son’s duty is to take care of his parents when they’re older anyway. Who cares if it’s happening sooner rather than later? It’s better this way.” Paul said with a righteous attitude before grumbling, “Now I don’t have to do that dumb job.” Paul was the sort of man who did what he had to for his family, no matter how much he hated it, but if he didn’t have to do those things, he wouldn’t be ashamed and would gladly drop everything for a better life.

Melinda hit Paul once again. “Are you even taking this seriously?” Melinda said in exasperation. “What about you, baby girl? Do you want to stop school?”

“I don’t want to quit school. All my friends are there. But I still want to learn magic!” Karina decided.

“Okay, son. We’ll do as you say. It will take some time to get everything in order, but we’ll be in your care, son.” Melinda said with a smile. Although Melinda would have liked for her son to go to college, she was still quite satisfied with this son of hers.

…

…..

….

“We meet again, young man.” Sheona said with a friendly smile.

Michael returned the greeting. “It’s a pleasure as always, Miss Sheona. I’m just glad I’m not risking any money in this meeting.” He said as he sat down. “It’s also nice to see the lovely Lisa once again.”

Lisa simply ignored him.

“You might not be risking money this evening, but there’s always something being gambled.” Sheona said mysteriously.

“Yes,” Michael agreed. “Especially if you’re dealing with a high-level mage.” He continued frankly.

“Mage? What a peculiar terminology. I don’t know how much you know about us, but we refer to ourselves as wizards.” Sheona replied, unable to notice that Michael has already reached the level of rank 1 wizard. Although Sheona was of a much higher rank than him, Michael still had some tricks that would work on her.

“Indeed, I don’t know much, which is why I asked for this meeting.” Michael stated.

“Have you heard of the idea of equivalent exchange? It is a common practice for all wizards. What you offer me for this information?” Sheona asked, not expecting much, but nevertheless, amused. “Actually, you don’t have to give me anything. If you pass a little test of mine, this information would be freely available to you.”

“That’s unnecessary. And although it’s true that there is not much I can offer you, there is much I can offer your apprentice. I am a scholar of sorts. I admit that I don’t know much of the wizard world, but I do know much that would interest a budding wizard apprentice, like the lovely Lisa.” Michael responded.

Sheona was slightly annoyed at those words. “What can you offer that I can’t teach her?” Logically, Sheona doubted Michael was even a scholar, as he didn’t even know the term wizard moments before, but she couldn’t see any falseness in Michael’s words.

“Much. But we should ask Miss Bartender. Are there any spells, appropriate talent runes, or research questions you would like to ask of me?” Michael asked, putting the focus of the conversation onto Lisa, instead of the hard to deal with Sheona.

Lisa stayed silent, but she couldn’t hide the urge to ask a question as she silently looked for her master’s approval. She had a question that even her master couldn’t answer, unless her master put more effort into it than she would like, and even though she did not put much hope in Michael, she still wanted to try asking.

Sheona sighed before nodding. “Go ahead, girl. Ask your question.”

“I’m an amateur potion maker, and have the necessary talent to be a Plant Master, but unfortunately the related spells and talent rules are hard to find as the people in the profession are rare. Do you know anything that could help me?” Lisa asked with a small amount of hope.

“Oho, you’re quite talented aren’t you? The affinity required for a plant master is rare. To be honest, Plant Masters aren't that great but it’s different if you’re also a Potion Master. Considering your current level, you’re probably looking for an appropriate talent rune, correct?” Michael said with slight surprise. He didn’t expect for her to be so talented. A plant-type talent rune wouldn’t necessarily be better than other runes that she had an appropriate talent for, but becoming a Plant Master was a complicated path, requiring an affinity for earth, water, and light, and a plant-type talent rune would increase her overall control and sensitivity towards plant-type spells.

Lisa nodded with the hope in her eyes becoming brighter.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“You’re lucky that I’ve coincidentally done research into this topic. I do happen to have something which could be suitable depending on your preference, but the price for it would be much higher than the information I need.” Michael continued.

To be honest, Michael probably knew of many talent runes that would suit her, but he didn’t want to show too much, lest Sheona’s greed overcame her pride as a high-level wizard. She wouldn’t stoop so low as to rob someone she thought was a mortal, but she wouldn’t hesitate if Michael really had something of value.

“What do you want?” Sheona asked. She had planned to find this information for her disciple anyways, and if Michael could really offer this, it would save her time. Sheona might not look like it, but she was a devoted master when she accepted a student and was willing to pay the price for her disciple.

“I require access to a means of doing some trading with other wizards. In addition to that I require the materials for a life seed, and not a common life seed, so the requirements could be different than you think.” Michael answered.

“Oho, so you’re an aspiring knight. Are you sure you don’t want something extra? The trade isn’t quite equal.” Sheona asked. She didn’t want to rip off a mortal.

“Trust me, the trade is fair.” Michael replied, and continued to tell Sheona the ingredients for the life seed he had in mind. Michael had some trouble describing the ingredients, but he was relieved to find out that they did exist on this world. It was entirely possible that the ingredients didn’t exist on this world, but Michael described the ingredients with their functions, so some of these were similar but entirely different than what Michael knew. But Michael wasn’t worried about this, as all it meant was that he had to spend more time analyzing the ingredients, and the worst case scenario being that he would have to spend effort into buying more materials.

“I see. Indeed, that is a fair trade.” Sheona replied, with slight interest towards this peculiar life seed. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any great interest in gene advancement. “I can easily provide you a trade network without any inconvenient requirements, but the materials for the life seed will take me a week to prepare, so have the information ready by then.”

“It was a pleasure doing business with you.” Michael said.

The purposefully delayed waiter was finally called over so that the trio could order some food.

As they ate, Michael inquired about the details of the wizard world and also Lisa's preferences for a talent rune. Michael wasn't required to give her the most suitable talent rune, but Michael was charmed by Lisa's dedication to magic, and maybe a desire to conquer was inspired by her firm denial of any of Michael's advances, so Michael wanted to help her out.

Michael learned through Sheona, that most wizards don’t actually live on this world, but a separate dimensional space in close relation to this world and the gateways to the other world were closely guarded so that regular people wouldn’t be able to get in.

Michael was then told of the history of the mortal world and the powerful wizard that had understood that the cultivation world and the world of mortals weren't compatible. He had a peculiar mindset in that he wasn't arrogant enough to think that his life was worth more than a mortal’s. Instead he regarded them with great importance in the bigger picture, so he and his colleagues divided a small part of the world to exist in a separate dimensional space, for mortals to live on.

After that, he united the mortal world under one governing system and watched over the world long enough that the system became secure. After that, the mortal world became a world of relative peace.

Michael was slightly impressed. He agreed with this great wizard. Mortals can be a great power under the right circumstances. Michael has even seen cultivation systems that relied on the faith of mortals, which could allow one to become immensely powerful and even objects could gain life through the faith of mortals. But Michael didn’t fully believe this guy's reason for separating the mortal world.

“Did any new religions pop out at that time?” Michael asked.

“Religions? I’m not sure. Surely you would know better than me, Mr. Scholar.” Sheona teased.

“Hmm…” Michael was confused. Was this guy such a good guy? Michael wondered, with his experience limiting his faith in the good will of others. “What was his real reason for separating the mortal world?”

“Oho, aren't you jaded. Well, actually, I happen to know something of this as people have recently began to talk about it.” Sheona said, her tone becoming serious. “That wizard was actually a great practitioner of divination. One day, he divined that an all-powerful and ancient monster would soon arrive on this world. And although he didn't perceive more than that, he took it as a great warning. So he gathered the greatest wizards at that time just to separate the mortal world, in order to leave a seed for future wizards to thrive in case the worst happened. It is said he gathered much of the knowledge at that time and stored it somewhere in the mortal world for future wizards.”

“Is this wizard still alive?” Michael asked with serious eyes. Damn, he thought. I need to set up a defense against divination as soon as possible.

“No. It is said he died 5000 years ago.” Sheona replied.

“I see.” Michael said as he readjusted his future plans.

…

…..

…

Michael spent the next week meditating and playing online poker. Although he couldn't read faces online, he could still practice divination, which was much easier for him now that he advanced to a rank 1 wizard.

Needless to say, Michael has been winning a decent amount of money, especially from the few poker tournaments he has participated in.

During this week, Michael's sister and mom both started meditating and his father has been learning some basic martial arts. Although Paul was free from his job, he was now forced to work out every day which was much more tiring.

Although some might say it was too late for Michael’s parents to start this now, he had his own ways of solving these problems.

It didn’t take long after the week passed before he got Lisa's call.

Michael met her in the same private room, at the same restaurant.

“Ah, the lovely Lisa and I, here, in the same place and time, with only each other to accompany. Who can tell what the rest of this magical evening will involve?” Michael spoke, trying to offer a sense of romance to this meeting, but unfortunately failing.

“The rest of the evening will involve a simple trade, and nothing more.” Lisa declared in impressive voice.

“Oh, Lisa. The world has so much more to offer if you open your heart to it.” Michael said as if he was mourning over the situation.

“I will also have much more to offer if you brought what we discussed.” Lisa responded, getting to the heart of the matter.

“Oh, I have much more than that if you’re also willing to give a bit more. Perhaps a kiss has much more value to me than the things you’ve brought.” Michael continued to tease, but received no reaction. “Ah, fine Lisa, be that way.” Michael took out a handwritten book from his backpack and put it on the table. “If I’m being honest, I’m overpaying if I don’t at least get a kiss.”

“What you've requested.” Lisa also handed over a bag of items before impatiently grabbing the book.

As Lisa skimmed through the book, her eyes widened in shock. It didn’t just include a very suitable talent rune for her, but also described various methods to advance to rank 1 wizard with this talent rune, including detailed descriptions of the process and problems that could occur. Lisa didn’t know how to respond.

“Y-yu-you didn’t have to go this far.” Lisa responded with a trembling voice after a long period of silence. Should I really give him a kiss? Lisa considered before her whole face turned beet red at the thought of something she had never previously considered.

Michael grabbed her hand from the table and said in an earnest voice, “Well, you didn’t have to be so charming.”

Lisa reacted as she had been struck like lightning and stood up abruptly, freeing her hand from Michael. “I have to go!” She exclaimed before hurrying out of the door with only the book in hand.

After she left, Michael couldn’t stop himself from having a long hearty laugh.