Sunlight poured down in brilliant rays, lighting the road in a golden yellow. Walking along it felt like strolling down a boulevard paved with gold.
Leilin had specially changed into a formal outfit today. Gelin personally drove the carriage, bringing him to the building near Meierfeile's residence.
Meierfeile, also dressed in formal attire, was waiting to one side with a short, pure-black staff in hand. Upon seeing Leilin, a joyful smile spread across his wrinkled face. "Welcome, my friend!"
"Sorry I'm a bit late!" Leilin said, opening the window.
"We haven't reached the appointed time yet — I deliberately came out early!" Meierfeile climbed into the carriage with the help of a servant. Gelin flicked the reins, and the carriage headed toward the center of Polar Night City.
"Today is a banquet hosted by the city lord himself. He invited you as well, naturally — as the host, he'd be curious about any guest of considerable strength..." Meierfeile stopped halfway through his sentence.
"I figured as much," Leilin replied. As the ruler of a city, it was already somewhat surprising that the lord had taken this long to seek him out after Leilin had been here for so many days.
"You seem a bit bored?" Meierfeile had clearly noticed Leilin's lack of enthusiasm.
"To be honest, I'm not very good at this kind of socializing. Given the choice, I'd rather stay in the laboratory..." Leilin said with a wry smile.
"Haha..." Meierfeile let out a kindly laugh. "Just like I was when I was young! But you need to learn to enjoy life, young man! Compared to tedious experiments, sometimes delicious food and fiery, spirited women can ignite far more passion!"
Leilin nodded. In truth, this was the difference between a retired Wizard and an up-and-coming one.
Meierfeile had long since reached the end of his road in Wizardry, so he had redirected his energy toward other pleasures. Leilin, on the other hand, still had a vast path ahead of him, and naturally needed to seize every moment for study rather than waste it on such frivolous matters.
"Look on the bright side, my boy! There are a few companions at the banquet I'd like to introduce you to..." Meierfeile said with a faint smile.
"Could it be?" Leilin's eyes lit up.
"That's right! A few other Wizard Apprentices. They're all younger than I am — perhaps you'll find more common ground with them!"
"Now I'm actually looking forward to this banquet!" A smile tugged at the corner of Leilin's lips.
The city lord's mansion was located at the center of Polar Night City, flanked by two rows of guards clad in full black armor.
"They are the Black Iron Guard of the Lord of Polar Night City, Viscount Jackson. They once defeated five hundred enemy soldiers with just a hundred men!"
Meierfeile, having stepped down from the carriage, introduced them to Leilin.
Leilin looked around. Many other carriages were parked nearby, and from time to time, male nobles in lavish attire and young women in low-cut dresses climbed out.
Meierfeile appeared to hold considerable prestige among the aristocracy. Nobles periodically came up to greet him, and Meierfeile responded with a smile, exchanging a few words here and there.
A guard by the gate spotted Meierfeile and jogged inside. Before long, a booming voice rang out.
"Meierfeile! My friend, you've finally arrived!" As the words echoed, a stocky middle-aged man emerged from the mansion's front entrance. The surrounding nobles and soldiers all bowed — it was clear this was the Lord of Polar Night City, Viscount Jackson.
Leilin was of average height by South Coast standards, but this Viscount Jackson stood a full two heads taller than him. He had a typically Caucasian face with a broad forehead, and his cheeks were covered in a thick beard.
Jackson gave Meierfeile a tight hug: "Little Jackson's been missing you!"
"I've missed him too! What an adorable little fellow — he's one of the most intelligent students I've ever taught!" Meierfeile said.
"And this is my good friend, the distinguished Leilin Farell from afar!" Meierfeile went on to introduce Leilin to Jackson.
"Polar Night City welcomes you!" Jackson looked Leilin up and down, then spread his wide arms and pulled Leilin into a hug.
Leilin's smile stiffened slightly, but he masked it well in an instant.
At this moment, his attention was completely captivated by the data displayed on the Chip.
"Jackson — Strength: 7.9, Agility: 4.5, Constitution: 6.3, Spirit: 3.5, Status: Healthy. This human is extremely dangerous. Recommend the host maintain a distance of more than fifty meters!"
"These readings — this is definitely Great Knight-level strength!" Leilin's pupils narrowed.
"Great Knights possess exceptionally high physical constitutions. Through the continuous stimulation and reinforcement of Life Energy, they have broken through the bottlenecks of ordinary mortals. They even possess a slight resistance to Zero-level Spells!" Leilin recalled a passage about Great Knights.
"Not bad! You're a Knight too, aren't you?" Lord Jackson was mildly surprised by Leilin's strength, and a trace of goodwill was now clearly visible in his gaze.
"I've only just broken through — I'm nowhere near your level, My Lord!"
Leilin replied modestly while secretly issuing a command: "Chip! Simulate a combat scenario between me and this Lord Jackson."
"Task initiated. Character data loaded. Simulation arena established. Battle prediction in progress…"
A large screen of light flickered rapidly before finally producing a result: "Simulation complete. Beyond fifty meters — host win rate: 89.8%. Between fifty and twenty meters — host win rate: 58.7%. Within twenty meters — host win rate: 33.9%!"
"As expected — a Great Knight's physical burst is incredibly powerful. Their speed in an instant can completely exceed a Wizard's casting speed. Unless you maintain your distance, the situation is far too disadvantageous for a spellcaster!"