City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Collision Course

Mountainsea didn’t forget about ‘gold-plating’ the second time, treating the word casually. She’d remembered to be respectful to her new teacher, but didn’t notice the legendary mage’s face darken. Of course, even if she had noticed anything, she would’ve continued to speak.

Sharon laughed all of a sudden, her eyes crinkling into charming crescents as the haze dissipated. “Gold-plating? Just because I’m a legendary mage?”

Mountainsea nodded in reply, “Yes! You included, I’ll have three legendary teachers to boost my background.”

Sharon smiled elegantly in response, “Who are the other two?”

“One is the elder of my tribe, and the other is the Sword Saint of the Millennial Empire,” Mountainsea answered with delight, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ears and tilting her petite face. Nobody would have thought this girl from Klandor could exude such a ladylike aura.

Sharon let out a laugh, “You’re saying you have connections to Empress Gelan of the Millennial Empire?”

“She’s my grandmother.”

Sharon’s smile froze for an instant, but she returned to her normal self. She glared at Blackgold, but the grey dwarf only reciprocated with a look of innocence. The information about this new student had been handed down to Sharon long ago, but knowing the legendary mage she’d only read the numbers within and ignored everything else.

Sharon stretched her slender hand out and grabbed an aquatic fruit that was bigger that her hand. She flicked its shell off easily, revealing flawless flesh within. She peeled one petal off and popped it into her mouth, “I heard the Millennial Empire has the bloodline of high-grade elves, how did they get a granddaughter like you? You came from the Klandor Continent not long ago… Oh right, the third prince of your empire, the youngest of your four best generals, Greyhawk, led a 50,000 man army on an expedition to Klandor decades ago, is it…”

“Oh. Not long after he landed on Klandor he led his army to battle with the brave warriors of my tribe at the Eaglefall Plains, but it didn’t take long for my mother’s totemic warriors to take him down and capture him. She only wanted to scare them, so she released all the men a few days later, but the prince ended up becoming my father.”

A crunchy sound came from Sharon’s mouth as she shattered the seeds of the fruit with her teeth. She remained expressionless as she swallowed, as if the fruit was seedless. Sometimes the legendary mage had equivalent bite force to a dragon.

“That’s saying that your mother is a legendary being too. Four legendary beings behind your back, not bad at all.”

Mountainsea nodded, “Yes, and with you it will be five. The elder said a background like that will make me formidable almost anywhere in Norland. I’ll just need to mention it whenever I get into trouble and the enemy will retreat in fear. No fighting needed.”

Sharon cackled and spoke in a weird voice, “Why is it that it feels like you’re using four legendary beings to suppress me? That’s why you’re not giving me any respect. So, let’s see, is any one of you standing behind her interested in fighting me?”

Beams of light shot out of Sharon’s eyes, her blonde hair rising into the air. The light was so blinding that one couldn’t see her face. Remaining seated, the legendary mage scanned the four people standing behind Mountainsea.

The two guards groaned as the force sent them flying ten metres away, as if an invisible hammer had struck them hard. They were slammed into the wall, sliding down to the ground after the impact. Steelrock had to move a few steps back as well before he yelled and steadied himself, about to charge as he glared at Sharon with a bloody nose. Only the old man stood still, but that did not stop his hair flying backwards as if being blown by the wind. The two bone accessories that were hung on his neck exploded loudly, giving out a thin white smog.

A helpless smile surfaced on the face of the old man as he opened his eyes, dried lips moving like he wanted to say something. But his movements were as slow as ever, unlike the legendary mage who spoke so speedily. Before the old man even said anything, Sharon had already spoken a handful.

“Ha, finally exposed! Though we have not met before, the aura of the ancient beast cannot fool me. You woke me up from my nap! Shaman Urazadzu, is it? What are you doing here instead of staying in the shrine of the Vastdome River located in the Great Snow Mountains? It looks like you want a fight!” Sharon waved violently at the grand mages, “Get out! My beloved guests shouldn’t complain that I won because of numbers. Hey, old man, you’ve already been in the legendary realm for about fifty years now, don’t accuse me of taking advantage of you if you lose. And that big thing, you can join too! Those two useless ones won’t be able to stand for a while.”

The grand mages looked at each other, but no one moved. They finally understood why Sharon always called them over urgently whenever she met with guests. It was to show off her strength, and guarantee numbers if it came to a fight. The legendary mage was confident in the current match up, so she only needed them to be an audience.

Sharon finally stood up in the midst of the chaos and rubbed her hands togethers, excitement filling her eyes. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a good fight. I hear you barbarians prefer fighting over talking. I’m not in the best mood today, so let’s end it quickly. Attack now, or I will!”

Urazadzu hit his staff against the ground, and stopped Steelrock who was ready to attack. He shook his head, saying, “Your Excellency, the reason I’m here is to protect the girl. It’s also to show you our greatest sincerity— if our only purpose was to find any legendary mage as a teacher for Mountainsea, we wouldn’t have given up such a huge sum.”

Sharon’s expression relaxed a little. The shaman was right; if the girl only wanted status, the price of 2,000,000 coins would be able to get almost any legendary mage that she wanted. Not every mage had the ability to accumulate wealth like she did.

The shaman saw the hesitation in Sharon’s eyes, and quickly took the chance, “Not all legendary mages qualify to teach Mountainsea. Honestly, the final list was very narrow.”

“Oh? How many?” he’d managed to hook her successfully.

“Two.” The number took Sharon by surprise, but she was obviously delighted. The other was definitely the Sword Saint of the Millennial Empire, and that truly was someone comparable to her.

This meant the Azuresnow Shrine and Empress Gelan disregarded all the other legendary mages on the continent. There may have been other reasons behind this choice as well, but Sharon couldn’t care less about that.

“Well well, old man; even though you disturbed my nap, you have great taste blessed by the Beast God, not bad at all! The payment showed your sincerity well enough. Right, Mountainsea, why is your name so odd? It doesn’t seem like a Klandor name.” Sharon’s gaze towards Mountainsea had grown much gentler. Of course, this was not due to Urazadzu’s words, instead being about the price. The huge sum was enough to soften the legendary mage greatly.

Having just been woken up, the legendary mage’s mood had been poor. It was only now that they were facing the true Sharon.

Mountainsea’s answer this time was different from the one she’d given Richard, “The elders told me only the height of the mountains and the depth of the seas can qualify to describe my wealth.”

Sharon covered her mouth and laughed demurely, “Wealth that could only be described by mountains and seas? So you’re saying that you’re richer than me?”

It was a really cold joke. The grand mages could only force out a laugh or two to show support for their master. Only the grey dwarf had a twisted expression on his face, stuck between laughing and crying.

Mountainsea nodded as expected, replying in her usual straightforward way, “I’m a student of yours who’s paying for herself; it only makes sense that I have more money. Ten million is nothing, you don’t have to take it to heart. Of course, I understand why gold-plating is preferred to plating with abyssal ironjade in Norland.”

Sharon’s smile froze, and she raised her brows and asked with a sweet voice, “You said you’re richer than me?”

“Of course!” Mountainsea nodded furiously.