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nA few months passed quickly…

nVincent had finally regained some of his freedom in this period and had gained some more time to have fun with his friends after the academy.

nBut this was the least that had happened in this time. After years of studying at the Academy of Stars, Vice, Rory, and Ian had finally reached their last day of school!

n…

n“Vice, Rory, what will you do from now on? My parents are trying to get me into the royal academy in Saltstar City.” Ian said to his friends, smiling, hardly able to wait to turn his 10th birthday and travel to that city.

nVice and Rory were walking side by side with Ian, each of them with backpacks on their backs.

nThey had all grown a lot and were slowly approaching adolescence, a period of bodily maturation that takes place between the ages of 10 and 14 in the humans of this world.

nAt 14, they were not only awakening much of their magical abilities, but these humans were also coming of age and were considered adults by local standards.

nSo at almost 10, they were already around 1.4 to 1.5 meters tall, 35 to 45 kilograms in weight.

nHair was already growing here and there on their bodies, and their voices slowly became deeper.

nEach of them was more advanced in one thing or another. Vicente, in particular, was the one with the most striking voice.

nHe then said. “I hope to see you there as well. I don’t intend to join the Saltstar City Royal Academy, but my father has business to do there that will cause my family to stay there for a few months.

nWe will be traveling in a week, so I will be away from Martell Village for a while.”

nRory heard this but was not sad that his friends would be away from this village for a while.

n“I will wait for you. I don’t have any plans for the moment. I will just wait for Vice to join his family.” Rory said, confident in what his best friend had told him.

nVincent had already told Ian and Rory about his dream to start a family and live his own way.

nIan had no interest in joining this family, as he wanted to one day enter the Seidel Magic College and get his place in the kingdom, perhaps in a large noble family or even acquiring a title of nobility.

nBut Rory thought differently. After being saved from the clutches of Darek and his group, he had learned many things from Vicente, and without other interests, he had decided to join this thing called the Mafia.

nHe knew that they would have to live outside the law, but the idea of following their own rules and living in the shadow of society captivated him.

nAs a son of a bitch, he had no interest in becoming a public figure, much less becoming a nobleman’s minion.

n“Hmm, I should return in six months at the most.” Vice once again said this to Rory, planning to start his family along the mafia lines once he returned.

nFor now, he planned not to expose such a thing to his relatives and would only have Rory by his side. Until he became an adult and gained more freedom, he intended to continue like this.

nBut once he took over part of his father’s business and left his family’s house, he had big plans in mind! 𝑜𝑣𝘭.𝘯𝑡

nRory knew this more than Ian did and nodded to Vice, indicating he would look forward to it.

n“I hope you guys succeed in that,” Ian commented to them. “Either way, I’ll miss you.”

nThe three had been great friends for years and had hardly gone more than a few days without seeing each other in recent years. But now, each would go their separate ways…

n“How about this? Your family will still be in the village in the future, right? I heard that the Saltstar City Royal Academy has two vacations a year. So let’s meet back here on at least one of those vacations annually.” Vicente said. “We can go out hunting, or rather drinking…”

nNone of the three had ever drunk, but as silly children who saw their slightly older family members and acquaintances doing it, part of them was interested in it.

nThe three of them laughed as they thought about it, agreeing that they could do it in a few months.

nAfter they reached the side of the academy gate, the three looked at each other and said their goodbyes with their group’s special handclasp.

n“See you in a few months!”

n“See you in a few months!”

nAs they said this, they ran off toward their homes while the rest of the class 5 students slowly left the academy in groups.

nThey were few in number, so there wasn’t a big crowd to make noise or anyone to lose another among the young people leaving the academy.

nSo, spotting Vicente running toward his house, Professor Julian deftly moved among the young people celebrating their graduation, approaching this boy about to become an alumnus.

n“Vicente, wait a moment.” He said, moving like the wind and quickly getting close to his target.

nVicente looked back and stopped as he witnessed his teacher once again using his magic.

nBut what Julian and many others did almost constantly with the mana in their bodies was not techniques or spells.

nMost of the time, magicians use their abilities for simpler things, like moving around, learning something new more easily, improving the properties of their bodies, etc.

nThere were endless ways to use mana, and magicians used this feature to make their lives easier all the time.

n“What is it, professor?”

n“You don’t need to call me that anymore. You ceased to be my student when you passed through the academy gates.” Julian said before patting one of Vicente’s shoulders and ducking down.

n“Anyway, I didn’t call your attention because of this.

nHere, take this. It’s a gift I’m giving you.” He opened one of his hands and showed it to Vicente.

nUpon hearing this, Vice frowned and stared at what was in Julian’s hand.

nIt was a silver necklace with a black half-moon symbol.

n“Professor?”

n“Take this. I want you to have it.” Julian said in a serious tone. “I found this thing while traveling around the province during my youth.

nI always felt it had value, but I never sold it or found out if it had any validity. In the end, I was too weak to try to find out.” He sighed as he recognized his inability.

nVice looked at him thoughtfully, knowing that this man was one of the strongest magicians in the village, who should not be far from the 5th Triangle.

n“However, you were the best student I ever had. So I want you to keep that. If it helps you somehow one day and you find out what it is, don’t worry about giving me anything in return. I just want to know what I’ve carried around for so many decades.”

nJulian looked young, but he was already 69.

nMagicians could prolong their youth. So it was common to find people even older than this man with the appearance of the time when they were at their peak preserved.

nVicente heard this and felt interested to have it.

nHe immediately felt a sense of déjà vu when he picked up that necklace.

nHe clenched his fists and accepted it.

n“Thank you, professor. If one day I can, I will solve your doubts.”

nAfter that, Vice said goodbye, finally going to prepare his things for his departure.

nIn a week, he and his family would leave this village for the biggest city in the province!

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