Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

There must be a reason if something was out of the ordinary.

Mo Fan felt something was odd when the man was staring at him so passionately. As he thought, the man was not homosexual. He was thinking of raising his own status by stepping on Mo Fan!

“Combat Officer Lido, that’s a little inappropriate! Aren’t you a fan of Mo Fan?” Kris blurted out. He was greatly surprised.

Mo Fan looked at Kris’ naive face and let out a sigh. He really was a natural muddlehead. Kris still had no clue how wicked humans could be. Sometimes, when one person greatly admired another, they were not truly admiring them, but believed themselves or their students were stronger than the person they were fixated on!

“So he’s Mo Fan?”

“The Candidate seems pretty close to him.”

“I heard they are lovers.”

“Damn it, lovers!?” a Blue Star Knight almost yelled at the top of his lungs. He soon realized how impulsive he was.

“Humph, he only earned a name for himself during the World College Tournament. The Parthenon Temple isn’t allowed to take part in it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had a chance to win it!”

“I can easily tell that he isn’t worthy of the Candidate judging from his lack of etiquette!”

The members of the Parthenon Temple were not prohibited from entering a relationship. There were times when knights had managed to enter a relationship with the members of the Hall of the Goddess.

In the West here, Guardian Knights were merely the servants of women who held great authority. The master-servant relationship was still valid. The Parthenon Temple might not have stated it clearly, but the status of the women from the Hall of the Goddess was significantly higher than that of the knights. They were the nobles here, meaning they could easily win the support of the others. Being with a member of the Hall of the Goddess was the ultimate dream for the Guardian Knights!

The young Blue Star Knights were enraged when they heard Mo Fan and Xinxia were lovers!

What kind of a joke was that? Each of them had an outstanding background, and their looks were definitely more handsome than an Eastern monkey. They had put in so much effort to learn magic and proper etiquette, yet they could not touch even a corner of the Candidates’ dress. Meanwhile, this assh*** was able to tear a Candidate’s dress in half. How unforgivable!

Kris soon noticed that the majority of the knights were jealous of Mo Fan, not admiring him. He also realized he had done something unwise by bringing Mo Fan to the center of the conflict. He said apologetically, “Why don’t we go somewhere else? They are other attractions in the Hall of Knights.”

“I’m actually not that interested in the scenery. However, I immediately picked up the smell of people who deserve a beating as soon as I came here. It will be quite disrespectful if I simply turned and left. Either way, the knights of the Parthenon Temple are… one of the strongest organizations in the world…” Mo Fan purposely emphasized the words in the latter half of the sentence.

They did not understand the term ‘deserve a beating’. They were quite pleased at first, as they thought Mo Fan was complimenting them.

However, they were extremely uncomfortable when they heard they were only one of the strongest organizations, instead of the strongest organization!

The knights of the Parthenon Temple were the strongest in the world!

“Even though beating you guys up won’t necessarily improve my reputation, it’s better than being challenged by little shrimps wherever I go. If anyone tries to challenge me after today, I can easily use the knights of the Parthenon Temple as a standard to turn them down!” Mo Fan went on.

“Use us as a standard? What does he mean?” Lido raised his eyebrows. His thought process was a little slow.

“He’s saying that we are below him. Whoever wants to challenge him must beat us before they have the right to challenge him!” a student knight who came for a class said softly.

The faces of Combat Officer Lido and the Blue Star Knights who were training with him suddenly contorted. They had an urge to simply charge at Mo Fan and beat him up!

However, the knights treated etiquette very importantly. They had to conform to their rules of etiquette, even when they were being humiliated. They had to bow before drawing their swords out when challenging a person to a duel, so they would take back what they said. They would then accept the person’s sincere apology after winning the duel.

They would also not fight their enemy all at once, and would figure out a way to settle their disputes more elegantly. If their enemy did not agree with their method, they would consider using pure violence instead.

Would Mo Fan bother wasting his time with them?

He had long planned to teach these scum who were born with a natural sense of superiority a lesson. There were still good people among the knights, like the kind and fairly innocent Kris, as well as the expressionless knight who was looking after Xinxia’s safety. However, most of the knights he had encountered so far were useless idiots!

Their rules and customs of honor were supposed to earn the respect of others, regardless of a person’s identity and status. However, these people kept using them to show off their superiority by referring to themselves as honorable knights, while everybody else was just ordinary people in their eyes.

Mo Fan had already met Haylon, who was not too fussy about the rules of honor. Haylon was more concerned about a person’s talents and capabilities. Mo Fan did not believe Haylon was responsible for the current practices of the Hall of Knights. It had to be the work of some other authority figures, especially those who loved to emphasize a person’s lineage and heritage. They must have encouraged these young knights to be so full of themselves.

It was time to teach them a lesson!

As the Parthenon Temple’s son-in-law and Xinxia’s only knight-in-the-dark, Mo Fan felt the need to teach the correct way of thinking to the Parthenon Temple’s young bloods!

“Mo Fan, pardon me for my impropriety. You shouldn’t accept challenges to a duel so easily with your special identity…” Kris felt his head hurting. He was unsure about how to handle the situation.

“I was planning to practice my magic too. I think training with the Blue Star Knights is more interesting than practicing my spells on dummies,” Mo Fan replied evenly.

Despite saying that much, the only reason was because Mo Fan had a hot temper. He was not afraid to start a fight against whoever did not see eye to eye with him!

“How dare you compare us with dummies?” The Blue Star Knights’ faces darkened further.

The guy who did not even hold a position in the Parthenon Temple was humiliating the knights over and over again!

“You are no different from dummies under my magic,” Mo Fan replied easily.

A knight who happened to have blue hair among the Blue Star Knights shouted out, “Combat Officer, please give us permission to challenge him to a duel! We must make him take back his words at all costs! We will not accept his apology!”

“It’s true that as the Blue Star Combat Officer, I’m not allowed to challenge a student myself. However, my students might be able to have a friendly duel with Mo Fan to warm them up. Wandi, you shall earn back the dignity of the Blue Star Knights on behalf of us!” Lido smiled. He had managed to provoke both sides into a fight. He was worried that Mo Fan would not take the bait!

“Combat Officer Lido, I won’t be impressed if you only let a single one challenge me,” Mo Fan spoke up.

“Wandi is one of the strongest of this class. He’s our representative,” Combat Officer Lido replied.

“Some people might not be convinced of the result. It’s difficult to determine whether someone is stronger without fighting the duel themselves. Anyway, people won’t admit they are weaker unless they lose the duel themselves,” Mo Fan returned.

Many among the Blue Star Knights nodded. Wandi might be the strongest among them, but it still depended on his performance on that day. It was not rare for him to lose a few duels because he was not performing up to par. There were also other factors, like the restraints between different Elements, and one’s ability to adapt to the situation during a fight.

“Do you have a better suggestion?” Combat Officer Lido asked.

“Pick a bigger place, you and your whole class will fight me at the same time. If you think your students are stronger than me, you will have to prove it to me,” Mo Fan grinned. It completely exposed his true nature.

The whole training ground fell silent after Mo Fan finished his sentence!

Combat Officer Lido was no longer smiling in excitement, nor were his eyes filled with passion. His expression began to darken while his face started twitching. His eyes were filled with anger!

The Blue Star Knights were about to lose their minds.

Challenging an entire class of Blue Star Knights!

There were at least forty people in their class. Even the probationary Blue Star Knights had to be Advanced Mages, not to mention everyone in their class was an official Blue Star Knight. Combat Officer Lido was also an experienced knight. They believed Mo Fan might have to struggle if they sent a representative from among them to duel Mo Fan, and instead, the man was crazy enough to challenge the whole class of Blue Star Knights!

How humiliating…

It was incredibly humiliating that someone dared to challenge their whole class!

The duels between knights had always been one-to-one. They would not allow any third parties to intervene with their duels.

The fact that Mo Fan had suggested fighting forty Blue Star Knights at once was already massively looking down on them!

“Mo Fan, I can overlook that by simply assuming you’ve said something wrong,” Lido said coldly. He already stopped addressing Mo Fan formally.

In the eyes of the knights, dignity was more important than their lives. Honor could be passed down continuously, and it could determine the rise and fall of a clan, so they would not allow anyone to humiliate them!

Mo Fan was well aware of that, however, he could not care less about what they thought.

“There are things you can’t take back after you have said them. I might be wrong if I didn’t have the strength to back my statement up. However, if it was the other way around, it was just a normal statement from me,” Mo Fan said.

“A normal statement…” Lido’s face twitched even further.

Mo Fan enjoyed group fights the most. They were indeed very common events in his eyes, yet in the eyes of Combat Officer Lido and the Blue Star Knights, he was trampling on their dignity!

“You’ve disappointed us, but since we are knights, we insist on challenging you to one-on-one duels,” Lido stated coolly.

“I have always found those rules of yours annoying. I insist that you all fight me at the same time. Otherwise, some of you might not be convinced of the result,” Mo Fan returned shamelessly.

“It’s a humiliation for us to accept that,” Lido ground out.

“I’ve never respected the weak who are full of themselves.”

AHHHHHH!!!

They were going nuts!

The Blue Star Knights were about to go crazy!

“Combat Officer Lido, we’ll do as he says. I must beat him up, even if it means I might lose my role as a knight!” Wandi snarled.

“Combat Officer Lido, I’m willing to resign too just to protect the dignity of the Blue Star Knights!”

“Me too!”

“Me too!”

Mo Fan’s words had driven the whole class crazy. They were willing to resign just to beat Mo Fan up. They could not care less about their decorum as knights after being humiliated like that.

Anger was contagious. Some of the Blue Star Knights were relatively calm, but they were around the same age and were jealous of Mo Fan. On the other hand, Mo Fan’s words were just too harsh. No one managed to remain calm.

Who did he think he was? He thought he was comparable to the Parthenon Temple the whole world admired, just because he had won the World College Tournament?

He was only a Candidate’s lover, not even of a member of the Parthenon Temple. They were only addressing him formally out of politeness!

He was just a nobody, yet he dared to humiliate the Blue Star Knights!

Combat Officer Lido realized the duel was inevitable as more people volunteered to resign just to participate in the duel.

Let them be…

The Blue Star Knights had offered to resign to protect their dignity. The Hall Master and the Hall Mother would not blame them for it. Besides, it was Mo Fan who came up with the crazy idea in the first place. They could explain themselves, even if the matter was brought up to the Candidate!

It was like a protest at school. A student would threaten to quit school to protest against it. If the school ignored the matter, the student might actually be let go. But if a whole class were to quit the school, everyone was going to be fine, since the school would not allow an entire class to quit, regardless of the circumstances. The school might end up in international headlines otherwise.

The Blue Star Knights were aware of this, so they had all volunteered to resign just to participate in the duel for such a reasonable cause. They would at most be scolded for acting recklessly, but they would still retain their roles as Blue Star Knights.

They would worry about the consequences after venting their frustrations. They could not bear it any longer!

Mo Fan glanced at the Blue Star Knights’ petty acting with a smile. He did not seem to be bothered, despite the possibility of catching too much attention.

On the other hand, Kris almost fainted.

He had only planned to bring Mo Fan here so Lido could meet him in person. How did it even end up like this? A whole class was offering to resign just to challenge Mo Fan to a duel. Was Mo Fan going to offend the entire Hall of Knights!?

Mo Fan waited patiently until the class of Blue Star Knights took off their coats, and folded their coats nicely off to the side. They were obviously planning to put them back on again.

“Kris, what about you? You are one of us too. Are you still going to stand on his side?” Wandi asked. He had already taken off his coat.

“Wandi, this only happened because of me. I shouldn’t have…” Kris was already stammering. He was trembling, too nervous to act.

“Enough nonsense, just tell us which side you are on. Humph, fawning upon an outsider because he’s close to a Candidate isn’t the way of a knight!” Wandi scolded him.

Wandi sounded extremely serious. Kris’ mind went blank after hearing those words.

He looked at Mo Fan, then at the class of Blue Star Knights who had taken off their coats. Many of them were from the same batch as him. He could still remember some of their names. He had been quite close with them in the past.

“A piece of advice from me, if you still want to hang around in the Hall of Knights, you should join them,” Mo Fan whispered.

“I’m sorry, mister,” Kris said.

“I should be the one saying sorry. I’ve placed you in a difficult position,” Mo Fan smiled.

“No no no, it was my fault for treating everything so naively. It’s all my fault. I should take responsibility for it,” Kris said seriously.

Mo Fan was struggling to understand what Kris meant.

Kris undid his buttons and took off the coat symbolizing his role of a Blue Star Knight.

Mo Fan observed Kris carefully. His hands were shaking visibly. He knew how difficult it had been for him to achieve his current position. He also had a bright future ahead of him after he was chosen as a probationary Guardian Knight, yet he was determined in his actions.

He knew the consequences. He had chosen to become a Blue Star Knight. He would always be a Blue Star Knight.

If he sided with Mo Fan, he would no longer be a knight or the servant of a Candidate. The Hall of Knights would have no place for him!

“Well done, the Blue Star Knights are proud of you!” Wandi realized Kris’ decision after seeing his reaction.

“Wandi, you’ve misunderstood. I’m resigning because I have decided to side with Mo Fan. I will be participating in the duel, too. I will accept the challenge together with him,” Kris also folded his coat nicely and placed it off to the side. However, he believed he had no chance of putting it on again.

Kris’ actions took everyone by surprise.

“Traitor!”

“How dare you overlook the way he humiliated the Blue Star Knights, and you still call yourself a Blue Star Knight?”

“You are not worthy to stay close to a Candidate!”

“The Blue Star Knights are ashamed of you!” Wandi snarled, pointing at Kris.

Kris almost burst into tears when everyone swore at him.

However, it did not change his mind. It was he who had brought Mo Fan here, but he had not realized many people just wanted to defeat him because he was considered the most talented Mage of their age. He had not realized it had only come down to this since both sides were not willing to compromise because of how aggressive his comrades were.

Mo Fan did not do anything wrong. He was just responding to their provocation.

The Blue Star Knights were not wrong, either. They just wanted to prove their strength.

It was all his fault, and he had to take responsibility for it.

Lido had already mentioned he had waited a long time for this day, but this development was no longer following his script.

Mo Fan and Kris versus the entire class of Blue Star Knights.

Two versus forty!

A duel of this scale did not even need any promoting. News about it spread as rapidly as a nuke. Almost every Mage in Greece would come and watch it if the Hall of Knights had not forbidden unauthorized personnel from entering.

Combat Officer Lido was a cunning man. He knew he could not afford to drag the matter on for too long. He had to settle it as quickly as possible.

He had to start the duel before the news reached the Hall of the Goddess. Otherwise, the higher-ups would definitely intervene with it!

The others in the training ground had moved over to the spectators’ seats. It was easily possible to combine the individual training grounds into a huge battleground. Lido decided to hold the duel right on the spot. The people on both sides quickly moved into their positions.

The difference in numbers was just too overwhelming. Even the members of the Parthenon Temple were dumbfounded.

They thought the people of the Hall of Knights just wanted a friendly duel with Mo Fan when the quarrel started. Little did they know, it would turn into such an astonishing sight!

“I won’t be able to keep an eye on you once the fight begins. You should be careful,” Mo Fan told Kris.

“I’ll protect you,” Kris said.

“No, that won’t be necessary. Actually, you shouldn’t be so worried about me just because I’m close to a Candidate. You should have stayed on their side instead,” Mo Fan sighed.

Kris was definitely not going to have a pleasant time in the Hall of Knights from today on. Men were scarier than women when it came to crowding someone out.

“I…I’m not doing it because of the Candidate. I just think I should help you because I’m your friend, even though I can only take on one or two Blue Star Knights myself,” Kris stammered.

Mo Fan was stunned by the words. He recalled something similar happened when he was still studying at the Pearl Institute.

He too had a partner. He has already forgotten the person’s name, yet his behavior was totally different from Kris’ reaction.

Mo Fan was disappointed back then, but he was actually quite touched this time.

A real knight should be someone like Kris!

“Sure, you take on the guy called Wandi, leave the rest to me!” Mo Fan reached out his fist.

Kris stared at Mo Fan’s fist. He too reached out his fist and gave Mo Fan a fist bump after a few seconds.

Friends… Different people might grow at different rates. However, a true friend would not think his one perfect effort was insignificant when you were able to handle ninety-nine percent of the trouble.

A true friend was willing to endure hardships together with you all the time!

Mo Fan did not make friends easily, but the spirit of a knight which the naturally muddleheaded Kris had shown had earned his respect!

“I’m glad I can fight alongside the most talented young Mage.” Kris put on a wry smile. It was worse than a crying expression.

“I had a neighbor. He was skinny and was picked on all the time. I always helped him whenever he was in a fight. I usually beat three or four kids myself while he bit one of them… We would always go home with swollen faces!” Mo Fan stepped forward as he spoke.

“Really? We might lose a limb or two today,” Kris said.

“Later, I found out that the kids didn’t bully him because he was skinny, but he started the fight because he saw them laughing at my sister,” Mo Fan continued.

Kris dropped his jaw, left speechless.

“Do you know who my sister that the kids were laughing at is?” Mo Fan went on calmly.

Kris was immediately struck by lightning. He could not find any words!

He still remembered how the Candidate was enraged after the priest of the Hall of Faith had locked Mo Fan up. It was during that same incident that he learned Mo Fan was the Candidate’s brother.

The girl who was laughed at. The Candidate who had to rely on a wheelchair to move around…

What right did Mo Fan have?

Almost every Blue Star Knight was bothered by that question, but Kris realized the answer immediately.

What right did Mo Fan have?

The fact that he had been looking after the Candidate when she was just an ordinary girl with a defect!

Even the knights of the entire Parthenon Temple were not worthy to compare themselves to him!