7. The Mage and the Warlock

Arian knew that Gret was a hero whose name was etched into history.

According to the original timeline, nine years later, during a hunting expedition by the mages of the floating city against the surface dwellers, a young commoner named Gret faced a life-threatening crisis. In that moment, a trace of ancient red dragon blood within him was awakened.

He thus became the first sorcerer in human history, unleashing the “Fireball” spell to turn the tables and slay multiple mages who were massacring villages.

For the first time, the mages of Eldorun realized:

Humans, born without innate supernatural powers, could not only acquire arcane magic through study, knowledge, and tomes.

Bloodlines inherited from magical creatures and rare supernatural opportunities were equally valid sources of power.

This marked humanity’s first discovery of an arcane profession coexisting with that of the “mage.”

The “Sorcerer.”

After awakening as a Dragonblood Sorcerer, Gret led a rebellion of villagers from over a dozen surface settlements, attempting to resist the mage nobility from the high heavens.

Ultimately, he perished under their brutal suppression.

Perhaps because of this event, the mages of Eldorun developed a deep-seated prejudice against sorcerers.

They condemned these “innate spellcasters” as foolish and barbaric, unworthy of drawing power from books and scrolls, labeling them as heretics and outcasts deserving only the lowest status.

Even after the empire fell to demonic invasion and the exiled mage nobility founded a new human nation, this tradition of discriminating against and persecuting sorcerers persisted among the mages, becoming the norm in many later mage regimes.

For thousands of years afterward, most kingdoms could neither accept nor utilize the power of sorcerers. Children who awakened sorcerous magic were often treated as monsters and burned at the stake.

But to Arian, such discrimination and oppression were utterly ridiculous.

To him, whether mage or sorcerer, both were simply practitioners of arcane magic.

Like black cats and white cats, both useful in their own ways.

Any power, so long as it could serve the empire, was a good power.

Gazing at the bewildered little boy before him, Arian faintly smiled, connecting the child’s frightened and confused expression with the historic rebel leader.

At this moment, Gret had clearly not yet awakened his dragon blood.

Yet now, the course of history had diverged. Humanity’s first sorcerer would stand on the side of the Eldorun Empire.

“This is an opportunity—an opportunity for the empire’s mages, for human civilization, to recognize sorcerers in a new light.”

“As long as we seize this chance, allowing the empire’s mages to rationally understand the potential of sorcerers and grant them fair treatment, future sorcerers will serve the empire!”

Arian smiled warmly at young Gret and said:

“Little one, I have another piece of good news for you.”

“Besides the outlawing of killing surface commoners, there’s yet another blessing.”

“We will build schools on the surface, with dedicated teachers to instruct in magic and distribute books on the secrets of the arcane. You and other children will be able to learn for free.”

“Perhaps one day, you too will become a spellcaster like us, mastering wondrous and mighty powers.”

Arian knew that for a natural-born sorcerer like Gret, attending school might not lead him to learn the principles of arcane magic from books or to decipher spell structures like the mages.

But this was a chance.

His red dragon bloodline would gradually awaken through continuous exposure to magical knowledge, ultimately blossoming into sorcery.

Young Gret’s eyes widened in disbelief.

He could learn magic!

He recalled the dream from last night, the marvelous journey to the floating city within it, the incantations, the twisting of nature, the reshaping of reality with powerful magic.

Would all these become reality?

Even more wonderful than the dream.

Because he was not the only fortunate one to be saved.

“Is this true?”

Little Gret slapped his cheeks hard, as if to confirm he was not still dreaming.

He saw Arian, clad in a black velvet robe, walk toward the door.

Another female mage noble respectfully opened it for him.

“Let us go, Your Majesty.”

Watching Arian stride away, Gret suppressed his fear and could not help but ask the female mage who had opened the door beside him:

“Ma’am, what is the name of the mage who just left?”

The maid mage was reluctant to answer a surface commoner’s question, but recalling His Majesty’s parting instructions, she patiently replied:

“Little brat, listen carefully.”

“That was the chief of the Eldorun Empire’s Arcane Council’s Necromancy Division, the Pale Lord of the Dead, the Arcane Emperor of Eldorun, the King of all Mages in the Sky City, Eldorun’s Supreme Mage...”

“The great His Majesty Arian!”