My inventory is full of monster materials.

The second floor of the Mage's Guild.

The office was filled with the rich aroma of books and ink. The walls were covered with handwritten academic annotations and intricate spell diagrams, and the desks and bookshelves were arranged in a simple and neat manner.

At the reception table, a young man and an elderly man sat on leather sofas, facing each other sideways.

Morris unscrewed an engraved glass bottle, revealing a clear, bright, blood-red liquid. He personally poured it into a goblet in front of Mark and thoughtfully explained.

"This is cherry wine from Château de Chaubert. It has a low alcohol content and a mellow flavor, making it a favorite among many nouveau riche. You should try it."

"Professor Xie."

Mark bowed slightly, picked up the wine glass, and gently swirled it a few times. The crimson liquid swirled in the glass, carrying a faint sweet aroma.

I took a small sip; it was sweet with a hint of tartness, smooth in texture, and had a lingering sweetness in the throat. It was truly a rare and excellent wine.

After they each took a small bite, Morris cut straight to the point without any further pleasantries.

"When you were enveloped by the golden stars, did you see anything?"

"Well..."

Mark put down his glass and tilted his head in thought.

Looking back, the old professor sent people to arrest him out of goodwill, coupled with his strong support during his previous confrontation with Zeffer.

Therefore, Mark had a very good impression of Professor Morris.

Furthermore, Mark also needs to give an explanation to the association and its leaders.

So after a moment's thought, Mark concealed his secret and truthfully described the entire promotion process.

"...My consciousness was drawn into an endless void, and then I saw...I saw..."

Mark scratched his head. Whenever he recalled the crucial moments, his soul would tremble involuntarily. The words would circle on his lips several times, but he just couldn't utter them.

Seeing Mark's speechless expression, Maurice became even more certain of his guess, so he quickly raised his hand to interrupt him.

"No need to say anything more, that's enough."

Mark breathed a sigh of relief, stopped worrying, and took another sip of his wine to calm his nerves.

However, Morris changed the subject and asked tentatively.

"So it seems your class-specific talent isn't bad either?"

"..."

Mark felt a chill run down his spine; he knew he still had to ask that crucial question.

He had already considered two options in his mind:

The first option is to disclose the truth.

As expected, the next part will be the story of a sect's prodigy marrying a beautiful and wealthy woman and reaching the pinnacle of life.

But the tallest tree in the forest will surely be felled by the wind.

While enjoying the support of the association, one must be highly bound to the association and bear many consequences. In the short term, this is the optimal solution, but in the long term, it may not be so.

The second type is vague and ambiguous.

Morris is a smart man and will surely understand the deeper meaning. This means that he will keep his distance from the association. The advantage is that he will be more free, but the cost is that he will lose resource support and will have to go through a difficult period of development on his own.

As for Mark's choice—

The third option is, of course, to have both – the Chinese people's unique middle way.

"I think it's at least epic."

"!"

Upon hearing this answer, Morris's pupils dilated dramatically, his wine glass paused slightly, and a few drops of wine spilled.

Talents are inherently divided into strong and weak, noble and lowly. Large organizations and forces will specifically record, classify and rank talents, all because they involve special career advancement and inheritance.

According to currently available information, the increase in a professional's abilities based on their class-specific talents can be divided into five levels.

Standard grade: 0-33%

Excellent level: 33%-66%

Rare grade: 66%-100%

Epic: N/A

Legendary: N/A

Among professionals, obtaining a rare talent is already one in ten thousand, and one can use it to build a unique personal combat system.

As for the higher epic and legendary levels, they cannot be defined due to the limited data sample, but what is certain is that the changes they bring will be absolutely transformative.

Morris didn't question Mark's statement that it was "at least epic," after all, how could a character who could meet the gods be low-level?

After a brainstorming session, they both fell silent.

But Mark could clearly see that the curve of Morris's lips was getting higher and higher, harder to suppress than an AK.

Oh no, the reading was too high.

Mark never expected that a casual basic attack would result in a critical hit from the old professor.

"You can describe your talent, and I can help..."

Morris, who was already beaming with joy, was about to ask about the specific effects of the talent, but seeing Mark's enigmatic expression, he quickly came back to his senses, calmed down a bit, and instead praised him.

"I've heard that a dragon appeared in your town, but if you ask me, you are the real dragon."

"puff--"

Mark choked on the fruit wine he had just drunk and quickly raised his hand to wipe his mouth.

His first thought was, how did the old professor know that he could summon a frost dragon?

But after a quick mental scan, he realized that this was just a metaphor by Maurice for his talent and potential.

So Mark composed himself and, following the lead of the conversation, subtly changed the subject.

"Professor, you flatter me. By the way, I heard that a black dragon appeared in the Golan Forest more than thirty years ago. What exactly happened?"

"Um..."

Now it was Maurice's turn to be worried.

He frowned, hesitated for a long time, and then slowly spoke.

"This happened before I came to Sergei to take up my post, and I don't know the specific details."

All we know is that a "Shadow Spirit Dragon" fell from the "Fallen Shadow Netherworld" into the Prime Material Plane and settled in the ruins at the core of the Golan Forest.

Morris paused, his tone becoming more somber.

"Later, multiple forces joined forces to launch a siege, and the association's former president also perished in that campaign. In the end, however, nothing came of it."

Morris sighed and shook his head, then asked with a hint of doubt.

"By the way, why are you suddenly asking about this?"

"I'm just changing the subject, otherwise you'll keep going on and on about my talent and the dragon."

Mark composed himself and responded calmly.

"Professor, as you know, I am an adventurer. The strange occurrences of monsters in the forest are directly related to my livelihood, which is why I know more about them."

Upon hearing this, Morris slapped his thigh and said decisively.

"That's easy! I'll just arrange a position for you in the association, so you won't have to suffer as an adventurer anymore."

"If you want to manage people and affairs, arrange for stewards; if you want to teach and nurture people, arrange for lecturers; if you want to focus on scholarship, arrange for staff members."

"In short, just tell me what position you want!"

"!"

Mark was shocked by the old professor's generosity. Did he own the Magicians' Association?

Mark had originally intended to take a middle-of-the-road approach, but Morris's sudden invitation shocked him and forced him to calm down and seriously consider this issue:

Is it still necessary to continue being an adventurer?

Adventurers live with danger and make a living by exploration; every step they take is fraught with uncertainty.

The life Morris described—stable, respectable, and with ample resources—was the dream of countless mages.

However, Mark had already experienced a similar life in America.

In those years, he spent his days in a dark, sunless room, surrounded by cold corpses, dissecting and piecing them together for research.

From initial resistance and fear, to gradual adaptation, and then to later enjoying it.

Those days changed his mindset and also confined his life.

Now, Mark finally has the chance to choose again.

He yearned for a different life, he longed to break free from constraints, he longed to create his own legend, and to forge a life path completely different from the past.

More importantly, he also has a group of friends who fight alongside him and have built deep bonds with him.

If Mark leaves now, what will happen to his teammates in the "White Eagle" squad?