“Are there any traditions in the magus order? Tell me whatever you can think of, just to kill time,” Ren Xiaosu said to Melgor.
Melgor was no longer riding in the carriage. Instead, he rode his horse and traveled alongside Ren Xiaosu.
As Qian Weining and his men had suffered multiple attacks that reduced their numbers, many of the horses were freed up.
Only Li Chengguo and Liu Ting, who were diligently studying the language of the Magi, were still traveling in the carriage.
Melgor thought for a moment and said, “We do have an interesting tradition. Middle names.”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. “I read about middle names when I was in the Central Plains. Apparently, in some places outside of the Central Plains, people would put their pet names or a name of significance in the middle of their names. So people’s names in those places are usually very long.”
“Some sorcerers have very long middle names too.” Melgor explained, “The reason why I say this tradition is interesting is that these middle names are all related to the spells they specialize in.”
Ren Xiaosu’s eyes lit up. “Tell me more.”
“For example, the middle name William came about because William was the first sorcerer in the Tudor family to discover the Bloodline Summoning spell. If a sorcerer is extremely good at that spell, they’ll add William as their middle name to showcase their power,” Melgor explained.
Ren Xiaosu clicked his tongue. “They’re that honest?”
Melgor did not know whether to laugh or cry. “That has nothing to do with honesty. It’s for the honor! You have to understand that the mindset of sorcerers is very different from people in the Central Plains. For example, the Central Plains people who migrated over here in the past would not open the gifts they received in front of others. Meanwhile, we sorcerers tend to open them immediately.”
Ren Xiaosu said disdainfully, “I can understand if it’s about opening gifts, but I can’t accept that people would directly give away their strengths by stating it in their middle names.”
In a place like the Central Plains, everyone’s mentality was to keep their means of fighting and strength hidden. After all, it would be very easy for them to be disadvantaged in battle if their trump cards were made known to others.
Ren Xiaosu felt that if the enemy knew he had the Shadow Door, the black saber, Old Xu, the black sniper rifle, the Explosive Poker cards, City Crusher, the Potato Shooter, the Eye of True Sight, Wish You All Happiness, Haiya…
Hmm… that actually did not seem easy to deal with. After all, he had a myriad of superpowers.
But if it were someone like Wang Congyang or Zhang Baogen whose powers were made known to others, they could indeed get targeted easily.
Therefore, in Ren Xiaosu’s opinion, this was similar in principle to not revealing one’s wealth. There was no need to tell others about one’s own power too! Hiding and using it to carry out sneak attacks on others, wasn’t that much better?!
Ren Xiaosu looked at Melgor. “Are there any other middle names? Tell me about their corresponding spells too.”
“Mhm.” Melgor said, “There’s Jefferson. He was the first sorcerer to discover the Ice Rend spell, and Kris was the first to discover the Meteor Shower spell.”
“I see.” Ren Xiaosu nodded.
“Actually, most sorcerers’ names aren’t as long as you think. Like I said before, the majority of sorcerers only specialize in one or two spells, so they have at most one or two middle names.” Melgor said, “Of course, some sorcerers have particularly long names. Did you finish reading The Sorcerer Chronicles? There’s a biography of someone named Logan Benjamin Jefferson Alexander Owen Voss in it.”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. “That’s such a lame name.”
Melgor explained, “But actually, he doesn’t know that many spells. He was one of the biggest charlatans at the beginning of The Cataclysm. When people saw that he had a bunch of middle names, they thought he was skilled at casting many types of spells, so they respected him very much. But later, they realized deception was what he was best at.”
Ren Xiaosu suddenly recalled the doctor he had encountered in Stronghold 113’s town. At that time, he had wanted to copy the other party’s medical skills, but he ended up copying a bragging skill instead. When he tried to copy his skills again, he was informed by the palace that the other party did not actually possess any medical skills.
“Not bad.” Ren Xiaosu sighed and said to Melgor, “So it turns out that middle names can also be used for bragging. Moreover, everyone believes it once it’s used as a middle name!”
“Mhm, so even though middle names can be used as a reference, they can’t be fully trusted.” Melgor glanced at Ren Xiaosu. “But the people in the Kingdom of Sorcerers are not as honest as you think. Some also know how to bluff, while others may choose to hide their trump cards. Of course, most people still don’t resort to deception using their middle names. Because most sorcerers really think it’s an honor to have one.”
Ren Xiaosu had already experienced for himself the cunning of people in the Kingdom of Sorcerers. So he would not judge their middle names to determine what spells they were adept at.
Would honest people poison Russell? Would honest people suppress those who helped them make it out of The Cataclysm? No.
If the Kingdom of Sorcerers’ citizens were truly honest, Ren Xiaosu might feel a little guilty for causing trouble here. But in fact, if they had known their place, the Northwest would not have formed a blood feud with this place for over a 100 years.
“I get it now.” Ren Xiaosu said, “So what’s your full name?”
Melgor hesitated for a moment before saying, “Melgor Smith.”
“Wait a minute, where’s your middle name?” Ren Xiaosu asked with a chuckle.
Melgor gritted his teeth and explained, “I don’t specialize in any spells yet. I can only add a middle name after I become an archmage.”
“That’s such a pity,” Ren Xiaosu lamented.
‘Pity? My ass!‘ Melgor’s face was burning hot as though he had been publicly condemned. Although they were friends, Ren Xiaosu really had an innate talent for hurting people’s feelings.
When it was almost noon, the trade caravan finally arrived at Winston City.
Compared to a major county in the south like Vaduz, Winston City looked more dilapidated. As a matter of fact, this was the political center of the Winston family, yet it still couldn’t compare to an ancillary city of the Berkeley family. No wonder the Winston family had to bow down to the Berkeley family.
Ren Xiaosu said to Melgor, “Get back in the carriage. There might be people in this city who’re after your life. Don’t act too conspicuously.”
While he was talking, Chen Cheng actually ran over to Ren Xiaosu from behind. He looked at Melgor next to him. “We’ll be entering the city soon. I have something to discuss with you. Shall we step aside and talk?”
“There’s no need.” Ren Xiaosu said, “I’m Lord Melgor’s steward. If you have anything to say, just say it here. There’s no need to avoid Lord Melgor.”
Chen Cheng hesitated for a moment before saying, “If you’re interested, we’ll meet you at the entrance of the relay station at 10 PM tonight. We’ll bring you to meet a few people.”
Ren Xiaosu asked, “Who?”
Chen Cheng said mysteriously, “Don’t ask for now, but I believe you’ll be interested in meeting them. Remember, come alone.”
“That won’t do.” Ren Xiaosu shook his head and said, “I have to bring Mel along.”
Chen Cheng was stunned. “Who’s Mel?”
Melgor answered with a livid expression, “That’d be me.”
“Oh.” Chen Cheng looked at Ren Xiaosu. “Why do you want to bring him along?”
“Someone’s trying to kill him, so as his steward, I have to protect him at all times, of course,” Ren Xiaosu explained with a smile.
Chen Cheng clenched his teeth and said in a low voice, “If you think he can be trusted, it’s fine to bring him along. But let me remind you, he might be with the Normans.”
Ren Xiaosu shook his head in dismissal. “He’s not.”
“That’s good.”
