I Refused To Be Reincarnated
Chapter 516: The King’s Offer: A Betrayal or a Boon?

Chapter 516: The King’s Offer: A Betrayal or a Boon?

After the calm settled over the stadium, Alice supervised the next duels without incident under Mathias’ reassuring watch.

The sun burned in the middle of the sky when the last of the thirty-two qualified students walked down the arena.

"Follow the guards. They’ll lead you to your academy’s waiting room. We’ll continue with the second phase in two hours, so use this time to recover, eat, and explore Saphir Springs. I’m sure our capital and its many specialities will leave you in awe."

Mathias’s voice thundered as he raised his visor, revealing his warm smile and cheerful expression before his metallic boots clinked on the ground with each step he took on his way out.

The spectators, still excited by the magical phenomenons conjured by the competitors, cheered and discussed the events spiritedly. Some more experienced in the field even drafted tier lists, eager to predict who would wear the champion’s crown in four days.

Meanwhile, Adam yawned lazily and pushed himself out of his seat.

"Finally over. To think I’ll have to wait for three more days when I know I’ll win. Tsk. What a pain."

He rolled his eyes, the time wasted feeling as painful as having his chest torn open. Unfortunately, he had to follow the rules.

Next to him, Asha’s lips curled into a wry smile as she shook her head.

"Who told you to be this strong? Like, come on, even mages have no chance against you. You’re the one who’s not normal!"

He shrugged at her, unwilling to answer because her match was the most painful to watch.

Truthfully? He even considered allowing Arun to teach her his method. That’s how much her slow spells annoyed him. Still, her method of casting two spells at once intrigued him a little.

Fortunately, Morgane, Aurelius, Khalid, and Najat raised the competition’s level a little, even if it was mainly because of their classes and the system. But if he were to look at their abilities as mages? They’d lose in the following matches, Aurelius first since he couldn’t fight in melee.

’Whatever. I’ll consider it a holiday and sleep most of the time.’

As he walked towards their resting room, a knight bowed in reverence and halted him.

"King Leon requests to meet you. Your brother is already waiting."

His eyes narrowed into slits as he scanned him wondering why a man he didn’t know suddenly invited him.

’If Leon wanted to apologise for his royal mage’s blunder, why would he call for Julius? He’s not even competing. Something’s off.’

Suspicion clawing at his soul, he gestured for the knight to lead the way and followed behind.

A moment later, he entered a room and saw Julius sitting before the old king on a comfortable chair.

"Ah! I finally have the chance to meet you in private. Take a seat. I’ve been waiting for your arrival to start our discussion."

He frowned at the king and observed his brother, who nodded in confirmation.

Lips twisting, he sat on the luxurious sofa next to Julius and scrutinised the man.

"Why did you call for us?"

"Hahaha. Relax. It’s nothing critical. See? I didn’t even ask Alice and Mathias to join us."

Leon chuckled as traces of green flashed in his old eyes before he continued.

"I’ve been following your adventures for a while, and I must say, I’m impressed by your progress. However, the boy is wasting his time with his training."

He frowned as Leon pointed a finger at Julius. Of course, it’ll be a waste in a mage’s perspective...

’But how does he know it? No... How did he follow our adventures?’

An icy shiver ran down his soul as he understood the old king wasn’t a random nobody. He either sent people to monitor them without their notice or was powerful enough to see them despite the distance.

As his mind raced, Leon shattered his thought process and addressed Julius directly.

"Take this. It’s an old crystal I found during my younger days and contains a moderate amount of spiritual energy."

Then, he slapped his forehead, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Look at me. I forgot to explain the rest. You used life force to cultivate until now. The method works but isn’t efficient. Spiritual energy, on the other hand, is a pure condensation of compatible energy that can hasten the process tremendously."

His face collapsed as Leon’s words hung heavy in the air.

It made no sense for him to know this much, especially about life force and spiritual energy, when he didn’t possess the information despite the two sutras he had collected.

"No need to look at me so suspiciously since everything has an explanation, right?"

Leon’s chuckles echoed as he retrieved a booklet from his regal robes and showed it to them.

Eyes bulging, he observed the familiar painting style on the cover and read the title: Lin Yao’s Sutra of clairvoyance.

"Where did you find it? Do you know where Lin Yao is? How did you translate the foreign language?"

Eager to finally find a trail to the mysterious cultivator, he bombarded Leon with questions as bright rays of hope illuminated his soul.

However, Leon shook his head and returned the booklet in his robes.

"This man is as slippery as an eel. I met him fifty-eight years ago and traded a few goodies for his book. He also taught me his language before disappearing. What a shame. I would have loved to recruit him... But let’s return to the main topic. I want to teach Julius the booklet’s content after the tournament’s end. I won’t press you for an answer, though. You can think about it for the next four days."

He heard Julius move by him, his typical eagerness and yearning for training fueling his decision to agree.

Yet, he gripped his brother’s shoulder and shook his head.

Then, he rose from his seat and nodded at Leon.

"We’ll discuss your offer and give you an answer soon. Thank you for receiving us."

Without wasting a second, he dragged Julius and stepped through the stadium’s corridors until he exited it entirely.

Standing under the blue sky and feeling the breeze carry fresh hair into his nostrils, he released Julius and listened to his questions.

"What’s wrong, big brother? Why didn’t we accept?"

With a sharp inhale, his eyes narrowed into threatening slits as he answered.