Genius Mage in a Cultivation World

"Do you really think it will work out?" asked Irea while leaning her head to her shoulder. Yet, despite how cute her expression was, Layn was focused on the surface of the drink.

"It doesn't matter. It's not like this is the only city where we can look for people," said Layn while shaking his head a little. He then raised his cup before chugging down nearly the entire content inside.

'Gosh, there might have many redeeming qualities, but the taste of this beer is no better than piss,' angered by the quality of the drinks, Layn was quickly reaching the limit of his patience.

'Just why did I have to give them so much time?' thinking to himself, Layn lowered his eyes.

At this point, the waves of magic disturbance only continued to grow stronger and more frequent. That could be directly translated into more and more force being used in order to 'fix' the treasure that the archmage left behind, while in reality, the thieves that dared to go against it were doing their absolute best to obliterate the academy.

'But it doesn't change the fact, that if we don't ditch this place soon, we might be affected as well,' though Layn while downing the last few drops of his drink. Then, he stood up before slamming the clay mug against the table so hard, that it shattered right in his hand.

"Okay guys, time's up. Whoever is interested, rally on me." Layn ordered while looking sternly across the entire hall.

And to be fair, some people stood up and approached him. Yet, just as expected, there wasn't a single powerful person willing to go for such a strange mission even despite the high reward.

"Okay, guys. I can only bring twenty people with me, so go outside and figure it out by yourself who will get the slot." Layn instructed before sitting back. With his hand rocketing up as soon as his ass rested on the chair he added, "and give me something better to drink. One cup of this horse's piss is more than enough."

Layn's mood was already spoiled by the beer and the delay. And thankfully, some of the potential recruits managed to notice it, quickly urging everyone else to get outside.

"Wouldn't it be better if you were to handpick those with the most potential?" asked Irea with a confused look on her face. "You know, for someone of your level, discerning one's talent shouldn't be a problem, shouldn't it?" she added while once again leaning her head to the side.

This time though, Layn noticed it. And through the cloud of anger covering his face, some sparks of happiness appeared once more.

"It's not that simple. But yeah, if it was only about the talent, I could just approach them one by one. The truth is," twisting his lips in an ugly grimace, Layn averted his eyes, "only one or two of them have any talent worth mentioning. That is if we are speaking about their natural inclination towards magic."

At this point, Irea was more than aware that Layn's abilities came from a force way different than cultivation. While he was following the steps of her and her fellow brethren while trying to grow stronger in their own way, it was clear as a day that it was nothing but a side gimmick for the archmage.

"If not a talent for magic, then what else are you looking for in them?" Irea asked, giving away her curiosity.

"Curiosity, for once," replied Layn before smiling to his own thoughts. "For example, look at yourself. When faced with the unknown, you were drawn to it rather than shriveling in fear. Rather than protecting your ignorance, you actively sought to overcome it." explained Layn. With his voice set on a perfectly normal level, it was no wonder some of the customers of the guild that earlier refused to volunteer were now prickling their ears and soaking every single word the archmage said.

"Don't tell me you got me only because I was curious," rebuked Irea while pushing her chest into Layn's arm, "or are you sure there were no other merits to knowing me?" she whispered those words directly into Layn's ear.

"Let's not cuddle here." Layn refused the girl's advance, gently pushing her back on her seat. "We can save that for when we will be alone. And no," Layn said while looking Irea deeply in her eyes, "as alluring as your charms are to me, this kind of relationship was never a factor for me when I decided to share my knowledge and abilities with you."

Layn shook his head before standing up from his seat. At the same time, the waiter of the guild finally finished her task, placing yet another cup of the same horse's piss as before him.

"That will be…" noticing Layn's intention to leave, the young girl attempted to ask for the money he was due for everything they ordered today.

"Here, I hope it will suffice." before the girl could even finish, Layn already pulled out one of the few remaining stones before throwing it her way.  "Can you confirm that it's a legit one?"

At first, the waitress struggled to grab the stone Layn thrown. Then, after staring at it for a few seconds, she raised her wide-open eyes before slowly nodding her head.

"Good. Then we will be on our way," said Layn as he pulled Irea out of the building. He had no intention at all to sully his insides with the worthless garbage the locals somehow used for a drink.

As soon as they walked outside, a truly disastrous scene presented itself to their eyes. Even though it was around the middle of the night, the lights seeping from the guild's windows allowed the two of them to see what happened.

"A battle royale?" asked Layn while looking at the pile of unconscious people surrounded by a group of roughly ten men still on their feet. 

"battlu rojal?" Irea asked while raising her eyebrows.

'Right, I'm still on that low-level translation spell!' noticing his mistake, Layn cleared up his throat before explaining.

"In short, the last man standing. You start with a huge group and the only one who will be left alive at the end, wins," explained Layn while raising his eyes from the pile of motionless bodies on the faces of those who prevailed.

"Good job, everyone. With that, you earned yourself a spot to join the mission." Layn smiled. While there was a bit of sour hint to his smile when he noticed that both of the people he saw some talent in were stuck in the pile of bodies, the outcome of the situation ended up more or less as he expected.

"When will we get our stones?" One of the men stepped forward.

"As soon as we will get to the middle of the desert," replied Layn without a second thought.

While it wouldn't be a problem at all to just distribute every single last stone that he had amongst the recruits, it would prove absolutely nothing. Rather than just wasting his money away and them wasting a lot of time to take revenge on those who would take the payment and just leave in a hurry, it was better to distribute the pay once they would reach the place where nothing would hinder a potential chase.

"Weren't there supposed to be some kind of down payment?" spoke the man who stepped forward. "Are you telling us that we beat our friends for no reason whatsoever?" as his words flew, a rage started to appear on his face.

"Beat up your friends? I guess you really take me for an idiot," said Layn while pulling his out of his pocket. With a single snap of his fingers, a small yet insanely hot ball of fire appeared above his palm. "If they are all unconscious, then they won't react when I burn them?" asked Layn while smiling at the leader of the group. "Don't worry, though, this girl here," Layn's other hand rested on top of Irea's head, "is really great at healing others."

Not waiting for any response, Layn took a step forward. Pushing his right arm to the back, he then hurled it forward, as if throwing the ball that continued to stick just above his hand.

"NO!" In an instant, the entire pile of bodies decomposed, with every single one of them rolling away from the spot. Only when almost all of them managed to escape, a sign of two bodies appeared underneath.

And only those two didn't move, even though only one of them was actually unconscious.

"That's it then. The test is over. You," Layn moved forward before squatting before the two lying bodies, "I'm not interested whether you figured it out by yourself or was made to do it. Do you want the slot?" asked Layn while poking the man's chin with his finger. At this point, the fireball that he used to threaten the group was still floating above his hand, gently warming the body of the man Layn took an interest in.

"Stop pretending. I know you are aware of what's going on," added Layn before moving his eyes upon the face of the man with who he spoke before. "As for the rest of you, begone. I have no interest in cheaters like you."

"Do you really think that we will leave it at that?" the man replied with anger appearing in his eyes. "Boys, take him! We will get his stones in our own way!"