Chapter 228: Chapter 227 From today on, you will have countless dads Chapter 228: Chapter 227 From today on, you will have countless dads “Welcome to White Stone Tower,” the witch Madeth greeted with a smile. However, in the next moment, her smile vanished, and she adopted a serious demeanor as she addressed everyone. “But, how long you can stay here will depend on each of your abilities.”
The crowd was stunned. Madeth stepped aside and after a few steps, she turned back and coldly scolded the still-standing crowd, “What are you doing standing around like a bunch of silly geese? Planning to sunbathe? Didn’t you see I’m leaving? Follow me!”
“Uh, yes.” Startled, everyone hurriedly followed, trailing Madeth for several hundred meters until they stopped in front of a small stone house in the corner of a plaza.
With a “squeak,” Madeth opened the door of the stone house and walked in. She fiddled with the doorframe at the entrance, then sat down behind a desk inside the stone house.
Looking at the people outside, Madeth spoke, “Alright, now I will conduct a pre-enrollment talent test for you all. Each of you will come into the room one by one. Who’s first? Don’t waste my time! Hurry up!”
Everyone looked at each other hesitantly. Just then, Richard saw Nancy take the lead and walk into the stone house.
Richard noticed that the moment Nancy entered the stone house, a flash of light passed over the door, seemingly from some magical tools being activated, probably for testing a wizard’s talent—a method seemingly more convenient than the spell used by the deceased Third-level Apprentice Hua’er in Cuijin City.
Indeed, after the bright light flashed over the doorframe, Nancy walked inside the stone house. Madeth raised an eyebrow, her expression softened, and she said gently, “Ah, a high-level talent, and a beautiful girl at that. Tsk, not bad. What’s your name?”
“Nancy,” Nancy replied.
“Nancy, huh.” Madeth nodded as she rummaged under the table and pulled out a rectangular, rounded metal nameplate about two centimeters wide, seven to eight centimeters long, and a few millimeters thick. The metal nameplate gleamed with a bright golden luster, looking very sturdy—its composition was unknown. The reverse side bore a series of characters and a miniature image of White Stone Tower, while the front side was blank.
“Nancy, nice name.” Madeth mumbled to herself and gently ran her onion-white fingers over the front of the metal nameplate. The “shush” sound of etching resonated as metal powder fell onto the table, with Nancy’s name now engraved in the center of the nameplate’s front.
Tossing the engraved nameplate to Nancy, Madeth spoke, “This is your identity badge. With it, you are now a student of White Stone Tower Academy—from now on, an elite student. Alright, nothing more for now, go out and wait.”
“Yes,” Nancy said, as she walked out of the stone house.
Madeth looked up and called, “Next!”
A boy walked in, and the stone house’s door frame flickered again, the light dimmer than when Nancy had entered.
Madeth’s face fell, and the previously mellow tone of her voice grew colder, “An intermediate talent, and not a particularly handsome boy either.”
The boy inside the stone house twitched the corners of his mouth awkwardly.
“Nevertheless, it’ll have to do; you can still be considered a formal student,” Madeth stated, then asked the boy, “What’s your name?”
“Terence Julli Axi Burn Angustav,” the boy hurriedly pronounced his full name.
“Terence Julli Axi…” repeating less than half, Madeth stopped, frowning, “Such a long name?!”
“That’s right, Witch Madeth,” the boy hurriedly explained. “I’m from Amar. In our tradition, we incorporate the names of distinguished individuals from both our father’s and mother’s lineages into our own names. From my father’s line, there’s General Angustav who won many wars; from my mother’s line, there’s the esteemed poet Axi Burn, who penned many cherished poems. So I…”
“Stop!” Madeth snapped coldly, cutting the boy off mercilessly, “I don’t care where you are from or what traditions you have, but I really dislike such a long name.”
“So…” the boy started.
“From today onwards, your name will be John,” Madeth declared, giving the boy a common name that had no connection with his original name whatsoever, and her tone left no room for objections, “John will be your only name!”
The boy couldn’t help but widen his eyes, staring at Madeth blankly, clearly not expecting this outcome.
“Change the name if it’s long? That’s unreasonable, isn’t it? He’s used his original name for over a decade, and now without any preparation, it’s suddenly changed to John? Isn’t that a bit abrupt?”
The boy felt like a thousand wild horses were racing through his heart, but when he looked at Madeth, his lips moved, yet he dared not utter a word in rebuttal.
At that moment, Madeth had taken out another metal nameplate, similar in size to the one given to Nancy—rounded rectangular shape, two centimeters wide, seven to eight centimeters long, a few millimeters thick. However, the material was slightly different; it was silver-white in color and seemed a little less impressive than Nancy’s golden nameplate.
Madeth’s pale fingers swiftly moved across the nameplate, engraved John on it, and then tossed it to the boy.
“Next,” Madeth commanded.
“Uh, yes.” The boy, now called John, took the silver nameplate, his expression hesitating as if he wanted to say more but just walked out.
Another boy walked in.
Madeth took out a silver nameplate and held it in her hand, looking at the new boy, her tone not as cold as before, somewhat languidly asked, “What… what is your name?”
“I…” The boy hesitated.
“Hurry up!” Madeth urged.
“I… my name is John,” the new boy replied briskly, quickly adding, “Teacher Madeth, my real name is John.”
Silence reigned in the stone room for a moment.
“John?!” Madeth’s eyes sharpened, staring at the boy.
The boy, somewhat fearful, quickly tried to prove it, “Teacher Madeth, I swear, my real name is John, full name is John Paul Bacon.”
“John Paul Bacon?” Madeth squinted, her fingers rubbing on the metal nameplate as the metal powder fell off, the engraving completed, then tossed it to the boy.
The boy then saw clearly engraved on it: Bacon.
“From today onwards, you are not allowed to call yourself John. Your name will be Bacon—only Bacon.”
Madeth waved her hand, “That’s it! You, go out, next!”
The boy, now named Bacon, walked out helplessly, and another boy walked in.
Madeth spoke up, looking straight at the incoming boy, “Don’t tell me, you also go by John.”
“I…” The third boy was noticeably nervous, intimidated by Madeth’s formidable presence, and couldn’t speak for a long time.
Impatiently, Madeth took out a silver nameplate, her finger swiped across, engraved the name, and tossed it to the third boy.
After receiving it, the boy saw it clearly engraved with another very common name—Johnson—signifying ‘son of John.’
The boy: “…” Instantly felt like he had countless fathers.