Gold coins

"Hmm? Just you people? Do you have any idea how hard and expensive it is to grow a mage? It's fine if you don't want to tell me your plans for him but I won't allow you lots to hinder his growth" the old man scoffed, returning to his usual arrogant self as a small pouch suddenly appeared on his palm which he threw at the village head.

The village head caught the pouch and stared at the old man with confusion and suspicion, he did not immediately open it to see what was inside as he did not want to take his eyes off the old man for even a second.

"Since he does not want to follow me, I'll still set a foundation for him before he can take care of himself. That pouch is a small storage device and there are a hundred gold coins inside. It should be enough to get him to the Nebula mage rank if he doesn't use it recklessly" the old man said and turned around the next moment, returning to his hover car.

Everyone was shocked by the amount of money that the old man had claimed was inside the pouch and how he had easily given it away like it was nothing, the hand of the Village head that was holding the pouch trembled and he almost dropped it upon realizing how valuable the thing he was holding was.

One had to know that making even one gold coin was not easy for the villagers, a hundred gold coins were literally their gains from years of hard work. Although mages made more than normal people, giving away a hundred gold coins was not something just anyone could do, especially when they did not even have any relationship with the person they were giving it to.

While this could be seen as a heavenly opportunity for the villagers as it could help them take care of a lot of things regarding Alex, accepting money from a stranger was not something one should do easily; especially after what had happened between them earlier.

The village head was about to call out to the old man so he could return his pouch when the old man suddenly stopped right in front of his hover car, the door of the hover car was already open but the man did not enter immediately. He stopped and turned his head, staring at the village head with a sharp gaze as he opened his mouth and said in a chilling voice.

"Don't even think about returning it, I'm already being kind by not taking him against his will. I give you all one week, if after one week I come back here and see that you lots haven't done anything about this kid, I'll take it as you planning to waste a potential powerhouse of the southern continent. And trust me, I won't mind killing you all before taking him by force" the old man said before entering his hover car.

Everyone watched in silence as the door of the hovercar closed and it slowly rose into the air before speeding off Into the distance, disappearing from sight in a matter of seconds.

The Village head seemed to have come back to his senses after the hovercar disappeared, he gritted his teeth in anger while his hand grabbed the pouch so strongly that his veins were threatening to burst from his arm.

The words of the old man kept echoing in his head, the nonchalant attitude of the old man and the seriousness of his words filled the village head with so much rage that his entire body trembled.

'If only I was strong enough' the village head sighed in his heart while trying to contain the rage that he was feeling. He did not completely blame the strange old man for what happened because he believed part of why it happened was him being too weak, had he been as strong as the damned old man then they would not have been humiliated like this.

In the end, he could only turn to stare at Alex with a resolved expression. He had thought of ways to escape since he initially did not want to follow the orders of the old man that sounded more like a threat but all the plans he was able to think of were strenuous and uncertain, they would not be able to prevent the inevitable if the damned old man found them. After all, he was strong enough to do whatever he wanted and probably get away with it as they would not be able to punish him with the authorities considering that they did not even know who he was; and that was even if any of them survived long enough to report him, it would be a disaster if he was someone very influential.

Heck! All mages were super influential and had wide connections.

"Yes, sending him to the academy will be the best solution. After all, he wanted us to use his money for Alex so it would be a win-win" the village head thought to himself but could not get rid of the bitter feeling in his heart.

Meanwhile, Alex was currently in Agnes's embrace with an angry look in his young eyes.

He did not need an explanation before understanding what had transpired between them and the strange old man. After all, he only looked like twelve years old because his body had not developed properly but in fact, he was actually fifteen years old already.

And regarding what happened earlier, Alex understood one thing from how the old man had acted so nonchalantly in front of them, and that one thing was…

Strength!

Alex gritted his teeth in anger, he still remembered the scene of the village head being held up in the sky because he was coming to guard him and his mother experiencing the same thing for the same reason.

'Just you wait old man, after I get into the academy, I will become so powerful that no one will be able to bully anyone close to me ever again and I'll be sure to pay you back what you did to use today if I ever meet you in future!' Alex vowed in his heart.