chsdbacks Chapter 737 Invitation
Chapter 737 Invitation
At Jemin's invitation, David sat down in the chair opposite the experiment, and Jemin followed suit.
The two were separated by half a work distance, and their faces were still covered with a few pieces of dragon bloodline rune crystals that they hadn't had time to clean up.
The Five Aggregates Transformation Rainbow Mirror automatically pushed the crystals aside, clearing a clean tabletop where cold blue runic light flowed quietly across the metal surface.
Jemin looked up and sized up David.
Even after not seeing each other for hundreds of years, the other person's appearance has not changed much.
His blond hair was still neatly combed back, his features were still those of a standard elite, and his expression looked the same as before.
But something more subtle has changed.
For a moment, Jemin couldn't quite explain what it was.
At first glance, he instinctively felt that the person in front of him was gentler than the young wizard who had fought alongside him in his memory.
"Long time no see, you look quite different," Jemin said first.
"You too." David smiled, a smile almost identical to the one Jemin remembered, except that a faint line appeared at the corner of his eye after the smile. "But your changes are in a good direction. It's all over the place: you withstood the reflection dimensional passage, were specifically requested by Broadleaf, and even joined forces to seal a peak level eight dragon. Do you know what people are saying about you now?"
His tone carried a hint of envy and a touch of teasing:
"They say you're the strongest new generation wizard in Norren Workshop in the last few thousand years."
"It's just hearsay," Jemin waved his hand dismissively.
His gaze, however, passed over David's shoulder and landed on the witch who had been standing quietly behind him since he entered. She stood inside the laboratory, not sitting down with David at the experiment, but maintaining a just-right distance—neither distant nor intrusive.
Her features were so exquisite they were almost unreal, and not the kind of perfection achieved through artificial enhancement, but rather the natural upper limit of a certain aesthetic standard.
Her long, light silver hair cascaded over her shoulders, gleaming faintly with a metallic sheen under the cool blue lighting of the laboratory.
The aura of the solidified law domain emanating from her was as quiet and restrained as she was, like a thin mist that had not yet fully dissipated.
Judging from the fluctuations in her aura, she must have just broken through to level six recently, and the law patterns at the edge of her domain were still slowly adjusting themselves. She noticed Jieming's gaze and bowed slightly in greeting.
The movements were small, but the manners were impeccable.
"And who is this?" Jemin turned his gaze away and looked at David.
"I was just about to introduce you." David turned to the side and extended his hand to the witch.
She naturally stepped forward and stood beside David.
"Eileen," David said, "my fiancée. I brought her along so she could meet some of my old friends." He took an invitation tied with a silver ribbon from his sleeve, placed it on the lab bench, and pushed it toward Jemin.
"Also, I'm here to give you this. I'm getting married and would like to invite you to the wedding."
Jemin looked down at the invitation.
The silver ribbon gleamed softly under the cool blue light, and his name was written in standard wizarding script on the invitation cover.
He reached out and picked it up; the invitation felt slightly heavy in his hand. He flipped it open, glanced at the date and location inside, and then gently closed it again.
Only then did he belatedly realize why he had thought David had changed.
There was nothing wrong with what David said; it's perfectly normal for friends to visit each other.
But the tone of his voice was completely different from that of the young wizard who charged at the forefront of the battlefield in my memory.
Back then, David's eyes shone, his tone would rise slightly with excitement, and every word seemed to be a charge towards a goal. But now, David speaks gently, politely, and even with a touch of deliberation.
Rather than introducing his wife to his friends, he was laying the groundwork for a future network of relationships.
To build connections for future generations.
To build relationships for one's family.
This is indeed the most common social logic in the sixth-level wizarding community.
But for Jemin, this meant that David had changed.
Although he still looks like that outgoing and cheerful blond youth, the sharp and spirited young genius he was when we first met is truly gone.
He concealed his sharp edges.
Jemin picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and suppressed the subtle emotions welling up in his chest.
He regretted knowing he had no standing.
David's choice was rational, even wise.
Not every genius can remain a genius forever.
On the ever-narrowing ladder of wizarding civilization, those who can calmly assess their own limits after hitting a wall and decisively choose another path to continue on often live much longer than those who stubbornly refuse to accept their fate and end up battered and bruised.
David simply chose to live, choosing a safer way to move forward.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But Jemin still felt a little regretful.
He couldn't explain exactly why he felt this regret.
Perhaps it was for that blond youth who once fought alongside him, or perhaps it was for something more universal.
Or perhaps it's simply because he hasn't had this kind of purely social meeting with anyone in so long that he suddenly doesn't know what to say.
"Congratulations."
He carefully put the invitation away, looked up, and this time his tone was sincere.
"Witch Erin, right? Nice to meet you, my name is Jemin."
"I know." Eileen smiled slightly, her voice as ethereal as she was. "David often mentions you, saying you are the wizard of his generation whom he admires the most."
"He would never say something like that before." Jemin glanced at David.
"I was embarrassed before," David replied with a smile, though a hint of awkwardness lingered in his laughter.
The group chatted for a while longer.
David and Eileen sat opposite each other in the lab, their postures natural and relaxed, occasionally exchanging glances; they did indeed look very well-matched.
At the end of the conversation, David stood up, and Eileen followed suit.
"We still have to deliver invitations to other people, so I won't bother you any longer." David shook hands with Jemin. "You absolutely must come to the wedding."
"must."
Jemin smiled and saw them off at the lab entrance, watching their figures disappear into the light of the teleportation array.
The laboratory door closed automatically, and the cool blue lighting once again filled the entire room.
He sat back in his chair, leaned back, and stared at the ceiling for a long time.
What should I give as a wedding gift?
Giving something too expensive is inappropriate, while giving something too ordinary is embarrassing.
Moreover, David is now focusing on the family aspect, so the gift's quality can't just consider David himself; it also has to take into account the feelings of his entire family. Jemin scratched his head, temporarily relegating the issue to his mental to-do list.
He then immersed himself in the study of the Zhou Tian Star Array.