According to Rick Suleiman's words, Howard had already identified the two individuals.
The one with the icy demeanor must be Ice Ghost, and the other who initiated the conversation, with his chubby, rotund figure and a face flushed with health, was unmistakably Glutton.
Glutton, after giving Howard a once-over, chuckled lightly, "This young lad, merely in his teens, has cultivated to around level 33. His physical strength could even rival that of a level 50 close-combat, physical-type awakened. Quite intriguing."
"No wonder you, a warrior, are taking a magus as your apprentice. What's the plan, to have the young one follow the path of both magic and physical prowess?"
Rick Suleiman, having witnessed some of Howard's capabilities, also mistook him for having a lineage similar to that of a melee magus.
Naturally, he would encourage the path of dual cultivation in magic and physical strength.