Analysis

Acolyte Roan looked at the acolytes standing in front of him with a semblance of respect. As an esteemed golem master of the Arcane faction, Roan was not used to leave the arcane tower and would much rather continue his experiments and studies rather than going out in the terrifying wilderness of the Island of Bones, and risk his life. The two-star mission was, however, pretty rewarding.

The Crimson Clan promised to offer protection to the five golem masters who had been deployed for the construction of its new headquarters, a castle. It was an ancient design, most likely found in some ruins. However, the details were very sharp, and although there were some defects, it was nothing the dwarves could not handle. With a supply of iron from the dwarven mountains, dwarves as the workforce and golems to transport the enormous masses of iron from the depths of the mine to the surface, the contruction of the Crimson Castle was expected to last one year for the foundations and basic shapes. Of course, dwarves would have to spend several more years to finish details and strengthen the foundations, but Roan knew that the contract would only employ him for one year.

At first, he had been suspicious about the Crimson Clan's sincerity when it was a boy who greeted him. But shaking the boy's hands was enough to understand that he was strong enough to come on this two-star missions. It turns out, the boy was their leader.

Lewis Steelguard, second heir of the Steelguard Household, a family of knights which possessed enough fame to have entered Raon's ears, the tales of the current Count destroying several rival houses in territorial wars having made quite the effect in the empire.

However, Acolyte Raon was deeply impressed when he saw the other members. 

Jack Blast was a young knight with good manners and a strong build. 

Next was one of the Longlost heirs, Orianna Longlost. Her wild temper and hissing tongue truly frightened him. He was never at ease when close to bloodline type acolytes. Often, they were closer to their beast ancestors than their human side.

However, none of them were as frightening as Jorg Bullwater. The lizardman had enough fame and experience to be renowned in the Magic Court. Usually, he worked alone and completed two-star missions of high difficulty, making him a seasonned veteran. 

'I think I can trust my back to them', Raon thought upon analysing the party 

Seeing the acolyte Raon staring at them, Lewis used this opportunity to use the Analysis spell and oversee everyone's progress. The spell was an extraordinary utility cast that allowed him to see people's attributes in numerical values. Although the runes were very tough to decipher, and most acolytes would spend decades before truly mastering the spell, Lewis could easily read regular vital signs and interpret its runes to deduce such information.

[Name - Jack Blast | Age - 23 years old

Attributes:

Strength - 3.4 | Agility - 2.3 | Vitality - 3.5 | Spirit - 3.0]

Jack Blast had grown significantly in the past three months.

'With such a growth rate, no wonder Janna sees him as a potential seed...He will be worth training, that is for sure', Lewis grinned as he thought of ways to enroll Jack into his party. The more subordinates he possessed, the more difficult missions they would be able to complete. For now, Jack was still a rather burdensome member in terms of physical combat, but his true value lied in his potential and scouting knowledge. The spear he used was enough to deal with most monsters anyway. Furthermore, drinking with Jack allowed Lewis to discover that he was actually a grade 2 talent. The reason behind his very low spirit attribute was due to his late awakening of arcane talent.

It was a shame, but in a decade, he would have probably reached the spirit requirements to reach the intermediate rank realm, as long as he practiced the Magical Court meditation technique on a daily basis with rigor and consistency.

[Name - Orianna Longlost | Age - 22 years old

Attributes:

Strength - 1.4 | Agility - 1.3 | Vitality - 1.5| Spirit - 3.9

Spell: Acidic Breath

Artefact: Tyria Ring [Regeneration, Bloodline Strengthening]]

Orianna had grown slightly, earning 0.2 point of spirit over the last three months. It might look insignificant, but for a grade 1 talent like her, it was actually pretty impressive. Most of it, though, must have come from the blood essence she consumed. Still, she possessed a corroding spell that could deal with the most troublesome enemies, and deal with enemy acolytes' barrier spells if they knew one. Thus, she was a core member of the party, though she also happened to be the most vulnerable one.

[Name - Jorg Bullwater | Age - 43 years old 

Attributes:

Strength - 8.4 | Agility - 3.2 | Vitality - 7.0 | Spirit - 7.8

Spells: [Arcane Flow]

Artefact: Frozen Enchanted Shield (Rank 0)]

Jorg was the immuable pillar of the formation, and he could probably take most beginner rank magical beast to a standstill, even if he just stayed immobile and tanked the blows. With his shield mastery and its enchant that slowed an partially froze the enemy, he could buy as much time as needed, enough for Lewis and Orianna to finish them. The rewards from the mission and his savings allowed him to increase his vitality by a whopping 0.7 points and his strength by 0.2 point since he first joined the party. It was impressive, considering how strong he already was. However, it was clear that he had already reached the requirements to break through the intermediate rank, the only issue being his grade 1 talent, preventing him from crossing the last step.

[Name - Lewis Steelguard | Age - 15 years old

Attributes:

Strength - 3.8 | Agility - 2.8 | Vitality - 4.6 | Spirit - 5.9

Perk: Crimson Pact [Sealed], Blood Human II (Increased perception, dexterity and physical growth rate)

Spells: Blood drain (156), Analysis (132), Blood Enchant (95) , Blood Shield (80), Sanguine Tracking (75), Blood Arrow (53), Blood Essence Gathering (36), Blood wolf Summon (50)

Sealed spells (not enough spirit): Blood Golem Summon (60), Tides of blood (40), Blood Curse (10)]

Lewis had gone through an incredible transformation, now far exceeding the realms of regular veteran knights. Even Jack Blast, who looked much fitter than him, was actually below in terms of physical attributes. His spells had improved slightly, especially the blood enchant spell which gained 5 points of proficiency and the blood arrow spell that increased by 3 points. More importantly, he had now met the requirements to use the Blood Wolf Summon spell. It allowed him to summon a beginner rank beast capable of tracking enemies with the scent of their blood.

Acolyte Raon might not know this, but he had truly joined one of the best beginner rank party he could hope for.