28 The Most Beautiful Tulip

The Vermillion Tower carriage slowly moved along the spacious bluestone avenue in Grimm.

In order to accommodate the two other apprentices, Laurent especially changed into a more spacious carriage for Reed.

Reed sat in the carriage, while Viena and Cain send on his left and right, and the two would turn their heads to watch the street curiously from time to time.

They were like children who had not been out for a long time and were a little excited.

Reed ignored them as he closed his eyes and began to meditate.

As for this elementary mage spell, Meditation, Reed had liked it more and more.

Mana was the fundamentals of a mage, and Meditation was the only spell that could effectively increase a mage's mana.

Meditation was also a kind of spell that was even more magical. Normal spellcasting would require the infusion of mana to activate the magic model.

But Meditation was different, and there was no need to infuse mana into it. He only needed to run the magic model of Meditation using his mind power.

And Meditation had no fixed magic nodes, and everything he runs it it was like re-engraving a new magic model.

A mage, when meditating, required full concentration in order to efficiently run the spell's magic model.

Meditation was something that required patience and persistence, and normally the mana increased through a year's worth meditation may not even exceed 10 points, and lesser when one is stuck at a bottleneck, far less than what one would get when they level up.

But Meditation was also the best way to pull away when fighting within the same level. A mana pool of a mage that had meditated for ten years would definitely be 30% higher than a mage that had never meditated.

Mana represented the number of times a spell could be cast and its power, and the increase in combat effectiveness is remarkable.

The Progenitor Vampire had been meditating for over two hundred years, and although he had lost some progress when he was wounded by the Transcendent Mage.

But Reed estimated that the 652 mana value he had was definitely far greater than the other high mages of his level.

This was something that was built over time, a unique advantage a long-lived race had.

Reed's love of magic was definitely no less than the Progenitor Vampire, and he was fascinated by the constant absorption of mana around him.

The days he had spent in the mage tower studying magic also allowed him to get the satisfaction that usually was not there.

Looking at those magical spells flying around at the tip of his finger, it was just too fascinating.

A solhour later, the three got off the carriage.

Laurent and two other assistants from the guild had already gotten off the carriage that was ahead and was waiting for them.

Grimm, as a city of millions, her downtown was far more bustling than Reed had imagined.

The number of people had the same atmosphere of a packed Chinese subway line.

The people going to and fro along the street were mostly civilians. Most of them wore linen clothes, and their eyes a little evasive. Upon seeing a carriage on the street they would stop in panic or to pull away to both sides of the street.

A small number of them were nobles dressed in bright and expensive clothes. Their elegant manners made them stand out along the crowd, and they were also the object of envy and fear of the common folk.

Shops selling all sorts of food, clothing, weapons lining both sides of the street were open, and entering them were upper-class civilians or the ornately dressed nobility who were in a completely different state of mind.

The structure of the houses along the street was mostly semi-circular with a spire embossed with religious motifs of the gods saving the world.

Several unknown clerics were patching up the wings of a giant statue of an angel that was broken by the wind with a solemn expression.

There was no presence of slave traders or beggars in the streets of the city center, and they were probably driven away by the lord mayor's patrol teams passing from time to time... This was where the lord mayor lived after all.

Reed's carriage was parked by a wide-open space on the side of the road, and before them was a 15 rhents, five-story Roman-style building.

A large hundred-year-old red maple plaque was placed in the flower pond at the center of the open grounds, and a few large words written in the local common script.

The Alex Consortium.

It was also enchanted with a Third Circle spell: General Text Literacy. As long as someone sees the plaque, and regardless if they understood the common script or not, they could clearly know what information was on the plaque.

"Master Reed, there are three branches of the Alex Consortium in the city, and this is their headquarters. I have already made an appointment with the vice-chairman."

Laurent had the awareness of being a subordinate and knew that his task had gone awry, so he had been waiting carefully by Reed's side.

"No worries, it's not your fault this time. But you will need to build your connections with the top echelons of Grimm from now on, just like how those nobles do it. I don't want to be personally attending to things every time in the future."

Reed did not blame Laurent too much.

His roots in Grimm was just too shallow, and he could not find a noble that he knew to help him resolve that problem of his.

But, Laurent was a good spokesperson, and while he was timid, he was still capable.

Before he could find any better candidate, Laurent would be helping him to manage the Goldwheat Guild for a long time in the future.

"Yes, thank you Master Reed for your kindness. I will not let you down again. Please, over here, the main door of the Alex Consortium is here."

As one of the Grimm's three largest guilds, the size of the Alex Consortium was not something a third-rate guild like Goldwheat Guild could compare to.

The headquarters of the Alex Consortium was about a hundred times larger than the Vermillion Tower and employed as many as three thousand people.

The main gate of the consortium faced this small plaza, and Reed, led by Laurent, walked straight through the gate could accommodate five carriages in parallel.

The guard clad in silver half-armor crafted by the dwarves was slightly taken aback when he saw Reed in his mage's robe. The moment he saw a special half-moon mark on the mage's robe, his expression changed slightly.

A high mage...

He stepped forward and raised his hand to his chest to greet.

"Good day, honorable Master Mage, I'm honored to be of service."

Laurent felt good when he saw that scene. When he came here to visit yesterday, the guards ignored him and immediately chased him away.

When he came today again with Reed's letter of visitation, the guards gave him a disdainful look as well.

And now, seeing them bowing their heads to his patron now, he felt good, as if the guards were bowing their heads to him.

"Master Reed had made an appointment with the chairman. This is the invitation letter."

Viena stood forward, and politely handed the guards the invitation letter given by the Alex Consortium's vice chairman to Laurent.

The guard, upon seeing a beauty like Viena was stunned, but he dared not take a longer look at her as he took the invitation letter in both hands, and upon looking at it, he immediately said with a respectful tone.

"Dear Master Reed, over here please. Chairman Winnie had specially ordered that I bring you directly to her office upon your arrival."

Reed nodded, and his black mage robes with silver linings and embroidery made his temperament looking even better than an aristocrat, exuding elegance and nobility.

"I'll be in your care."

"No, it is my honor to serve a distinguished person like you, please."

Laurent followed behind Reed, and looking at the guard bending over with a smile was like as comfortable as eating a cold watermelon in June.

At this moment, he praised himself a hundred times for selling the Goldwheat Guild to Reed.

Sure enough, having a mage become your patron in Grimm was a wise move.

Praise be the Goddess.

After Reed entered the lobby of the Alex Consortium, he was amazed.

The dwarven mechanical wall clock decorated with elven ornaments was hung in the middle of the hall, and the ticking sound was unusually clear.

The exquisite relief sculptures around the praising the Goddess of Life revealed a strong religious atmosphere and made visitors unable to look to the sides.

The magical crystal chandelier with faint yellow light hung in midair. The magic crystal of the same quality was three times the value of a standard gold Pyke.

The floors were also covered with whitestar tiles used by the royalty, and the walls had colorful oil paintings and so on.

This was not like the headquarters of a commercial guild, but more like an art exhibition hall.

As expected of the grand guild in Grimm, the property of the Marquis, the decoration here was far more elaborate and luxurious than his own castle.

Viena and Cain's eyes were already lost. Viena was born a commoner and had never seen such a luxurious place in her life.

Cain was born into a minor nobility. Although his family was still rich, it was not at all comparable to the Alex Consortium.

"Master Reed, this is just like a palace, it's so beautiful." Reed smiled when he heard Viena's lament. "In the future, the Goldwheat Guild's headquarters will be even more luxurious than the headquarters of the Alex Consortium."

Several passing employees stopped when they heard this conversation, and looked at Laurent and Viena as they prepared to laugh at them.

Nonsense, do you country bumpkins know how great the Alex Consortium was, and for you to compare yourself to her?

But upon seeing the mage robes on Reed's body, they immediately shut their gob and turned away as if nothing had happened.

A master mage was someone they could not afford to offend.

"It is said that your Excellency Master Reed is the most outstanding genius among the mages of Grimm. I was a little skeptical of that before, but daring to say something like that after seeing the Alex Consortium's lobby, you are indeed extraordinary."

A voice that was as crisp as a nightingale's chirp rang out beside Reed.

He turned around, and a lady in a pure white noble dress arrived surrounded by several guards.

The girl's slender neck was raised up high like a proud swan, and her temperament traditional and elegant. Only someone of high nobility could cultivate such an outstanding temperament.

Her brown hair draped over her shoulders like scattered tulips.

Her facial features were exquisite and perfect, and her beautiful face could make any man hold his breath when he sees her.

What was most eye-catching was her gorgeous violet eyes, the light that shone through it when she blinked was enough to have even the gods in heaven swooning.

Cain, who was so dumbstruck he let out a subconscious yelp.

"The most beautiful tulip in Grimm, Lady Winnie."