5 Return to the Ivory Tower

When the party returned to the Ivory Tower, the guards stopped them.

"IDENTIFICATION", they shouted.

While they looked like normal soldiers, everyone knew that they were preparatory knights, individuals who had almost reached the natural limits of the human body through training. Although they had yet to awaken their internal energy, they could be called the pinacle of what could be achieved through training alone.

William approached quickly, showing a token of identification. Greem and Emma quickly followed suit.

The Ivory Tower was a gigantic architectural masterpiece, with over a hundred floors. Some said that it was a small town in the form of a tower, as it housed hundreds of individuals, mostly acolytes. Each floor had a specific usage. Although the lower floors were used for lodging the acolytes, the upper floors were more practical. Some were rented to factions such as the [Fire Brotherhood], the [Arcane Faction] or [White Skull]. Others were neutral, such as the library or the market floor.

The upper floors were mostly laboratories belonging to magi and wealthiest acolytes in the tower. After all, you had to pay nearly a hundred magic crystals to use Magus Rutherford's equipment for a couple of hours. It was not something that anyone could afford.

After entering the Ivory Tower, the party quickly reached the mission floor, where William gave a notebook containing the information he had noted down during the patrolling mission. Although it was poorly rewarding compared to the great harvest they had gotten this time, it was a good and steady income when they encountered no worthy prey.

"Good job as always, William. I can see you're getting stronger as the time goes by. Here are your 6 magic crystals", the elder acolyte said while tossing a pouch containing six shiny stones

Although he may seem benevolent, everyone knew that this elder acolyte was terrifying. He was one of the strongest acolyte in the tower, below the magi only. Rumours said that he had tried to break through the magus realm, but failed and injured himself, sealing his fate as a peak rank acolyte forever. Nevertheless, he still was very strong. His old age and heavy responsibilities in the tower proved that even Magus rutherford acknowledged him.

The party quickly disbanded afterwards.

"I will notify you when our next mission takes place. Until then, please make sure you recover from this hunt and do not skip your meditation! Too many acolytes failed to grow due to laziness", William said

Greem was quite satisfied with this hunt. Although he had to give up part of the rewards to compensate the flesh that he had consumed with Black, he still earned 7 magic crystals in total. With his savings, he now possessed the small fortune of 24 magic crystals, enough to purchase a couple of elixirs or ingredients capable of raising his spiritual force slightly.

However, Greem spent none of it.

'In two months, there will be a grand auction in the market floor. I must definitely get this item...'

He remembered the story of [Karl Jorg].

The man was just a probationary acolyte. Yet, he had gotten enough luck to purchase a small dagger in this auction, and it turned out that it was a broken magical artefact! Although it was only low grade, the price of magical artefacts almost never went below 300 magic crystals.

Although Karl ended up dying an unfortunate death several years later, his dagger had allowed him to accumulate a lot of merit in the incoming war opposing the Greenhill Kingdom and the Phoenix Empire.

'Black and the dagger are still not enough...', Greem analysed, 'If I want to save Emma and William, I have to get much stronger...'

The coming war was the cause of the death of his companions. Their party was just starting to grow stronger. It had potential, with William as the fire mage with incredible destructive force, Emma as the unbreakable shield and him as the trump card capable of ravaging the enemy backline with Black. They were balanced and each one of their abilities completed the other.

Knowing his own weakness, Greem went to the training ground, and threw a pouch filled with gold coins to Knight Robert, the floor manager appointed by Magus Rutherford himself.

Knight Robert was tall, muscular and definitely intimidating with his long, white beard. He had fought in several wars already, and there was a common saying that told: "Never underestimate an old man in a profession where men die young"

Knight Robert was incredibly strong, and his true worth resided in his experience.

"Please let me spar with your subordinates", Greem said apathetically, "I would like them to be slightly stronger than the last time"

Knight Robert let out a smile. Although he looked down on the acolytes who disrespected him, he was very gentle and understanding when it came to those who wished to become stronger. Few people would train their body, much less their martial skills.

However, Greem's greatest weakness was himself. His strength came from Black, the war raven he had contracted. However, if an opponent saw through this and decided to attack him, then he would face a barrage of spell.

As a beginner rank acolyte, Greem needed some survival skills in case he ran out of magical power. This is why he decided to learn some defense skills, and started to train his body. While it could not compare to what Emma put herself through, it was still benefitial to have some proficiency in close combat. If he had picked up these skills in his past life, he might not have died such a pitiful death...