26 Melvinger Magical Society (3)

As George and Lady Emma continued to climb the Dragon Pavillon stairs, they encountered a dozen more guards, all of them being knights. This went to show the influence and strength of Melvinger's strongest power.

Although the Mayor was not a noble, he was often called the [City Lord], because the number of knights subordinated to him and his individual strength allowed him to contend with any of the three main noble families.

"This is the meeting room. I already talked at length about them", Lady Emma spoke while looking down, "Officially, there are only light path acolytes in the Melvinger Magical Society, but there is one acolyte that you have to look out for. Just like me, he is a wolf hiding among sheep. Tirus Veras is actually a necromancer, although he never once exposed his identity"

George nodded.

Dark path and light path magi.

One could say that there was not much difference between the two, since both magus factions walked the path of the truth. However, Dark path magi would not stop their research at any points. If it required the sacrifice of ten thousand people, they would do it, provided that it gave them benefits or helped them in their studies.

Light Path Magi were a little bit more restrained, as they abided by the [Southern Continent Magus Code], constitued by commandments that encouraged the cooperation of mortals and magi, forbidding sacrifices, blood rituals and many more experiments requiring the life force of humans. Of course, there were plenty of Light Path magi breaking the rules, but the vast majority of them were actually decent, as they followed the law of equivalent exchange.

It did not take a lot of time for George to discover Lady Emma's identity as dark path acolyte. She was shocked, and almost frightened when George asked her about it. In the end, it seemed like the both of them suspected each other to be the same.

"Tirus Veras, huh? I will keep that in mind", George said upon opening the door for Lady Emma.

As he opened the door, George immediately scanned the room with his piercing gaze. He could see twelve individuals, meaning that the Melvinger Magical Society's members were all present in this place.

[Name - Mayor Hubert | Status - Curse | Rank 2 Acolyte

Attributes :

Strength - 1.4 | Dexterity - 1.0 | Vitality - 0.6 (1.9) | Spiritual Force - 7.9]

Four rank 2 acolytes were instantly noticed by George, as he scanned their attributes. The Mayor and Tirus Veras were rank 2 acolytes, and George recognized them from their attires. The Mayor wore some sort of silk robe, like greek men in the past. As for Tirus Veras, he looked like a mercenary, which was not how George initially envisioned the man.

Necromancers were usually pale, and frail, but Tirus Veras was strong with the physical body of a preparatory knight. He had probably trained with a sword for a long time, as George noticed the familiar calluses that all swordsmen would acquire from tens of thousands of sword swings in training.

Besides the rank 2 acolytes, there were many familiar faces. Some of them happened to be the owners of prestigious establishments, others being high-ranking officials or noble men in Melvinger City. Anyone who joined the Melvinger Magical Society would possess influence and connections that would allow them to reach status far above their reach.

George smiled upon seeing their yearning gaze. It seemed like they had been waiting for his arrival for quite some time already.

Naturally, calling himself 'Alchemist George' would not enable him to hide his identity for a long time, if Magus Kroft or Merlin were to ask about him in Melvinger City. However, George had asked them to keep silent about his whereabouts, making them the only two individuals aware of his location at the moment. Since George was a common name, and he had not exposed his true identity, it was highly unlikely that any Abyssal Bone Forest Academy acolyte would make the connection between him and 'Alchemist George'.

Bowing slightly, George introduced himself: "Greetings, Melving Magical Society Members. I am 'George the Alchemist', and I have been the one supporting the Billing Household with spiritual potions. I seem to have understood that all of you were clients of Lady Emma here, and erudite wandering acolytes. It is a pleasure to have been invited by you"

Naturally, George was interested in the encounter of other magically gifted individuals, especially wandering acolytes. He was very curious about their path of advancement, insights on magic and strength since they did not have access to half of the resources that the weakest of abyssal bone forest academy member would have. Even with the Dragon Pavillon Library, which was known to be quite complete, it could not even compare to a single section of the lower floor of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.

Still, knowledge could not be refused, and expanding the biochip's database was of paramount importance, if George wanted to further complete the optimization of his spell [Shadow Steps]

[Beep! Current task initiated - Shadow Steps Optimization. Progress: 38%. In order to increase the progress percentage, acquiring more data about spells, shadow elemental particles and negative energy is suggested]

The Mayor stood up, and bowed slightly in response: "It is a pleasure to receive you, sir George!"