Reward

After the bell rang, the noble youths started to dig graves for their fallen companions.

It was evident that everyone had lost trustworthy companions. Even George had lost his childhood friend, Alexander Holmes, in the battle. The investment he had made in the past month, teaching him and befriending him, was now gone in dust.

Still, the [Furze Alliance] only suffered small losses. Only 4 members had died.

The [United Alliance] had been wiped out, with more than 20 apprentices dead.

The [Yale Alliance] too had suffered huge losses, with more than 8 deaths. And they were the closest to the acolytes! If not for them, they would have been wiped out as well. Only the Furze Alliance had managed to defend against the waves of dire wolves thanks to strategy and swordsmanship.

The incredible performance of the [Furze Alliance] had not gone by unnoticed.

Just as George was wiping the blood out of his blade, a familiar man came looking for him. His disfigured face was even uglier, with claw marks added to his already scarred face. It was Knight Angelo, still standing strong after this encounter.

"George Lionheart, the white-robed acolytes have summoned you. They want to speak with the one who made incredible contributions to the survival of the [Furze Alliance]", Knight Angelo spoke with respect, "I thought you were a talented lad. Now, I can see you for what you truly are: a fierce warrior. I never thought that granting you the authority to create an alliance would save my life"

Knight Angelo had indeed survived thanks to George's incredible achievements. The fact that he managed to take care of the duty of protection of his carriage allowed Knight Angelo to move freely and only take care of as many beast as he could take care of, rather than burdening himself with every single dire wolf attacking him. Having the possibility to let a couple dire wolves get past his formation gave him much more freedom than his peers, and it ultimately saved his life, despite the third carriage being the most difficult battlefield to be on, since the fourth carriage collapsed too quickly.

George nodded, and followed Knight Angelo.

He entered the luxurious white carriage, and he was greeted by the two acolytes. One was a middle-aged man with a beard. George instantly recognized him for the one who had cast the [Wind Blade] spell that ultimately intimidated the Alpha Dire Wolf. Next to him stood an elderly woman, who had runes tattooed on her face and arms.

George bowed formally and greeted them following the etiquette of the Sarad Kingdom. Both acolytes nodded in acknowledgement. They expected no less from a noble heir.

"So you are the one Angelo spoke about...You protected many apprentices, and I thank you for that. Magi follow the principle of 'Equivalent Exchange'. Everything we receive, we pay it back. After speaking with my associate, we decided to give you a set of Elementary Meditation Technique earlier than others. However, we will have to bound you to a contract so that it doesn't leak. After all, meditation techniques are unique to magical academies", the woman spoke

George nodded: "I suppose I will have to join a specific academy if I accept your reward?"

The woman smiled: "A quick-witted knight, huh? Well, this is a first! Indeed, you will have to choose between the two academies we represent. If John was still around, you would have one more choice, but I guess he was too weak. Did you have a magical academy in mind before coming here?"

George smiled and spoke: "Yes, my father told me to join the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy"

The woman smiled: "Then, you are quite the lucky fellow, since I am from the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy myself! Take this set of elementary meditation technique, and practice it daily until you have headaches. Once you manage to visualize all 21 runes in this set, you will have reached the requirements to become a Level 2 Acolyte. Training early on is an incredible advantage over your peers. I have great expectations for you. If you have enough talent, I will even recommend you to my master"

George smiled and bowed again, before leaving the carriage. Sweating in excitement, he smiled. After all, he knew what it meant to meditate earlier than others. Greater strength, higher potential...even if it was just an elementary set of meditation technique, which he would get eventually, it held tremendous value to him since he had nothing else to do as of now.

Returning to the carriage, George began practicing the meditation technique.

[Do you wish to optimize the elementary set of Abyssal Bone Forest Meditation Technique?]

[Yes / No]

George smiled upon seeing this opportunity and clicked on [Yes].

After all, he had already done it for his family breathing technique, and it had improved its efficiency by 13.8%. Same went for his family's swordsmanship. Although it wasn't a lot, over hundreds of cycles, he would reap great benefits out of it.

[Estimated time of research: 28 hours, 48 minutes]

'I can wait for a day...', George thought