Meeting

Chapter 10 - Meeting

After going through the strange rite of initiation set up by the old Witch, it was time to eat. Usually, Arthur would meet with William to discuss some magical theory, or fanticize about items auctioned in the tower.

William was not exactly weak. Actually, he was pretty decent combat-wise, with his flame arrow spell being very destructive. However, he never shared Arthur's passion about fighting and growing stronger. William came in the tower with the hope of becoming an alchemist. He came from a family of merchant, and as long as he could learn how to brew a simple potion such as the hemostasis potion, he could make a fortune considering his eloquence and merchant skills.

However, it seemed like he lacked talent in the area, and thus, he could only rely on Arthur to make a living out of patrolling missions.

Patrolling missions were actually a source of envy. Because there were too few easy missions, they were sought by everyone. Administrative jobs, cleaning duties...These tasks were not considered actual missions and thus did not give any knowledge points to those who completed them.

Patrolling missions were different. Although they were slightly more dangerous, they offered plenty of opportunity to grow stronger. And the rewards were pretty bountiful as well. Plus, after more than two years of patrolling, both Arthur and William had grown used to the patterns of monsters. They knew the dangerous areas, and how to deal with minor threats without getting injured. As a result, their reports also happened to be more complete and more useful to the tower.

At first, Dorian had offered Arthur the job out of pity. After all, at the time, Arthur could not be considered a real acolyte. He knew no spell, and his only skill was basic swordsmanship. At the time, he still had not mastered his knight killing technique. It had taken Arthur a lot of training to get there.

However, things gradually changed as Arthur grew stronger. His growth was nothing short of extraordinary, but few knew the extent to which Arthur grew. After all, his only achievements were the killing of swamp wolves. And it only happened occasionally.

Today, Arthur had no plan to meet with William. Instead, he planned to meet with Dorian, who had sent him an invitation letter to a party. Naturally, Dorian only invited nobles. Thus, William would not attend due to his commoner status.

'Having been born as a noble can be considered a blessing, I suppose...'

An invitation of the sort could not be refused either, since the lord of Narth Island, Count Silverguard, hosted it in his castle. Narth Island was a barren piece of land due to the numerous monsters living on it. If left unsupervised, the monsters were likely to grow into a problem for the kingdom. Hence, they decided to exile a family of knights in this place: the Silverguard Household.

Though they were exiled out of punishment, they redeemed themselves by strengthening themselves and keeping the monsters of Narth Island confined in their land. Over the past few decades, their reputation grew significantly and they even received the title of Count, in top of being called the 'Guardian of Narth Island'.

This prestige was solely acquired by the current Count Frederick Silverguard, a Grand Knight.

Knights could be considered equal to acolytes. Just like acolytes, they were divided in four ranks, from beginner to peak knights. Grand Knights were the equivalent of magi. Of course, that was only in theory. A magus could destroy a castle with a handful of spells, whereas a Grand Knight would still die if he had to fight a proper army single-handedly. Still, there were records of Grand Knights besting some magi in the History, making them widely respected.

An invitation from such a strong individual truly was a honour, and Arthur did not wish to waste it. Having changed into his noble attire, wearing his family's coat of arms, Arthur reached Dorian's carriage. Somehow, he was the last to arrive.

Inside, he was greeted by smiles.

"You finally arrived, dear friend!", Elizabeth Falister spoke in a seducing tone.

[Elizabeth Falister - Level 3 Acolyte]

[John Bellford - Level 2 Acolyte]

[Dorian Sylvester - Level 9 Acolyte]

All three of them were nobles. John Bellford grunted as usual.

Though he was a noble, he never was talkative. However, Arthur was very close to John due to their origins. The two of them were from knight Households. They grew up with a sword in the hand, and the both of them walked the path of body refinement.

Actually, Dorian had been the one to guide both Arthur and John in this path. Though it was pretty painful, the results were there. John had less talent than Arthur in terms of magic, however, since he still was level 2. His body, however, was terrifyingly huge, to the point that Arthur suspected that the beast possessed even more strength than him.

However, until he fought the guy, he could not appraise his attributes. That was one downside of his magical ring. There were requirements in order to appraise people.

As for Elizabeth, Arthur was pretty sure she sought a romantic relationship. The weird part was that she was nearly twenty-two, whereas he was only 14. Her red dress, jewelry and perfume were proof of her interests in him. Perhaps the most obvious part being her yearning eyes. Still, he faked being oblivious to it and entered the carriage, returning the greetings.

"Thank you for such a warm welcome, Elizabeth! Greetings to you too, John, and thank you for the invitation, Dorian!"

John grunted back, while Dorian opened his eyes, revealing a piercing gaze: "You are late"

Arthur took out a pendant: "It says that I am pretty early, though?"

Dorian smiled: "It's not like you to arrive right before the time we are supposed to depart. Did you run into some trouble? I heard from your friend Willam that you were screaming in pain for the past few days after drinking an elixir"

Arthur made a grimace: "You have no idea...I bought a cheap elixir in hope of raising my vitality, only to turn sick for three days straight! Still, it turned out to be quite effective since I can train for a longer time now during my training"

Dorian nodded: "Elixirs are pretty rare. You were lucky to find one"

John's eyes revealed traces of envy.

To body refinement acolytes, elixirs meant a near-instant increase in their fighting prowess. That's why there was a saying that the most important key to become a strong acolyte was wealth, rather than talent.