Chapter 5: The Arrival of Adrian

Hill decided to sweep the entire valley clean tomorrow, driving out any threatening magical beasts, and then block the valley entrance with a stone wall, sealing off the entire valley.

List appeared at the door of the tower and said to him, "Master, the lift is ready. The kitchen and the warehouse on the first floor are also ready. Please put the materials and the element stones in. Also, please place the Alchemy Room on the fifth floor. I need to use it to make some tools."

Hill walked in, and Boen was organizing the warehouse: "Baron, I have already set up the kitchen. Mother has taken people to start cooking."

Hill hesitated and asked, "Should I just throw them out?"

Boen gave him an amused look: "I will discuss with List how to arrange it. The Tower Spirit will clean up without making me waste any effort."

Hill touched his nose, threw out all the things, and then went to the fifth floor. List had made the lift into two elevators. Hill happily pressed the button for the fifth floor. Although he knew that List controlled everything, he was still very happy.

Stepping out of the lift, List was already there with several alchemy golems. The entire floor was divided into two parts, one part was several alchemy laboratories, and the other part was an alchemy workshop. Hill handed over all the alchemical tools and materials left by his mother to List for handling.

In fact, science and theology are the same in the end, being hassle-free is the pursuit of those in high positions. Assembly line factories with alchemy golems as workers were very common in the world of high mages.

Mages and magicians were both lonely professions. Besides low-level mages who wanted to save money by hiring cheap mage apprentices, real archmages would only take a few high-aptitude apprentices. In the mage world, the simplest things are always those that can be solved with money. After all, people with brains and abilities will never be destitute. But before becoming an archmage, making money through apprentices was also normal. Although being a mage is a lucrative profession, becoming stronger also requires burning money.

Hill always thought that his fate was still very good. Having few family ties was not considered a pain for a transmigrator. In this slave-based fantasy medieval world, being able to live so happily was enough to make him content.

Hill turned to the top floor to admire the view. This floor was designed according to his intentions, with three ten-meter-long floor-to-ceiling windows evenly spaced out. List had already installed transparent crystal windows, double sliding windows with large bay windows. Hill stood in front of the window and gazed at the outside scenery, gradually calming his mind.

From now on, this was his home.

Autumn passed and spring came. Hill's Magic Tower was complete.

Hill's domain also took shape. The earth elementals repaired the outer sides of the three mountains into smooth cliffs, and three city gates were crafted at the valley entrance. There were over twenty water elementals in the river, moving back and forth daily along the flow. Although most wood elementals tended to stay in the Elf Forest, a few that used to frequently respond to Hill's summons stayed behind. They transformed the few ancient giant trees in the valley into treants.

A large botanical garden was built around the Magic Tower, housing the treants and wood elementals. With the help of treants and alchemy golems, Locke organized a couple of farms outside the botanical garden with the help of a few male servants. Hundreds of acres of wheat seedlings sprouted green shoots. Boen led people to catch some wild chickens and ducks and tamed a herd of cattle and sheep. Six male servants lived in the two farms, selected specifically by Lina. They were honest, hardworking, obedient, and unintelligent. Having one mage master was enough to daunt them. Hill provided their lodgings, which were tall stone houses, and allowed them to marry maidservants.

For them, it was like living a dream, working hard every day, fearing being sold off by their master. Of the six maidservants, two particularly inept ones were sent to the farm to cook and clean. The remaining two worked as cooks, and the other two cleaned and washed clothes.

Hill handed over most matters to List. Boen, having average aptitude and needing hard work to become a mage, spent his days copying magic books.

Boen's younger siblings were different from him; they lacked the aptitude to become mages. Hill had knight training methods, which he passed on to Lina. Their futures were in their own hands. If they couldn't become professionals, they would have to follow in their parents' footsteps as butler and head maid.

During this period, Hill immersed himself in spell practice and seldom left the Magic Tower. With spring arriving and a new year starting, Hill figured that the Fran Family should have already discovered his whereabouts. He planned to fly directly to Border City to see if anyone had come and to check what had been happening with Saral lately.

500 kilometers could be covered in four hours using a flying spell. Hill found flying truly wonderful and fast. Unfortunately, since it was too exhausting, it could only be used by himself. The world's space was stable, making portals and teleportation arrays impossible. Alchemy arrays could at most deliver messages, and only point-to-point. Communication still had to rely on people.

Hill didn't know how vast this world was; he didn't even know if it was round or flat. The starry sky was beautiful, but the brightest stars were reflections of the divine realms. The presence of the various elements in the air made it impossible for telegraphs or televisions to exist. Everything had to be solved through magic and divine power. Ordinary people might never know the outside world in their lifetime; their fate was entirely in the hands of the lord and deities.

So Hill wanted to live in seclusion. No normal modern person could live peacefully in a medieval society. In a fantasy society, ordinary people without power were genuinely lambs. Without crossing his moral bottom line or joining the temple, he had to keep contact with people to a minimum.

Indeed, Fran sent someone to wait for him. As soon as Hill landed, Adrian, Fran's disciple, called out to him. Hill was happy to see him: "Uncle Adrian, long time no see!"

Adrian was Fran's fifth disciple and used to help Melanie and Fran deliver items. When Melanie passed away, Fran brought Adrian to handle the aftermath. Fran's other disciples had already graduated. Keeping Adrian by his side meant that Fran wouldn't accept any more disciples; Adrian was to be his successor.

Adrian was very grateful to his teacher and treated both Melanie and Hill very well. He was a person of sharp means and a steady personality, and he had a good relationship with Hill. Adrian also came from a noble family as a second son. Every visit to Hill included lessons and the latest knowledge books from the capital city.

Seeing Melanie consumed by alchemy, he had advised her to care for her child. Unfortunately, it was in vain. If Melanie were an obedient person, Fran wouldn't have lost his heir, leaving the position to Adrian.

Melanie didn't like Adrian very much. After being seduced by the Earl and giving up following in her father's footsteps, Fran accepted Adrian as his last disciple.

She knew her loss was because of her own gullibility. Fran dismissing the other disciples and taking in Adrian actually represented her foolishness. But she still couldn't stand Adrian.

Even so, Adrian responsibly taught Hill, never bringing him anything distracting, making him a good person overall.

"Long time no see, Little Hill!" Adrian said with a smile: "Take me to see your Magic Tower!"

Hill was stunned for a moment, realizing this was something that could only be discussed in the Magic Tower: "Of course, Uncle Adrian. It's not very far."

"Let's hurry then! It's getting late!" Adrian grabbed Hill and took off.

Hill was extremely surprised and could only restrain his curiosity to guide him.

Adrian was now an archmage, much faster than Hill. In two hours, they reached Hill's domain. Flying at high altitude, he looked at the triangular valley and was very satisfied. If magic arrays were carved on the sheer cliffs, it might even be more reliable than the Border Wall.

Landing in the woodland garden next to the Magic Tower, seeing wood elementals dancing around several wandering treants, Adrian was even more pleased: "Teacher's Magic Tower doesn't even have wood elemental spirits! Now you won't have to worry about your domain being targeted by beast waves!"

Hill had a headache looking at Adrian and quickly pulled him into the tower to the top floor. Boen had already prepared dinner there.

Adrian looked at Hill and said: "It seems like I'm not the only one with a lot to say!"

Hill spoke slowly: "Let's have a good meal first! There's a lot to discuss, but it's not urgent."

"Alright, Little Hill, you can take your time organizing your thoughts."

After dinner, the two went to Hill's small study. Boen poured tea for both of them. Adrian, sensing a long conversation ahead, sat comfortably on the sofa with a smile.

"Uncle Adrian, I'm a magician!"

"What?" Adrian nearly jumped.

"Yes, a bear-type bloodline in the Earth-Wood-Water system, inclined towards summoning and support!"

Adrian was nearly speechless. After a moment of silence, he said: "There has always been a rumor that Earth Bears are fond of druids. The Fran Family always was of human blood, with no magicians before. But your grandmother's family seems to have elven blood."

Fran came from a minor noble family, yet his capabilities were outstanding. He became an archmage at a young age. To avoid trouble, he traveled a lot and ended up with Melanie after a romantic encounter with a certain lady. The lady left the child with him and disappeared.

Fran had no choice but to return to Saral and become a court mage. Many believed he would become a magister, perhaps even legendary. A court archmage must train some noble mages for the royal family, and Fran took in several arranged disciples.

Although these disciples occasionally had conflicts, Fran didn't mind. After all, archmages could live for 300 years, magisters could live up to 800 years. These disciples were just temporary, so he could wait for a satisfactory disciple. But Melanie grew up, with good aptitude and beauty, becoming the focus of the disciples' conflicts.

The conflict involved many court nobles, ultimately benefiting Count Pelast, who intervened. Fran realized his negligence turned Melanie into a fool who only sought love, so he expelled all those disciples. After taking in Adrian, he stopped accepting any disciples.

Hill quickly shut down his imaginative thoughts: "Forget it, let's leave it at that! Things for the future will be dealt with in the future!"

Adrian didn't want to speak anymore either. Boen quickly left the room.