Return to the Ivory Tower

Chapter 4 – Return to the Ivory Tower

One hour and a half passed, and William coughed. Meanwhile, Arthur had been carrying the heavy swamp wolf on his back effortlessly.

"Ahem…Could you carry me, please? I don't think I can go further", William suddenly asked, while bending the knee out of exhaustion. The poor boy hadn't even walked more than three kilometres from the fight, yet he was already collapsing from the poisonous bite of the swamp wolf.

This time, the patrol only consisted in the most common route around the tower, but because William had been injured and they had encountered and even hunted a monster, they were allowed early on. Plus, anything they found or hunted was theirs to keep. A fine swamp wolf like this one, young and fierce, would naturally fetch at least one magic crystal on the market floor. Perhaps even two, if they were lucky.

Because of that, Arthur had been carrying the 110-pounds-heavy beast on his back, disregarding the fact that it was quite tiring. Arthur revealed a complicated gaze. After all, William had been someone with whom he had shared meals and laughter. He could be considered a friend, a rare relationship in the tower.

Back when he arrived in this world, not knowing the language anymore, William had been the one to help him get back on his feet. The boy had even lent him a magic crystal back when he was saving money for the sake of buying the [Freezing Touch] spell model.

Arthur sighed, and put the wolf which was on his back on the ground. He then picked up William, who was not light by any means. Even though the boy was quite skinny, he was tall and carried a lot of trinkets on him at all times.

"Damn it, you're heavier than the wolf!", Arthur grumbled, causing the tension to slightly alleviate

"Haha! It runs in the family…My father is called the Gourmet Baron, you know…", the lad answered, "Could have been heavier"

However, Arthur certainly didn't plan on leaving the wolf here. He picked it up again, on his second shoulder. With nearly two hundred pounds on his shoulders, it was sheer madness to think he would be able to reach the Ivory Tower, which was still six, perhaps seven kilometres away. However, with his 7 points of strength, Arthur had long since surpassed the physical realm attainable by regular humans. To the current him, it was just an intense workout.

"The strength of you lot, body refinement acolytes, never ceases to amaze me", William said with difficulty, clearly feeling the effects of the poison

Arthur nodded.

Body refinement acolytes. They were the apprentices who preferred to refine both their bodies and minds for the sake of higher fighting prowess. Unlike elemental path acolytes who focused on learning long-range spells, body refinement acolytes were unrivalled in melee and learnt specific spells.

As the descendant of a knight, Arthur naturally walked this path since he was genetically predisposed for knight training, not to mention that his ring provided him with one additional physical attribute point every time he levelled up. It was as if he was made for this path.

His sword was reliable, indeed, but unfortunately, not all monsters could be killed with a sword. Iron Skin Boars, for one, possessed metallic skin that could not be easily cut down, at least it was impossible with regular swords like the one Arthur possessed.

*PANT*

*PANT*

Arthur gasped as he arrived in the tower, his dark cloak stained in blood and sweat, his body releasing the stench of hard work. William revealed a gaze filled of gratitude, for Arthur hadn't left him to die in the wild, which was something quite common on the Narth Island.

"You can keep the mission's rewards for yourself…As well as the wolf. Take it as my gratitude for saving me", William said, giving up on a huge deal of money and knowledge point, fully knowing that most would have left him to die in the wild in this situation

Arthur nodded though, having seen through the boy he had associated himself with. Most acolytes were too aloof and antisocial for friendship, truly. Arthur was perhaps not a good, moral man. He turned a blind eye to some horrible bullying in the tower, but he was fair. But he always paid his debts, and never forgot favours. William, too, shared a similar way of life. After all, with a bad reputation, you wouldn't survive long in the tower.

"Name?", the beginner rank Tony Hedge, a youth a year younger than Arthur who licked the boots of Dorian Sylvester who was in charge of administrative tasks and law enforcement, asked with a bit of arrogance.

"Arthur Landragon", he answered with indifference, not offended the least by the smug look of the redhead youth in front of him, "I am reporting for the patrol mission in the Northern Area. We encountered a swamp wolf, as you can see on my back, and returned early"

"Anything else?", Tony asked with a bit of surprise and greed. After all, anyone with a magic creature in hands was bound to earn one or two magic crystals out of it. Many revealed bitter smiles. There were only three patrol missions available a week, and they were always given out to the same people, people who had gotten in the good books of Dorian Sylvester.

Tony Hedge was obviously a bit jealous: 'Tsk…Just because he is a noble from the Dalian Kingdom, he managed to get in the Dorian's good books, who is known to heavily favour aristocrats. It took me two years of praising and acting like a servant to get this administrative job…The world truly is unfair!'

Indeed, Arthur was a highborn just like Dorian, and the latter was an elitist, being the son of some viscount. Naturally, both had hit it off, especially when Arthur made special effort to train his noble etiquette, impressing Dorian.

Arthur merely answered: "I noted the evolution of the maiden ghost population down there, and the sighting of a desolate bear. That's all"

Tony nodded and took out six iron ingots with a rune marked on them: these were knowledge points. In addition to these knowledge points, there was a pouch with 40 gold coins in it.

"Here is your pay: 6 knowledge points, 40 gold coins. Your next patrolling mission will be in six days"

Arthur took it and left without exchanging a goodbye. Tony Hedge was part of the lot with a bad reputation. Though he also belonged to Dorian Sylvester's group of friend, Tony was known to have backstabbed one of his companion in the past. Due to this, no one wanted to associate himself with Tony. Desperate, he accepted Dorian's invitation in his circle.

What others didn't know was that Dorian did not do this out of pity or kindness, but rather because Tony's companion was Dorian's enemy.

Arthur was grinning. This weekly mission had been truly rewarding: first a level, then 6 knowledge points and 40 gold coins!

Feeling exhaustion from the mission, Arthur hesitated to go and just take a nap, but after a while, he decided otherwise. The fresher the wolf, the more valuable it was. If he sold it now, he could probably fetch two magic crystals!