Master?!

Leveling up to a tier 4 mage, Link officially became at the level of a low class professor in the academy.

Anyone of his rank would receive an invite to work under a noble family or become a vital member of a guild or a faction. Although the idea was tempting, Link had higher goals. His rank mattered little to him as he went back to his same old routine. crafting potions and scrolls while conquering dungeons.

Since Link's return to the house, Samuel have not stopped looking at him, noticing the increase in his aura.

"Did he rank up again?" Samuel thought to himself, finding Link's new presence too dominating. He took a deep breath and started walking away, heading towards his usual training site. "I came to tell him I was catching up and broke through to level 3, but I see he's still improving faster than me"

Samuel's talent was not something to scoff at, as anyone his age with the practically non existent resources would have never reached where Samuel was right now, but his issue was that he kept looking only at Link and feeling worse even though he shouldn't.

"why are you sad? weren't you happy just now? did your friend say something?" a man with a short well trimmed beard said. He looked young but the way he spoke made him sound like an old man. He wore a giant black bracelet on his arm with an average looking robe.

"No master, I didn't speak with him" Samuel said, looking at the man before him with respect.

On the first week their group settled and each person started getting busy doing their own thing. Samuel noticed a man watching him practice.

Their first conversation was short, as it ended with a fight and in Samuel's complete loss. The man was a mage, and a powerful one at that. He claimed that he was passing by and sensed Samuel's mana, complementing him on his control and level at his age. This complement though had no effect on Samuel, but in the next second his expression changed when the man offered to be his master.

Having a stranger as a master wasn't something Samuel would do, so he ended up ignoring the man.

Tomorrow, in the middle of his training. The man appeared out of nowhere, giving Samuel tips and directing him in his casting.

This kept occurring for a while and Samuel started to slowly ask questions and wait for the man to appear whenever he went to train. That happened until he slowly gave in and had to admit the man's talent in teaching.

Although their training sessions were not long, Samuel learned something new each and every time which convinced him of the man's scary talent. The man's name was Kali. He was a mage working under the kingdom, and one with great influence and respect in the mages circle.

"Then why do you look like someone spat in your food, son?" Kali asked, patting Samuel's head.

"He leveled up too" Samuel explained.

"A level 4 mage at his age?" Kali continued with an impressed expression "your friend is a monster, isn't he"

Wanting Samuel to cheer up, he started training him again, and this time he went harder on him. Which Samuel was forced to slowly forget what happened and turn his full attention to what he was doing.

***

Link noticed Samuel's gaze when he returned, but chose to pretend that he didn't. He also didn't fail to detect his new aura and deliberately allowed him to detect his.

Link was not trying to be mean, but it was a way considering Samuel's personality to encourage him. 'I'm improving too' was what Link was trying to say. Unbeknownst to him though is that he caught the eye of Samuel's new master, which Link completely failed to detect his presence.

With the merchants that wished him harm gone and the assassin's guild off of his back. Link managed to make himself quite the profits and a small amount of fame amongst the mages. People noticed that his speed of crafting was abnormal and impressed some of them while made others curious as to who he was.

Days passed without an incident. That was until a message appeared that made Link cuss out loud.

<No Dungeons Detected>

"God dammit!" To progress and hunt, Link was reliant on the dungeons that filled the kingdom. Although he didn't know why, he also didn't care as it benefited him.

"What am I gonna do now?" He said, looking out the window. "I can't go out to hunt as the closest monster we found the other day was but a mere large rat"

<Why not focus on practicing your martial arts for now until we find an alternative>

"Yeah, that's what i was thinking too"

***

Link sat in the magic shop's couch, reading a book when a door opened. This time it was not the usual black door he saw open the other day but a dark green one.

"Welcome dear customer" Olly greeted as a blond woman with long sharp ears with a long green robe walked in. She looked like a beauty as her looks gave life to all who were lucky enough to look at her. Her curves vaguely protruded from the robe, as it was cut from both sides reaching her waist. Underneath it she wore black leather pants with long boots.

The elf walked in and looked around the room, noticing Link staring at her from the couch, which made him quickly turn away.

"Here" She spoke, handing a peace of paper to Olly. "Get me everything on there"

"Understood" Olly grabbed the paper with its claws gently and flew away.

The elf looked over at Link again before walking over and sitting down a few meters away from him on a chair.

"I can't even detect her aura, she has be a lot stronger than me" Link thought. One one is above the other's level, it is easy to hide ones own aura, preventing lower levels from figuring out his or her rank. This appeared to be what the elf woman was doing.

"Which faction do you belong to?" She asked, looking at Link.

This sudden question put Link on guard even more and readied Recollection just i case. "I don't belong to a faction. I am still a first year at the Military Academy" Link answered.

Hearing what he said, the woman was surprised for a bit, but then her expression changed into one of annoyance and spoke. "You do not need to lie to me, I have no intention of attacking you even if you were from an enemy faction, since it was agreed upon that this place is a neutral area. I was just curious and impressed considering your age and level"

Link calmed down a little after hearing what she said and spoke "I'm not lying. I'm only 15 years old" He said, bringing out his Uniform and showing her the one eye emblem on its chest. It was enough proof for her since the Academy's uniforms deactivate and lose their magic if they are not held by the owner. The woman nodded, seeing the one eye. The one eye meant that he still did not start his second year yet, marking him as a first year still.

"He's a level 4 first year? What the hell is the academy teaching kids these days" she muttered to herself before looking at Link with the most heart flattering smile and said "Then would you be interested in joining our faction?" she asked.

"No offense" Link said "But I want to finish with my academy first before deciding on something like that. Plus I'm still lacking in my knowledge about the mages world so I can't just join a random faction without properly comparing it to others" Link tried his best to make his rejection sound as nice as he could, he even smiled at her as well, which had an odd reaction from the elf as her eyes shook but she managed to hide whatever she felt.

"I understand" She said then proceeded to ignore Link. He noticed that she would sometimes look at him but look away when he looks at her. It was a bit uncomfortable for Link.

After a while, Olly returned with a ring clutched between his claws.

"Here you go, everything should be in there" He said.

The elf woman opened the dark green door and left, but not before looking at Link for the last time.

"What the hell is her problem?" He muttered to himself before going back to his book.

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Don't stop the comments and votes, it helps. <3

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Currently :

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-- Beast Souls :

<Blue Wolf's Beast Soul> <Pet> <Intermediate Level 6> <26 000 / 32 000> <Skills: …> -- New --

...

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<User: Link>

<Race: Divinity>

<Level 1> <4th Tier>

<200 000 / 2 000 000 Exp> -- New --

<HP: 150 / 150> (-- Without the Armor --)

<MP: 6 800 700 / 6 800 700> -- New --

<Strength: 15>

<Agility: 25>

<Stamina: 20>

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-- Martial Arts :

<Viper Sutra> <0 / 200> <2>

<The Story of Genes> <Max> <Apex Predator>

<God of War's Fists> <900 / 2 000> <2> -- New --

<Heavenly Steps> <1 586 / 1 600> <4> -- New --

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