[Dark Tower, Nocturne's laboratory]
Mercifura Academy was a complex hub of magic. There were eight magus towers, each one possessing its own design and perks. Each tower represented a school of magic. The most magnificent building, at the center of the academy, was called the [Twin DragonTower], representing the duality of the fire and nature element taught in the academy. It was said that bones of dragons had been used to build the towers.
Meditation in the twin towers could boost your growth rate by 20 to 30%, depending on your affinity with the elements. Such was a perk of such a tower.
Nocturne, however, was an outcast. Although Ourin had only heard rumours, he was one of those dark magus who grew very fast and made a few enemies. Most magi would choose to establish their laboratory in one of the Twin Dragon Towers' floor, but Nocturne's application had been refused, and worse still, he had been allocated a rather gruesome duty, overseeing the prisoners and failed experiments that had been sealed in the underground prison, under the Dark Tower.
After making his presence known to his master Nocturne, Ourin had been ordered to write an extensive report about everything he experienced and any observation that had some value to it. For three days straight, Ourin began writing on copper goat paper sheets an extensive report, which was closer to a book than a report actually. Besides the various combat he went through, he also put down details on his various experimentations on murloc corpses and his various findings.
For example, there was a hidden gland in the murlocs that could be ingested to develop slight acidic resistance. Though it was not permanent, it allowed to alleviate injuries and could probably become the core ingredient of an acidic resistance potion. Besides those findings, he also drew various plants and animals that were thought to be extinct, yet still existed in the mist. Last but not least, information on this plague that even magi could not predict or find was precious information.
Ourin had never considered not sharing those findings to his master for two reasons. His master had never once broken his oath of equivalent exchange, and thus the more he gave to him, the more rewards he could expect from this report.
Second of all, this extraordinary expedition was actually an incredible opportunity to raise his worth in the eyes of the apathetic Magus Nocturne. Although he displayed no emotion whatsoever, the eerie black-haired magus valued his disciples quite highly, wishing for them to become stronger subordinates.
Having finished the report in seclusion in his room, Ourin planned on going straight to the laboratory, but a muscular figure stopped him. It was none other than Kaliweir, the grade 3 talent acolyte who joined at the same time as he did. It was not a surprise to see him mature greatly, his childish face incomparable to the muscular jawline he had on his face.
[Scan Complete! Kaliweir | Strength: 2.2 → 2.8, Agility: 2.0 → 1.8, Vitality: 2.6 → 3.8, Spirit: 3.9 → 5.9, Status: Healthy]
[Scan Complete! Ourin | Strength: 4.9, Agility: 3.4, Vitality: 6.2, Spiritual force: 5.6, Status: Healthy]
Seeing the evolution of the young body refinement acolyte's stats, Ourin felt a strange sense of achievement. Similarly to how Kaliweir picked on him, Lewis felt a strange sense of superiority seeing that his stats and even cultivation exceeded the man in front of him, despite the talent grade difference. Discipline, experiences and life and death battles definitely played a role, and Ourin knew that the difference would be even greater in battle, as he had accumulated thousands of battles in the mist, whereas Kaliweir probably spent most of his time studying.
It was not like Ourin fell behind in his studies either, as Baerys basically transmitted everything she knew in magic, from the most basic theories to some advanced knowledge she had gotten from her master Aerys, all in an attempt to increase their odds of survival even so slightly.
"You returned, huh...", Kaliweir grunted, "Well, that is not bad. I hope you have gathered some murloc essence at last, right? In the past year, Julia has attempted hundreds of brewage, yet never once succeeded. Let's share the successful concoctions, shall we?"
Ourin could not believe his ears. Kaliweir had probably heard the news of his return, and knew that he had gathered murloc essences, which was the main reason why he had started taking those exploration missions in the first place.
However, it was never in his interest to give them to Julia, much less hand them over for free and share the rewards with Kaliweir.
"Mmh, I do not think you are in a position where you can pressure me, Kaliweir", Ourin said as he shook Kaliweir's hands. Exerting a bit of pressure, the difference in strength became much more apparent, and Kaliweir's face contorted in pain.
"What were you saying about haring the gains?", Ourin asked, "I will forget this conversation ever happened. Consider this your last warning, as we share the same master"
Kaliweir shook his head, a drop of sweat flowing down his face.
As Ourin turned his back to Kaliweir, the latter started to mutter: "What the hell did happen in the wild..."