Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Two solhours later, when Viena led Laurent back to the mage tower, Reed stopped the lecture.
The apprentices’ notebooks had been filled by almost half, and the newbies wished they could record every word Reed spoke down.
“All right, that’s all for today. From now on, I’ll try to spare half a day to teach you all every week. Remember, practice more, especially meditation, which is the foundation of mages. Only through hard work will you be rewarded. Don’t dream about being a great mage in just a few steps. Write down those questions that you don’t understand, and ask me next time.”
The group of apprentice mages almost fainted by this sudden surprise. They would have half a day worth of lecture a week?
Master Reed was just too kind.
We all know that Master Reed had been testing us for the past three years. Long live Master Reed.
Reed looked at the group of apprentices, who were barely seventeen or eighteen, and shook his head slightly.
Ever since the establishment of the Vermillion Tower, a total of 25 apprentice mages had enrolled in the tower. Three had died due to magic backlash, and there were 22 apprentices left in the Vermillion Tower.
Among them with the best aptitude was Viena, who had always been serving him, Karl, who was from a minor aristocratic family, and Cain, a common folk.
But by his estimation, it would take at least a year for these three to be a full-fledged mage.
It had to be said that it was reasonable for the website of Glory to set the difficulty of mages at level ten, and it was extremely difficult for the indigenous people to learn magic.
If he wanted to gain something out of his apprentices in a short period of time, he had to continue to invest in them.
“It seems like it’s time to recruit more apprentices.”
The apprentice mages in a mage tower were the personal property of the tower master, and some ruthless mages would even experiment on their apprentices.
So, after this group of apprentices had entered the doors of the Vermillion Tower, they were all Reed’s property.
The later stages of his plan would require a lot of talents, and these apprentice mages were undoubtedly a very good investment.
Recruiting apprentice mages in Grimm was very simple. The moment you let the news out, the number of people that would rush over could tear the tower door down.
The knowledge in this world was monopolized by the nobility, while magic was monopolized by the mages, and ordinary civilians had no chance of making contact with these two things.
So, when an opportunity like an apprentice mage recruitment was to appear, they would have a chance of stepping into the class of nobility and mages.
No civilian could resist such a temptation.
As to selling themselves to the mage tower, it was nothing as knowledge and magic were worth much more than life itself.
“Master Reed. I’ve brought back the contract, and according to your wishes, I had filled up the contents of the contract, now I only need you to infuse a little bit of your spiritual power to complete the contract.”
Viena was wearing a long blue mage robe, and she stood quietly before Reed.
Her waist-length golden hair was slightly curled, and her delicate face and watery blue eyes made the group of apprentice mages swallowed their saliva subconsciously.
Goddess of Magic above, Miss Viena got more beautiful again.
Reed nodded and reached for the contract.
It was an old sheepskin roll, with the common script written on it. Reed used his spiritual power to sweep past it to understand the contents within the sheepskin roll. There was no problem.
After leaving a wisp of spiritual power in it, the sheepskin roll let out a faint milky white glow.
Immediately after the light disappeared, and he looked at the sheepskin roll again, the common script had been integrated into the contract, and cannot be removed by water or scraping.
If one were to violate the contract, then taking it to the Temple of Covenants, the priests of the God of Justice would use divine arts to determine the truth of the matter.
And should a party did indeed violate the contract, then they would suffer retribution from the God of Covenants. As to what the retribution was, Reed was not clear himself, in any case, it would be devastating.
He then handed the sheepskin roll to Viena.
“Put it into my study. Laurent, now you are a member of the Vermillion Tower. I officially appoint you as the guild master of the Goldwheat Guild, and continue to help me manage the guild.”
As he said that, and not even waiting for Laurent to bow to him, Reed let out a cool finger snap.
The Mage’s Hand appeared out of thin air.
After familiarized himself in these few days, he had gotten to the bottom of the First and Second Circle of Magic, and he could cast a simple spell like Mage’s Hand instantaneously now.
This greatly satisfied Reed’s curiosity about magic but had also raised his interest level as well. This time around, another goal of his return was to study magic seriously.
After entering the hall, Reed casually opened the oaken chest he had casually tossed by the side with the Mage’s Hand.
“Wow!”
“So many gold Pykes!”
“This…”
Everyone exclaimed when the chest full of gold Pykes let out a resplendent golden glow.
The allure of a gold Pyke was irresistible.
Even Laurent, who was used to seeing money held his breath. He had used such an oaken chest before, and there were at least 2,000 gold Pykes inside it.
Two thousand gold Pykes… His entire life savings only amounted to about 1,000 and had all taken by those damned orcs.
This amount of wealth was enough to allow ordinary people to live a luxurious aristocratic life and spend a lifetime of unbridled free-spending.
“Master Reed, this is?”
Reed looked very satisfied as he saw Laurent’s shocked expression.
He was surprised just by this? Reed had a mischievous thought in his mind. He had 9 other oaken chests of this sort, plus a collection of gemstones and antiques more valuable than gold Pykes.
If this guy were to know about it, I wonder what his expression would be?
“Yes, this is the start-up fund for the guild. Now, the first thing I want you to do.”
Laurent’s heart was burning at this point, with this amount of money, he could make Goldwheat Guild even bigger.
Perhaps in the distant future, he could compete with the lord mayor’s own Chamber of Commerce. Goddess above, please forgive my hubris.
As he thought of this, he was immediately pumped up.
“Master Reed. Please command me, and I shall see it done with my life.”
“No need for that, keep your life. I’m not like those stingy noblemen. I need you to turn all of these 2,000 gold Pykes into food within a month, no, half a month’s time.”
Turn them all to food?
Laurent looked at the chest full of gold Pykes before him and somewhat did not understand what Reed was thinking.
While the Orc Empire had invaded the borderlands, the southern region was still the region with the most food production.
Even if the price of grain were to rise, the nobility had long gotten the news and raised the price, and trying to break into the market now is a little too late.
“Master Reed, if you want to purchase grain and wait until the coming of winter to earn a profit, I have to remind you that the nobility had already controlled the price of grain in Grimm, and we probably won’t make any money this time around.”
While he did not want to directly go against Reed, Laurent, as a senior merchant did not want his backer to do such an unprofitable thing.
Plus, the risks were not small, and food was too important for Grimm, which was at war and was about the enter the winter months.
Reed nodded, and for the merchant to be able to have his point of view even under the orders of a high mage like him, that meant this merchant’s business acumen was still clear.
Mages standing at the top of the hierarchal pyramid was not a joke, and many merchants and civilians had died with a wave of a hand because they had angered a mage. A bloody lesson that few would dare not learn.
This world was not like the modern world where the upper classes held absolute power, and killing someone was nothing at all.
“Very good, a merchant should stick to his point of view in something he is good at. But I have no intention of making money with food. I have other plans for them. You only need to purchase the food stocks within the shortest possible time and at the most suitable price within half a month. You don’t have to worry about the rest.”
Hearing Reed’s explanation had Laurent relieved someone. He already had the mental preparation of being reprimanded, but he did not expect his patron to be far more tolerant than he had thought.
“As you wish Master Reed. 2,000 gold Pykes. No, after deducting the 200 gold Pykes for Grimm’s Chamber of Commerce, the remaining 1,800 gold Pykes will be exchanged for food stocks for you in the shortest time possible.”