The scent of jasmine perfume wafted to his nose; it must have been the girl's choice.
The orange candlelight in the hallway emitted a warm glow, which, combined with the sunlight streaming through the half-opened study window, illuminated the girl's face.
His fingers lightly brushed against the robe, and a smooth sensation followed the gentle movement.
Real, incredibly real.
This was a reality that no virtual game could achieve.
Lide took a deep breath as he looked at the girl waiting for his response. The feeling of talking to a real person was not something a game could replicate.
Soul.
Yes, in this girl, he felt a soul that only a real person would have.
Not the stiff demeanor of a game NPC, but that of a living, breathing human.
The girl's appearance shattered some of his speculations, but after the shattering, his curiosity only grew fiercer.
"Glory" wasn't that simple; it wasn't just a virtual game.
What secret hid within it?
Why did Huaxia use the form of a game to promote and sell it?
As his thoughts turned, Lide's complexion returned to normal, his eyes no longer betraying much emotion.
He shook his head coldly.
"Veena, bring my lunch to my magic laboratory, I will eat there."
Veena couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by that somewhat cold voice.
She had just seen the gleam in Lide's eyes, feeling a bit delighted inside.
But she didn't expect that, in the blink of an eye, the master of the Crimson Mage Tower, her most admired person, would return to his usual calmness.
She bowed respectfully.
"Yes, Lord Lide."
With a sense of loss, she turned to make arrangements.
Did Lord Lide really not like women?
Thinking of the strange rumors within the mage tower, Veena couldn't help but feel a bit dejected.
Becoming an Advanced Mage was something many dreamed of, let alone, Lord Lide was so handsome.
Thinking of that handsome, fair face, Veena couldn't help but bite her lip.
Lide breathed a slight sigh of relief as he watched Veena's graceful figure leave.
After seeing Veena, he couldn't treat these living people as NPCs.
Being of the Bloodline, a race always hated by humans, the original body always kept a certain distance from these apprentices in the mage tower.
If his true identity as a Bloodline, especially in Green City with a population of millions and an Extraordinary Mage present, were discovered,
even as the Blood Clan Ancestor, he wouldn't escape.
If Veena were in another mage tower, the master might have devoured her long ago.
But to the original body, Veena was just an ordinary Magic Apprentice used as cover.
Naturally, he wouldn't recklessly change the original body's lifestyle; caution avoided large mistakes.
The Crimson Mage Tower, named for the red alchemy materials on its exterior, had seven floors, standing twenty-five ren tall.
Ren was the unit of length in "Glory," one ren equaling one meter.
The first and second floors were where the Mage Apprentices lived, while the third and fourth floors were for the library and the venue where Lide taught the Magic Apprentices.
The fifth floor was his residence.
The sixth and seventh floors were storage for Magic Materials and his magic laboratory.
As the Blood Clan Ancestor, but extremely passionate about magic.
Two hundred years ago, Lide, by chance, devoured a Bloodline treasure and became the Blood Clan Ancestor, establishing this Bloodline.
The foundation was shallow.
Thus, he went to great lengths to lurk in Green City and join the Mage Association to study magic.
After arriving in Green City three years ago, the Mage Association funded the construction of this mage tower.
Understanding this Blood Clan Ancestor's background made Lide shake his head.
The title Blood Clan Ancestor sounded grand, but its foundation didn't even match the second-tier Nobles of Green City.
At least those Nobles didn't need to sneak into enemy lands to learn magic due to lack of resources.
But regardless, the Blood Clan Ancestor's efforts were now his.
Stepping out of the study, he saw walls and floors made of gray alchemy materials, with the faint aura of magic traps on the walls.
The mage tower was the mage's lair, the most dangerous place for outsiders.
From Lide's memory, the magic arrays inscribed in this magic tower numbered no less than five hundred.
Any intruder triggering even one of them would be blasted into an Undead.
Climbing the gray wooden stairs to the seventh floor, the highest point in the mage tower.
Also where Lide frequently conducted his magic experiments.
The seventh floor housed a single large room, with Anti-Magic Oak floors covering the entire surface.
Light streamed through a huge stained glass window on the left.
The surrounding walls were made from alchemy materials, inscribed with dozens of defensive magic arrays, capable of withstanding any magic experiment explosion without damaging the mage tower.
Various Magic Materials were scattered about the room.
The head of a One-eyed Beast, branches of Snow Maple, Magic Crystal Ore from Oria, unground Poison Demon Vine, and countless other items filled the room.
Moving to the colorful, intricately carved window, said to be a work by an elf with great artistic talent, he looked down.
Without admiring the elf's work, he pushed open the vibrant, semi-transparent glass. For the first time, Lide got a direct view of Green City, a city with a population exceeding one million, the largest in southern Nolan Empire.
Vast, with no end in sight.
The twenty-five-ren-tall mage tower was among the tallest structures in Green City. In a world where productivity wasn't high, not even Nobles could own buildings of such height.
All the scenery came into view.
Medieval European-style buildings stood tall, houses along the streets were topped with domes or spires, windows painted with colorful patterns, mostly related to religion and the Divine.
A statue carved on a distant wall commemorated a hero who sacrificed for Green City.
The spire atop a tavern at the crossroads towered high, with drunkards stumbling in and out of the arch-shaped entrance.
Shops on either side of the street sold various goods. Nobles in splendid attire rode Unicorns on the cobblestone streets, with commoners backing away in panic upon seeing them.
Laborers in tattered robes, carrying huge burlap sacks, unloaded goods under the direction of lavishly dressed merchants.
Several beggars in rags looked pleadingly at passersby, their bowls long since stained with black grime.
A group of slave traders, leading a chain of tall, brawny Half-Beasts with sharp Tusks, swaggered down the road, showing no deference even to the mounted Nobles.
A group of mercenaries, fresh from a mission and covered in dark blood, walked past the beggars. One beggar tripped and fell, blocking the mercenaries' path.
With a cold glare, a mercenary swung a sword wider than two hands, severing the beggar's hand, flooding the busy street with the thick scent of blood for a moment.
The beggar screamed and groaned in agony.
The Nobles ignored the scene, the slave traders laughed heartily, and no commoner dared to intervene.
The wailing beggar was overlooked by passersby until a store owner nearby, moved by compassion, provided healing and food.
Lide witnessed these scenes in silence for a long time.
The cultural backdrop here was reminiscent of medieval Europe, yet far more mysterious, with ignorance and wisdom, mystique and divinity coexisting.
Nobles, slaves, Beastmen, Elves, Bloodline.
A fascinating yet cruel world.
Also, a world of magic.
Lide raised his gaze.
Three towering mage towers in the distance came into view.
They belonged to the three most powerful mages of the Green City Mage Association,
each led by a Great Mage of Level 15.