"Ah! You are a child of the Blake Family. And you've been a student of the Westroad Academy for two years."
"I dropped out of school."
"Dropped out? Westroad Academy is a very prestigious institution, famous for its systematic curriculum."
Usually, only wizards above the age of 30 who could handle themselves would enter towers because of the slightly neglectful manner in which they were treated.
Nik wondered why he had come to the magic tower, but he had no courage to pry further than necessary.
"Hmm…I see. How long do you intend to stay at the tower?"
"I think it will be about half a year."
Half a year.
It was a time that was neither too long nor too short.
"It will cost 1 gold coin for 6 months. Meals are served twice, in the mornings and evenings and facilities like the library or training centre are free except for special places."
"That's very cheap."
It was already pretty normal for it to cost as much as 1 gold coin to stay in an inn for a month.
Didn't that mean that staying at the tower only cost around 20 silver coins a month, including the cost of using the library and training centre?
"That's because this is a place of learning. We are willing to accept anyone as long as they meet the minimum requirement for talent and dedication."
"This is a great place."
"Haha. Thank you. And this…is the pass to enter the magic tower."
Nik handed a ring to Frey.
It was a simple silver ring that had numbers inscribed on the band.
"You don't need to wear it all the time, but it costs 1 silver coin to get another one in the event that it is lost." "I understand."
Frey put the ring on his finger.
"The number engraved on the ring is also the number for the room you will be staying in."
"It has 6-13 inscribed on it."
"That means the 13th room on the 6th floor. You should be able to use it right away. Just put the ring in the groove on the door and it will open. It is the same process to lock it." Frey thanked Nik before immediately heading to his room.
It was a small room, but it had everything that he would need.
A single bed, a desk, a chair and a table to eat on.
Frey felt that they had used this narrow space to the max. Above all, he liked the fact that it had windows.
They were at just the right height so that the view outside was really clear, and it was quite the sight.
Frey unpacked before roughly hanging his robe over the chair. Then he sat on the bed and began to contemplate his future plans.
'The first objective is to completely digest the Frozen River.
To do that, I'll need to make Torkunta's heart into an elixir.' Frey took a glass bottle from his bag.
Inside this bottle was the compressed heart of the Drake King Torkunta, which was shining a bright red similar to magma.
'It would work if I took it just like this but…'
Frey wanted to get the maximum effect.
Torkunta's heart would certainly be of great help to him if he was able to digest it perfectly as well.
'When it comes to fire and water magic, I would have power similar to that of transcendents.'
And that would be a great help to him in his fight against the Demigods.
To make the best elixir he could, he would need the best ingredients, the best recipe and the best manufacturer.
Frey was no stranger to making elixirs.
Rather, he had quite a high level of knowledge, but he still didn't think that it was enough.
"I have to go through the books in the library."
The 3rd Magic Tower's library!
This was the most decisive reason that he had come to this place.
Frey immediately left his room in search of the library.
…
As Shepard had told him, the library in the 3rd Magic tower was exceptionally large.
He had been told that there were millions of books stored in this place.
In addition, they were well sorted by category, so it wasn't hard to find the books that you wanted.
After looking around the library for a bit, Frey returned to his room and thought about how to spend his days.
In the morning, he focused on digesting the power of Frozen River. Meditation was also one of the most important forms of training for wizards.
Frey realised that the magic tower had been built on a mana vein[1].
That wasn't all.
Every single brick in the tower was engraved by a First-class craftsman so that one's concentration would be noticeably increased just by being in the tower.
The assigned rooms were completely soundproof and the curtains were capable of blocking all light which made them ideal places to concentrate.
In the afternoon, he exercised his body.
After eating lunch, it was easy to get tired due to satiety and so it was the most likely time when one would be unable to focus.
So for those like Frey who valued efficiency, the afternoon was the best time to exercise.
His body that had been damaged by his tussling in the Ispania Mountains would be returned to its original state, no, he would make it much better than it was before.
A healthy mind resides in a healthy body.
Frey knew that that widely used phrase was in fact true.
A normal lifestyle, balanced diet and steady exercise.
As long as these three things were combined properly, his physical condition would improve rapidly.
The tower also had a training centre where the magic warriors trained their bodies and practiced martial arts.
He then locked himself in the library during the evenings as it was open 24 hours a day.
Thanks to this, Frey would be able to concentrate on reading until his body cried out for sleep.
Frey realized that he quite liked his life in the magic tower.
His current autonomous behaviour suited his taste much more than his days in the academy where he was suppressed by the schedule.
And like that.
Time passed.
"I, I lost."
"Hmph…"
Liamson snorted and retracted his fist.
The man in front of him, Nikita, lowered his head with a sad expression on his face.
'He's a monster.'
Nikita was a Magic Warrior and he had pride in his skills that weren't too bad.
Although it was not possible for him to enter the 4th Magic Tower which was considered the Holy Land for magic warriors, he still considered himself as one of the top 5 within the 3rd Magic Tower.
Then he heard that Dark Elves were staying in the tower.
Dark Elves had a reputation for being mighty jungle warriors rather than a gentle forest loving species, but Magic Warriors had always had a feeling of superiority towards them.
Then one of the Dark Elves approached him.
"Let's fight."
"…!"
He spoke in a very crude tone.
However his words had awakened the superior feeling within
Nikita.
Therefore, Nikita accepted the challenge.
But he lost.
Horribly.
'I couldn't even touch…'
It couldn't even be considered a fight.
As soon as it began, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. Then, before he was even given a chance to react, his body was sent to the floor.
Nikita didn't even feel any resentment or disgrace from the loss. Because they were on completely different levels.
He looked at him with a respectful gaze, but Liamson was already looking somewhere else as though he was no longer interested in him.
And his eyes seemed to be filled with curiosity.
Naturally, Nikita also turned to look at what he was looking at.
'That guy…'
Wasn't that the nerd who came to the training centre every now and then but hung around the library most of the time?
He remembered him clearly because of his hair which was like a mixture of grey and white.
'Why is he looking at him?'
Even Nikita didn't pay any attention to him.
At first he had observed him because of his strange behavior that he had never seen before but his actions seemed to have no real purpose.
As Liamson approached the man, Nikita recalled his name.
'Was it…Frey?'
"Are you a magic warrior?"
Frey stopped moving and looked at Liamson.
He was wearing a thin coat that was very different from his clothes a month ago. It showcased his body that was filled with muscles.
Even his cheeks didn't seem to be as skinny as they were before.
"No. I'm a wizard."
"A wizard that walks in such a way…"
Liamson, who was pondering for a moment, soon smiled.
"Human."
"It's Frey."
It was a repeat of their conversation a month ago.
Liamson nodded.
"Right, Frey. Fight with me."
"What?"
"No. It's not fight…"
Liamson seemed a bit frustrated because he could not find the right words.
Then he heard a voice from his left.
"Spar."
"Ah. Right. That."
It was the only woman among the elves' party.
She approached with an expressionless face before looking at Frey.
"Call me Camille."
"Frey."
"You can ignore that idiot's request."
Her words made Liamson a bit angry.
"I'm not an idiot. Teacher didn't you see how this man moved? He has to be a warrior."
It was in the Elf language.
Of course, when they spoke to each other they would use the language that they were all more comfortable with.
Besides this woman was his teacher.
There was nothing more difficult than trying to determine the age of an elf. Both Camille and Liamson appeared to be in their 20s.
Camille's eyes turned cold.
"You still haven't fixed your habit of sticking to warriors yet."
"B-, but…"
"You should properly ask the other person's opinion first. There are times when warriors are restrained by their own beliefs."
"…"
Liamson bowed his head at those words.
Then Frey spoke.
"I don't care. If it's just a battle."
The two elves turned to look at him in surprise. They did not think that anyone there would be able to understand their conversation.
Even Camille who had remained expressionless so far, could not hide her surprised expression.
"…you, you know how to speak Elvish?"
Frey nodded.
"A little."