It was tradition to drink until you pass out upon joining the crimson clan.
Because there were many body refinement acolytes in the crimson clan, the alcohol was particularly strong and of good quality, as it needed to match their constitution. Furthermore, Janna possessed ties with the subterranean creatures called dwarves, who brewed their own drinks. The dragon beer was especially strong and tasteful, and it also increased one's vitality if consumed on a regular basis, making it very popular in the crimson clan.
Although it was a popular drink, it was also quite expensive, and you would usually have to pay one magic crystals for a pint of the dragon beer. Lewis knew that his arrival drink was offered, so he did not hesitate to take as many as he could, and passed out after drinking eight such beers, surprising everyone.
The very next day, Lewis woke up in a state of extreme pain, the diziness not having completely left his body yet despite his strong spirit and above-average vitality.
'I had forgotten this feeling...', Lewis thought
"Did you sober up?", Helena asked him after realizing that her patient had woken up.
Helena Snow, the currently unknown genius necromancer was being groomed by Janna. Still, there was no such thing as free protection in the magical court, a place where you closest friends could stab you in the back. Hence, Helena had to work as the Crimson Clan's healer and cure dispeller. She could also cast curses at others, but her kind nature made her reluctant to do so.
"Yes, thank you for taking care of me", Lewis said, putting his shirt and armour back on
Helena nodded and smiled: "You are indeed a noble...Most people would have blushed upon seeing me"
Lewis smiled back. Indeed, Helena was a young woman with ample curves and an alluring gaze. Still, she possessed grace that was unique to noble ladies. If he did not know any better, Lewis would definitely fall for her. However, he also happened to know her origins. She was actually the runaway princess of the Pirus Kingdom, which would eventually become the Crimson Clan's territory after she would inherit it. If she had not been assassinated, she would have become the first ruling Queen of a very long dynasty that would eventually threaten the Dalian's Empire dominance in the continent.
The cunning necromancer started to ask him questions about his House, and position in his household. However, Lewis was the second son of a mere Count, who was sent to the Magical Court in order to raise the house's status within the empire. Still, Helena did not encounter many nobles in the Crimon Clan, and Lewis was the closest thing that resembled the kind of people she met on a daily basis when she was younger, before running away to avoid being assassinated.
Eventually, Janna Heartsteel was notified about Lewis' waking up and summoned him.
Janna was just an intermediate acolyte at this point, but she possessed a lot of experience in managing contracts with nobles. Although she lacked ties in the Dalian Empire, there were a lot of requests coming from smaller Kingdoms, desperate requests to be more accurate. The more desperate, the more resources they could get from them. As a body refinement acolyte herself, Janna had created this faction to accumulate a library a knight techniques and a market of body refinement acolyte resources. After all, body refinement acolytes were often looked down upon in the Magical Court for prioritizing their body training over magical studies.
Furthermore, body refinement acolytes would often be easy to defeat in a battle as long as their opponents possessed long-range spells.
Even after taking over the crimson clan in the alternate timeline, the crimson faction remained a body refinement faction at its core, and even the elemental acolytes eventually started to complete knight training sessions, as the benefits were obvious. Higher vitality and higher resilience in combats were crucial in battles, even if it was not their core area of study.
"Lewis, several parties have taken interest into you. However, I assigned you to Jorg's party", Janna said.
Lewis was a bit surprised. He knew that there were many people who were very engaged in his duel against Jack Blast, a beginner rank body refinement acolyte and veteran imperial knight. It was no wonder that some parties wanted to recruit him after he displayed the Dalian imperial swordsmanship honed over nine decades, a swordsmanship that had been created by the founding Emperor of the Dalian Empire, and reserved to nobles. It was not something that anyone could learn, much less display the level of mastery Lewis displayed. Even if the fight was too short to appreciate everything that Lewis was capable of, it was enough to impress many parties who would like to take him on.
A 15-years-old who possessed such excellent swordsmanship, already knew an echanting spell and more importantly, possessed grade 2 talent, was a prospect worthy of taking in, if only for his potential.
That's why Lewis was not surprised about parties trying to recruit him. He was however surprised by the name Janna said.
[Jorg Bullwater]
Rather than a body refinement acolyte, this creature was the descent of a failed experiment of magi of old, an experiment that created hybrid humans, crossed over species that were of both human and beast descent. Called beastmen, they were blessed with immense strength and agility, but were unstable mentally. However, their most dangerous trait was their ability to reproduce, and unknowingly, beastmen were now one of the biggest trouble of kingdoms and empires in the continent. The beastman empire was now the only power that dared to fight against the Dalian Empire which established a long-lasting dominance in the continent, and this stalemate between the two powers was the only reason why the Pirus Kingdom, led by Helena, was given a chance to blossom, even if it was cut short by an assassination.
Jorg Bullwater was a lizardman who walked the path of body refinement. Although he was just a peak beginner rank acolyte, he was extremely strong and his strength attribute was actually on par with Janna, even there was an entire sub-realm seperating them. Jorg was a well-known figure in the crimon clan, and one of the few acolytes who survived the crimson clan's rise in the alternate timeline. It was an individual that Lewis knew very well, a reliable creature that was both dangerous to his allies and enemies alike, driven by a purpose of revenge against Henri Demacia, the leader of the Noble Faction, and the strongest acolyte in the Magical Court, the one who exterminated the Bullwater Lizardman Tribe.
Jorg did not speak the common tongue, or rather, he could not articulate words like human did, though he could understand others. It was a rather difficult situation, which caused him to complete missions alone, despite possessing both the experience and strength of a party leader.
[Name - Jorg Bullwater | Age - 43 years old
Attributes:
Strength - 8.2 | Agility - 3.2 | Vitality - 6.3 | Spirit - 7.8
Spells: Unknown
Artefact: Frozen Enchanted Shield]
Casting the analysis spell on Jorg, Lewis gasped inwardly. These were not average stats by any means, and even wild beasts would not be able to compare to Jorg. That was the essence of beastmen who trained, a species that could be considered superior to humans from a physical perspective.
However, Janna said it would be a party, so it could not be composed of just Lewis and Jorg, meaning the other person would be the girl in the room, that came alongside Janna.
Lewis did not wait long before casting an analysis spell.
"Your other teammate will be Orianna Longlost. She comes from a Magus Household, though it is declining and she was sent to the Magical Court to grow stronger. She possesses the Giant Green Alligator bloodline, and although her arcane knowledge is very much lacking to ay the least, she can cast her innate spell in battle."
He did remember her too. Orianna was one of the many heirs of the famous Longlost Magus family, which produced a Magus-level powerhouse 200 years ago. Unfortunately, the thinning of their bloodline over generations caused their standing in the continent to fall dramatically. Their patriarch still was a magus, though. The resources she had access to, even if she came from a secondary family branch, were beyond impressive. For one, she possessed a magical artefact, a ring called [Tyria Ring], which allowed her to regenerate wounds and arcane power faster. However, it also strengthened her blood essence, basically making her stronger over time. The passive kind of artefacts were actually the most highly-sought, and it told a lot about her backgrounds.
Sent to the Magical Court, Orianna was hoping to increase her standing in the family by growing stronger, as it only respected strength. Many people in the crimon clan, including Janna, considered her to be someone with huge potential, but Orianna eventually died in his past life.
She was not unlucky, she was just weak. Even after ten years in the crimson clan, even after completing hundreds of missions, she never managed to break through the intermediate acolyte realm. Just like he could not break through the Magus Realm as a vampire, Orianna was limited by her bloodline purity, which she was born with.