Devotion quickly thumbed through the thick volume that the Duke had handed him. At first glance, it was filled with various designs and blueprints for all sorts of strange contraptions. Devotion would have to study it further later, when he got back.
The "Sparkthrower", as The Duke had called it, was even more strange. Devotion had no idea how it could possibly work. He looked it over for a little bit, before the Duke spoke.
"I have one more gift for you. Take this ring. It's what we call an interspatial ring. You can store things within it, so you don't have to carry a bag everywhere. Just push some of your spiritual sense into it, and there's a small space to store things in."
Devotion did as he was told, placing the Sparkthrower and the volume within it.
"While your tour here today is at an end, please, you are always welcome back. I entreat you to browse that volume, and if you think this alternate style of cultivation suits you, return to me. I won't force you to leave your sect. I just wish to pass my knowledge to you. Hell, even if you want my teachings but would wish to stay in the Summoner's Guild, that is entirely alright. Return here when you have made your decision. I will teach the guards your face, so they will hassle you no more." The Duke explained, just as the moving cart came to a stop at the front gates.
"I bid you farewell for now, Devotion. I look forward to hearing from you soon." With that, Duke Dudley of the Mechanism Sect closed the gates and turned around, returning to his study. It was unclear what he was thinking.
Devotion turned and returned to the Summoner's Guild, closing himself in his room. He was about to open the volume and study it when there was a knock on his door. Most likely Victor.
"Come in!" Devotion yelled, stowing the book. The door swung open and there stood Victor, his blue eyes shining. That usually meant he had an idea.
"What are you thinking about, Victor? I know that stare." Devotion asked. Best to skip right to the chase.
"So, we have to do at least one mission before the end of three months, right, so I say we go and do one now. That way, we'll be able to get the best missions with the best rewards before others take them!" Victor exclaimed, all in one breath.
"Solid idea, but aren't we a little weak to be taking missions right now? We could get ourselves killed if we aren't careful." Devotion was skeptical.
"I thought about that, and went to the mission board ahead of time. I found a mission that doesn't seem too hard, and yields fantastic rewards! It's recommended for three people, so we can recruit one more person and go do it." Victor explained.
"Well, before we get too excited, what is the mission? And what kind of rewards are we looking at?"
"The mission requires us to travel a little bit, over to the small town of Kloldus. Apparently, a professor was researching there, and accidentally left his research materials in a hidden study. All he needs us to do is go through to his hidden study, retrieve his research, and come back. Any extra materials within the study that he didn't explicitly ask for is ours to take. In addition, we will receive one hundred and twenty merit points if we complete it. That's forty for each of us, if we recruit one more person."
Forty merit points was already a very large amount. Merit points could be exchanged for magical items, materials, potions, or other necessary items. For a scale of points, the protection talisman that James Powder had detonated before his death was worth about five merit points. Just using that, one could get a sense for how wealthy forty points would make someone!
Devotion sucked in a cold breath, hearing that amount.
"Such a high reward for such a seemingly simple task. What's the catch?"
Devotion wasn't stupid. There had to be something more difficult than it seemed.
"Well, the professor left some protective measures within his study, and did not have the time to disable them before he left. While there isn't a full list of what protective measures there were in place, we know there's at least a demonic magical beast within. However, it hasn't been fed or maintained in months, so if it is even still alive, it is much weaker than its peak. Shouldn't be too hard." Victor explained.
"Alright, I'm in. How do we recruit another person, though? I don't know anyone else in the guild, besides that one asshole that shoved me. I doubt you want to go on a mission with him, though." Devotion questioned.
"Don't worry, I got that under control. You can come in now, Alexia." Victor said, motioning towards the door. As he said that, a woman walked through the door. She wore the same outer disciple robes as Devotion and Victor, had a head of short brown hair, and a bit of a slouch. She wore glasses that she was constantly pushing back up from the bridge of her nose.
"Devotion, this is Alexia. She's like us, she'll be a great help. She's also actually good at Restoration Magic, which I know both of us struggle hard with." Victor introduced.
"You guys can just call me Alex. Don't need the full name." said Alex.
"Well, fantastic to meet you, I suppose. When were you planning on heading out? I'm pretty sure Kloldus is a bit of a trek."
"Well, I sort of assumed you'd be in, so I already rented a mount and carriage for all of us. We can leave right now, if we want." Victor shrugged.
God, this boy was impulsive, Devotion thought to himself. He supposed he'd need some excitement in his life, and Victor was that variance he needed.
"Yeah, I'm good to go. We can head out if you're all ready." Devotion replied. Alex and Victor both nodded, and the three of them headed out together.
"Oh! I almost forgot. I picked these up for each of us before hand with the last of my gold. Just in case." Victor said, reaching into his bag and pulling out three vials. "These are restoration potions. If you're severely injured, just drink it, and it'll patch you up a bit. Use them wisely, though. They weren't cheap." Victor grimaced, just thinking of how much he had spent.
"Thank you, Victor." Both Devotion and Alex replied. Devotion waved his hand, storing it in his new interspatial ring. Victor's jaw dropped, seeing how Devotion made it seemingly vanish.
"How did you?" Victor asked, shocked.
"I have my own secrets." Devotion said, winking. He'd explain it later, he just wasn't sure if he trusted this Alex character yet. With that, the three of them were off, ready to take on their first mission, and by extent, their first real action since becoming cultivators.