At the foot of the mountain, the Blackstone City Gate.
Apprentices led by Huo Wood had already arrived here.
In front of the city gate stood a scattering of wizards, who were representatives from various major influences within the city responsible for recruiting the apprentices.
Under their persuasion, some apprentices immediately decided on the spot to join a faction.
More of them shook their heads in refusal, indicating a need to ponder further.
Apprentices eliminated by the School could choose to join an island faction, become a free wizard, also known as a Wild Wizard, or wait for a merchant caravan to arrive and try their luck elsewhere.
In the shadows atop the city wall, a wizard in a gray robe stood. His chest bore a golden triangular badge that shone brightly.
After a good while, when the apprentices and the recruiting wizards had all departed without noticing anything unusual, he quietly slipped away.
...
Elsewhere, Holt and his companion had also reached Blackstone City.
He did not interrogate Colin intensively as everyone has their own secrets and, moreover, Nidham's dogs, in his opinion, weren't very strong.
Upon reaching the Guard Station, Holt took out ten Magic Stones and handed them to Colin.
"This is your first month's salary... You'll collect it from me every month hereafter."
Colin accepted it.
Then, Holt instructed Colin to wait there.
He needed to first distribute the remaining Magic Stones among the other three captains, whereas the rest of his team members would receive their share during their duty shifts.
...
"Our main responsibility is quite simple, to eliminate the Fierce Beasts that escape from the Dark Forest."
Half an hour later, Holt led Colin to the outskirts on the west side of the city.
This area was a long, narrow plain that ran alongside the city wall in both directions.
This plain was Blackstone City's primary food-producing land, with cultivated fields spanning as far as the eye could see.
Many farmers were busily working in the fields at the time.
Looking beyond the rice fields, without going too far, one could see the edge of the Dark Forest, which seemed to absorb the sunlight and appeared darker than other places.
Holt pointed to a sturdy cabin not far away and continued, "What we need to do is take turns on duty here. If the patrolling knights report an incursion of Fierce Beasts, we deal with them. If not, we're free to do whatever we wish."
Colin nodded in understanding.
Wooden huts like this one were scattered roughly a dozen in number along the edge of the city wall, each spaced out from the others.
The farmland extending outside the city was vast and elongated, thus only such an arrangement of shifts could ensure timely management of any danger from Fierce Beasts.
"Duty rotation is by squad. The cabins for team members on duty are connected. I usually live amongst you all."
"Right, our turn for duty starts tomorrow, and it's a night shift. Remember to come to West City Gate early to meet me," Holt added.
Colin nodded once again.
"Alright, you've pretty much seen everything here. Next, you need to find a suitable place near the Guard Station to buy a house."
Holt stopped walking and continued.
"Buy a house?" Colin asked, puzzled.
"...Yes, buy a house. You don't intend to keep living in the barracks, do you?"
Colin shook his head. Staying in the barracks was indeed inconvenient – not only was the space small, but it also lacked privacy.
"Well then, you'll certainly need to buy a house... not just a house, it's best if you buy some maids too, to help you with chores like cooking and cleaning."
"These aren't expensive; a house at most costs one Magic Stone, and maids are even cheaper. As long as you don't buy anything exotic, one Magic Stone is more than enough."
"The reason you were allowed to stay in the barracks, besides the one month grace period, was also because you probably didn't have spare Magic Stones to purchase a house and maids.
Now that you've just received your salary, it's a good time to settle these matters."
"Oh, and," Holt seemed to remember something else and made a specific point, "make sure you hire a cook who is good at her job."
Many slaves simply don't understand cooking, so the stuff they make... you understand, right?"
Colin nodded.
On the island, resources were scarce and the living standards of the common people were low; to say their usual meals were "dark culinary arts" would be a compliment.
Most people only knew how to haphazardly stew things, and many couldn't even recognize all the spices.
Later, Holt told him the location of the real estate transaction office and the slave market, then reminded him of some precautions to take and instructed him to remember to come here for duty tomorrow night before turning around and leaving.
Half an hour later.
Colin arrived at the real estate transaction office in the city center, where he was warmly welcomed by the manager.
In this era, there were no pictures, so house hunting meant physically visiting each one.
Accompanied by the manager and his entourage, he viewed over a dozen houses near the West City Guard Station.
In the end, he chose the third to last stone house.
This stone house was a bit far from the West City Guard Station, roughly a ten-minute walk away.
The stone house was a two-story building with a basement. It covered just over a hundred square meters; though not large, it was considered a mansion in Blackstone City.
It was clear that the neighborhood's residents were not from the lowest social strata, as many had some connection with wizards.
From time to time, you could even see some wizards appearing.
The house was priced at exactly one Magic Stone.
Houses in this world were not as cheap as in the last world... of course, one Magic Stone was not a small amount either, roughly equivalent to 1,000 Gold Coins.
After paying the Magic Stone and seeing off the manager, Colin slowly made his way to the main bedroom on the second floor.
It was obvious that the master bedroom was specially constructed for wizards, as there was an additional door on the innermost wall, leading to a Meditation Room of about thirty square meters.
But that was not the reason he chose this house.
He walked slowly to the balcony.
It was a large, open balcony, easily over ten square meters, with intricately carved and exquisitely detailed railings.
Leaning against the railing, Colin looked off into the distance.
Beyond the city's closely packed gray and white houses, over the earth-yellow city walls, at the edge of his vision, a shade of blue came into sight.
The ability to see the sea was the real reason he chose this house.
The terrain within Blackstone City was not uniform.
The location of this house happened to be on high ground.
Coupled with its two-story height, it offered the perfect conditions for an excellent balcony view.
Not only could one enjoy a view of the sea, but the elevation also meant it was difficult for others to peer into the balcony.
After quietly admiring the sea view for a while, Colin turned around to head to his next destination—the slave market.
There were many slave markets within Blackstone City, and Colin went to the one closest to him.
It was about a twenty-minute walk from this newly purchased house.
Although it wasn't his first time walking the streets of Blackstone City...
... he still felt somewhat uncomfortable.
He wasn't someone who liked to draw attention...
... but now, no matter what time or where he went, he was always the center of attention on the street.
The last time he came here to buy a sword, he hadn't worn his Wizard Robe, and the situation wasn't as exaggerated as it was now. But this time, not only was he wearing the Guard Team's standard Wizard Robe, but he also wore a bright, shiny badge of his School.
Passersby wouldn't even dare get within two meters of him.
'It seems I need to buy a carriage,' Colin sighed to himself in his heart.
He was like a red-hot knife through butter; wherever he went, the crowd would automatically split apart.
As he walked a little further, he felt something was off.
For some reason, there were particularly many people here.
Up ahead, the sounds of commotion were faintly audible.