The taste of the Mana Veins Restoration Potion was bitter and repulsive. Even so, he forced himself to drink every single drop.
Soon, the potion took effect, and he felt a warmness spread throughout his body. With his eons of experience and knowledge, even without Mana Sense to view inside his body, he felt the potion's effect concentrated on certain areas of his body.
He could feel the destroyed Mana Veins slowly repairing themselves.
The process was slow, but Lucian did not mind waiting.
Lucian had long since stopped caring about time. Only Mortals would care about such an insignificant measurement. Even as a non-mage just by being a Primordial Draconic Incubus his lifespan was five-thousand years.
—-----------------
At the center of Thunderfall City, an ancient and regal three-story building lay. People of all shapes and sizes were entering and leaving the building. The design and location of the building made it stand out from any other building within its vicinity.
The building was called Thunderfall City's Adventurer's Branch Guild.
From Transcendence to the Adventurers Branch Guild took Garrett only five minutes. During the brisk walk, his mind had been completely filled with the taste and effect of the Siren's Melody Poached Egg.
He had been so preoccupied he had not even noticed the bystanders who had pointed and whispered.
'Haah, if only I was allowed to order more plates, I would have used up my entire savings from these five years.'
Regrettably, even takeout was impossible.
With a disappointed sigh, Garrett pushed the doors open and strode inside the Adventurer's Guild. As always the guild was loud and obnoxious, but by now he was used to it.
Everyone seemed to be minding their own business. Some were simply bragging about their recent exploits. Many were drinking their sorrows away in an attempt to forget the loss of their friend, lover, or team member during a recent quest. While a few were eating and some were looking at the quest board.
It was the same old same old.
However, when Garrett entered through the doors as if it had been orchestrated beforehand, the entire Adventurer's Guild turned silent. Even a pin drop could be heard.
The adventurers and staff members felt a shudder as soon as Garrett entered. Instinctively, they turned their heads toward his direction with dazed, fearful, or respectful gazes.
It was as though the moment they saw Garrett's face, they could not look away. Although it was true Garrett was handsome now, but their focus was on the overwhelming aura he was releasing. It was an aura that most of them had never felt before, but some lucky or unfortunate ones had felt it before.
A Bone Tempering Mage!
That man was actually a Bone Tempering Mage!
In Thunderfall City, the strongest Mage was only in the Bone Tempering Realm.
On Arcadia, the Mage Rank System went like this, from weakest to strongest:
Mana Condensation Realm
Blood Tempering Realm
Tendon Tempering Realm
Bone Tempering Realm
Mana Vein Tempering Realm
Mana Core Formation Realm
Mana Soul Realm
Mana King Realm
Mana Emperor Realm
Mana Ancestor Realm
Mana Saint Realm
Mana Heaven Realm
Mana Dominator Realm
Mana Progenitor Realm
Mana Monarch Realm
Mana God Realm
They all thought in unison, 'Since when was there such a young Bone Tempering Mage in Thunderfall City? Or did he come here just to visit?'
Garrett, who had been daydreaming about the taste and effect of the Siren's Melody Poached Egg, blinked in surprise when he sensed everyone staring at him. He was not used to being stared at. Even when he was the heir of the Blackthorne Family, rarely people would look at him.
Suddenly, a middle-aged rotund woman narrowed her eyes into slits. Like a predator eyeing her prey, she licked her lips and approached the handsome man while swaying her hips. As for the overwhelming aura coming from the handsome, young man's body, she tried not to think about it. Though it was hard.
When the adventurers and staff members saw the middle-aged rotund woman walking up to the young man they shuddered.
'Poor guy.' They thought.
"Hey, handsome! Are you new to Thunderfall City? How about this elder sister takes you on a little tour?"
When Garrett heard her words laced with seduction, he shuddered in fright. Subconsciously, he took three steps back and waved his hands as he stutteringly said, "N-no M-Miss. There is no need. I'm not new here, Thunderfall City is my home." Then, without waiting for her to reply, he quickly darted to a table in the far right corner next to the quest board.
The adventurers and staff members glanced at the middle-aged rotund woman and silently chuckled in disdain.
With a smile on his face, Garrett approached the table where four disgruntled people were sitting.
Out of all the people in the Adventurer's Guild, they were the quickest to recover and had stopped paying attention to the handsome, Bone Tempering Mage.
They were discussing about their missing Captain who even after a couple of hours had not shown up.
"Since when did Captain get so lazy?" A middle-aged slim man with rabbit ears in entirely black robes said, shocked.
"Maybe he overslept?" A bespectacled man next to him chuckled. He was garbed in a white and blue robe and strapped to his back was a five feet long white staff on top of which was a blue gem.
The two others at the table remained silent with their eyes closed. They were twins who looked no different from a Human. They both had short, messy black hair and were clothed in a simple white t-shirt and blue jeans.
When the two men sensed the Bone Tempering Mage approaching them, they frowned and silently got into battle-ready stances.
At the same time, the twins simultaneously opened their eyes. Surprisingly, their sclera was entirely black, and instead of a single pupil, thousands of small, red pupils dotted their eyes.
When those red pupils scanned his body, Garrett shuddered and halted his steps. He felt no matter how many years went by, he would never get used to those eyes. They were just too frightening.
Only when the twins closed their eyes, did Garrett continue walking and stop in front of the table.
Garrett nodded at them and cleared his throat. With an amused smile, he asked:
"What's gotten into you guys? It's only been a day, and you've already forgotten your Captain?"
When the eavesdropping adventurers and staff members heard the handsome, Bone Tempering Mage's words, their jaws dropped.
"Is he… no way!"
They did not dare to imagine the handsome, slim, brown-skinned, brown-haired, Bone Tempering Mage was that overly muscular Orc.
Within the Thunderfall City's Adventurer's Branch Guild, the Lion's Liver and their members: Garrett, Lane, Hervy, Cody, and Coby were well known for being the strongest Adventurer's party.
Even their party name was coined by other adventurers because of their courage and bravery. It was as if they had all eaten the liver of a lion. No matter how difficult or dangerous a quest was as long as it paid well, they would take it without hesitation.
"Good morning-" Cody began.
"Captain," Coby finished.
Garrett nodded with a smile. Other than the twins' weird eyes, even the way they spoke was weird. Instead of finishing their sentence, one twin would begin speaking while the other would finish what the first twin wanted to say.
Meanwhile, Lane the Rabbitkin, and the bespectacled, white-robed, Hervy were shocked.
An awkward atmosphere engulfed the Adventurer's Guild as Garrett calmly sat down with his team members. After a while, Hervy's voice broke the silence.
"What the fuck, a Bone Tempering Mage? Captain, you're fucking amazing! HAHAHA! Let's celebrate by visiting the Pleasure Pavilion."
Garrett's, Lane's, Cody's, and Coby's faces darkened at Hervy's words.
Just as the name sounded, Pleasure Pavilion was a brothel. None of them had visited it, except for Hervy, who was a frequent visitor and even a VIP of the brothel.
Hastily, they shook their heads.
"No-"
"Thanks."
Cody and Coby remarked coldly.
After a while, Garrett smirked, despite Hervy being from a noble family, he was far from noble.
"Instead of wasting your money, you should use it properly. Come on, let's celebrate by earning big today." Garrett paused and continued via voice transmission, [Later, I'll take you to a place where you can better spend those Mana Stones.]
Without waiting for his team members, Garrett excitedly stood up and walked to the quest board. His thought process was simple: take the highest level quests that his current Mage Rank allowed him to and then use the money he earned from completing the quest on Siren's Melody Poached Egg. And of course, he would take his team members to Transcendence, since they were his closest friends who had helped him and his family when they had first arrived at Thunderfall City.
Even after receiving a voice transmission from their Captain, the expressions on Lane's, Hervy's, Cody's, and Coby's faces did not change.