Ard Geath was the central city of the entire Sarifal region, all three great kingdoms paid attention to the happenings within the city.

This is not because the city was built in a strategic position nor did it have a specialty product produced here, it was for one reason only; because the headquarters of the Octarine tower was built here.

It was said to be the oldest settlement within the region, which was a testament to just how resilient and powerful his existence was thanks to the tower.

After the fall of the empire and the subsequent destruction in the Civil Wars left the land scarred whatever remained of survivors moved onto the areas here, south.

And right now above the city, a huge monstrous bird, carrying a building on its back, was flying through the air with great speeds. Streaks of blue and yellow flash through the sky, and reflected the resplendent rays of the sun upon the land.

Esdras and company spent three days and two nights on the road they would have gotten here even faster if they didn't take it a few hours in the night for the bird to rest.

Name: Meeralah Alabaster

Race: Human

Rank: 3

Classes: Great fire mage(rank 3) Lv.2

Physique: 3 (+2)

Agility: 4 (+2)

Intelligence: 21

Spirituality: 28

Mana: 30

Trait:

- Ember of agony: 20% digestion

- Advanced element, fire progression: Scorching fire

Spells: ???

Esdras checked out Meeralah's stats and was absolutely blown away by several things, the ridiculous numbers were not the only reason.

Her physique and agility were higher than expected and clearly boosted by magic items. After all, how can great mages not understand their weaknesses?

It was obvious that they would look for ways to surpass that weakness. It was even more likely considering their long lives and the influence provided by their positions and standing.

Moreover, wasn't it said that senior Ron had mana close to that of a Great mage? That was clearly not the case. That was not unexpected, the rumors were only circulated by those who didn't truly know Great mages.

Besides, it was true that he had an abnormal amount for a True mage, it was not entirely wrong to make that speculation.

There was also another point, Meeralah's mana and level didn't make sense. In the first place she was supposed to be at peak Great mage but she was only level 2 not 4.historical

Esdras didn't know the normal amount of mana for a Great mage to make a comparison yet but that was just a ridiculous number for her level.

Everyone thought that she was at peak great mage, that was not a coincidence. What did that mean? That she had a high enough combat power to convince everyone.

That was not an easy feat to pull off, the higher the realm the greater the difference in each level. This might have to do with her two traits but he wasn't sure.

The Octarine tower's headquarters was built on Venere Hill in the Mystical district of the city. Ard Geath was even bigger and grander than Seroie but he couldn't get a good look at it before the Arrowhawk wheezed past most of it to the tower.

The tower was not just a singular tower, it was the whole hill and the term also referred to the various buildings on it, mainly the central tower that... towered over everything in the city.

But that was not a place for apprentices like themselves.

The apprentices stayed in a separate building that was like an academy and beneath it was their lodging. There were also training grounds and servants' quarts in that area. It was a whole compound on its own.

The Arrowhawk landed in a specific landing area behind the tower, there he could see several stables and a host of Pegasus flying about. There were also some giant crows and all of them made way in hast long before they saw the giant bird approaching.

They were welcomed by several mages in robes of crimson and black that immediately bowed to the sub-tower master in unison.

"Welcome back, master!"

Esdras and the others were guided back to their old quarters under some curious gazes.

The lodging area of the apprentices was made up of several buildings each three stories high but their apartments were nothing to scoff at. Each one was big and composed of a bedroom, a living room and a bathroom.

Slaves were assigned to clean the apartments once a week and the food was served in a separate cafeteria in the academy building.

The crimson tower section was almost lifeless because of the staggering number of casualties in fort Kuzdin, the attack of the warlocks still cast a depressing shadow over the place.

Of course, the truth was that Esdras killed more of his fellow apprentices than the warlocks this time around but... no one needed to know that.

Esdras was not troubled by that in the least, who told them to throw their lives away like that? As far as he was concerned it was no different than suicide so why feel bad about it?

His apartment was cleaned up and so he just took a hot bath and headed to the cafeteria for some food. On the way he knocked on David's place and together with Celine, they made their way over.

However, there was an incident happening in the cafeteria currently. As soon as they approached they could hear the commotion.

Sam, who was once Robert's right-hand man was now beating another classmate to a pulp.

Chairs were knocked down and tables pushed aside, some of the apprentices were cheering and others were roaring.

"I can't believe this! I bet a gold mark on this asshole, fuck!"

"Hah hah! No one forced you to do that! You reap what you sow."

"He looked big so I thought he would be different from the others..."

Esdras frowned at this scene, he had never seen the apprentices do something like this before.

"Does this bother you?"

It was Daylen who approached and then asked.

"Not really."

Esdras didn't interfere, he just found an empty table and called the servants over to begin serving lunch. The items on the menu really shocked him.

First was the Anishani and white wine, everyone was offered just one shot but it was more than enough. It was imbibed before the meal to stimulate their appetite.

Next were the Figs stuffed with goat cheese, they were arranged stem-end down atop freshly cut basil leaves. Sliced and splayed to resemble blooming flowers, and then stuffed with a tangy and nutty goat's cheese before being drizzled with apricot honey.

The main dish was Quail egg-stuffed quail. This dish was traditionally stuffed with figs or dates but this version was a step above that.

The eggs used for stuffing were soft-boiled, wrapped in sausage, coated in breadcrumbs, and finally deep-fried in oil.

The Octarine tower was not a cheap place, the apprentices enjoyed rare comforts as is but this was on a different level. Even well off nobles wouldn't sever this to hundreds of people without batting an eyelid.

"Isn't this strange?" Esdras wondered.

"I know why." Daylen said and paused so that everyone was looking at him, "it's because the Rite of passage was moved up, it's in two weeks."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Celine asked.

"See that fight?" Daylen pointed at the fighting pair, "no one is going to stop them, the mages are allowing this."

"You're saying that and the food has to do with the Rite of passage?" Esdras asked.

"Exactly, in this atmosphere where survival is not clear, the apprentices are under immense pressure. Even if the mages put a stop to the gambling and fighting they will find another way. The food is like a goodwill thing."

"Hmm, interesting." This meant that they had a little bit of leeway since the mages were turning a blind eye in this period.

As for the rite? He wasn't concerned at all, rather he was happy to get it over quickly.

"You seem to have caught on quickly." David remarked at Daylen.

"Ah, well, I have a few friends here and there..."

Esdras finished his meal and left with the others, while leaving he felt a pair of eyes following his every move. He knew who this was, Tara.

He noticed her as soon as he came in but ignored her on purpose. He still didn't forget her scheming with Robert to kill him and he certainly wasn't going to let her or Robert go.

She was an invaluable source of information that he was going to extract very soon. In the rite of passage.

In his room, Esdras sat down and suddenly pointed with his hand at a piece of paper. Sweat rolled down his forehead and trickled down his face but his focus was completely on that paper.

After two minutes nothing happened but he lower his hand and breathed slowly. He wiped his sweat and started writing something on that paper.

Just now he was practicing the second level of the negative energy gathering technique, infusion. He was almost ready to move on to the next level but the amount of negative energy he had was pitiful.

The most frustrating part was that this skill didn't appear in the system for some reason. Meaning that he couldn't use EXP to boost his progress.

The best method to increase the amount of negative energy is to take it from others according to the Pharaoh. However, he had to be in close proximity to the targets to do so.

He had to think of a way.