Chapter 222: Returning to the tower

Two months later.

I watched the enormous ship slow down as it gradually descended. The wind generated by the massive magical structures made my clothes flutter, while the other Acolytes began gathering to board.

We had arrived at that place as a group of ten Acolytes.

Now, only seven were returning.

And even among the survivors, there were changes that could not be ignored.

Just like on the journey there, the same black-robed Official Mage was in charge of escorting us back.

When his eyes passed over me and the other Acolytes, a strange smile appeared on his face.

— Hahaha!

— You little bastards!

— How was life in the Underground World?

He laughed loudly.

— Let me see... not bad, not bad!

— Out of ten Acolytes, seven of you are still alive.

— Seems like those guys from the underground were quite courteous!

Then his eyes landed on Ruby.

— Eh?

— How come there's an additional Pseudo-Mage?

— Looks like someone had extraordinary luck!

— Hahaha!

— And that little Level 2 Acolyte was the first one to die, right?

— Surely, he was gutted like a fish... heheheh.

— How brave could a mere Level 2 Acolyte be to come to a place like this?

The other Acolytes' faces turned ugly.

I didn't need to ask why.

During the last underground patrol, they had been caught in an ambush planned by the enemy Acolytes.

Rowan, a Level 3 Acolyte, had died.

The others had escaped with varying degrees of injuries.

Those seemingly playful words from the Mage had struck exactly where it hurt the most.

The Acolytes lowered their heads.

Their eyes were filled with anger.

I coughed lightly and bowed.

— Master Pumpo.

The Mage turned his eyes toward me.

— I am the Level 2 Acolyte you mentioned.

Pumpo's laughter instantly died.

His eyes widened.

He stared at me for several seconds, apparently trying to compare my current appearance with the memory he had of me.

My body was completely different from when we had departed.

I was taller, more muscular, and even my presence had changed.

— You?!

He examined me again.

— You're a consolidated Level 3 Acolyte now!

I smiled faintly.

Pumpo shook his head, apparently surprised.

— Boy, you really were the one who had the best luck in this place!

He didn't waste any more time.

— All right, all right!

— I don't care how you lived there.

— I want everyone aboard now!

— I still need to hurry back and pick up the other Acolytes who are finishing their mandatory missions!

We didn't argue.

One after another, we began boarding.

Raticati also managed to get onto the ship after I paid the magical crystal required to allow my contracted servant to travel with us.

As soon as everyone was aboard, the ship began to ascend.

The feeling of leaving that region was strangely pleasant.

The ship gained altitude, and the buildings began to grow smaller.

The Acolytes approached the side of the deck and looked down.

It was as if we had escaped from a prison.

The group of seven Acolytes had clearly split into two groups.

Ruby and I were on one side.

The others remained separated.

Before leaving the Underground Cave Mage Tower, I had made some preparations.

I ordered Raticati to sell all the stones and magical materials that were unlikely to be useful in the coming months.

In exchange, we purchased huge quantities of demonic beast meat, magical knowledge, and spiritual cores that were available on the market.

I knew very well that Arcangrove would not be as free as this place.

Therefore, I preferred to bring everything with me. My storage belt became completely packed. In fact, I had to buy five or six more storage belts.

Even so, there were still too many materials.

In the end, Raticati simply put the rest into a huge bag and carried it on his back.

That bag was so large that it seemed like it was part of him.

No matter where Raticati went, he kept carrying that thing.

I almost laughed when I saw him walking across the deck.

The ship continued moving forward at high speed.

This time, the Underground Cave was the first stop, rather than the last.

As we passed through the different regions and stopped at the locations of the other missions, more and more Acolytes boarded.

The number of passengers continued to increase.

At one point, there were already more than a hundred Acolytes aboard the ship.

Naturally, the deck became noisy.

The Level 3 Acolytes were the ones who circulated and talked the most.

They made up the majority.

But in the eyes of the Acolytes themselves, the true stars of the ship were the Pseudo-Mages.

After completing their training, those Pseudo-Mages would probably become the future hope of their families.

In the eyes of a Pseudo-Mage, another Pseudo-Mage was the only person who truly deserved attention.

When the ship passed through Kar-Dur and then Memtral, there were already more than ten Pseudo-Mages aboard.

It was then that I noticed a familiar face.

It seemed to be Kalikol.

My expression turned serious.

The same guy who had previously made Gael alter my mission. He had also advanced to Pseudo-Mage.

When he boarded the ship, I immediately noticed another difference.

This time, he wasn't wearing his hood to hide his face.

His face was even more deformed than before.

His skin had a dark, dull appearance.

Around his green pupils were several small, bizarre eyes.

They all blinked simultaneously.

I felt a chill run down my spine.

There was no doubt.

Kalikol had advanced through body modification.

It was difficult to call him human anymore. He had practically transformed himself into a half-insect man.

I felt a certain contempt for someone who would abandon his human appearance in such a manner.

But I had to admit one thing.

Among all the Acolytes I had met, Kalikol was probably the man who had treated his own body with the greatest cruelty.

And now, his strength gave him enough confidence to completely ignore the gazes of the other people.

He entered the ship with his head held high.

His green compound eyes swept across the crowd.

Until they finally found Ruby.

She was wearing a red dress, black armor, and carrying the red bow on her back.

The Level 3 Acolytes accompanying Kalikol were immediately fascinated.

However, as soon as they sensed the powerful magical fluctuations emanating from Ruby, their expressions changed.

They quickly concealed their greed and bowed slightly.

For such a beautiful woman to be a Pseudo-Mage...

Kalikol continued staring at Ruby for several seconds.

Then he lowered his hood and covered his face.

He silently walked toward a corner.

Throughout the entire process, his gaze barely lingered on me.

— Looks like there will be more fights when we return.

— This Kalikol also seems to have gained quite a lot during the journey.

Ruby snorted.

— Hmph.

She crossed her arms.

— It doesn't matter how much he hides his abilities. He's no match for you.

I looked at her.

Ruby continued:

— Of all the people I've met, you're the true master of the art of hiding your strength.

She narrowed her eyes.

— You possess such a powerful ability, yet you keep pretending to be a harmless Acolyte while waiting for some idiots to show up in front of you so you can kill them?

— That sounds pretty cruel when you put it that way.

— Because that's exactly what you do!

I merely smiled.

It was then that the ship arrived at the final mission location in the Memtral region.

And Evy boarded.

As soon as I saw her, I recognized her immediately.

She was one of the people who had sided with Kalikol when Ruby confronted Gael. That day, while Professor Lucius was giving his speech and later allowed us to choose our missions, I had noticed their movements.

When Ruby became furious over the alteration of my mission, Evy had prepared to support Kalikol in case a fight broke out.

At that moment, I had pulled Ruby out of the theater precisely to avoid causing trouble.

Now, we were facing each other again.

But there was no joy.

Evy was still only a newly advanced Level 3 Acolyte.

She had also increased her strength considerably during the training.

But compared to Ruby and Kalikol...

She had been much less fortunate.

Before, when Ruby had appeared unexpectedly, Evy and Kalikol had maintained a relatively harmonious relationship.

Now, after Kalikol had advanced to Pseudo-Mage, something had changed.

Evy simply walked alone to a corner of the ship.

She sat down.

And showed no intention of congratulating him.

I continued observing until the ship finally entered the Platium region.

At that moment, more than two hundred and sixty Acolytes had already boarded.

The journey continued for several days.

The ship made numerous stops at different airports, picking up more Acolytes and dropping others off at their destinations.

Finally, the moment came for Ruby and me to disembark.

As soon as we left the airport, we bought a horse.

We needed to reach Arcangrove Tower as quickly as possible.

I used a speed potion on our horses.

Then I gave them a nutritional potion.

If we intended to force them to travel at high speed for several days, they would need enough energy to maintain the pace.

We mounted up and departed.

Several days later, we finally approached the cities surrounding the region of Arcangrove Tower.

Including the city of Monolith, in the Kingdom of Erna.

It was in that city that I had hidden myself and later contracted magical AIDS because of a tracking fairy sent by Acolytes of the Dark attribute.

We continued following the map.

Arcangrove Tower was supposed to be located inside a huge forest.

However...

After several days of traveling, I began to realize that something was wrong.

The environment had changed.

First, the vegetation became sparser.

Then, completely destroyed areas began to appear.

Ruby noticed it as well.

We slowed down.

I looked ahead.

And was left speechless.

The enormous green forest that was supposed to surround Arcangrove Tower...

Had disappeared, reduced to charred earth.

The smell of radiation in the air was intense, and the ground was completely burned, with gigantic craters scattered everywhere.

Some were so enormous that they looked as though they had been created by mountains falling from the sky.

Before we left, I had even sought information at a magical market and asked about the situation.

According to the information I obtained, the war had been halted by a Level 3 Official Mage.

He had managed to force both sides to sit down at the negotiating table.

....

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