I Became a Progenitor Vampire - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: The Mage Apprentices’ Surprise

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After sunrise, Reed got into the carriage of the Goldwheat Guild.

The guards and merchants of Goldwheat Guild who had suffered much should be looking dejected and down-on-their-luck… after all, they had just been robbed.

But at this moment, it was the opposite. Among the several other guilds that were with them, the guards of the Goldwheat Guild in ragged clothes and damaged carriages were full of smiles and excitement.

This had many puzzled. Why are they so happy even after they had been set upon by raiders.

Goddess above, this group must have snaped.

But after they found out what had specifically happened, they could not help but feel envy and jealous.

It turned out that a High Mage of the Lodge of Mages, Reed Kaschar had bought the Goldwheat Guild.

This group of country bumpkins had struck gold, it was without a doubt that their lives in Grimm would be easier now that they are under the protection of a high mage.

And the scene that had them all envious immediately appeared.

As they passed through Grimm’s city gate, as usual, the guard captain manning the gate was prepared to stop the Goldwheat Guild’s caravan.

While they knew, from a glance, that this group of unlucky sods had just been robbed, it did not prevent them from getting ready to extort a sum from this group of merchants.

Then, under everyone’s gaze, Reed appeared, and his resplendent mage robes instantly shut the mouth of the guard captain who was about to speak.

Bloody hell, how could the Goldwheat Guild have mages?! These high-and-mighty mages were existences that they could not risk to offend more than the nobles.

His expression immediately turned into a smile. “Milord, I’m sorry I did not think that you would be a part of the Goldwheat Guild.”

Reed said faintly. “The Goldwheat Guild will be under the patronage of the Vermillion Tower from today, and will pay fees in accordance with the laws of the kingdom when entering and leaving the city from now on.”

The Vermillion Tower?

Upon hearing that, the guards did not dare to say anymore. That was a mage tower of a high mage, was this person the legendary genius mage, Master Reed Kaschar?

“Please head in, the Goldwheat Guild will never be blocked by Grimm City Guards from now on. You can be assured of that.”

The guard captain had a humble expression on his face, and the arrogant look he had earlier against other caravans was gone.

Mages were upper-class figures who stood at the top of the hierarchal pyramid alongside the nobility, and they enjoyed treatment incomparable to ordinary citizens or merchantmen.

No matter how bold a city guard was, they would never dare to extort a high mage.

Reed nodded and tossed the captain a gold Pyke, and controlling the Mage’s Hand to hover it before the guard captain.

“This is your reward.”

A gold Pyke? The guard captain had not expected this kind of surprise. Even his salary for two whole months was not worth that much.

He quickly took the coin excitedly and instructed his men at the back to let the convoy pass.

After Reed left, the guard captain immediately smiled triumphantly at the ten guards around him.

“See that? That is the reward from the Master Mage, compared to those filthy civilians and merchants, this is how a noble should work. Today I’ll treat all of you to the Azalea Garden for a drink, and let you guys have a taste of the flowers of Grimm. So rub your eyes, bright lads. There’s no more stopping the Goldwheat Guild from now on.”

The guard captain’s words instantly caused a commotion among the guards.

The merchants standing by the side had looks full of envy and hatred when they saw that.

Half a solhour later.

The carriage of the Goldwheat Guild carrying Reed stopped before the Vermillion Tower while the remaining carriages returned to the Goldwheat guild house.

Laurent opened the wooden carriage door, and respectfully put up the short dismounting ladder.

“Master Reed, please.”

Reed did not refuse and got out of the carriage in a couple of steps.

As he looked up, the crimson tower of twenty-five rhents tall looked extremely spectacular.

The Vermillion Tower.

This was the first time Reed had so seriously observed the tower that belonged to him.

The cylindrical tower had a square spire at the top, and the crimson alchemic paint on the outer wall had good magical conduction, allowing it to gather mana faster.

The construction of this mage tower had cost him 1,000 gold Pykes, and many of the precious magical materials were sponsored by the Lodge of Mages. If everything were to be converted into gold Pykes, the cost may very well triple.

Before the Vermillion Tower was a wide bluestone ground, and passing pedestrians will subconsciously avoid it even when there were no ‘No Trespassing’ signs on it, but the reputation of the mage alone made would be passers-by consciously avoid the place.

“Follow me in.”

“Understood, Master Reed.”

After walking across the bluestone ground and up twelve flights of steps, Reed used the Mage’s Hand to push open the tower door that was five rhents high.

There were as many as ten magical arrays inscribed on the tower door and needed a certain sort of mana to open it.

The Mage’s Hand was the simplest of First Circle spells, and it was a necessary spell for all apprentice mages, so the Mage’s Hand was set by Reed as the key to the Vermillion Tower.

Only by infusing a certain amount of mana could one use the Mage’s Hand to open the door, or else they would need to press the magic doorbell outside, or wait for someone within the tower to come out.

Reed was sometimes a little amazed by this world. Perhaps it had no modern objects and had clearly embarked on a different development path altogether, but the derivative uses of magic were not without merit.

After entering the mage tower, the first floor was the widest, and the favorite floor for apprentice mages.

The space here was large enough that they could practice magic without fear of destroying things or triggering any magical arrays.

After seeing Reed’s return, a dozen apprentices in the hall stopped what they were doing, and hurriedly bowed at him respectfully.

“Master Reed.”

“You’re back, Master Reed.”

“Master Reed, I’ll pour you a cup of tea.”

Reed nodded and motioned to Laurent, who was looking curiously behind him.

“In the future, the Vermillion Tower will be the master of Goldwheat Guild. This is Laurent, and the Goldwheat Guild will be under his charge. All of you can get to know him, and you will deal with him in the future often.”

A group of apprentice mages looked at Laurent curiously. This was the first time the Vermillion Tower had accepted an outside guild.

In the past, Reed had never cared for anything other than magic.

“Kerry, go and help me call Viena down, and also, take Laurent to buy a contract from the Temple of Covenants.”

The Temple of the Covenants was established by the adherents of the God of Covenants and Justice, and it sells contracts approved by the God of Covenants.

Once a contract was signed and violated, the violator would be punished by the God of Covenants and Justice.

So, signing a contract had become one of the most common scenes in any commercial activity.

A young lad stepped forward and led Laurent downstairs.

Looking at his apprentices, Reed was stunned for a moment.

He then immediately realized that the Progenitor Vampire had previously let his apprentices do whatever, and had taught this group of apprentices barely any classes.

Seeing the longing in their eyes, and after hesitating for a moment, he was moved by the thirst for knowledge in their eyes.

There were twenty-odd seats in the center of the mage tower’s first floor, and Reed walked to the main seat.

He would give this group of youngsters a lesson today.

“All right, since I have time, you can ask me any questions you have about magic. I’ll give you all two solhours.”

There was silence in the air as everyone looked at him in disbelief.

The group of apprentices thought that Reed would just leave as usual, and did not expect him to offer to guide them on magic.

This was the first time in three years.

“Master Reed, is what you’re saying true?”

Seeing those cautious eyes, Reed’s mouth twitched. The Progenitor Vampire really did not take these apprentices seriously at all.

“Nonsense, hurry up and sit down, if you have no questions then I’ll be leaving.”

After getting Reed’s confirmation, everyone sat down in quick order and looked at him excitedly.

While Reed had been in contact with magic for a far shorter period of time than this group of apprentice mages, he could rely on the Progenitor Vampire’s memories if he could not handle something, and answering some simple questions about magic was still within his capability.

“Master Reed, why would the Mage’s Hand produce inconsistent effects when cast?”

“Can you cast a spell and let me see? Hmm, your situation is that the control of your magic is not balanced. Remember, the casting of spells is based on a certain amount of mana to operate the magic model. Should the amount of mana is incorrect, then these few scenarios will occur.

“First is that the cast fails, and the magic model cannot be activated.

“Second is the magic model collapses due to too much mana, and you will suffer a backlash from the spell.

“The third is your situation. Due to the difference in mana allocation, while you manage to cast the spell, the effect of each cast is different.

“Resolving this is simple, you just need to practice more on the control of your mana, and look for the best mana input when casting a spell.”

Reed talked freely without any hesitation.

“So that’s the case, Master Reed must have gained a lot from going out this time. Otherwise, how could he be so thorough?”

“It’s amazing…”

The group of apprentice mages’ eyes immediately brightened. For them, this was the first time they had been personally taught by Reed after entering the mage tower for so long.

In the past, Reed would at most provide them the magic model to practice. Forget the detailed explanation they had now, as he would not even bother to answer even if there was an error.

And for this reason, several apprentices had suffered serious injuries due to the backlash from the errors during magic practice.

But they had nothing to complain about as it was already a blessing by the Goddess of Fortune for them to be able to enter the mage tower and make contact with the mysteries of magic.

Reed looked at the eager eyes of these apprentices, and could not help but to shake his head.

The Progenitor Vampire had no intention to teach these apprentices at all and only treated them as a cover for his identity. If it weren’t for him, it would be difficult for these apprentices to become full-fledged mages no matter how talented they were.

“What a waste, these apprentices are all precious resources.”

While the vampires are all natural-born spellcasters, but if he could produce a group of qualified mages in Grimm, it would also benefit him.

Regardless of which world it was, talents were the most precious of resources.

And spellcasters are undoubtedly the apex figures of this world.

While he had time, he intended to properly teach this group of apprentices. Since the Progenitor Vampire had no idea how to utilize them, he would make full use of them.