Chapter 257
The water in the central plaza’s fountain bubbled quietly.
Rudra sat on the edge of the stone basin, resting the heavy, dark metal shaft of Extortion across his knees. He dug a piece of dried river-kelp out of his coat pocket and chewed on it. He was already thinking about what to cook for lunch. The market smelled faintly of roasted fish and baking bread, which wasn't helping his focus.
A few feet away, the twelve new recruits stood in a loose circle. They tapped at the empty air, swiping through the translucent blue menus of the guild registry.
"Okay, I'm in," Red said, stretching his arms over his head. The dual-rapier user rolled his shoulders. "Genesis. Has a nice ring to it."
A tall man holding a blue, water-gemmed staff frowned at his interface. Current, the 1st-ranked Water Magician, tilted his head. He pulled up his buff list and squinted at the text.
"Hey," Current murmured. He nudged the player next to him. "Check your passive list. It seems the staff damage we deal is increased by 30% and when in the sea we also get a 10% boost to all of our stats."
"Yeah," Spark, the 1st-ranked Lightning Magician, whispered back. She adjusted her grip on her wand. "Ten percent boost to all stats. The buff is called 'Allies of the Champion of the Sea'. It says it triggers in the sea. And the Staff Damage is named "Staff Saint’s Aura”!"
Current lowered his hands. He turned around and stared directly at Rudra. The rest of the recruits caught on quickly, their eyes shifting from their system windows to the man in the black trench coat sitting by the fountain.
"The global message from a few days ago," Current said, his voice dropping into a tense whisper that carried easily across the quiet plaza. "The aquatic races finding their Champion. That was you."
Rudra just popped another piece of kelp into his mouth. "Yeah, I had to complete an SSS grade quest within a time limit to get that."
Red let out a short, breathless laugh. He walked over and kicked a loose pebble across the cobblestones. "You’re really just gonna gloss over the fact that you managed to get a SSS-rated quest aren’t you? Anyway,I guess the fact that you're the Staff Saint can be officially confirmed, but boss we do need to discuss the debate in the forums."
Rudra raised an eyebrow. "A debate?"
"The forums are tearing each other apart," Red said. He crossed his arms, leaning forward. "Over a year ago, there was a message about a Legendary Staff Saint. Right after that, you vanished from the leaderboards. People thought you took a massive level penalty for the class change. Some guys were even joking that you dropped all the way to level one."
The other eleven recruits and even Ceclia, as even she didn't know this, leaned in. They all wanted the answer.
Rudra chewed his kelp. He swallowed and wiped the salt from his fingers. "They weren't joking."
The plaza went completely silent.
Red’s confident, lazy smile slipped right off his face. "What?"
"The class reset me to level one," Rudra said. He picked up his staff and stood up. "Wiped all my level-up stats and the skill I got as part of the Staff classes that I had. Still I managed to keep other unrelated skills which helped quite a bit."
Galahad, the heavy tank, actually dropped his shield. It clattered loudly against the stone as he spoke, forgetting to use his broken English accent. "You... you went back to the beginning? And you climbed to global Rank One from level one in just over a year and half?"
"I did get quite a strong bus in the first month," Rudra shrugged.
"That is still impossible!" Spark yelled, completely forgetting her manners. "The experience curve past level two hundred takes months per level! You would have to hunt monsters hundreds of levels above you without taking a single hit!"
"It was a busy year," Rudra admitted. He stretched his neck. "But it's not a unique penalty. Grid caught the same reset when he opened Pagma's book."
Cecilia, who had been quietly processing the absurd statements coming out her Guild Master’s mouth, snapped her head up. "Wait, are you personally acquainted with the Pagma’s Successor?"
"We are friends and he even created this staff of mine, though I guess I did have to strike a deal with that greedy fellow," Rudra grinned as he pointed towards his legendary staff on his back. "Anyway. Enough about those. You guys agreed to join the guild to help us right? It's time to see what you actually see the real benefits I can provide ."
Rudra led the group away from the plaza. They walked down the bustling main thoroughfare. Two young Bear-clan cubs tumbled out of an alleyway ahead of them, wrestling over a large stack of dry firewood. The wood tumbled into the dirt. The cubs froze, looked guiltily at a passing patrol, and frantically restacked the logs before scampering away.
"Lively place," Red muttered, still looking a bit dazed from the recent revelations.
They stopped in front of a towering, polished white stone spire.
"Tower of Limits," Rudra announced.
Current, Spark and the guild members immediately opened the status window viewing the description of the Magic Tower.
[Tower of Limits]
[Advanced Magic Tower (Lv. 2)]
[Tower Master: Mumud]
[- All magicians working inside this tower receive a 150% increase in Magic Experience gain.
- This buff remains active until the user's magic mastery reaches the current level of the tower.
- Grants passive Mana Regeneration (High) and Spell Backlash Resistance (Medium) to all registered members.
*Current Magics Researched*
- Elemental Magics Researched: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Ice, Lightning, Wood, Light, Darkness, No-attribute
- Magic Artifact Researched: Communication Devices, Scrying Orbs, Teleportation Circles,etc .
- Spellbooks Researched: Basic Mana Manipulation, 1st Tier Magics, 2nd Tier Magics.
**Due to the presence of a Magic Saint, all spellcasting speed is increased by 50% and casting failure chance is reduced by 30% for all magicians who study in the tower .
**Due to the presence of the Pioneer Magic Saint, magicians who study in the tower gain a +100% increase to experience and skill growth rates]
[Territory Buff: +100% EXP and Skill Growth Rate for all resident Magicians for 99 days due to the presence of the Magic Saint!]
Spark’s hands started to shake. "Quadruple Magic experience? A permanent double experience buff just for registering in the Magic Tower? And another double experience buff due to the presence of the Magic Saint…"
Spark read the last line twice.
"...A Magic Saint," she said slowly. "Currently. Present. In this tower."
As soon as the two mages crossed the threshold of the tower's shadow, their system logs chimed loudly, applying the massive territory buffs to their status bars. Current let out a shaky breath, gripping his staff tightly.
The heavy doors of the tower clicked open.
A pale man with striking silver hair floated out. His boots hovered an inch above the cobblestones. He wore simple, neat robes, but the raw, condensed mana pressure rolling off his skin made the air feel incredibly heavy.
"Welcome to my Tower, My Lord," Mumud said, offering a smooth, polite bow.
"Hey, Mumud," Rudra said. "How are the new spell textbooks coming along for the students?"
"We are currently experiencing a minor delay in the secondary circulation runes," Mumud reported calmly. "The Siren students naturally pull water mana, which conflicts with the baseline fire runes in the textbook. I am rewriting the curriculum to accommodate dual-casting."
Spark took a step back. She bumped directly into Current's shoulder.
"You're the Magic Saint," Current said, very carefully, like he was worried saying it wrong might make it not true.
"I am," Mumud said, unbothered, already turning to walk with them.
Spark made a small, strangled noise and decided her boots were extremely interesting.