The Wizard Has A Biochip

As Rustil and I walked toward Kar-Dur Tower, he began explaining the true purpose of that training camp.

Until then, I had imagined that the place existed simply to train elite acolytes.

But, as Rustil explained, the name "training camp" concealed a much more important function.

— As the name itself suggests, this place is used to train elite acolytes.

— But that is not its only function.

—It also exists to maintain and protect the interests of the small mage families in the region.

I remained silent, paying attention.

I already knew that Kar-Dur Tower was known as one of the various entrances to the Subterranean World.

But apparently, its importance did not end there.

— Kar-Dur Tower does not only control one of the entrances to the Subterranean World.

— The region also extends across the immense Kar-Dur Forest and other areas which, together, cover approximately thirty thousand miles of territory.

— And this region is one of the richest in all of Kar-Dur territory, which is why the Lumentrix Association sent a Level 2 official Mage to remain at Kar-Dur Tower.

—But he lives practically secluded inside the tower and rarely appears in public.

— So he doesn’t manage the region?

— No.

Rustil shook his head.

As I thought about it, several deductions quickly came to mind.

—I presume he only does something in rare cases, such as when rogue official Mages tried to invade the surface world some time ago, for example.

Rustil looked at me and nodded in confirmation.

— Exactly.

— That was too serious to be ignored.

—But outside situations of that level, he does not interfere in the affairs of the acolytes or Mages of the Subterranean World.

—Most of the time, he is occupied with his own magical experiments.

— But occasionally, he secretly enters there. But not to conquer territory or participate in disputes. He mainly searches for resources necessary for his experiments.

I slowly nodded.

That Level 2 Mage was far too powerful to need to worry about local disputes.

To him, the region was probably nothing more than a source of materials for his research.

— In practice, the ones who actually make the decisions at Kar-Dur Tower are the Level 1 official Mages responsible for the entrance to the Subterranean Cave.

— And they represent the mage families?

— Exactly.

Then everything began to make sense.

Behind each of those Mages was a family.

And they were not ordinary families.

They were the families that controlled the Kar-Dur region.

Rustil raised his hand and began enumerating:

— Herbs. Wood. Special plants. Hides. Spiritual Cores. Parts of magical creatures. Demons...

— It doesn’t matter what type of resource it is. If you search enough, you will probably find it here.

— But that is still not the most important thing.

— These surface resources are merely common magical materials.

—Some may be valuable to acolytes, but they are not what keeps these families wealthy for hundreds or thousands of years.

My expression became serious.

— Then it is the resources of the Subterranean World?

Rustil nodded.

— Obviously!

— Those are the true treasures.

— It is precisely because of them that these families are able to remain standing for so long.

— But ordinary humans cannot simply enter the Subterranean World and collect them.

— Only those who possess special methods can enter deep into that territory.

— That is why acolytes are so important.

— The Mages of Kar-Dur Tower represent the seventeen main mage families of the region.

— As long as these Mages are here, no outsider can freely interfere with the interests of these families.

—Each family sent its own young people to participate in the missions.

—This way, they achieved two things at the same time.

—First, they ensured that their interests remained protected.

—Second, they trained their most talented individuals.

—It was an extremely efficient system.

— That was how the training camp was born.

I looked at him.

— If the seventeen Mages officially represent the families in the tower...

— Then the elite acolytes in the camp represent those same families.

Rustil confirmed it.

— When something happens that harms the interests of a family, we are the ones who appear first.

He touched one of the daggers attached to his waist.

— If someone attacks our family’s property or tries to steal resources or even damage our reputation, we are the ones who fight.

— Of course, not every situation requires combat.

— For example?

— Imagine that an exploration team funded by one of the families discovers an extremely rare magical creature.

— And fails to capture it...

— In that case, the acolytes stationed at the training camp are sent to help.

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As Rustil continued explaining, I began to understand why my presence had aroused so much interest.

The existence of the Subterranean Cave was far too important to the mage families of the Kar-Dur region.

That was why foreign elite acolytes like me ended up becoming extremely interesting targets for recruitment.

Having a few foreign acolytes working for a family would not affect its current interests very much.

A foreigner had no local family backing them.

They had no roots and No influence.

Without the support of a family of official Mages, these acolytes would not dare openly challenge the official Mages.

So they could be utilized.

A talented foreign acolyte could become an excellent weapon for a family.

But they would never have enough strength to become a true competitor to that family.

But there was another reason.

After hundreds of years of exploration, practically all known rare resources in the Subterranean World had had their locations recorded.

When a resource began to mature and the time came for harvesting...

Both sides knew.

Then the massacre began.

There was no need for a formal declaration.

The teams arrived.

The two sides met.

And they fought.

But there was an even more important rule.

Neither side sent their official Mages.

The battle was limited to the acolytes.

Because if the official Mages began directly participating in these disputes, the situation would completely spiral out of control.

The winner gained the right to harvest everything.

The loser had two options: Flee or die.

In my case, Because of the unique characteristics of my abilities, I had been personally chosen by the training camp under Nople’s leadership.

This meant that my life would become even busier.

Before, I already had to complete the acolyte missions organized by the Lumentrix Association every fifteen days.

Now, in addition to those missions, I would also have to periodically participate in the training camp’s underground patrols.

In other words...

More missions, battles, and risks.

But there were also more opportunities.

After all, there was one huge advantage.

Since I would have access to far more missions than an ordinary acolyte, my speed at accumulating merit points would certainly be much greater.

After basically understanding how the training camp worked, I finally said goodbye to Rustil.

— Thank you for explaining all of this.

— No need to thank me. You’re part of the team now. It’s better that you know what you’re getting yourself into.

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