Negary slowly opened his eyes. A different world always gave off a different sensation, and as soon as he smelled the despair that lingered throughout the atmosphere, Negary faintly smiled.
This inter-world journey had been immensely successful for him. Not only did he now have an entire world under his control, but he had also managed to nurture a perfect grand feast for himself, going one step closer to forging his own pathway.
Inside the clock tower, there were much fewer Hermit Order members compared to normal, the reason for which was the different-world training regime that Negary had established when he returned.
Any member of the Hermit Order would be able to exchange a certain amount of contribution points to undergo transmigration inside the Hermit Order itself.
Their [Origin] and soul would be extracted from their bodies and sent into the SCR world. The anomaly Negary had left there, S-2-4: Valhalla would create a new body for them while also giving them a suitable identity. For example, Katherine was a witch that came from a parallel world.
The Hermit Order's usefulness to Negary had been dwindling day by day, so this series of actions were also meant as a means of nurturing. Negary's goal was to grow the Hermit Order into an inter-world gigantic behemoth that would be more useful to him.
"Milord, we have an envoy"
In the Hermit Order, the Blood Knight Merritt represented Negary and managed all of his resources. Under normal circumstances, unless they were a test subject, no one would be able to see Negary, and that was how things used to be. Ever since Negary's attention became entirely focused on the SCR world, his presence had only become even rarer.
For that reason, unless they were exceptionally important, Merritt would personally handle any guests instead of bothering Negary. Inversely speaking, the fact that he was reporting an 'envoy' right now meant that the entity this envoy represented wasn't simple.
"He is from the Grand Library of the Academic City" Merritt clearly reported the guest's identity.
〖 The Grand Library 〗Negary slightly scowled.
The Academic City was a city of free religion, where numerous schools and institutions had been set up with quite a few people of Lohr studying there. Of course, the most famous institution in the Academic City among them all was the Grand Library.
This could be said to be the largest library of the Moon Tree world; and as a religiously free place, this was where fishes and dragons couldn't be told from one another. As far as Negary understood, the reason why such a place was allowed to exist was due to a 'Demigod' who resided here.
This Demigod was the one behind the construction of the Grand Library, no one really knew their specific background, only that the Grand Library had existed since a very long time ago, apparently not too much later after the initial establishment of the seven Churches.
All sorts of books were gathered here, including Divine Scriptures of the Gods, Wicked Scriptures of Evil Gods, various Magic Grimoires of all shapes and sizes, and even historical records of the elven race could be found in this place.
There would always be fortunate – or perhaps unfortunate – individuals who wandered into the Grand Library, obtained a book that they should never have come into contact with, and became obsessed with magic.
For example, one of the first members of the Hermit Order who was now working under Negary, the serpentine Isrig, accidentally obtained his Book of Snakes from the Grand Library and became obsessed with magic. As he returned to Lohr, he was responsible for adding serpentine monsters into the biosphere of Lohr's underground sewer network. If not for him running into Negary, he would have been killed by the Sun Shadow Church right then and there.
Furthermore, after Negary infected the outermost layer of the Moon Tree world, he also obtained information regarding the Grand Library. The fact was that there was a Great Magus inside the Grand Library, while he couldn't quite compare to the seven Gods in power, he managed to come very close. If the seven Gods could claim themselves Gods, then he could claim to be a Demigod without issues.
Taking advantage of the seven Gods' mutual restraints, as well as his own trump cards, this Great Magus established the Academic City as well as an organization called the House of Mages. However, this organization was essentially the same as Marvel's Kamar-Taj, its members were basically useless against actual threats except for the Sorcerer Supreme.
Naturally, part of this was due to the fact that this Demigod Great Magus had no intentions of actually teaching any disciples. Most of his disciples were the same as Isrig who happened to obtain a Grimoire or something of the same nature from the Grand Library, then proceeded to study on their own for the rest of their lives.
〖 Then let him in 〗Negary nodded.
That Demigod Great Magus should be around his level of power, so a certain level of respect was necessary.
…
Eyre carried himself with a sense of pride.
As he saw it, if the seven Churches also had to respect the House of Mages to a certain degree, then the House of Mages couldn't be too far behind them. And as he was an excellent disciple of the House of Mages, one recognized by the Great Magus Stim Allenz himself, it was natural for him to be prideful.
This visit to the Impure Hermit Order is a mission given by the Great Magus himself, so I have to make sure it's completed as best as possible.
Eyre thought to himself, then swiftly fixed his blond well-combed hair and his House of Mages uniform once again before entering the Hermit Order's clock tower.
While Eyre originally held a bit of contempt towards the Hermit Order, all of that was summarily discarded as soon as he entered the clock tower. From inside compared to outside, the clock tower's space had been enlarged over a hundred times.
Eyre's magical capabilities were actually very limited. He couldn't see through the Church's true strength, nor could he recognize the true nature of the House of Mages; but having lived for so many years inside the Grand Library, he had still managed to accumulate a certain level of magical knowledge. A spatial enlargement spell to this degree couldn't be achieved by anyone in the House of Mages except the Great Magus himself.
Having recognized this fact, Eyre swiftly discarded every little bit of wishful thinking he had, proving that to become a mage in this era, one must at least have a rational mind, not counting the unique ones whose minds were broken by magic.
Those who couldn't even keep themselves out of trouble after recognizing the difference between themselves and another party would have already played themselves to death in three days of coming into contact with magic.
Eyre wasn't particularly brilliant, but he understood restraints and respect. In certain aspects, he was dumb for not being able to recognize the other's party strength beforehand, but he was also smart in his own way. Towards any entities that were stronger than himself, regardless of how much stronger, he would cautiously maintain a bit of fear, admiration, and respect towards them.
Step by step, Eyra arrived in front of Negary, then took out a small envelope. This was stamped by a bit of magical fluctuation that contained the information that Great Magus Stim Allenz wished to convey.
Eyra also spoke in a soft and respectful tone: "This humble one on behalf of the House of Mages hereby respectfully invites Lord Negary to participate in the Mana Banquet"
…
Negary observed the changes in Eyra's mentality with intrigue. As far as Negary could tell, this individual called Eyre was an excellent seed. As long as he received the appropriate education and didn't die prematurely, he would achieve quite a decent bit.
But quite obviously, in order to not rouse any suspicions from the seven Churches, the Great Magus had never earnestly taught any disciple. In fact, if any of his disciples were too excellent, he might even kick them out of the House of Mages.
For example, the founder of the School of Apparitions, Cocayth, was originally a disciple within the House of Mages, his magical talents were at the level that even Negary had to praise. So when he was kicked out of the House of Mages, even before he managed to complete the School of Apparitions, he was already killed by the Half Life Church.
Therefore, rather than calling Stim Allenz some Great Magus, it was more appropriate to call him an old turtle living at the very bottom of his well, occasionally picking up the coins that people threw inside to live by.
Sensing the magical fluctuation from the envelope, Negary confirmed that it was indeed talking about the minor matter of the Mana Banquet, which made him frown a bit. This old fox who had been doing nothing but displaying his harmlessness to the church suddenly extended an invitation to him, which went against everything the old fox had stood for up to now.
