Seeing the young blond man he had met weeks ago waving at him, Rory immediately put aside his thoughts of how to strengthen his group and went over to the young blacksmith.
"Have you advanced a level? Have you become an Acolyte?" Rory said as he noticed a difference in the sensation he felt from Lukas' body now compared to what he had felt when he first met this guy.
Lukas had advanced this afternoon and finally reached the 2nd magical stage. He was delighted with himself, and when he heard the redhead in front of him, he smiled and said. "Fortunately, I could break through the barrier between the 1st and 2nd stages earlier."
"Congratulations on that. With your talent, it won't be long before you become a 2nd-stage blacksmith." Rory commented, genuinely happy for Lukas, much to Vicente's credit, of course.
"Thank you... But you're not far away from advancing, either. I'm more impressed by your progress than by mine. You've only recently awakened your powers and are already close to becoming an Acolyte." Lukas was sincere because even people with Green talents often stayed in the first stage for a year or two.
But that was because most didn't have the resources Rory and Vicente had in their first weeks after awakening. Most had to build their positions from scratch because everyone had their own interests, and not every family would have enough for everyone.
Lukas was part of a financially well-established family. However, several people in his family needed a lot of resources, and he didn't have a similar ability to justify a significant investment in his house. So he had to fight on his own to make it this far.
However, he was still favored because he had a good master and some support within the Association. Most people had none of that and usually only managed to advance in the first months or years after awakening through ordinary meditation.
Rory laughed at Lukas' comment before changing the subject. "Anyway, where's that meeting you told Vice about?"
Lukas looked down the street and motioned for Rory to follow him. "It's at the house of one of my contacts. It's almost time for the meeting, so let's go there."
"Hmmm."
As they walked along the sidewalks of downtown Millfall, Lukas asked. "By the way, did Vicente leave the city? How's your family business?"
"Fine. Vice went to Saltstar City, as he told you. If he's successful, we'll have some extra resources to strengthen the family." Rory said, creating a facade to justify the speed of growth the Fuller family would soon have.
Previously, their resources had come primarily from the food resale business that Andrew had left to his son. But as the Mazzanti family's operations developed, more resources would come from this group's underworld operations.
Robbery, fees charged to merchants who wanted to be part of their territory, and more would create opportunities for advancement for the known members of the Fuller family.
Upon hearing that, Lukas became interested, seeing that if things went well for such a family, they would soon have more resources at their disposal.
"Well, if our relationships improve, we'll be able to benefit from each other's good results," Lukas said. "Some of my friends have good talents but need support."
"Hmm, and our family needs good friends with talents. We have several fronts that could use the services of your allies, Lukas."
"Don't worry, you'll have a chance to make some good contacts tonight." The blonde smiled before they entered a well-kept house in the center of town.
Entering the house, they passed some servants until they came to an entrance hall with many tasteful decorations in a very well-lit environment.
Seeing six young people standing or sitting there talking about various subjects, Lukas caught their attention by greeting everyone and saying loudly. "My friends, this is the representative of the person I told you about the other day..."
He continued as Rory looked at the four men and two women of Lukas' age standing there, each having different and special types of Magic Gems.
Considering the aura each of them radiated, but also the outfits they wore, Rory wasn't confused as to the specializations of each of them.
There were two alchemists, a doctor, an enchanter, and two engineers, as well as Lukas, a blacksmith.
All these young people had promising talents, with green or yellow gems, most of them at level 1 Acolyte. However, one of them was still a Senior Apprentice, while the most advanced was at level 2.
Seeing young people who followed the most important specializations in the magical world, Rory realized how valuable the contact between Vicente and Lukas had been.
'If we can get at least two of them for our group, we'll benefit greatly!' Rory thought as he smiled at these people, waiting for the moment to introduce himself.
If he could get an Alchemist and an Engineer for his group, the Fuller/Mazzanti family would be strengthened considerably.
While an alchemist could produce essential consumables for the group, an engineer could create countless complex devices that could be used for simple or even difficult tasks.
Having an enchanter would also be very good, as someone like that could significantly enhance the properties of items created by blacksmiths and engineers!
"Hello, my name is Rory Point..."
...
While Rory was meeting Lukas' allies and friends, Vicente arrived at the headquarters of the Scarlet Syndicate faction in a carriage belonging to the Mazzanti family.
He had been invited to meet the leader of that faction, and as a member of the Scarlet Syndicate, he couldn't refuse.
Upon arriving, Vice immediately met some men who were waiting for him, and after greeting him with respect, they quickly led the way to where Brody Wright was already waiting for him.
Brody Wright, level 5, was one of the strongest warriors in the city, respected even among the few Mages.
In the magical world, not everything can be understood by one's level alone. Since magic forms differed greatly in the type of power each magician possessed, some naturally had a much higher fighting ability than others.
Normally, one would not be compared to people of another class. Warriors, whether they were magicians or generals or both, were those who possessed raw powers useful in combat and could typically only be compared to each other. However, some comparisons outside the same class served to indicate one's social position in a given area.
Brody Wright was a level 5 Acolyte but the third strongest in Millfall, weaker only than Viscount Symons and Commander Christopher Hogan.
Although there were nearly 20 Mages in the city, he was among the strongest and most respected. Aware of this, Vicente didn't dare to be disrespectful when he met such a man!
"Senior Wright, I'm glad to finally meet you."
