“We have arrived!” shouted the carriage driver.

Everyone present let out sighs of relief. Thankfully, after the goblin tribe attack, no more surprises occurred throughout the rest of the trip, and the group reached safely.

Fort Night, the captain of the guard, patted Mason on the back and said in a slightly respectful manner, as though he was speaking to an equal, even though Mason himself was still, at least 10 levels below the man.

“We will meet again, Mason the Mage.” Although the two were unlikely to ever meet again, it was still a wise decision to make good ties with a mage, especially one this young.

It was widely known, that mages grew their power by meditating to increase their thinking capacity as well as mana, and by spending years to learn spells. Once a mage-apprentice could successfully cast even a single spell, he would be considered as a certified Mage of the lowest rank; Inferior mage.

Naturally, the young man standing up using a cane he had brough with him was definitely at least one rank above this lowest rank of mages; and Intermediate Mage who can successively caste normal spells, and once in a while could caste mid-tier spells.

Mages of the intermediate rank were usually in their early forties since it usually took this much dedication to the profession to reach the rank.

However, this young man was at most 19 years of age, and was already at this level. Fort Night knew that he would accomplish many things in the future, and knowing each other would definitely come in handy one day.

“Alright. Also, do you mind if I ask you where the best blacksmith in Bard stays?”

“Ah! You must be referring to Sir Campbell! Did you come all the way to the capital to meet him without knowing even who he was? Doesn’t matter now. He lives in the castle. I doubt you will be able to meet him unless you have the ability or authority to enter the castle, since there is a long line of nobles and important figures waiting to meet him, and I suppose it would take years before you would be able to meet him.”

Mason’s face froze instantly. How was he supposed to clear the quest without finding the main objective of the quest?

“Ah, but you might be able to see him!”

“How!?”

“Well, you will only be able to see him from a distance, but there is a competition coming up in 2 days’ or something. I’m not sure about the details, but it is a competition declared by the king. The competition will be split into two categories, based on age for those below and above 20 years. And each of the categories will have sub-competitions like smithing, dancing, warfare-strategy, etc, but the main focus will be on combat. Everything is allowed except poison, and killing the opponent. And Not only the king, but even most of his trusted subordinates including The Lion Tamala, Sir Wint, and Sir Campbell, will be present for the main competition.”

Fort Night next began to ramble on about The Lion Tamala’s bravery when faced with a thousand enemies alone, and Sir Wint’s absolutely unimaginable military strategy prowess and wit.

He also said a few lines about how great Sir Campbell was and how each of his crafted items were sold at incredibly high prices, just as they reached the city cates of Ferdin, the capital of Bard.

“Ah! The RedForce!” the soldiers guarding the gate quickly recognised the most widely known symbol in the Kingdom of Bard other than the Royal Family’s insignia, and stiffened his back.

“We will have to inspect the carriages; I hope you do not mind.”

“Sure, but bring a healer here quickly! I have a few men were injures, to cure them of diseases, poisons and infections them while you check the carriages.”

“Certainly.”

The Man quickly rushed in and called for the resident healer, a priest from the church of War, a follower of the sub-deity Sparta, the God of Swords. He was a frail man with sunken cheeks and dark circles under his eyes. His skin was not pale, but rather it as slightly dark, indicating that he was of foreign lineage, most likely from the South of the Central continent.

The man looked around lazily before huffing and then moving on to caste [Lesser Cures] and [Neutralize Poisons] on everyone one by one.

When he finally reached Mason, although he said he was fine at first, he allowed the man to cure his body.

However, a certain message popped up in him mind as soon as the man started.

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Notice!

Someone is trying to insert an unknown poison into your mana.

Beginning Self-protection procedures

The poison has been confined and is being concentrated

The concentrated poison is being collected and analysed

This is an unknown type of poison

For a one time offer, you can exchange this type of poison for exp

Offer: 20 exp

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Survival Quest

Act as if nothing is wrong and get into the capital. Then proceed with the previous Survival Quest as though nothing has happened. More updates will be given if need be.

No reward

Quest failure: Death by City Guards

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