“An assistant will show you the way to the place we store our magic items,” The receptionist pointed to the mage standing next to her, “She will also help you pick out the listed magic items on this paper,”

“Sir Nova, is it alright if I go alone?” Elora asked Arnold.

“Sure. I’ll wait for you back here.”

“Okay. Be right back.”

Elora left with the assistant in tow. They headed to the second floor using a floating platform.

The Magic Tower of the Empire of Eulia was considered the second oldest tower of mages ever built. The first one was in the Holy Kingdom where arcane magic was no more.

The Magic Tower had prominent leaders throughout its lifetime.

Archmages.

They were the strongest known magic users in this world. The title was as prestigious as a monarch title and it gave them authority equal to an entire government system. They were advisors and directors for academies and magic firms.

Only one such person is born every few decades and they were in charge of all Magic Towers on the entire continent. That was why it was rare for the Archmage to be present at one of their offices.

‘The current Archmage…’ Arnold looked up at a large portrait which was hanging in the reception hall of the Magic Tower, it was bigger than all the other paintings. ‘Freya Yor.’

She was a young woman with the stature of a 16 year old teenager. They say that an Archmage never ages once they reached the pinnacle of their power which meant that Freya achieved her power at a very young age and stopped maturing.

She had long messy silver hair which she would never comb or wash because of her lazy personality and her eyes were constantly dark and saggy like a sleep-deprived person.

Arnold chuckled remembering her in the game. She was a person with the power to destroy nations but she had such a goofy personality that the fandom loved—even more than the hero.

Arnold looked around at the vast interior of the second magic tower.

There were pillars which stretched a hundred meters to the sky that held up the large ceiling of the first floor. There were futuristic elevators that was composed of a simple slab of iron that would float up and down with a single command.

Scholars and apprentices walked the hallway, glancing at Arnold unpleasantly. Adventurers were never seen here unless they had some prestige after all.

That was the case only for S-rankers.

But since Misteltein received recommendation from the famous Dragon Fist of Lockinge city, there was no helping it. But still, Arnold was standing out like a sore thumb.

Arnold walked along the hallway of the first floor where all the paintings of famous wizards hanged. Not a single one had Lufulur’s name or face on it.

‘I now know that players haven’t arrived in this world yet according to the timeline when I was summoned.’

The DLC story “The Rising of the Hero”. Its timeline was set way before players was originally on this world—back when the first version was out. The hero and Arnold von Berkley was already present in the original game. They were secret bosses as well. Their stories were told only after the expansion came out.

Thus, Arnold was certain that players were not yet known to this world. They were merely legends.

‘But I, along with many other DOPs played the game even before it became popular with billions of people. There should be mentions of us at least.’

It was strange why his in-game character wasn’t known to this world. The people of the new world didn’t know if he existed or not.

But that brought the question: Why did players even become known to this world? Could there have been someone with the knowledge of a player perhaps? For example, they were reincarnated or transmigrated into another person like he was.

‘There would’ve been a huge panic if people knew about powerful beings such as players who had the potential to grow as strong as the heroes of the past.’

All players were able to reach level 100 which was the pinnacle of this world. That alone made them much more dangerous a threat than any monster lord in this world or even demon lords.

There were players who could be considered as strong—if not stronger than the Demon King.

Although Liam was one of the first players to play 《Star Fantasy™》, he wasn’t considered that strong in terms of pure power. His items, early-game knowledge and battle experience were what made him one of the top players in the game.

If he had to guess, his build as Lufulur was perhaps in the top 50 strongest players on the entire leaderboard.

‘I wonder how much the top player—Bardolt—would be feared if he were to reincarnate as his character.’

Maybe he’d be considered a god by his power alone, thought Arnold.

Arnold was friends in the game with him, the two had oftentimes gone on raids together so Arnold knew the kind of person he was. He was brave, strong and righteous.

Kind of like what the adult Luke was seen as.

..

Arnold reached the end of the Hall Of Fame.

In the end he wasn’t able to spot any portraits of his Supreme Sorcerer build or any items he had used during his reign as the strongest known magic user.

‘Let’s head back, I guess. No use dwindling around here any longer.’

◇◇◇

Elora was already waiting for Arnold. She was wearing her new gear which was a grey magic robe imbued with flight magic, a metal staff decorated with a red orb at the top and gloves with the function to increase one’s magic control.

“Should we get going?” Arnold asked to which Elora nodded.

“How does the new equipment feel?”

The two of them left the Magic Tower. The sun was beginning to set by now. It was better to find an inn before it was too late.

Elora fiddled with the robe’s buttons, “It’s unfamiliar. I’ve never worn magic items before. My old robe was just a regular robe I made using whatever material I could find.”

“Huh, you never bought equipment before?”

“….” Elora nodded silently with a red face.

‘I guess it was hard to make money to even buy equipment…’

She had said before that she was never able to get a party member to stay in the party. Perhaps she hadn’t even done quests with others before and only did the chores which paid lesser than ordinary quests.

‘Hmm… Although I value saving money, it shouldn’t be that big a deal if we spend a little on ourselves…’

“Why don’t we go shopping in the shopping district? The stores there are open all day today.” said Arnold.

‘I have to buy myself a suit anyway.’

“E-Eh? Shouldn’t we save our money to invest in case more people join us?” Elora looked baffled, “We need to buy equipment and secure a base for ourselves as well…”

“It’s fine. It doesn’t really seem like anyone will join us any time soon. Which means we can spend the money however we like.”

The total amount of money they currently had was 618 gold which was an enormous amount of money for two people alone. Let alone for an A-rank party which was recently established.

Thinking back, Arnold had never really considered inviting anyone else into the party since Elora was good enough. After finding out about her class, he decided that inviting anyone else would be bothersome instead of helpful.

Arnold was still in his level 30s so he could still grow and Elora was a magic caster who could possibly use any rank of magic under certain conditions. Their power ranking was enough for now but maybe that wasn’t all that mattered in an adventurer party?

‘Even though I was part of a guild and had comrades before, I don’t know the answer to what is more important than power in a party…’

Elora lowered her head, “…I…always wanted to try crepes… But they are so expensive…”

“Well, why don’t we buy some after we’re done buying our clothes?”

“R-Really?” Elora’s eyes sparkled.

“Yeah. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth but I’m eager to try one.”

Elora’s face reddened as she whispered something under her breath, “C-Could this be a date…?”

“Did you say something?”

“N-No,” Elora smiled wryly, “Let’s get going!”

She grabbed Arnold’s hand and pulled him as they ran down the street.