Chapter 163 Familiar Yet Strange

Shaoke lingered quietly for a moment before leaving the chamber housing the massive teleportation array. Returning once more to the vast, empty underground space, he hesitated briefly before finally deciding to rest in the stone room he had occupied during his previous visit, and then make further plans.

Outside the room they had first occupied, there were no mages in sight, only some young maidservants. The arrival of a mage quickly attracted the attention of these maidservants, but out of respect for the mages' status, none dared to approach and speak to him.

Shaoke soon returned to his room. After imprinting his mental and mana marks, the stone door slid open gently. Everything remained exactly as he had left it: the pristine white bedspread the maid had laid out was still in its original place, and the grill by the fire pit remained gleaming. Gently pulling the red velvet cord beside the writing desk, Shaoke left the door open and carefully tidied the room.

His work was interrupted before long.

A black-robed Third Tier Mage stood outside the door and inquired softly, "Shaoke Snow Night? It is no longer appropriate for you to stay here. According to regulations, mages who have completed their first mission will be provided with new quarters." He then took out a black scroll and handed it to Shaoke. "If you have no questions, please follow me to your new room. It will belong to you for a long time to come." With that, the mage stood quietly, waiting for Shaoke to verify the authenticity of the order.

A black seal appeared on the paper under the influence of a spell. After carefully examining the phantom projection floating in the air, Shaoke nodded in agreement to the mage's proposal.

After leaving the area, the two entered a passageway on a slightly higher level. Here, there were noticeably more mages than in the place Shaoke had just been, though most were huddled in their cloaks, walking alone in silence before disappearing into their rooms. Only a few mages exchanged nods or greetings with their companions, and some engaged in brief conversations.

The mage led Shaoke into a more confined passageway and, pointing to a stone door at the very end, said, "This room will be your residence for some time to come. It will cease to belong to you only when you advance to Fourth Tier Mage or in the event of your death." He then added, "Is there anything else you need help with?"

After a moment's thought, Shaoke mentioned his previous promise to the maidservant and expressed his hope that she could be brought to him again.

Upon hearing Shaoke's request, the Third Tier Mage nodded gently. "As you wish." He then inquired once more if Shaoke had any further needs. Receiving no additional requests, he turned and left.

Using the same method as before, Shaoke imprinted his mental and mana marks on the stone door, which was engraved with magic script and complex, specially treated arrays. He then waited quietly for the door's response.

After waiting for a while, roughly the same duration as last time, Shaoke imprinted his marks once more, and the door slid open, revealing the new room before him.

The room was slightly larger than the one he had initially occupied. A massive wooden bed took up more than half of the space. The walls were entirely covered by thick black curtains, with only a few intertwined gold and silver branches protruding through the gaps. Intricate arrays were carved all over these branches, and several bright flames burned continuously upon them.

A larger writing desk stood opposite the fire pit. Its broad surface held dozens of thick books, and an exquisite hexagonal lamp stand was placed at the left corner of the desk, though the candle atop it remained unlit.

After removing the white cloth covering the bed, a smaller writing desk was revealed leaning against the wall. It also held a hexagonal lamp stand, with some scattered candles placed nearby, quietly awaiting their master's use.

He tested the bed's softness, then lay down on it and let out a comfortable groan. He felt the aches in his body diminish considerably at that moment—at least, that was how it felt.

Shortly after, Shaoke busied himself once more. He began inspecting all the furnishings in the room to familiarize himself with their use. More importantly, however, he started reading the books placed on the writing desk. Through his perusal, he discovered another book detailing the rules of this place. Naturally, the rules within differed from those in the first book he had encountered, though Shaoke felt there were significantly fewer rules here compared to what he had seen initially.

The delicate lamp stand on the writing desk emitted magical fluctuations, with fine red lights darting rapidly across its surface. Seeing this, Shaoke quickly understood that a guest had arrived outside.

It was the same mage who had brought him here earlier, but this time he was followed by several Second Tier Mages clad in black robes. These Second Tier Mages carried small boxes and packages in their arms. After a moment's hesitation, Shaoke invited them in. "Could you tell me what's this about?"

Faced with Shaoke's confusion, the Third Tier Mage calmly explained, "The items they carry are part of the rewards for completing your mission. If your mission is accomplished within a year, even better rewards will be provided here." After obtaining Shaoke's consent, he instructed the mages to place the items in the locations Shaoke indicated before dismissing them. He then added, "I believe these rewards are what you deserve."

Shaoke remained silent. When he had joined the Death Pact, there had been no mention of rewards for each completed mission. Of course, if the rewards were substantial, he would be quite pleased to accept them.

The Third Tier Mage paused briefly. "If you obtain spellbooks during your missions and submit them, this place will provide additional rewards based on the contents recorded within. Naturally, these rewards are not extensive, as this rule has been in place for a long time, and many Third-level Spell books have already been collected." He then added, "Of course, the original spellbooks will still be returned to you."

After listening to the Third Tier Mage's explanation, Shaoke thought for a moment and decided to take out two of the spellbooks he had found, handing them over to the mage. As for the spellbook belonging to the black-robed mage he had finally killed, it remained stored in its original owner's pouch, as Shaoke had yet to unravel the arrays on it.

The mage carefully used a pen made of blue crystal to inscribe Shaoke's name on the covers of the spellbooks. He then retrieved a transparent book and pen, swiftly recording some information. Shaoke surmised this was to document his submission of the two spellbooks.

This process was completed quickly. The mage nodded to Shaoke, informing him that the maidservant he had requested would likely arrive after some time, before taking his leave.

Scrolls—a small number of Third Tier scrolls, along with some Second Rank and First Rank scrolls. Most of these scrolls stored protective spells, with only a small portion containing offensive ones. Based on the markings on the scrolls' exteriors, Shaoke quickly identified an illusion-type scroll. 'Dreamweave.' Two simple Ancient Magic Script characters were written alone on the soft paper. After carefully recalling, Shaoke still could not determine the specific effect of this spell. This was largely due to his focus on offensive spells, as illusion-type and mental-type spells were rare and belonged to a different system than offensive spells, which was why he had not paid much attention to them.

The other boxes and pouches contained high-grade medicinal substances. Among these were some of higher quality, such as Empty Stone Liquid for purifying mental power, Empty Wood Liquid for purifying magical power, and Tranquil Fruit for reducing the frequency of spatial disturbances to some extent. Of course, such precious substances were not abundant.

Several bags of crystals, gems, and magic materials—these items were intended for magical experiments. There were also crystals sealed with spells, though only a few contained Third Tier offensive spells. The rest were Second Tier or even First Tier. Nevertheless, Shaoke was quite satisfied with the rewards provided by the Death Mage Corps. He did not believe that First or Second Tier sealed crystals would be of no use to him. Based on his previous battle experience, he felt these lower-tier spells could still offer some assistance in combat.

After categorizing these materials, Shaoke took out his spell record and began documenting the recent battle, speculating on how to handle similar situations in the future. The writing continued for a long time. When Shaoke had recorded only a small portion of the battle details, the magical fluctuations from the lamp stand interrupted his work, which left him feeling quite displeased.

The guest was quickly welcomed in by Shaoke. Upon seeing the items arranged on the writing desk, the Third Tier Mage apologized, "I did not expect to disturb you." After receiving the host's indication, the mage quickly set aside his apology and turned to call out behind him, "Come in quickly. Mage Xueye is inside."

A young maidservant, summoned by the Third Tier Mage, entered with her head lowered. She stole a glance at Shaoke before nervously looking down again, her snow-white hands clasped together tightly, appearing very tense.

Seeing the maidservant's behavior, the mage frowned, intending to reprimand her for such improper etiquette. However, upon noticing the host's somewhat impatient expression, he quickly abandoned this thought, as this maidservant was not under his service.

After the mage departed, the young maidservant finally raised her head. Looking at the mage who had promised and fulfilled his word to her, she thanked Shaoke repeatedly. Naturally, a physical expression of gratitude was unavoidable, as this was also an important part of her duties in this place.