The Asshai's Bloodmage

 It was a shame that Liza couldn't get the top 10, but I had already told her that Omar would get more books of the water element, so she only needed another book of lightning to have enough magic books for the next few years. Since we didn't have many magic books at the moment, I would also start buying more of them as the store's profits stabilized. I paid attention and memorized the three names that didn't belong to our group in the top 10. The best news was that everyone in my group passed, and even the blacksmith passed, getting 109th, the two sisters with water affinity barely got 118th and 119th.

Then the top 10 went up to the highest area where the Master of Beasts was with his wife and disciples. He then said that the 3 people with special physiques were exempt from completing tasks inside the tower, but they would still earn points every month equivalent to completing 1 task. They also had unlimited access to the private library. While the other students would need to pay for each hour inside this library. Everyone in the top 10 would win a level 2 or 3 artifact, but the artifact would belong to the tower and they would need to return it if they left after the 5-year contract. Everyone would also win an extra piece of free knowledge. This was a good reward, with this I could get 3 pieces of knowledge after joining immediately, although one of these pieces of knowledge would be private and I could not share it with anyone.

Next all 120 students were taken on a tour of the first floor of the tower, inside the first floor there was a door that was to the right of the entrance, inside it we would be in the mission hall, after the tour was over we could come back here to choose our first mission and we would be free to study for the rest of the month. Also on the first floor we had the public library that was free for everyone to study on their own about everything. It had everything from basic notions of magic, alchemy, domestication, affinities, rituals, elements and local fauna and flora of the Shadowland. And much of what would be considered common knowledge and basic magical knowledge.

There was a dining hall on the first floor, as well as some alchemy labs, forges, and a public garden where each student had their own personal space to grow their own plants and magical materials. On the second floor of the tower were the common dormitories, classrooms, the treasure room, the beast point shop where private and free knowledge was kept, as well as various other necessities of an apprentice. On the third floor there were some bedrooms, a place to train spells, another to practice martial arts, and one to train their beasts. The fourth floor was for exclusive access to the older disciples, and other floors were private areas that were forbidden to enter. The underground floors were where most of the missions would be carried out, and there was no need to fear running out of missions. Most of the animals would need to be fed daily, and the plants needed water and other care daily as well. There was also a floor dedicated to growing food, but these simple and not very dangerous missions were limited.

Then everyone chose their rooms on the second floor while I and the other 9 went up to the third floor, but first I took a look at the rooms on the second floor for comparison, first of all there were enough rooms for everyone on this floor, the room was simple and small with a single bed, a dresser next to it, a small table and chair not far from the bed, a bookshelf for some books and a very small bathroom with a round bathtub and a latrine on the floor. I didn't complain because it was enough, my house in Valyria was much worse and for those who didn't want to have extra expenses in the city of shadows it was good enough.

In addition, I and the others in the top 10 got bigger rooms on the third floor along with the older disciples, I just felt sorry for Liza when I saw the small dormitories. I asked if any disciple outside of the top 10 could stay in another's room on the third floor. The senior apprentice who guided us said it was possible as long as they filled out the paperwork, but that would take away privacy if the person wasn't their lover or family member. Of course, I wasn't talking about myself, but Zaya, who also had a larger room on the third floor and was Liza's sister.

After everyone left their belongings in their rooms, we went down to look at the mission board. I did something different, while everyone was already thinking about accepting the missions, I first checked how many bestial points I could earn per mission and went back to the second floor to the points store and did the math. First, it was necessary to complete 6 missions to obtain some free knowledge. This would be equivalent to 6 months of mandatory missions. The problem was that the private knowledge that was the best required the equivalent of 12 missions, or in terms of obligation, 12 months of doing missions. Surely it wouldn't be that simple to do 12 missions in 1 month?

Wrong... Some missions took 7-15 days to complete, others took less time, but their points would drop by half, barely earning half the value of a mission. In other words, for some who did simpler missions and only the monthly mandatory one, it would easily take 2 years to buy a single private knowledge. Since I was in the points shop, I decided to get my two free knowledges. A fire spell called fire arrow, and an earth spell called stone skin. The first would give me more attack options and the other would allow me to finally have a defensive spell. As for the private knowledge, I'll leave it to get after I've thoroughly read the information in the common and private libraries.

With my two new spells in hand, I returned to the first floor and soon found my first mission. It was something I had been curious about for some time and now I had the first-hand opportunity to check it out with my own eyes. The mission period was short, only 5 days, and it started tomorrow. The points were enough to guarantee my first month. I approached the man at the mission desk and said: I want the mission to feed the manticores.

"Are you sure? You're new, start with something simpler first. An older disciple will only accompany you the first time and teach you how to do the mission, after that, the remaining 4 days you will be on your own."

"I appreciate your warning, elder brother, but I am very interested in the Manticore Isles and this is a chance to observe such a creature up close."

"Okay, be careful with the larger female, she belongs to the Tower Master and has undergone some changes. Also, read the manuals in the free library."

I thanked the man again and went straight to the library. I spent an hour saving many books in the system that would be useful to the members, and then I picked up the ones I would start reading. Each student could borrow some books. I took the opportunity to pick up the manual of the tower's beasts, the manual of the tower's magical plants, and the introduction to blood magic. Only then did I return to my room. But before I started reading, I did my meditation for the day and also practiced the two new spells. The reason it took someone so many years to understand a spell was because of the limitations in affinity. It was not possible to practice many times a day, and the reason was a kind of limitation in the sensitivity of the affinity. After practicing 3 times with the stone skin, I was unable to perform it a fourth time. It was as if the spell did not respond to my commands and I had lost the ability to feel the element. Of course, this only happened with spells that you had not mastered. And at this point, the greatest advantage of the mages with two affinities was that he could practice with the other affinity, which still flowed normally. That's why I practiced the fire arrow 3 times before I felt the same problem. With nothing else to do and classes only starting tomorrow afternoon, I started reading the tower's bestiary in preparation for tomorrow's dangerous mission...

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