Fire Mage

Chapter 206: Progression

Currently, Titus wore an ordinary black shirt and pants, and his straight brown hair almost reached the end of his neck.

During the past six months, he hadn't grown a single bit and appeared the same as before.

He was just 152 cm high.

On the other hand, Noel had reduced his weight a little and had grown taller than everyone.

Charles stared at Titus for a few seconds and sighed.

'His progression has slowed down… Did I make a mistake? Is he really not suitable to become an assassin?' He felt troubled.

'This kid is a pure-hearted soul… All I can do now is help his body reach an Expert Level Strength using potions and give him some guidance.' He thought inwardly and took a few potions from the sofa.

He then gestured Titus to come near and gave them to him.

"Drink these potions."

Meanwhile, Titus silently took the potions and started drinking them.

There was no hesitation on his face.

No, faint happiness could be seen in his deep-set brown eyes.

After a few moments, Charles noticed that Titus's body attributes also stopped increasing after reaching 14.9 points!

'He is also facing a bottleneck… It seems they need to break these bottlenecks without relying on outsiders' help.' He nodded thoughtfully, took out a skin-colored dagger, and gave it to him.

"Keep this dagger as a gift, lad. Although it is just an uncommon artifact, its sharpness could be on par with rare swords." He paused for a moment, also took out a pupil-less eye from his space ring, and gave it to him.

"This artifact is called 'Eye of Shadow.' With this artifact, you can put a shadow mark on your opponent and spy on them from afar. Unless the target went 5 km away from the user, the shadow mark won't disappear for the next three days. You can only use this ability twice a week, so use it properly."

"Yes, Teacher." A short reply came out from Titus's mouth.

Simultaneously, he clenched his fist and began to think about how to increase his skill.

Charles was also well aware of his inner thoughts and let out a deep sigh.

"Move your things to the third floor and train there from now on. I will also help you increase your skills during the free time and help you rank up to Rank-3 [Rogue]."

'That's all I can do to increase your strength. After that, it's all in your hands.' He muttered inwardly.

'Moreover, these artifacts are already of no use to me. It's better giving it to these kids.'

Although other kids felt that their Teacher was always giving special attention to Titus, nobody felt depressed.

In fact, everyone felt glad.

On the other hand, Charles's gaze sharpened towards Noel and soon checked his status.

'His body strength had already reached the 14. Is this the difference between 'Genius' and above-average persons?' His eyes widened.

He only gave him a few tips about how to improve his sword skills and then spoke.

"Although you managed to achieve this far with your innate talent, things will get difficult after Rank-3. So, be prepared." He paused for a moment, took out a blue-gem embedded, gave it to Noel, and started to explain.

"This is called 'Coin of Helper.' If you end up in a life-threatening situation during battle, use this coin and chant say the word '%@%I(#.' It's an activation word to summon an undead helper. I'm warning you. Use it only when the situation gets more serious."

Meanwhile, Noel widened his eyes for a moment before taking the coin and nodded.

"Once you become a Rank-3 [Blood Swordsman], I will give you a Rare Sword."

Saying so, he turned his gaze and looked at Rhea.

'This girl needs a better teacher. Destiny Lady should be a suitable choice… But I heard that she already returned to the Moon Kingdom. Hmm, she will definitely come when 'Charles' shows his appearance after three years… I can use this opportunity and let them have a fortunate meeting.' A mischievous smile appeared on his face.

In his eyes, 'Love' was nothing but a weakness.

Unfortunately, he truly needed that 'Love' emotion to fulfill the rank-up requirement.

Shaking his head, he took out a plain gold coin called Watcher's Coin from his space ring and gave it to Rhea before explaining.

Then, he gave a few instructions to those kids and told Jessie to stay in the mansion for the next two months.

After that, he stood up from the sofa and started walking towards the third floor.

…

Endless Sea.

A small wooden boat floated in the sea of water, and on it was a young man in his 30s. He laid on the boat motionlessly and appeared very thin. His skin was skinny, he wore a torn brown cloth, and multiple wounds appeared all over his body.

He had long, messy brown hair, an oval face, and thin eyebrows.

At that moment, his eyelids started to twitch as he tried his best and opened his eyes.

Two crystalline oceanic eyes embedded in the two sockets and appeared more like crystals!

He looked at the few seagulls which were circling above in the blue sky and opened his mouth.

"Wait for me, Natalia." His voice appeared too weak.

He stayed in the same state for a few seconds before closing his eyes.

At that moment, a well-dressed sailor in a round ship noticed the group of seagulls circling in the sky and alerted everyone.

Within a few moments, they turned the ship in that direction and sailed towards it.

…

Rodsley Street, Nobles' District, City of Iron.

The old mansion appeared gloomy during the next few days, and only a few kids came for training.

Some servants and guards even quit their jobs out of fear!

Meanwhile, Charles spent most of his time comprehending the spell models and started showing attention to the unluckiness.

He constantly used 'Book of Secrets' and checked Jessie's future from time to time.

Whenever he senses life-threatening dangers, he would directly use the 'Vision' spell and alter it.

Like this, two months went smoothly.

During the two months, Rhea also used her authority as the princess of Iron Kingdom and got her hands on the Ice elemental plane coordinates and sacrificial materials from Iron Tower.

Although they ignored her at first, when Charles showed his presence, they directly agreed.

Under his guidance, she made the sacrificial ritual and successfully created her Ice elemental heart!

Then, she also secluded herself in her room and focused her full attention on improving her strength.

Meanwhile, Charles made a detailed plan and showed his full attention to three things.

The first one was that he put full effect to comprehend the Rank-3 spell models.

He never slackened off and worked diligently.

The second thing was farming Exp points. Once in a week, he stealthily left Edhen world and hunted different Rank-3 creatures for selling them in the auction hall while farming Exp points.

But he never dared to hunt Rank-4 creatures in fear of Rank-4 spells!

The third thing he put more important was an artificial cloning method.

Charles knew that once he completely comprehends the spell models, he needs to disguise himself as real 'Charles' and start his official mission.

But if he didn't make a detailed plan before reappearing, many would suspect him and assume him as the Ancient Mage.

The main reason for that was that both would use similar fire spells!

Upon noticing such an obvious flaw, he thought of creating a clone body for the Holem's Crown and let it stay in the mansion as Oswald Ravel for some time!

Once he let everyone believe that Charles and Oswald were two different people, things would go smoother for his plan.

Days passed like river water as he completely immersed himself in his work, and soon three years went by.

During these three years, Charles only showed his appearance during his disciples' Rank-up.

The first one who ranked up to Rank-3 Mystic was not Noel but Jessie.

She became a Rank-3 [True Wiser] two years ago and also gained another consciousness.

She currently has three perfect consciousnesses!

Not only that, but she also ranked up her sub-class and became a Rank-2 [Blood Sucker] while upgrading her previous class skills.

Even Charles became stunned by her progression!

After three years, she grew up and became a beautiful adult girl.

The following person who ranked up was undoubtedly Noel.

He became a Rank-3 [Blood Swordsman] one and a half years ago and gained three sword skills like advanced aura, one slash, and force thrust.

Although these skills' names weren't that great, each of his skills could even give a fatal wound to Expert body strength mystic!

He turned into a muscular man and appeared around 180 cm tall!

The third person who ranked up to Rank-3 Mystic was Rhea.

Like Jessie, she also grown into a gorgeous lady, constructed all of her spell models, and became a Rank-3 [Crystal Wizard] 6 months ago!

Moreover, she also ranked up her [Astrologer] Class and became a Rank-2 [Prognosticator].

Titus was the last to Rank-up. Under Charles's guidance, he improved his [Assassin] class skills up to 50 points and met the requirement two months ago.

If they were in the Moon Kingdom, they wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to get Rank-3 Class Gems.

Thankfully, the agreement with Day and Night Church made their job easier.

Within a week, Titus became a Rank-3 [Rogue] Class Mystic and finally became an expert.

Although he became an expert, he appeared still shorter than others and appeared only around 165 cm tall.

This poor kid was still the shortest among the group!

In just three years, all of them became much stronger and appeared more matured.

As long as they didn't meet any Rank-4 Mystic in battle, they would be fine even when facing a group of Rank-3 Mystics.

During these times, Rhea and others also took more children under their wings with Ashley's help and created a private army of Mystics.

Currently, a total of 645 Mystics were working under Rhea's orders!

Among them, 15 were Rank-3 Mystics, 82 were Rank-2 Mystics, and the remaining were still Rank-1 Mystics!

Such sudden rise of the new faction shocked Nobles and Mages.

Moreover, some noble families like Elliott's family also made some agreement with Rhea and became her backers.

She finally got qualified to become a Ruler!