168 Benefits

Wallace returned to his room as the formal acceptance of his apprenticeship would happen in the evening. It seems that it's not as simple as 'you're my apprentice now' to receive the status of being one.

They seem to be preparing something.

Wallace even heard from the servants that the apprentices must really be a single before accepting this status as the Grand Arcanist's Apprentice.

'Is it that important? Why would they not accept those that aren't single?.' Wallace can only put this at the back of his mind. Anyway, this should be answered soon.

He only had to wait for the evening to come.

As Wallace planned to have a chat with Avalon, he heard a knock on his door and as he opened, he saw the smiling Tristan.

"Come in... So what would you like to talk about?" Wallace said after letting him in.

"Ah... Since I'll be leaving the Manor, it may be difficult for us to meet in the future. Well, I have Silver Membership card from our New Era's Magic Shop, you can have this. There's an auction about to happen two days from now. I just like to invite you there since there will be a lot of interesting and mysterious objects to be sold at the auction..." Tristan handed the card and trailed his voice as he tempted Wallace.

"Auction?" Wallace was a bit confuse by this sudden invitation. They only met a few times and couldn't be called friends at all.

"Yes. It would be on the 5th floor of the same shop where you saw me. There will be a lot of interesting things there."

"Mhmm.. But why would you invite me? You even gave me this Silver Membership Card. I heard that you have to spend at least 100 or 200 million credits at the magic shop before you can get this card."

[ 300 million credits. I found records that other apprentices of Slaine Allusia also received free membership from the New Era's Magic Shop. Lacus Minerva was noted to have received Gold Membership on the day she was appointed as apprentice. ] Clarified by Avalon but only Wallace could hear this.

"Of course, you're an apprentice of Sir Slaine so we can do this much."

Tristan indeed replied matter of factly. His smile doesn't look like from a thirteen years old kid but from a sly merchant.

'Right, if I remember correctly, this Lacus Minerva's Mana Artifacts were being sold at their shop. It seems that the shop earns a lot due to Cloud Hawk Manor's craftsmen, huh.'

Wallace could only guess that his status seems to be more convenient than what he had assumed before.

Anyway, he wasn't officially an apprentice yet since if that was the case, he should've received the reward from the Pathfinder due to the mission he got.

Previously, Wallace was only interested on becoming an apprentice of a Grand Arcanist for the sake of his mission and level up his Void Phase but now, it seems to be going a bit more interesting for him.

"Alright, I'll accept. But too bad, I don't have a lot of money with me. So even if there are some interesting things there, I can only watch them." He couldn't help it. He spent almost all his money for his new factory and for the materials needed for his products. His new Simulation Pods wouldn't be ready until a couple more weeks so he's pocket wasn't really in a good condition.

"That's a shame. You can borrow money to your master. He's super rich."

Wallace smiled wryly upon hearing this.

"No, I won't do that. Anyway, that will be a good experience for me so I will attend the auction. Thank you for giving this to me." Wallace had only tried an online auction before when he was still capable of connecting to the Dark Net of Galactic Federation. So aside from gaining experience, he wanted to see the event for himself and broaden his horizon about

"Haha. Is that so? Then let's meet at the auction. My sister would be there too. Here's my contact."

Tristan made sure to leave his details like a professional businessman before going out of the manor.

***

"It's time. Follow me."

It was already seven in the evening when Clyne came to his room and brought him to meet the Grand Arcanist.

Wallace was now standing in front of a 5 meter tall and 3 meter wide door. The room was a bit larger than usual. At the same time, he was feeling a bit stuffy just by getting closer to the room. The place was definitely protected by a higher level of magic.

"Alright. I can't enter the room. You can enter now since Sir Slaine was expecting you."

Wallace nodded and thanked the butler. He pushed open the wooden but tough-looking door and entered the large room.

The first thing that he noticed within was the Mana Density that almost suffocated him at the first breath.

The walls were made of an unknown metal. The room was dimly lit and had a vibe of mysteriousness.

At the center end of the room, he could see Slaine Allusia's frame but what was even more amazing was the thing behind him.

Thud!

The door closed and at the same time. Avalon warned him.

[ We have lost connection to the mainframe. ]

'Tsk. This is bad.' Wallace immediately understand the situation. The room was isolated with a different level of magic that he had never encountered before.

Although losing Avalon's connection to his main body wont cause a problem in it's computing ability, his separated A.I. would take action.

That's right, it was programmed to investigate the place where the connection to Wallace was lost.

It means that the A.I. will send either some automatons, drones, or maybe the mech frame if necessary just to find out the problem. It will most likely try to hack any surveillance cameras around. In short, it will be dangerous for him and for the city.

Sigh~

'There's nothing I can do at the moment... I must finish this ceremony as quickly as possible.'

He couldn't ask the Avalon some questions like how long will the other part of it will take to send investigators as it would surely be noticed by the Grand Arcanist.

"You look nervous. I'm not scary."

Slaine noticed Wallace's expression had  suddenly change after seeing him.

"Er... I was just surprised at that thing behind you."

"Haha! I understand how you feel. I was also shocked seeing this at the first time." Slaine smiled understanding Wallace's current predicament.

"May I ask what is that thing called?" Wallace was curious about the design of the machine.

"Mhmm.. Excited, huh. This is related to your apprenticeship. The requirements I placed were a bit harsh because it's not easy to weild these things..."

"These? So there's more of this?" Wallace just wanted to get more information about it.

"Yes, all my apprentices have one but there's a limited number of them."

Wallace was impressed after hearing Slaine's answer. It seems that this world was doing good in technological advancement. This is an amazing discovery.

The Grand Arcanist continued.

"Alright, the last part you need to be recognized as my apprentice is this."

Slaine already stood up beside the large humanoid metal displayed in the room and patted it.

"This is called an 'Iron Knight'. my gift to you for being my apprentice. You just have to enter and complete the process."

Slaine then threw a metal key to Wallace. The latter caught it and understood that it is needed to activate the thing. Wallace even heard the notification of Pathfinder about the completion of his mission. It was definitely his reward for getting a Master.

He glanced at the key he was holding. It seems that the key was sign of him being an apprentice and this was recognized by the Pathfinder. He ignored the notification for now and focused at his front.

"Yes... M-master." He was still not accustomed to it.

Wallace looked at the four meter high humanoid mechanical suit. It resembles a small version of a Mech Frame.

Him and Avalon were sure that this thing had never appeared in public.

Slaine smiled and explained the situation as Wallace prepared to enter the mechanical suit.

"Sixty. Our country only have sixty of these Iron Knights. I have acquired 10 of them. I plan to give nine of it to my apprentices to continue my legacy."

Wallace was amazed upon hearing this. To acquire that large number from the very limited supply tells a lot about the influence of his master.

"Are we unable to reproduce them?"

Slaine shook his head to answer Wallace's question and stayed silent for a while before explaining further.

"We can't. The blueprint of this Arcane Technology were found in the northern continent and the most important heart or core of these Iron Knights were discovered alongside the blueprint. We have no way to reproduce them. You'll know a lot more once you activated it. Have a look." Slaine finally said as he waited for Wallace to check the machine.