Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

If a potion master sells a relatively rare potion, the guild will also give them a certain number of points, and these points are the key to increasing their privileges.

"Oh~"

Morty's eyes widened, his fingers flew as he uncorked the bottle, and he eagerly brought his nose to the opening, his nostrils flaring as he carefully inhaled the unknown scent.

"Pop—"

In an instant, Morty sealed the bottle. His pupils trembled uncontrollably, his Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and he savored the powerful aura that had just escaped.

"The dew of the Moon Soul Beast, indeed... this ratio has the effect of healing the soul, what a wonderful idea."

Morty muttered to himself, then after a moment, he looked up at Hughes and said admiringly:

"Lord Hughes, this type of potion is very valuable. The guild can provide it to you..."

Because they need to consider the industries of other factions, the Potions Master Guild only accepts potions of superior quality.

However, the potions that Hughes brought out were all of very high quality, so after checking them one by one, Morty accepted them all and added some points to Hughes's communication crystal.

Looking at the gradually bulging storage bag, Hughes was in high spirits. Suddenly, he thought of something, raised an eyebrow, and, enduring the smell of medicine on Morty, leaned closer to him and said:

"Lord Morty, do you know... what's been happening in Kodia lately? Why was the rune array activated?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Morty suddenly reached out and pushed, and the next moment, with a muffled "bang," the two heavy wooden doors of the guild slammed shut, completely shutting out the noise outside.

The hall fell silent, and the light suddenly dimmed. Only from a room in the distance could one hear the occasional clinking of a pool ball—that was Elodie tidying up the alchemy room.

"Lord Hughes..."

Morty's voice was so low that Hughes couldn't hear it at all unless he listened carefully.

"I haven't seen you in Kodia before, so you must be from elsewhere?"

Hughes nodded, indicating his agreement.

"The city lord originally instructed us not to tell outsiders about this."

"But since we're both members of the Potions Master Guild, I'll give you some information."

As he spoke, Morty leaned closer, and the pungent smell of medicine emanating from him assaulted Hughes's nostrils, making him feel dizzy.

"Someone is trying to assassinate the members of the Golden Ring family here..."

Morty deliberately kept his voice very low, his goatee hanging down, completely obscuring his lips, making it impossible to tell that he was speaking.

Could it be...?

Hughes's heart tightened. When it came to assassinating the Golden Ring Crown, his first thought was of the Black Ring Crown. If the Black Ring Crown's people were here, then he…

Thinking of this, Hughes tightened his grip on the storage pouch at his waist, which contained gloves representing members of the Third Ring, and he himself was currently practicing the sorcery called Shadow of the Black Mist.

Hughes was somewhat worried that if the real Black Ring Crown members were here, his three-ring gloves in his storage bag might be detected.

Since returning from his last adventure, Hughes had been using methods to conceal his presence on his gloves, fearing that the Black Ring Crown would discover him.

However, to prevent others from discovering it, Hughes did not have a runemaster engrave runes to conceal the secret aura on the glove.

I simply had a box made that served a similar purpose, and put the gloves inside for storage.

However, since the Black Ring Crown has been able to exist under the nose of the Gold Ring Crown for so many years, it's hard for Hughes not to be sure that they have some strange methods to mark the members' identity credentials.

If the Black Ring Crown's people discover that glove, things will likely become very difficult. At that point, it won't just be the Black Ring Crown that will target him; the Gold Ring Crown will probably investigate him as well.

"Assassination of the Golden Ring family? And it's the Black Ring Crown again?"

Suppressing his unease, Hughes tentatively asked Morty.

He tried his best to control his facial muscles and tone of voice so that Morty wouldn't notice his psychological changes.

Fortunately, Morty didn't notice Hughes's odd behavior and continued answering:

"No, the Black Ring Crown was cleared out by the forces in the center of the continent long ago. Although there are still some remnants, I don't think they would dare to cause any trouble."

"According to what I've heard, the one who made this move is the recently emerging force—the Black Pact's Nest!"

"The Nest of Black Pacts?!"

Hughes muttered the name under his breath, trying to search his memory for information about them, but unfortunately, he had never heard of this assassin organization.

However, upon learning that the people who arrived were not the Black Ring Crown team, Hughes felt a slight sense of relief, and his slightly furrowed brows unconsciously relaxed.

"It's normal that you don't know. Since the fall of the Black Ring Crown, many black forces have risen up. Even some wizards on the Golden Council's blacklist have established organizations in an attempt to seize the business left behind by the Black Ring Crown."

"And the Black Pact's Nest is an assassin organization that has recently emerged in western Maranthel."

"However, they don't just kill members of the Golden Ring family; they kill people purely for the magic stones."

"As for how to get them to issue commissions, it's through a sorcery called 'Drunie's Black Contract'."

"This witchcraft is also exclusive to their organization; its effect is to generate a black rune at the target location."

"This contract can last for at least six months. During this period, anyone who wants to work with their organization can form a contract with the assassin through this rune."

"This contract is two-way. If the person issuing the mission makes any 'mistakes,' they will die immediately; and if the assassin fails the mission—they will die."

"Members of the Black Pact Nest apply these runes throughout the continent to help them expand their business."

"Because of the 'failure means death' penalty, assassins who accept missions are always well-prepared, resulting in a very high mission completion rate for their organizations, which is why they have risen to prominence."

"Rustling sound—"

Morty poured himself and Hughes a drink to moisten their throats. His tone lowered slightly as he spoke mysteriously:

"As for why the Golden Ring family noticed it—because someone discovered a black rune within their family's manor!"

"Within the family!"

Hughes' pupils suddenly contracted. If the runes were found in the family, then it was very likely that someone from the Golden Ring family wanted to kill his relatives.

Morty was pleased with Hughes's expression, and then proceeded to tell Hughes everything he had gathered.

"They checked the rune, and unsurprisingly, it had already been contracted by someone, so now the Golden Ring family is conducting a large-scale search of the city."

As he spoke, Morty pointed upwards.

"And that barrier, at the request of the Golden Ring family, had the Runemaster Guild add the function of checking runes."

……