Chapter 37：Exchange between Mages

During their journey, Sean toyed with the indurium dagger in his hand every now and then, making it appear one second and disappear the next. Rick observed him, completely on edge. No longer daring to underestimate Sean, Rick banished any ill intentions towards him. 

The duo set up camp by the road when night fell. Constantly keeping a watchful eye, Sean started Meditating instead of going to sleep. To Rick, this further confirmed Sean's extraordinariness as well as improved his opinion of Sean. 

The construction of the Golem Factory was completed in the morning of the next day. Sean went to check on it right away. 

Although the Golem Factory was built and came with a complete Golem production line, the only type of Golems that could be produced were Harvest Golems. 

Though Harvest Golems could be up to Level 5 in Combat Level, to Sean, they no longer helped increase his combat effectiveness. Other Golems, on the other hand, could only be produced after exhausting a certain period of time and Garrison Resources on research. 

The Golem Factory provided several different Golem options, including Prototype Death Reapers, and Little Mechanical Squirrels but despite that, Sean was displeased. There was one type though, that lit Sean's eyes up. 

[Harvest Warden, upgraded version of a Harvest Golem. Possesses a more advanced attack and defense, flexible attack strategies, and complex intelligence program. Combat Level 7.]

This Golem type met Sean's current needs. Being at Combat Level 7 meant that it had a higher Combat Level than Sean did. Of course, this rating took into consideration the Gole's low intelligence. If it were based solely on its attack and defense, its Combat Level could potentially be even higher. 

It would be perfect, if it were not for the 400 Garrison Resources building cost as well as the construction time of 7 days. 

Clenching his teeth, Sean exhausted the last of his Garrison Resources and selected 'Research' on the Harvest Warden. 

It was the noon of the third day when Sean and Rick finally arrived at the Tower of Azora. 

From afar, the seven-story tower could be seen towering over the forest. Standing over 40 meters, it was taller than the surrounding trees. 

The bottom half of the tower was a stone structure while the top half was made of wood. The middle section of the tower was narrow, a contrast to the spaciousness of the top and bottom layers. It was different from a traditional Mage Tower. To a certain extent, this tower did not resemble a Mage Tower devoted to research, but rather an arrow tower built for attack and defense. 

Rick pointed at the Tower of Azora and gave a brief introduction. "It's said that the master of this Mage Tower is a High Rank Mage named Azora. Though the Mage Tower has been around for a long time, no one has any idea where Azora disappeared to. Several years back, Sir Theocritus came to the Tower of Azora in an attempt to escape Stormwind City's politics and was later joined by many other Mages. There's probably about twenty to thirty Mages residing in the tower, as well as dozens of their companions and servants." 

Sean nodded solemnly. 

Twenty to thirty Mages were not a small number. The Stromgarde Keep of 2800 years ago had only trained 100 Novice Mage and, after uniting with the Elven Mages of Quel'Thalas, had managed to turn the tables in the war against the Trolls. They had summoned Skyfire to set the entire Troll army ablaze. 

In other words, the existence of twenty to thirty Mages in the Tower of Azora would be a formidable force. Even Westbrook Garrison, which had thousands of soldiers, might not be able to survive an all-out attack from the group. 

Nevertheless, the majority of these Independent Mages had secluded themselves so that they could dedicate their lives to researching Arcane energy and had no interest in combat. Why else would they be here avoiding Stormwind City's politics? 

Rick said, "Sean, the person I'm bringing you to meet is Sir Theocritus, the head of the Tower of Azora. We had an amicable relationship prior to him leaving Stormwind City, you could even say we're old buddies. Of course, Sir Theocritus is a powerful Mid Rank Mage so please remain courteous and humble towards him. Try not to anger him. After all... He doesn't have the best of tempers..." 

Sean nodded and answered, "No problem, I'm well-tempered."

Upon arriving beneath the Tower of Azora, Rick had Sean waiting there while he walked up and knocked on the door. He greeted the servant at the door but their conversation thereafter was inaudible. 

The servant closed the door, seemingly to speak to Theocritus. Several minutes passed before the door was opened once again. The servant gestured them in. 

Rick signaled for Sean to enter. 

Sean removed his bag and followed Rick into the Tower of Azora. 

As it was Sean's first time inside a real Mage Tower, he took in the sights along the way. 

The Tower of Azora was a circular tower, inside was a spiral stairway that reached all the way to the top. The wooden stairway, built from a sturdy and secure timber, looked rather charming after a good polish and coat of paint. 

Encircling the wooden spiral staircase were circular corridors. The outer edge of the corridors led to rows of rooms. There were 7 floors and each floor contained approximately ten rooms. 

"The first floor is reception, and the second floor is the servants' accommodation. The third floor is reserved for our companions, while the fourth floor is for Low Rank Mages. The Mid Rank Mages reside on the fifth floor, the sixth floor is the laboratory, and seventh floor, the roof. I heard that it's where the Tower of Azora's most valuable treasure is kept but I've never been there, so I don't know what it is." 

While they walked, Rick introduced the place in a low voice. Even Rick could not help but appear reserved in the Tower of Azora. Sean, on the contrary, looked at ease. As a Mid Rank Mage, Theocritus was indeed a respected and revered presence but Sean had seen far greater Mages. Hence, his relaxed demeanor. 

The servant escorting Sean and Rick knew his place and spoke no more than he should. Sean was unable to pry any information from him. 

Nonetheless, it did not concern Sean as his purpose was not to pry. He was here to get to know the Mages in the Tower of Azora and perform some trades. If it were at all possible, he might come across a rare opportunity to use the Eye of Azora. 

The Eye of Azora was placed on the seventh floor. It was the treasure that Rick did not know about. 

The servant led Sean and Rick to a room and requested that they wait a moment. Theocritus was in the middle of an important experiment that could not be disrupted or all the effort put into it would be wasted. 

After expressing his understanding, Sean casually used Appraisal Sight on the servant. He had an unexpected discovery that even though the servant had no Class, he was proficient in all kinds of professions — Tailoring, Cooking, etc, albeit they were not that high level. 

It was clear that Theocritus was a man of indulgence. 

After the servant's departure, Sean conserved his energy by closing his eyes in wait for Theocritus. 

It was not long before a sudden explosion rocked the Tower of Azora and was soon followed by a series of curses coming from the top of the tower. It was obvious that someone had blown a fuse after their experiment went wrong. 

Sean threw a glance at Rick. The latter nodded with a bitter smile. 

It was plain to see that their arrival was ill-timed. Theocritus was definitely in a foul mood today.