Black Hearted Mage

Life in the North Tower was a leisurely and comfortable experience for Caesar. He would rise before dawn each day to learn how to make bread from Melissa. After a hearty breakfast, he would wander the tower, exploring every nook and cranny. Unless it was a special day to collect snake venom, his small figure was rarely seen in the Alchemy Tower.

The Grand Mage would occasionally summon him to do some minor tasks, mainly cleaning the alchemy room. For this, Caesars was given a summoning stone and was told to be on call.

Over the past month or so, Caesars had successfully integrated into the Northland Tower. Although he was not familiar with the magicians, he had basically gotten along well with most of the magic apprentices and tower guards.

Today, the Northland Tower welcomed a major event—the arrival of new apprentices, who were only recruited once every ten years. At this moment, Caesars was standing at the tower's only entrance, with an elderly, bearded apprentice beside him. He was the one sent by the tower to welcome the new students.

"Rad, I heard that there are more than 200 new apprentices this time! But the strange thing is that only two of them are of civilian origin. What's going on?" Caesars asked the people around him curiously.

Rad was a senior magic apprentice, wearing a black apprentice robe, and was almost 60 years old. His family was from the southern Violet Alliance, and he was also a nobleman without inheritance rights.

"Kasas, you've asked the right person. Learning magic in the tower requires gold coins, otherwise how could the tower afford so many guards? How can the mages study magic without gold coins? Apprentices have to pay a thousand gold coins every year. Commoners can't afford so much gold coins, but even qualified commoners will accept a few. It's not that they don't have to pay. After becoming magicians, they have to serve the tower for hundreds of years!"

Old Rad is very talkative and has the best temper among all the magic apprentices in the tower. He is a senior magic apprentice with a solid foundation in magic theory. These new apprentices will learn from him for three years.

"So this is ah!"

"Kai's boy, just follow them and listen to the class. I must give face to Lord Kandel!"

"Rad, I picked up a few bottles of potions in the alchemy room yesterday. Can you help me take a look at them later?"

"Good boy, another unexpected gain! After the new apprentice is arranged, I will go to the Alchemy Tower to find you. The Magic Tower is crowded. Don't stand here, I need to get down to business."

Rad was a little excited, his gray beard trembling. He looked around slyly, then sent Caesars away quickly.

Dozens of carriages stopped at the tower's gate, and new apprentices began to disembark, their faces filled with fatigue. Caesars nodded and turned to leave the tower's only entrance.

Shortly after noon, Rad met up with Caesars at the Alchemy Tower. He couldn't wait to see those mysterious potions and explore their mysteries.

"Kai's boy, do you live in this damn place?"

Perhaps sensing a stranger, all the black snakes in the cages stood up straight and hissed in warning. Rad looked around at the large cages, and the black snakes inside sent a chill down his spine.

"Don't be afraid, Rad. They're usually very obedient, and they only acted like this because it's your first time here!"

Caesars took out a dozen bottles of potions, all of which he had found in the trash can in the alchemy room. The master alchemist was quite strict, and any potion he made that was even slightly inferior in quality would be thrown into the trash can.

"Kasas, you've made a fortune this time. The red ones are all high-level healing potions. The quality is a little lower, but they can definitely be sold for twenty or thirty gold coins each. The green ones should be high-level agility potions. You can ask the tower guard to confirm this. The blue potions are amazing. I knew they were high-level mana potions the moment I smelled them. Although I can't use them right now, I'll buy them even if it's half price!"

"Rad, two bottles of mana potion are for you!"

"No, I'm not short of gold coins. We have a score to settle. Caesars, there's one more important thing you need to remember. Don't be too generous to others. This is a taboo in the magical world. It means you want the other party to surrender!"

"Ah, there's such a saying!"

"Well, kid, I'll reveal some secrets to you. You'd better learn more about underground monsters. Gaota discovered two underground ruins. There are very aggressive and poisonous underground monsters underneath. Gaota doesn't even dare to explore now!"

Rad took out a heavy purse from his storage ring, counted out sixty gold coins and handed them to Caesars.

"Kaisas, you don't have a storage ring. You picked up those potions and got over 200 gold coins. Where did you hide them?"

Rad looked at the big iron cage where Caesars lived. There was no iron box or anything with a lock.

"The black snake is guarding the gold coins for me!"

The little figure quickly walked to the side. Under Rad's surprised eyes, Caesars opened the iron cage containing the black snake and fished out a hide purse from the hay. He put sixty gold coins into the purse and then stuffed the purse back into the hay.

"Damn it, you almost scared me to death. Aren't you afraid that the black snake will bite you when you enter its cage?"

"Don't be afraid, I told you, they are all very obedient. Only the golden-eyed black devil snake across the way is not very obedient right now, and it won't let me get close to its eggs!"

Rad also knew something about the black magic snake. The fangs of this dark monster could break magic and even pierce low-level magic shields.

"The magic theory class starts tomorrow morning. You know the place, so don't come too late!"

Rad didn't like the breeding room very much because the environment there made him feel depressed and uneasy.

To create the ideal living environment for the black snakes, the magic circle was meticulously crafted, permeating the entire enclosure with a rich, dark atmosphere. This environment was extremely beneficial for the black snakes, aiding their growth and development. However, for Rad, this environment caused him to feel uncomfortable and inexplicably uneasy.

The top floor of the Alchemy Tower was Kandel's private residence. Only with his permission could anyone enter this area. Without permission, no one was allowed to set foot here.

On the top floor of the Alchemy Tower stood a small reception room, furnished with valuable flame maple furniture. These furniture exuded a faint woody fragrance, creating a warm and comfortable atmosphere. In the center of the room sat an elderly man dressed in a black aristocratic robe, sipping a glass of red wine with meticulous care.

The buttons on the old man's robe were made of gold, which indicated that he was of extraordinary status and was at least a nobleman of the earl level.

On the Roland Continent, noble robes had a strict hierarchy. Minor nobles could only wear light-colored robes, with buttons made of bronze or brass. Nobles above the rank of Earl could wear dark-colored robes with buttons made of gold or silver.

Kandel, wearing a red magic robe, gently put the magic notebook in his hand aside, and then looked at the old noble in front of him with interest.

"Have you found out?" Kandel's tone was filled with curiosity and anticipation.

"Great Magician, we have thoroughly investigated everything!"

Lawrence replied quickly, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "The results of this investigation will surely surprise you. I put in a tremendous amount of effort, sending over a dozen people across almost half of Roland Continent to finally uncover the entire history of the Ludwig family!"

Lawrence spoke, carefully setting down the crystal wine glass in his hand, and then pulled out a thick stack of papers from his storage ring. The papers were densely written, and each page was numbered. Lawrence stood up, walked quickly to the Great Mage Kandel, and respectfully handed him the stack of papers with both hands.

Kandel took the results and began to carefully read through them one by one. From the different handwritings, he could tell that Lawrence was right; more than a dozen people had indeed recorded information about the Ludwig family.

As the pages turned, Kandel's expression gradually became one of surprise. Finally, when all the pages were read, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"I see... This is really surprising. I didn't expect that a family of only three people could have such a long history!" Kandel muttered to himself, his eyes revealing his amazement at the past of the Ludwig family.

"Great Magician, they themselves don't know this history now. They only know that their family was once a minor noble family of the Violet Alliance!"

Upon hearing this news, the great magician frowned slightly. "How interesting! It seems time has made them forget the past. Remember, you must keep this information a secret. Only in this way can the Lawrence family survive for a longer period of time. In return for your loyalty, here are three powerful healing potions and two powerful antidote potions. I hope they can help you through these difficult times."

When the five small crystal bottles were placed on the desk, Lawrence's eyes revealed an unconcealable excitement. He carefully picked up each bottle of potion, as if each depended on his own life. For a nobleman caught in the vortex of power, these potions were undoubtedly a lifesaver.

"Thank you so much, Great Magician! I will keep my promise and never reveal these secrets."

"Very good, Lawrence. Your loyalty is reassuring. As long as you maintain this attitude, I believe your family will gain more benefits. As for those who go out to investigate, you must ensure that they do not tell these things to anyone!"

"Understood, Great Magician, I will take care of this matter!"

"One more thing, Lawrence. Is there anyone in your family studying in the tower?"

"Yes, Great Magician, my granddaughter arrived at the tower today, and my second son is now an apprentice in the Magic Tower!"

"That's good. I'll take care of them and make things easier for them in the tower. Of course, the prerequisite is that you find more alchemical materials for me!"

"Thank you again, Great Magician! I will definitely not let you down."

"Well, go ahead, Lawrence."

Lawrence nodded respectfully and left the small reception room. Lawrence was a great nobleman in the Roland Empire, but he had always done business with the Northland Tower, and there were reasons for this.

The paper recording the news of the Ludwig family was collected by the great magician. If his students saw it, the little guy Caesars would probably not be able to escape his clutches.

Several bottles of emerald green potions, identified by the old ogre as mid-grade, advanced agility potions, were more expensive than healing potions. The two ogres were shamans, their potions supplied by the North Tower, so Kaesus could only keep the bottles for himself for the time being.

The next morning, after baking bread and having breakfast, Caesars arrived at the Magic Tower. There were two lecture halls on the bottom floor of the tower, where magic theory was studied.

"Rad, why are you here alone?"

Looking at the empty magic lecture hall, only Rad, with his robe neatly fixed and hair and beard carefully groomed, was sitting in the lecture hall.

"Boy Caesars, we're all here too early. These damn noble apprentices, they didn't even know to come earlier!"

"Rad, you are also a nobleman!"

"I'm a nobleman without the right of inheritance, but I'm about to be promoted, so it's time to go home. It's been almost fifty years since I left home!"

Rad was different from other magic apprentices, he was more like an ordinary person, more sentimental. Other magic apprentices were very indifferent, they would hardly talk to Caesars, in their eyes, talking to ordinary people would be degrading.

"Rad, you haven't been home for fifty years! The North is quite far from the Violet Alliance. It will take at least half a month to get there!"

"Boy, you don't understand. If I don't become a magician, how can I be worthy of the gold my family has spent? I won't be able to hold my head up high when I go home!"

"That's true. One thousand gold coins a year, fifty years would be fifty thousand gold coins!"

"More than that! This amount of gold isn't enough to learn magic. Low-level magic apprentices get 1,000 gold coins per year, mid-level apprentices 2,000, and high-level apprentices 5,000. I draw low-level magic scrolls and teach magic theory to new apprentices just to earn more gold. Magic accessories are incredibly expensive. You haven't even been to the upper levels of the Magic Tower, so it's useless to tell you anything!"

"Can I go up to the top of the magic tower? That's where they sell magic accessories and magic materials. It's also a public area!"

Rad nodded, but he was a little confused.

"Then why didn't you go up and take a look?"

"I didn't have a single gold coin at the time, so I couldn't afford it even if I went up there!"

"You're lucky you didn't go up there. The prices up there are ridiculously high. No magic protection ring costs less than ten thousand gold coins!"

Young Caesar was shocked. He had saved over two hundred gold coins, which he had always thought was a fortune. However, his family worked hard all year, and after deducting all expenses, they could only save three or five gold coins at most.