In the plane Albion, magical organisations could be classified under three categories: Small-scale, medium-scale and large-scale.
The Magical Court, for one, was considered a large-scale organisation, because it possessed several magi.
Medium-scale magical organisations often referred to clans with legacy of a magus, a being that had transcended the acolyte realms of magic.
Small-scale organisations, like the arcane faction (a sub-organisation of the magical court) or the Black Widow Association, were gatherings of acolytes only, with no records of a magus within their ranks.
As strong as Elizabeth Blackhope was, she was ultimately an advanced-rank acolyte only, far from the legendary realm of magi. Capable of moving mountains, annihilating armies by themselves or even dwell in artefact manufacturing, magi were highly respected in all empires and kingdoms.
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[Lunia]
Lunia was a small, rural town within the Phuinem Empire. Located near the 'forbidden mountains', where monsters such as goblins and orcs lived, it was highly dependant on its adventuring business and flourished from the commerce around it.
The Black Widow Association, with its members numbering in the dozens at best, did not possess a true headquarters. As acolytes walking the path of dark magi, they could be hunted at sight if they revealed their identity. By extension, they could only hide within the society.
As Greem and the others exited the [Lunia Library], the 'cover' of Elizabeth Blackhope, the group went straight to the [Black Horse Inn], where Ronnie lived. The inn was also a cover, but despite appearances, Ronnie was one of the few 'intermediate rank acolytes' within the organisation.
As a member of the Black Widow Association, he too walked a forbidden path. He walked a very dangerous path: [Transfiguration], one that required him to modify his own body. After a failed experiment, he had become a zombie. Sunlight made him weak, and his hunger was insatiable. If it weren't for Elizabeth, he would have long since become a mindless beast, but her potions had alleviated his symptoms, allowing him to retain his sanity, to some extent.
"Hey, Ronnie", Greem spoke while showing the seal of the Black Widow Association, "We completed our mission. Here is Elizabeth's letter"
"Protocols, Greem, protocols...", Ronnie complained, "I don't want to kill an innocent because you failed to respect the basic rules of the association. The first one we taught you was not to talk about it in the open"
Willem chuckled: "But we are not in the open, haha. I have never seen an inn more empty than yours. In years we have been coming and going, we never crossed path with a single regular human being in the winter season"
Ronnie groaned: "Let me see the letter"
Greem handed it over. Unknowingly, as he learned his second spell a year ago, he had become the leader of the group. Vanessa held no interest in leadership, more focused on her sword training than administrative chores. As for Willem, he was a creepy man who possessed little social awareness. Although he looked 30, he was already a 60 years old, charm of his vampire bloodline, and he had little interest in training his social skills.
After displaying sufficient strength, it was naturally Greem, who was the son of local merchants and grew up in this town, to handle requests and administrative tasks.
Ronnie struggled to read, but after a good minute, he nodded: "Quite impressive...I remember back then, you struggled on green-star requests. But look at you, is it your third -no fourth yellow-star mission completed?"
Vanessa revealed a rare smile on her usually cold face. Willem, too, felt pride.
Greem, however, betrayed no expression. In his eyes, his progress was slow.
Back when he first joined the team, he was a weakling. He barely knew one spell, [Dark Illusion], which at the time could only surprise an enemy for a couple of seconds, incomparable with the effect it could now display. Yet, Willem and Vanessa saw potential in him and accepted him within the group to replace a deceased teammate. It took years, but they were finally taking yellow-star missions again.
"Five magic crystals each, as well as the tome you requested", Ronnie put the valuables on the counter.
They all nodded. Compared to the crates of fire crystals that were worth a fortune, five magic crystals was abysmal. However, for beginner rank acolytes like them, it was quite large and could sustain their needs for a couple of weeks at the very least.
They had been smugglers in this mission, and in theory, they should not have even engaged with the arcane faction acolytes. It had been Greem's initiative, one to gather more EXP. Of course, there was no way either Willem or Vanessa realised that.
No.
The true value came from the tomes.
Greem peeked at the objects on the table.
Willem
[Asynchronous blood pulse theory - Volume IV]
[Rutherford Household Legacy Tome - Military swordsmanship]
[Negative Energy Theory - Dark Nodes]
Knowledge was power. For regular acolytes, reading books and growing understanding in their respective fields was the best way to grow proficiency in magical knowledge. Without sufficient knowledge, it was impossible to learn certain spells.
Willem naturally requested a tome of blood magic, matching his affinity.
Vanessa, as a body refinement acolyte, preferred a tome on swordsmanship. Despite being much older than Greem, she had yet to learn a single spell. Of course, she tried, but unlike Greem's grade 3 shadow elemental affinity, she only had grade 1 earth elemental affinity, the lowest of all. The scale went from 1 to 5, lowest to highest.
Even if a book only mentioned theories, they would translate, after careful study, into proficiency of the field. Most spells required magical knowledge to be cast, after all.
[Dark Illusion] had low requirements, only needing him to reach 20 points of proficiency in "Shadow Knowledge".
Vanessa had bought the [Petrification Gaze] spell, but it was considered rather high-level. Once, Vanessa invited him over and a brief skimming through the spell book allowed him to estimate the spell to require 40 points of proficiency in "Earth Magic Knowledge", a threshold which Vanessa most likely did not reach yet.
Some spells like [Ombre Curse], capable of cursing items so that they would deal additional shadow elemental damage, required 60 points of proficiency in shadow knowledge. Some spells Greem had his eyes on required even higher values.
Hence, it surprised no one when he asked for the [Negative Energy Theory - Dark Nodes] book.
[Greem Southport - Lv. 7 Beginner Rank Acolyte (30 / 800 EXP)
Strength - 3 | Agility - 2 | Vitality - 4 | Magic Power - 7
Perks: Grade III Shadow Elemental Affinity
Spells: Dark Illusion (80), Shadow Hand (63), Ombre Curse (25)
Skills: Shadow Elemental Knowledge (58), Magical Knowledge (45), Swordsmanship (15), Crossbow Mastery (5)
Miscellaneous skills: Accounting (60), Eloquence (35), Charm (25),
Magical Artefact: Soul Ring [SSS]]
Taking his due, Greem bid farewell to Ronnie and his teammates. As per their internal agreement, they would have at least a week to absorb their rewards, before they would choose their next mission. One of the association's perks was freedom. Some members were only taking on a mission a year, while some would be much more active and form teams, like Greem, Willem and Vanessa.
Often, they would be the ones dying first, but their team held together for four years now. They had gone a long way, from the lowest grade mission, green rank missions, to yellow rank missions. And Greem played a big role in it.
A green rank mission would only pay one or two magic crystals.
Yellow rank missions would pay up to 30 magic crystals and magical knowledge, often under the form of copied magical tomes.
Red and black rank missions would have even greater payouts. Rumours said that it could reward magic artefacts...