Alger slowly opened his eyes; It was twilight. The sun had just begun to rise in the East, casting a soft glow across the sky. Birds chirped gently, filling the quiet morning with life.
"Damn it... how long have I been asleep?" he muttered, rubbing his face with one hand.
After looking at the corpse of the wolf, he concluded that he had passed out for almost a day. The wolf's tooth was still embedded in his torso, which ended up preventing blood loss.
When he got out of the jaw, the blood started to flow out again....
He quickly removed his shirt and used it as a makeshift bandage around his stomach. He grabbed his belt, which had a small survival kit he carried around for situations like these. He grabbed the needle and thread that were in it.
He was going to crudely stitch his wound. But before that, he needed to wash himself. He was covered in blood and smelled like rotten flesh.
He sheathed his broken katana and used it as a crutch. After slowly limping towards the nearby river, he removed his clothes and got in.
After a while, he carefully stitched the hole on his side that was caused by the wolf.
"finally...." He said while exhaling.
"I almost died.... I need to get stronger."
Wait a second....
He realised something.... the wind felt different.
He had become a Conjuror at 16.....
"No way.... I did it. I became a Conjuror....."
The difference between a Conjuror and an Awakened was a lot.... Just like the name suggests, A Conjuror can actually summon their Element, an Inferno Conjuror can create flames, A tempest Conjuror can summon the wind.... A Conjuror was a whole league above an Awakened.
Although he didn't have a single drop of Elemental energy left within him. That is why he couldn't test anything out.
Alger could still breathe and walk; that was all that mattered.
He was going to sell the fur of the Tempest wolf to earn money. The Tempest wolf isn't found anywhere around here, so he knew its fur would be worth a lot. But for now, he was tired.... all he wanted to do was to sleep. He had no Energy left.
He was planning on returning to the Orphanage and coming back after a while.
He slowly got out of the water and put a real bandage around the wound. He wore his clothes, which had a lot of holes in them, and walked towards the corpse of the Tempest Conjuror.
Alger removed the blade of his katana that was stuck in the skull of the Conjuror wolf. But when the blade was completely out... he saw something glowing. Glowing within the skull of the wolf.
Although Alger didn't want to do it, he had to use his hand to remove the source of the glow. And when he did.... he was shocked.
What lay in his palm was a translucent whitish-blue crystal. It was a Tempest Elemental ore of the Conjuror tier. Alger just struck gold.
Impossible! No way! This can't be happening! Just how lucky am I...
Alger had no idea how much a Tempest Conjuror ore was worth. He never bothered to check the price because he knew it would be far too expensive for him to afford.
Th-This has to be worth at least a few pounds! o-ouch.
He got too excited after seeing the crystal, which almost ended up opening his wound again.
Welp, change of plans, I guess....
Alger put his broken katana in its sheath and made sure he still had the coins he had saved over the years in his pockets, around 110 coins. He then started to slowly walk towards the edge of the forest.
He wasn't going to the Orphanage... He was aiming for Iron Street.
Iron Street was known as a weapon district. While a few mundane shops lined the area, the bulk of the street was filled with stores selling all kinds of weapons, be it swords, spears, shields, axes, and even gear made with Elemental ore.
He was sure he had seen a few shops selling and buying Elemental ore. But before doing that, he has to first buy new clothes, he was already half-naked and his pants are covered in blood, he could also use some real bandages.... and maybe something to eat while he was at it.
By the time he made it to Iron Street, the sun was already up, and the streets were starting to get busy. Unlike the Orphanage, Iron Street was located almost at the heart of the city. There was not a single forest tree in sight. That is why it took him a while to get there.
He first bought some new clothes from a small shop.
The clothing in Mytherra was... strange. Most people walked around in tunics, gowns, and loose trousers, nothing too flashy. But Alger had seen others wearing shirts, suits—and even jeans. Modern-looking clothes did exist here, but they came at a ridiculous price… even more expensive than they were back on Earth.
So for now, he had to settle for a cheap tunic and a pair of loose trousers. They weren't the best—plain and a bit old—but at least people stopped staring at him like he was some kind of lunatic.
After that, he went to eat some food at a restaurant.
And he ate like a madman, a beast who hadn't been fed for months. His attempts to make people stop staring at him were in vain....
It cost him around 3 coins for all of this. Alger wouldn't have even dared to spend this much money on just one trip. But today was a special day....
After he had eaten his food. He was ready. Ready to sell the Elemental ore.
He took it out of his pocket. He looked at it, analyzing the mystical glow it was emitting.
After a while of walking in a general direction, he finally reached the shop.
The shop wasn't huge; it was tucked between a tannery and a blacksmith's forge. Its walls were built from dark stone and timber, giving it a solid, heavy feel.
When Alger stepped in, he saw shelves lined the walls, displaying chunks of ore in varying shapes and colors—iron, copper, tin, small veins of silver, and glimmering crystals of various colors.
He slowly walked towards the counter and saw an older man with soot-stained gloves and a leather apron standing.
"Kids these days! You brat, what are you doing in my shop?! I know you aren't here to buy. If you want to sightsee, go somewhere else!"
A little rude, are we?
"Hi, I'm Alger Stronghold, here to sell an Element ore."
The old man looked at him again. Assessing his outfit.
"Well, you should get out then, I don't buy little pieces of ore you found lying in some cave."
"Ah! It seems you have no interest in buying a tier three Tempest ore.", he said while slowly going towards the exit.
"Yeah, that's right I'm not int—wait what?! What did you just say, br—boy?"
Alger turned around, smiling a little.
"You wouldn't be interested in buying a Tempest ore of the Conjuror tier, would you?" he removed the radiant crystal from his pocket, showing it to the old man.
The old man tried to hide his shock, but Alger was able to see the excitement in his eyes.
"W-Wait just a second! How the hell did a br—young man like you get his hands on something like this?!"
Alger thought for a second, coming up with a lie.
"I just happened to stumble upon a heavily injured Tempest wolf. Separated from its pack, I waited for it to fall asleep and then silently killed it."
The old man was shocked; he didn't even try hiding it.
"A T-Tempest wolf!? I-I'll give you 150 coins! No! 200 coins!"
Alger looked at the old man in disbelief.
"Only 200? Drok offered me 250 coins. I only came hear because I heard your shop was well respected." Which was obviously a lie. Nobody by the name Drok existed, and Alger had just walked into the first Ore shop he saw.
"250?! tsk. Fine! I'll do 300! You can't refuse that deal, young man! I'll even give you a discount if you want to forge a weapon out of the piece of Ore."
Forge?
"I'll take 300 coins, as for the second part... till when will a katana be ready?"
Alger could tell that the old man was happy, the Tempest ore must be worth a lot.
"Huh? A katana? Well, I could prepare one well-suited for you by Thursday."
Thursday, tsk.
"Ah! A shame, I'm leaving for Stormhollow on Saturday."
Stormhollow was the capital of the Eastern territory.
Mytherra had many schools, but four stood out.
Each of the four territories had a Grand University, located in its capital. These weren't like ordinary schools; they held mountains of knowledge. Exactly what Alger was searching for. They also had no tuition fee, but to get admission into one of these schools, you have to give an Entrance exam. Thousands of Aspirant mages try to give these exams, but only a few are selected.
It has been sixteen years since Alger reincarnated, but he still has no answers.
What was the green star?
Why did he reincarnate?
Why did he have ten gates?
Why was there Elemental Energy in the world?
What was the Unknown?
What were the Calamities?
Why was the Unknown… unknown?
What happened a thousand years ago?
The questions hadn't gone away, they'd only multiplied.
So Alger had made his decision. He would attend a Grand University. And to do that, he had to pass the entrance exam.
Zephyr, the city where Alger lived, is small compared to Stormhollow—the capital of the Eastern Territory. Stormhollow is located a few hundred kilometers north of Zephyr. It was a week's journey away.
For a School of such caliber, they had to hold exams on multiple days. Of course, one student was only permitted to give the exam once every year. The entrance ceremony lasts for around one month. Starting on the first of February and ending on the first of March.
Alger placed the Ore on the counter, and after the old man took it, he placed three shimmering rectangular ingots stacked on top of each other on the table.
This was his first time seeing a pound. He had expected that they would be made out of gold, but he was wrong.... they were made out of Elemental ore, multiple Elemental ores. Which gave it its holographic look.
"Pleasure doing business with you, br—young man."
Alger slowly walked towards the exit, slipping the ingots into his pocket.