29: Chapter 29 The Commission, The Disappearance and the Stone Town

Twilight fell upon the academy's obsidian spires like a thin veil, and Ross walked through the arched stone door of the corridor.

The air carried a scent of stale parchment and the sweat of apprentices.

As Ross walked deeper inside, the candlelight on the walls grew brighter.

Ross walked straight toward the mission hall; it was much vaster than he had imagined, and the dome seemed to hold a starry sky.

Countless floating spheres of light moved slowly along a fixed trajectory, projecting onto the mission walls.

These walls made of tung wood were terrifyingly sturdy, unafraid of being gnawed by insects and immune to ordinary water and fire erosion.

Spheres of light of various sizes mapped information onto these tung wood walls.

"It seems this is the academy's mission hall. These densely packed mission light spheres represent the demands of the academy or the wizards."

Ross walked up to a mission wall and observed closely.

Almost every five or six walls, there was a Wizard Apprentice responsible for issuing missions.

An old wizard dressed in a dark gray robe faced Ross, and he also noticed Ross's gaze.

This old wizard was clearly not an Official Wizard; the three silver badges on his chest signified that he was merely a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice.

The Wizard Apprentices working here, aside from those who actively took up positions to earn rewards, were those who had long failed to break through as Level 3 Wizard Apprentices.

Once they exceeded the age limit prescribed by the academy, they would be eliminated.

However, because they had consumed the academy's resources, they had to serve a certain period of forced labor.

Working here in the mission hall, guiding arriving wizards and issuing missions, was already considered a pretty good gig.

Some dangerous jobs like patrolling—if they encountered magical beasts or conflicts, there was sometimes even the risk of losing their lives.

The apprentice before him looked quite old.

He should be an apprentice with limited potential.

However, this did not affect Ross in coming to look for some suitable commissions.

In fact, not only could one accept commissions here, but one could also issue them.

"Hello, young apprentice. My name is Stephen Anderson, and I am the guide responsible for this mission area."

"Do you have any commissions you need my help to issue, or are there any commissions you wish to accept?"

Anderson wore a look of exhaustion, and his aged, feeble voice reached Ross's ears.

"If you wish to issue a mission, besides giving the corresponding magic stone rewards to the apprentices or wizards who accept it, you must also pay the academy a 1% channel fee."

Anderson's explanation was very clear, and Ross also understood that if he wanted to issue a mission, these were the indispensable magic stones to be given to the academy.

"I do not have the need to issue a mission. In fact, I came here today to find some suitable commissions," Ross replied.

"I want to look for missions related to exploring iron mines or caves, or adventure team missions looking for such materials."

The mission hall served as the largest information communication center of the Elius Wizard Academy.

If relevant information could not even be found here, then Ross could just pack up and go home.

"I understand what you mean. Let me search through the records."

After understanding Ross's demands, Anderson searched anxiously on the mission board.

The missions here were relatively very complex and miscellaneous.

If Ross had to look for them himself, it would probably take half a day.

But for those stationed long-term in the mission hall,

their job was to be familiar with the distribution of related employment missions.

And it was the price they paid to repay the academy's loans.

The Wizard World had never been a utopia where everyone got along peacefully.

Here, if one could not break through to become an Official Wizard, one would have no status.

Even becoming a Level 1 Wizard Apprentice only meant not having to repay the academy's loans anymore.

But a hundred years later, they would still turn into a patch of loess.

Watching Anderson's figure rummaging hard in front of the wall, Ross felt that he must never become like this.

Although he had exceptional talent, he should still break through to become a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice as soon as possible.

He must not wait until three or five years later.

This was the level of ordinary people, but for someone like him with a golden finger, he couldn't just slowly grind it out.

"Ah, I found it. It's Boulder Town, located southeast of the academy. It has always been one of the supply bases for producing and refining ores for the academy."

"However, for the past month, the mortals going there have been unable to work normally. As long as they enter, they disappear."

"This has caused the mortals there to no longer dare to mine. The academy needs a Wizard Apprentice to investigate the related causes."

"The mission regarding the disappearance of mortals in Boulder Town was directly assigned by the academy, and the mission reward is relatively generous, around fifty magic stones."

"However, it requires forming a team to go. Two Wizard Apprentices have already taken on this mission. If you take on this mission, you can officially set off."

Anderson searched around and found a suitable mission.

Ross looked at this commission.

Boulder Town was the closest town producing various ores to the Elius Wizard Academy.

The mortals gathered there also lived by the mines, providing the Wizard Academy with mined and refined minerals in exchange for rewards.

The mortals there had always lived a fairly good quality of life. Over the past month, however, mortals entering and leaving there had vanished without a trace.

Causing others not to dare to mine anymore.

If Ross went there, he could not only obtain the desired ores locally,

but also earn a commission reward from the academy.

If this reward was divided among three people, on average each person would get less than 20 magic stones.

For Ross, the number of magic stones was not much, but for ordinary Level 3 Wizard Apprentices, this was already a huge sum of money.

Ross's reward for helping an Official Wizard tend to magical plants for a week was only a dozen or so magic stones.

Just going to investigate the situation once could net nearly 20 magic stones, which was already considered a quite generous reward.

Therefore, this commission had already found two Wizard Apprentices.

If Ross had been a step later, he might have missed this commission.

"I will also take on this commission. Is there anything I need to prepare?" Ross replied.

"If you accept this commission, you can come here to the mission hall at the end of this month."

"The other two Wizard Apprentices will also arrive together, and you can set off together."

After Ross took on this mission, he still had some time to prepare until the end of the month.

After all, this was his first time leaving the Wizard Academy.

Some wilderness survival tools, or emergency medical potions, still needed to be prepared.

As for whether there were any dangers beyond this reward, that was not something Ross could anticipate.