Chapter 24: The Magan Mayor

"[Black Whirlwind]"

A man had said casually. A black-colored gale blew around the office lobby. The incoming projectile attacks were then nullified by this single skill.

The attack skill was a complex combination of the shadow element and the wind element.

Yoshino Aruven had actually boosted his six-fold skill before using the wind element coming from the man. Even though he tried to conceal his presence, Scanner was able to detect his energy signature.

Yoshino had just 'tweaked' the wind into storm so that the owner would not notice. Probably.

I see. So the clerks continued their attacks despite my surrender because he wanted to have a grand entrance.

Yoshino thought as he sighed. He was not unscathed during the battle. Multiple injuries had riddled his body. Although he had avoided having major wounds at the very least.

A Healer clerk had approached him. He did not resist on the attempt to aid his recovery. He then took a glance at the man.

The man was around his early thirties. He has leather black hair which was combed neatly towards the back. He was wearing a pair of reading glasses. His suit and tie attire would obviously give away his identity.

He was of course the Mayor of Keshun City.

[Sur Tan]. The man who had cleared a special dungeon of the same name. He was then referred to as that when he joined the Magan Empire.

[Roku Shiki Online] also had the system of obtaining Titles. These were alternative names that a player could obtain upon completing some quests. Each Title offers special effects that could give a player some advantages.

However this mechanic did not carry over when the world transmigrated. Although one could still obtain a Title, they no longer offer any special effects.

Despite that, the Magan Empire insisted on the value of these Titles. Thus Sur Tan was now using the alternative name he had obtained.

"You are disappointing."

The City Mayor sneered. He approached Yoshino. But the young man glared back. He then asked,

"Why?"

"Hmph, you tried to waltz into my office. You are asking for a beating from what I see."

Sur Tan harrumphed. He then walked towards the direction of his private office. Yoshino followed suit together with the Healer clerk. He then said,

"That does not answer my question. Why?"

"Careful with your tone."

Sur Tan warned in annoyance. Yoshino fell silent. He was indeed guilty here since he did imagine himself waltzing inside the lobby as if he owned the place.

But that was it, an imagination. How could the mayor knew about this? Was he a mind reader as well?

"Tch, the smug face you have gave away your thoughts. You don't need mind reading to figure that out.

He definitely had mind reading skills.

Yoshino was convinced of this assumption. But he did not press on the matter. He would rather attack the issue on a different angle. Thus he asked,

"So you were looking at me from the moment I entered the building? Like some kind of sick pervert?"

"Please. You still don't get the message? You are weak."

Sur Tan was able to land a counter attack. He grinned when he saw that it was effective. He then added,

"No matter what advantages you think you have, you are still not invincible at Tier 1."

Yoshino wanted to argue back. He wanted to say that he was outnumbered. That the enemies were ganging up on him. But he realized that all of those were just petty excuses.

His Scanner had confirmed that all the clerks that attacked him were at Tier 1. The mayor had defeated him by only sending out his Basic lackeys. He never even bothered deploying anyone with a higher Tier.

They had then reached the mayor's private office. Sur Tan signaled the Healer clerk to leave them alone.

Yoshino was still not fully recovered. He wanted to receive a few more healing skills. But the clerk had already left. He had no choice but to recover on his own.

Sur Tan wanted to deliver his message clearly this time. He said,

"Stop dallying and cultivate to a higher realm already!"

Sur Tan had the right to give a scolding. This was because the mayor had sponsored Yoshino for a scholarship grant. This was not the typical grant given to most university students though.

First and foremost, there was actually no financial assistance involved here. Yoshino did not receive any kind of resources from the City Mayor's Office. Not even a single piece of glowing stone.

The scholarship was practically useless!

Well… Not quite. The scholarship was actually the reason why Yoshino was able to retain his student status in the university.

Yoshino should have been kicked out of the university without the aid. Falling back down to Tier 1 was still forgivable. But he had been stuck at the Basic-Tier for the past two years. On official records, he had been idle on his cultivation for a long time now. And this was one thing that no university would tolerate.

Nonetheless, the scholarship had given him a chance to stay.

In exchange though, Yoshino must not claim the title [Rah Qa].

The Magan Empire had a penchant desire to recruit people that had cleared the named Dungeons. They would promise enormous riches for anyone who claims a Title.

If Yoshino were to reveal himself, the various factions within the Guild would have offered him deals that was too good to be true.

However, even Yoshino understood that there were no such thing as free lunch.

Currently, there were six known named dungeon clearers in the world that the Magans had accepted. Yoshino was not included in this count.

Each one of them was probably under the command of certain factions within the guild. And each must fulfill the roles that were given to them without fail.

Take Sur Tan for example, he had put aside his original name after obtaining a title. The Guild had then allocated various resources to help his cultivation.

He was currently at the peak of Tier 4. And he was probably making arrangements for his breakthrough.

How difficult was it to reach Tier 4 exactly?

One was qualified to graduate from a university if he had reached the peak of Tier 3. Of course there were exemptions like Yoshino who would try to achieve a breakthrough first before officially applying for graduation.

And as he had experienced, succeeding on the attempt was truly challenging.

Then one had to cultivate further in order to reach the Peak-level. In addition, the gap between sub-levels would grow wide as the Tier goes higher.

The amount of resources, cultivation, and proficiency needed to level-up at that realm would be enormous!

In summation, one had to graduate from a university, then achieve a breakthrough, and then search for sufficient training grounds in order to reach the peak of Tier 4.

And reaching that realm of cultivation at the age of early thirties was already considered an outstanding feat.

Even if Yoshino and Richard Marg had succeeded on their attempts for a breakthrough, they would still probably need a few more years just to reach the Mid-level.

And what about the chance to reach the realm beyond Tier 4?

The resources needed to accomplish that would probably be astronomical!

So much so that the Magan Empire had assigned Sur Tan to become a mayor of a city in the metropolis.

Although the guild was an international power, they probably wanted to test the capabilities of Sur Tan as well. If he succeeds, he would most likely be promoted to the higher echelons of the Empire.

But what if he fails?

He probably have his own troubles.

Yoshino thought. He wanted to protest that attempting for a breakthrough required preparations. Even at Basic-Tier. But he decided to stay quiet. He accepted the reprimand.

Sur Tan had now taken his seat behind his office desk. He leaned his arm on the desk and crossed his fingers. He then said,

"You could have dealt with those clerks if you were at Tier 2."

Apparently he was still not done with his scolding. This time, Yoshino fought back. He was still not THAT emotionally mature.

"So you say. But you would have probably sent out Tier 2s instead. The result would have been the same."

"Hmph, maybe."

The mayor sneered. The two had agreed to disagree with this matter.

Suddenly,

"Then stop bragging that you have redirected a lightning strike while still at Tier 1. You will not obtain any Titles from that."

"Huh?!"

Yoshino was surprised upon hearing such accusations. He had been hearing that recently.

First was from the person who helped him forge a notification to get pass a blockade. Then Soura had hinted on it. Now the mayor was blatantly accusing him of it.

He never tried to brag about that feat. And as far as he know, his was name was not changed to Iroh.

But now that Yoshino thought about it, the clerk with an electric whip seemed to be wary of him. Then the fire-using clerk was able to defend against the redirected electric attack.

Heck, whenever he boosted electric attacks during the previous fight, every one of the clerks were able to defend against him.

Could it be that all the clerks had used some kind of lightning element protection? Perhaps they used a consumable?

That would explain why their increased resistance was not detected by Scanner.

That would also explain why the clerks had conducted the battle inside a building.

But why?

Was he actually that famous?

Whatever the answer may be, Yoshino tried to correct the misunderstanding.

"That was just a fluke. Lightning will not simply emerge by my side whenever I called for it."

"Good. Keep it that way."

Sur Tan had dismissed the issue. But his tone was that of someone who was not convinced by the explanation.

Screw it.

Maybe he should just admit whatever rumors were spreading. That way, the rumor-mongers would be triggered further.