A Tempting Reward

It took a minute for the three Mages to get over the little demonstration and they were brought out of it by the words of the immortals.

"Since you've done us a service, it is necessary that you get paid for it too." Immortal Yan suddenly spoke.

"Paid!? We could never!" Mage Clor immediately denied.

"Yes! We cannot take payments from the sacred immortals." Mage Pitas spoke.

"It would be a sin to expect payment!" Mage Rizal chimed in.

Even though the three wanted nothing more to get something from the Immortals, they knew that showing that would be bad. They wanted to show their veneration and devotion just for the hope that they might get a little reward from the Immortals.

Even the smallest reward from the Immortal would be a massive fortune for not just them, but for others. And depending on what kind of reward it was, it could very well change their fates forever.

As such, they couldn't accept the reward outright and had to show some apprehension at first.

"Just take it." Immortal Yan replied, knowing that it was all just an act. 'At least these humans know their place.' He thought to himself.

~shua~

A small vial appeared in his hand magically and looked to be rather shiny. 

It was made from some sort of crystal and had finely shaped edges with a rounded top that had a small cap. Inside it, one could see a small red pill. It was rather unassuming and had no marks or patterns on it.

But when the three mages saw it they were left stunned.

"Is… Is that… An Elixir!?" They exclaimed.

It was something they had only heard legends about and read some descriptions in the book. 

'The immortal's elixirs are one of the greatest medicines in the world… They can have miraculous effects and all those that were bestowed such a medicine rapidly progressed and became powerful mages.' Mage Rizal thought to himself.

Immortal Yan saw the awe on their faces and felt a bit irked while Immortal Wu Lei internally scoffed.

'That's all these humans amount to in the end… they're all the same.' Immortal Wu Lei thought to himself.

"L-lord Immortal… May we ask what elixir is this?" Mage Clor asked carefully, unable to move his eyes from the vial.

"We call this a Minor Tide Stream Elixir." Immortal Yan answered. "We usually use it to restore a part of our energies. But I suppose it should be more than sufficient to make one of you advance to the next rank." He explained.

"Progress to the next rank?" The faces of the three mages went blank.

One must know that they were Three Star mages, which was already a high rank for a mage in these parts. Not only that, but this rank was enough for them to be running a Mage Tower of a region. Being a Three Star Mage was even enough to be offered the position of a noble if one requested it.

But a Four Star Mage was something on entirely another level. It was a level less than one in a thousand Mages could reach and even that took decades to do so.

Not only did it need a lot of talent, it also needed a lot of fortune, both cash and luck, to do so. 

Pitas, Rizal and Clor were all Three Star Mages and had long since dreamed of becoming a Four Star Mages. This was also why they had taken up positions at a Mage tower as it was one of the most common ways of gaining wealth for Mages.

If one managed to become a Four Star Mage, they could join the bigger mage towers of the Kingdom as a high ranking member. This would then allow them to gain further knowledge as well as accumulate more wealth.

They had thought that it was all in the future, far away for them. But they didn't realize it would be happening so soon.

'I have to get it.' The Three Mages had the same thought.

They looked at each other, knowing that they were now in a dilemma. There was one pill but three of them.

"Do I have to keep on holding it?" Immortal Yan said with a hint of disdain.

"AH YES!" The Mages quickly moved, with Mage Clor being the first one to snatch it away. "Thank you a lot, Lord Immortal. We'll make sure this glorious day is recorded in the Kingdom's history in detail!" he immediately said.

'Dammit!' Pitas and Rizal cursed inwardly.

Feeling their dagger like looks on his back, Clor knew that they will be pissed about this a lot, but he didn't care about it right now.

'Not like you two can break your composure in front of the Immortals.' Mage Clor chuckled inwardly. 

While he knew that he'll eventually have to split the pill with them somehow, he still felt happy at being able to snatch it first as it meant that he would have the underhand in negotiations.

"We'll now take our leave." Immortal Yan abruptly stood up now that his work here was done.

~FLAP~FLAP~FLAP~

The three Immortals unfurled their wings, the halo to which they were attached glowing brightly.

"All hail the Sacred Immortals!" The people all knelt down, seeing that with the mages and knights doing the same.

The Three Immortals gave a perfunctory look to the commoners before looking away. Immortal Han Mu's gaze lingered on Asher for a few seconds longer, unknown thoughts going through her mind.

Immortal Wu Lei though, only felt irritated and was happy that they were finally moving on from here.

"Let's head out!" Immortal Yan said, taking the lead.

~WHOOSH~

Then with a single flap of his wings, he created a great gust that knocked back several people and blew the tent away while overturning the table.

~WHOOSH~ WHOOSH~

Immortal Wu Lei and Han Mu flew behind him and the three soon disappeared into the orange sky.