Chapter 11 - Announcement

Three individuals, seated close enough to let the world know they had some sort of alliance, but not as close as he and Mary, glared at Greem with matching levels of anger.

First was Acteon, the bug apprentice.

The stunt he pulled with Mary caused the insect enthusiast to get caught in the "crossfire" of Alice's Spatial Shatter, the indiscriminate and devastating attack shredding to dust most of the bugs that made up his body. 

Right now, he had a thick cloak obscuring his features, his bright, lemon green eyes the only things visible in the dark hood.

Alice's attack had cut him down to size… literally. While at first he stood at a height of near 6 ft, he was now no taller than a 9 year old.

The scars and injuries on his body must also be something. It would definitely take him a while to recover. 

Second on the haters list was Madwoman, a body-refining apprentice like himself. He went to see her about the golem crafting book, offering her some of his Knowledge Points in exchange for it. 

True to her namesake, the crazy girl demanded 50 points and Greem responded with a calm threat to beat her up and just take it.

One thing led to another and they ended up in the arena not long after Mary's first "taming" session, placing a bet with the book and Greem's Knowledge Points on the line.

Naturally, Greem didn't hold back at all and gave the insane girl a thorough and solid thrashing, leaving her bruised and unconscious on the arena's stone floor.

Since then, she glared at him whatever chance she got.

Last on this inconsequential totem pole was Hawkeye, a bloodline-ish apprentice that had replaced one of his eyes with that of an unknown creature.

This allowed him to control the Scavenger Crows commonly found in the swamp and also see through their eyes. 

He used it to spy on just about everything, even apprentices who left their windows open while they were inside their rooms in the tower.

While Greem dealt with the intruding apprentices yesterday, he had Mary fly around and kill any nearby crows, ensuring that their actions would remain secret.

He guessed the peeping tom must've discovered somehow that he and Mary had something to do with the death of a good number of his spies, hence the scathing, impotent glare.

Nonetheless, he took in their wrathful expressions for a moment, did a casual, contemplative head tilt and looked down on his left, comfortable side.

He gave into the passing desire and coiled his heavily muscled arm around the sexy vampire's thin waist.

Who gave a fuck about haters…

 ☀☀☀ 

The layout of the hall was similar to Earth's thrust style theaters from Greem's previous life. 

However, the stage, which all the seats converged on in rising semi-circles, was elevated far above everything else in the room. 

Such an arrangement guaranteed that no matter where an apprentice sat, they would have to tilt their head up to look at the presenting Adept.

Apparently, the designer of this room firmly believed in the superiority of Adepts. Even though it was just a physical position in a space, no mere fledgling was allowed to tower over the esteemed masters of the land.

Reminded once again of the nature of power and what it signified in this reality, Greem nodded subtly, his resolve and hold around Mary's supple waist growing firmer.

The coming weeks and months would be instrumental in deciding if he ascended to this legendary stage or fall and become a stepping stone to a desperate man's greatness.

Speaking of desperate men, the shadows on the wall at the farthest end of the stage swayed and Anderson emerged from it, his steps carrying him to the center.

Bang! Bang! Bang! 

He slammed his staff on the elevated podium and the hall went silent, the hair on everyone's neck, even Greem's standing on end as he swept his dry gaze through the hall. 

It was as though he were a farm owner glancing at a couple of sheep or pigs he owned. The normal, base regard one had for their fellow human was completely nonexistent in the man's eyes. 

Greem found it extremely unsettling, far more than his fellow apprentices. This was understandable, considering what he knew.

After letting the silence simmer for a good minute, the Adept finally spoke. "Today, I have good and bad news for you."

A multitude of breaths were held as all eyes focused on Anderson.

"The good news is all of you are going to receive a batch of resources, which will be the most generous gift you have ever received." Throwing his gaze around the numerous faces locked on him with rapt attention, the Adept grew satisfied and continued. "The bad news is… every single one of you will be going on a compulsory mission."

He then slammed the stage with the butt of his staff and a half-transparent image was immediately projected above him, large and clear enough for even the far back apprentices to make out the characters being displayed. 

A number of green ones were seen flickering on the projection, denoting mission descriptions, locations and rewards.

...…

Investigate an abnormal creature in Redwood Village.

Mission rewards: 10 Knowledge Points, 5 Zhentarim Association Merit Points.

Acquire a Tower Bell Flower.

Mission rewards: 7 Knowledge Points, 3 Zhentarim Association Merit Points.

Defend Fort Fir.

Mission rewards: 11 Knowledge Points, 8 Zhentarim Association Merit Points.

...…

Line by line, all the apprentices read through the green missions and most of them felt something fishy. 

Almost everyone here had been in at least one life threatening situation one way or another, in or around the tower. Mostly this was a result of dealing with another hostile apprentice or completing the tasks assigned by Anderson. 

As a result, everyone here knew the cold hard truth about the world of magic: nothing was ever, truly free. Anything that claimed otherwise was a trap. One hundred percent. 

This general sentiment was quickly proven true as Anderson waved the staff and the information being projected changed. 

Gone were the missions with the green text. In their place were orange and red writings, the former representing dangerous missions and the latter extremely dangerous ones. 

And all these missions, excluding the green ones, were compulsory. 

"The green missions you saw are apprentice missions you can take in future. Before that, every single one of you has to take a compulsory mission. You have three months to complete this mission, and if you fail… your status as an Apprentice will be revoked."

Needless to say, there was a massive shift in the numerous expressions in the hall. 

For those with confidence in their abilities, this was no doubt a chance to obtain Knowledge Points and resources.

The weaker ones saw these jobs as dressed up death sentences. They run their worried eyes through the list, searching for ones where they'd simply not die.

Throughout all this Greem also had his eyes trained on the projection, his search for a specific mission ongoing. It was a red colored mission, not an orange like most would expect him to go for.

After all, orange ones could only be tackled by an Advanced Apprentice while red ones were something only Pseudo Adepts could survive. However–

'Better the devil you know than the angel you don't…'

Moving past and ignoring the other missions with tempting rewards, Greem quickly found what he was looking for and easily confirmed that it matched what was in memory.

Looking over to the vampire who wore a rare contemplative look, Greem connected his Spirit to her's and sent over a message.

'I've got a mission that suits our abilities perfectly. We'll both benefit greatly if we take it.'

'Why are you asking me? Aren't you the boss?'

'No, we're partners now. Your input matters.'

Switching her gaze from the projection to Greem's completely serious expression, Mary stared complicatedly for a few seconds and "hmphed" lightly before looking away.

'What's the mission?'

'The underground one.'

'Really? I was thinking of that one too.'

'Then I guess we're in agreement.'

'...'

The secretive duo locked eyes in the real world and smiled.

 ☀☀☀ 

By taking into account her winged flight, bat transformation, blinding speed, and blood drain regeneration, Mary made the simple decision to choose the red, Underground Investigation mission. 

Who knew that Greem would select the same thing too? She had to admit, this "partner" thing they had going on was nice. 

Greem acknowledged her strength and input. But wasn't it too mysterious that this musclebrain suggested the exact mission she was thinking of choosing?

It's almost like he could read her mind.

It didn't matter though. Greem respected her and didn't treat her like a damsel or slave. She would remain his "partner" until she advanced to Pseudo Adept. 

With the plethora of creatures present in the underground world, it was only a matter of time and effort until she realized that goal. Once that happened, she'd teach the handsome hunk of muscle a lesson. 

For now though, they had a mission to sign up for.

The recently appointed Apprentice Leader Ellen was the one responsible for recording the assignments, and Mary and Greem were headed straight for him, walking at a leisurely pace with their arms entwined.

Noticing the approaching power couple, the apprentices crowding around and obscuring Ellen parted like the red sea, creating a straight, unobstructed path to the apprentice leader.

Greem had long grown used to such behavior over the years. 

If there was one thing he understood firmly about the Adept universe, it was that without power, you were naturally and totally subject to the one who had it.

So he ignored their irritating actions and kept his leisurely pace until he arrived at the Apprentice Leader's station.

While he could act tough and haughty with the weaker apprentices, Ellen knew to think twice and show meekness when dealing with the striking duo before him.

Greem didn't care for these childish posturing and dick measuring contests however.

He stopped Mary from uttering a word by patting her arm, the vampire scowling at the apprentice leader who began to sweat buckets. 

Greem held out his hand and beckoned, "We're here to sign up for our mission. Show them to us."

Without saying a word, Ellen took out the talisman that signified his position as the apprentice leader and injected his Spirit into it, projecting a small screen above the magic device.

Right the next instant, the talisman disappeared from his palm and reappeared in Greem's, who cycled through the list of missions, found the one he was looking for and pressed his identification talisman against it. 

Mary did the same with her own and the mission details changed. 

...…

Underground Cave Investigation Mission (4/10)--->(6/10) Red Mission

Mission details: Traces of subterranean creatures have been found in the Underground Cave of Nigond. An investigation team, consisting of ten Apprentice Adepts, is urgently needed. The team will be required to venture at least ten miles underground, investigating the activity of living creatures in that area.

Status of the mission will be determined by the Zhentarim Association's base in Nigond.

Mission rewards: 70 Knowledge Points, 12 Magic Crystals, 50 Zhentarim Association Merit Points.

(The Underground is well-known for being rich in Dark Grass, Phantom Mushrooms, and Night-Eyes Stones. If any of these materials are harvested during the mission, you may keep them.)

...…

Their purpose for this visit achieved, Greem tossed the talisman back to the sweating apprentice leader and left with his partner. 

They both had preparations to make.