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It was just a few minutes walk after exiting the main road into a street that could be called a pedestrian zone and they soon came in front of a long stretch of brick walls that enclosed a massive structure.
Three towers — each at least thirty stories tall — rose from within those walls. Their height was made even more imposing by the fact that they were the tallest buildings around. Well, not including the distant Blackwing Hotel.
These towers were surrounded by several long and narrow Five-story buildings that connected them in the shape of a triangle with the tower at the front housing large imposing double doors that seem to have been made of heavy metals.
Anyone that saw such a large structure for the first time would surely not believe that it was only a branch of the Magic Institute. However, while this was technically a branch of the magic institute, it was also the main headquarters of the magic research division for the Zorak magic institute.
They needed ample space for the development of new spells, scrolls, and magic items, as well as the recruitment and testing of various young magic casters to send out the most promising ones among them to the magic academy in the capital city of the Zorak region, Blackwing City.
Although this magic institute was originally implemented by the Great Five to keep the other organizations in check. They could not actually fund its operations as it would go against the purpose of the organization and would no doubt be an expensive venture. So the reason why they could afford all this land despite restricting any outside support was probably due to their manufacture and sales of magic items and scrolls.
Such items were the lifeblood of Hunters and even Merchant's so technically, the Hunter guild and Merchant guild were paying to keep the Magic institute running.
Then again, the sales of low-grade magic items and scrolls could not actually support a massive operation like this so the main customers of the magic institute would still be the nobles themselves.
Life in the demon continent was basically like living in a jungle. It was the survival of your fittest and anyone that lived here would have to do anything to protect themselves and magic items were vital to that ideal. Such items were mostly purchased from the institute during their monthly and annually overpriced auctions which tend to affect the market prices of the items, thereby creating a vicious cycle.
After walking a little further, Tyler and Nadine soon saw a sturdy gate. The latticed gate yawned open, and on either side of it were several armed guards, stationed by the sides of the gate that fenced off the massive institute.
The guards did not obstruct the pair — although they quickly looked them over— and they were able to pass through the gate because his VIP merchant license was visible, otherwise they would require him to take off his hood.
There was a gently sloping wide staircase before him, and a set of gold inlaid heavy metal doors which opened into the bottom floor of the large middle tower. Naturally, these doors were open, to welcome visitors.
Upon entering, they found themselves in a small entrance hall, which should be the building's lobby before them. A number of magic chandeliers hung down from the high ceiling of the latter room.
On the right was a guest lounge that contained a sofa and several other pieces of furniture. There were magic casters conversing within. On the left was a glass board that displayed quests and missions, naturally, that was a magic item. Several people were studying it in earnest; some wore robes and looked like magic casters, while others seemed to be Hunters.
The atmosphere here was cool and calm and it gave off a sense of ease that the other two guilds they had visited had lacked.
There was a counter in the innermost reaches of the hall, and there were several young men and women of different races including dark elves seated behind it. All of them wore robes, and they had crystal badges on their chests which matched the symbol they had seen while entering the building.
On either side of the counter sat a pair of dark fur giant wolves, they were of a relatively normal size compared to an actual giant wolf but still larger than the normal size, slightly similar to the silver wolf. Their dark fur was almost completely black if it wasn't for the occasional grey stripes that resembled giant claw strikes — Dire Wolves, as they were most commonly know in this world.
Apparently, they were tamed beasts being used as sentries. Their nose and senses may be a lot better than most demons but the fact that they had not posted any demons or sub-race sentries inside must have been pride on the part of the Magic Institute, the outside sentries notwithstanding.
Tyler's shoes pounded out a steady beat and were mirrored by Nadine as they approached the counter at the end of the hall.
The young lady on the counter they were approaching noticed them and gave a slight bow as a greeting. Tyler nodded in response as they came to a stop at the front of the counter.
"Welcome to the Zorak Magic Institute. How may I be of service to you?"
"We would like to join the magic research division."
"I'm sorry, but we are not accepting recruits at this point in time. Please try again next year."
Tyler didn't respond to her polite denial and just reached into his inner breast pocket for an envelope, before handing it over to the counter staff that was attending to him.
She glanced at the envelope for only a split second before her eyes widened as she did a double-take Before immediately bowing again to Tyler in an even more polite manner. "My apologies, I was unaware you already had an invitation. Please follow me."
Naturally, Tyler and Nadine followed the lady through one of the doors at the side and they headed into one of the other five-story buildings. She soon lead them into an empty meeting room with simple but elegant furnishing, where she asked them to wait for a moment. After bringing them some refreshments, she quickly left the room.
They waited for about ten minutes when the large doors to the room suddenly swung open and two men geared in gleaming full plate armors ushered in a beautiful demoness in an elegant and stylish red dress.
She had long light brown hair that was styled gorgeously, narrow brown eyes that glistened beautifully with the light, an enchanting smile that drew men in, and a figure that wouldn't fail to drop the jaws of any one of the opposite sex that laid eyes on her.
She walked gracefully into the meeting room and sat down on the sofa in front of Tyler and Nadine. Her smile radiated an alluring aura that would've made him fall for her if his mind wasn't already occupied with various issues while also processing so many possible directions for their conversation.
The lady's smile suddenly seized when she realized there was no reaction from the hooded figure who she knew to be a man, so she proceeded to speak seriously. "I'm told you want to join our magic institute and even possess a recommendation letter from the merchant guild leader. That is quite the achievement."
"Why's that?"
"Well, I'm sure you're aware already, the merchant guild leader has never once used his recommendation letter no matter the amount of compensation he was offered."
"We're just lucky I guess."
"That's quite the luck you have there."
"Thank you."
The lady's smile slowly returned to her face and became even more brilliant than before. She must've found something interesting in their brief conversation or maybe she was just intrigued.
"I am Syphilia Vela Alacast of the Alacast family, a direct vassal to the Zorak's."
"I am called Lix, this one here is Lilith. Pleasure to meet you."
"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine. Well then, I'll go straight to the point, even with the recommendation letter, we will still have to know what Tier of magic you both can use to register you as a members of the Magic institute but we will forgo the test unless you want to apply for the magic academy. However, right now, we would like a demonstration of the highest spells you can use. This will help us create your profile."
"That should be fine. We have to intensions in applying for the academy and as for our tiers. My partner here can use Tier 3 magic."
There was a sound of amazement and approval from the guards that stood by the door as Tier 3 magic casters were pretty high leveled. Although the demon continent was harsher to live in than the humans, it didn't mean everyone here could use magic.
Most people generally couldn't and the average among commoners was Tier 1 with Tier 2 being above average and those that could use it were considered talented. Of course, this was a different story when talking about the nobles of this continent who average on Tier 2, and Tier 3 was considered impressive enough to be a high-ranking knight or serve under an elder or leader.
Most noble leaders or demon lords were generally around the Tier 5 standard and only a few were higher. Naturally, you couldn't mention the great five in the same sentence as all the others as that would be almost blasphemous.
"And of course, I can also use up to Tier 3 as well."
Unlike before, there wasn't much surprise from the guards that stood by the side as they felt like it was only natural. Due to the fact that he was also hiding his appearance under that hood, they felt like he should've been able to use higher-tier magic than his companion. Hence their shock when he said she was a Tier 3 magic caster.
Of course, Tyler still couldn't use any Tier 3 spells, as he hadn't learned any yet. But if ever he needed to, he could always fake it depending on the situation.
Syphilia nodded approvingly and smiled. "Alright that would be all for now, I'll have someone take you through the registration process, and the demonstration will take place immediately. However, you will still have to pay the registration fee before anything can be done."
Syphilia did not wait for a response as she quickly stood up and walked out of the room with the same charming smile on her face. The guards escorted her out and the female staff worker came back in to help Tyler and Nadine finalize their registration.
The fee for the registration was 2,000 DC each. That was a lot of money for just a registration fee but as Tyler thought about all the benefits and possible benefits he would gain from becoming a member of the institute, he gritted his teeth and paid the price.
Nothing good really came easily even in another world. He sighed inwardly as the girl escorted Tyler to an empty room in one of the upper floors of the main tower and made them wait for another ten minutes before some spectators came in to witness their demonstration.
Tyler wasn't sure why this needed spectators as they were just performing a single spell to show the level of spell they could use. It wasn't like this was a test to decide their rankings or anything. They would still have to start at the lowest rank even if they could use Tier 5 magic so what was the point.
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