520 Advancement

Klayr has extensive connections in Castleton City, and also has some friends in the Mercenary Guild.

Soon, some news came from the Mercenary Guild: In fact, there weren't many Second Rank powerhouses registered with the Castleton Mercenary Guild. Most of the Silver Moon Elf Second Rank powerhouses had been recruited by the military and become members of the Silver Moon Elf regular legion. The remaining Second Rank elven powerhouses would also be recruited by the High Elven Nobles.

Therefore, there are very few Second Rank powerhouses who can form Mercenary Group. These Mercenary Group undertake a wide range of missions and are highly sought after by the Mercenary Guild.

Mercenary Group with Second Rank experts are almost always out on missions.

Currently, there are no Mercenary Group at the Castleton Mercenary Guild that agree with Roy's demands...

Even so, Klayr still managed to glean some information from someone within the Mercenary Guild.

A powerful Second Rank player currently resides in the Lower District of Castleton.

He was originally a member of a Mercenary Group, but that Adventure Group has now completely disbanded, and that Second Rank powerhouse is living a life of debauchery in the city.

Klayr found out about this and went to Brown Street to find Roy.

The two prepared to go to the residence of this Second Rank powerhouse to ask for his help...

Roy found that the address written on the note Klayr had given him was for the pub at the end of Brown Street, which left Roy somewhat speechless.

Roy still clearly remembered that seven years ago, when he was working part-time as a guide, he led a group of sailors to that tavern, where the sailors killed Jefferson and then fled...

Since then, Roy has almost never been to that tavern again.

Now, standing with Klayr at the tavern entrance once again, Roy felt as if he had been transported to another world, and those long-buried memories seemed to be slowly awakening again.

"What's wrong, Roy? Let's go in!" Klayr stood at the tavern entrance, looking at the simple signboard and the old wooden corridor, and said to Roy.

"Okay!" Roy quickly gathered his still-disordered thoughts and agreed.

Walking through the covered walkway, which resembles a covered bridge, you enter the tavern from the terrace. The interior furnishings of the tavern remain unchanged.

The tavern Boss hadn't changed at all; he was still dozing off behind the bar, with only one waitress standing behind the bar to greet customers.

"I didn't expect this tavern to be so close to your house..."

Klayr complained to Roy as they walked.

"I never expected that a Second Rank powerhouse was actually living in seclusion around here! Heh." Roy chuckled dryly. He looked around and saw that the tavern was still as deserted as ever, with only a handful of customers.

Roy glanced around casually out of the corner of his eye and noticed that Duke, the Boss of the Brown Street Grocery Store, was also drinking there.

He was clearly quite drunk, sitting alone in a corner with a half-empty bottle of liquor in front of him and a plate of dried fish on the table.

The Duke Boss took a sip of rum from a small glass, his eyes narrowed in a contented manner.

Roy stopped and quickly greeted the Duke Boss.

In any case, the Duke Boss was practically Roy's mentor, teaching him not only how to pilot the Flying Fish Boat but also how to fish by the sea, bringing him much joy during his childhood...

Duke heard Roy's voice, looked up, and only slightly opened his eyes when he saw Roy. With a hint of drunkenness, he gestured for Roy to sit down and said:

"Roy, long time no see. I heard you went to the Pattington Plane to develop your career?"

"Yes, managing a few mines on the plateau for the Silver Pegasus Legion," Roy replied, then sat down Boss Duke introduced Boss, "This is my friend Wagner Klayr Duke."

The Duke Boss, recognizing Klayr as Silver Moon Elf, merely nodded to him without saying anything, but instead inquired about her from Roy:

"I've heard some things from the Pattington Plane. I heard that some Silvermoon Elven Nobles were involved in the slave trade there... and it got so bad that they were wiped out by the Silver Pegasus Legion?"

Roy never expected that the events in the Pattington Plane would be so distorted by the time they reached Castleton City.

He quickly gave Duke Boss a brief account of the major events that had occurred in the Pattington Plane in recent years, including the 'Silver Moon Elven Nobles ' slave trade,' the 'oppressed Half-Elf uprising,' the ' Silver Pegasus Legion ' taking the opportunity to go to the Pattington Plane to quell the rebellion,' the ' Queen Ivini Islands Naval Battle ' and the Highland Slavers ' revenge against the Half-Elf,' and the Pattington Plane's Half-Elf forming a Guardian Legion to resist the Headhunters,' and so on.

Roy could talk at length about almost every event, but he only gave a brief overview.

The Duke Boss listened with great interest. By then, he had sobered up a bit and was drinking a glass of Lemon Tea with ice...

"So you've had a wonderful time in the Pattington Plane!" Duke's Boss said to Roy with a smile.

Roy smiled wryly and said, "The Pattington Plane is not the same as Castleton on the Elf Continent. Life there is not so simple. This time I have encountered a problem, so I want to ask a Second Rank powerhouse in Castleton City to go there and help me."

After saying this, Roy leaned closer to the Duke Boss and whispered to him, "I heard there's a Second Rank powerhouse here, so we came here to try our luck."

The Duke Boss opened his eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Um, you're here to see Byron?"

Roy nodded quickly.

He had just entered the tavern, still wondering how he could find Byron.Toll, whom he had never met before.

Now, upon hearing what the Duke Boss said, Roy immediately retorted, "... Byron.Toll, Duke Boss, do you know him?"

The Duke Boss curled his lip and snorted, "We've been friends for years, but if you're asking him for help, I reckon you'll be disappointed this time. This guy's been in a bad mood lately, often yelling and throwing tantrums for no reason. He'll probably need some time to adjust himself before he returns to normal!"

Roy was surprised by the Duke Boss's response and quickly said, "Ah! Even so, I still want to give it a try."

"Look, that's him..." Seeing that Roy insisted on seeing Byron.Toll, the Duke Boss could only say to the Half-Elf sitting back-to-back at another table, "Byron, a young friend of yours would like to have a word with you!"

The Half-Elf looked rather disheveled, with messy hair and a strong smell of alcohol about him.

He sat back in his chair without saying a word, seemingly utterly invisible.

If the Duke Boss hadn't reminded Roy, Roy wouldn't have even noticed that there was an elf sitting behind the Duke Boss.

He drank his wine silently, seemingly ignoring what the Duke Boss was saying.

He didn't even look up, completely ignoring Roy and Klayr.

Roy walked over, exchanged a glance with Klayr, and stood in front of Byron.Toll, speaking very formally:

"Hello, Byron.Toll, I am Roy, the Mine Owners from the Pagisto Plateau in the Pattington Plane. I would like to ask for your help to..."

"Get away!"

Even a single, brief word uttered by Byron Duke carried a chilling aura, giving Roy a strong feeling that this guy was a killer straight out of the battlefield.

Although he was a Half-Elf, his bloodshot eyes, hidden beneath his short hair, were filled with murderous intent...

Roy took half a step back.

"Byron, where has your manners gone?" Duke's Boss's voice came from the side, defusing Byron.Toll's hostility.

Byron.Toll a cold laugh and replied, "Buried in the Dark Land, heh."

The Duke Boss sighed, "You have to try to get out of this..."

"Don't pay any attention to me, just leave me alone."

Byron.Toll grabbed the bottle of liquor from the table, got up, and walked straight out of the tavern.

By the time Roy and Klayr chased after him, Byron.Toll was already gone.

Roy never expected that his visit to this Second Rank powerhouse would end in him being turned away before he could even exchange a single word.

Klayr's expression wasn't good either. He was quite a celebrity in Castleton City now, not only ignored by the Duke Boss, but Byron.Toll didn't even glance at him.

Unable to invite this Second Rank powerhouse, Roy and Klayr could only leave the tavern in disappointment.

Before getting into the carriage, Klayr said to Roy, "I'll go and inquire with the other Silver Moon Elven Nobles. I heard that many Second Rank powerhouses are working for them. If all else fails... I'll go to the Mercenary Guild in Buenos to hire a second -Second Rank Second Rank powerhouse. As long as the fee is right, it should be easier to hire one there."

Roy was also a bit frustrated. He thought he could get things done by spending some Magic Crystal Stone, but he ended up getting a cold shoulder.

"Remuneration is not a problem!"

"I have to attend a misunderstanding tonight, so I'll be going now."

Klayr boarded the carriage and waved goodbye to Roy.

Roy had no idea where these merchants from the Imperial Merchant had found out about him, and they were standing outside the courtyard.

A row of horse-drawn carriages were parked on the opposite Da Nei River.

When Roy reached the door, the Imperial Merchant swarmed around him as soon as they saw Roy.

Knowing that Roy was Elementary Magic Herbs merchant in Castleton City, they surrounded him and greeted Roy warmly, "Boss Roy, I am Magic Herbs merchant from the Grimm Empire. If you have Elementary Magic Herbs for sale, please consider us. Our company looks forward to cooperating with you!"

"Boss Roy, why don't you consider our trading company? We support barter, and all goods shipped from the Grimm Empire can be sold at rock-bottom prices..."

"Boss Roy, I think you should select a few more Elementary Magic Herbs merchants. We can also become one of the Magic Herbs buyers, and our prices will definitely be the highest..."

Roy stood at his doorstep and waited for a moment.

After the Imperial Merchant had all identified themselves, Roy finally breathed a sigh of relief before declining, saying, "The contract for this deal has already been signed, and I hope there will be opportunities for cooperation in the future..."

Roy stood at the gate of the courtyard and politely declined.

After hearing the translated words, the group of Imperial Merchant left in their carriages, utterly dejected.

Roy pushed open the far door and went inside. Tomorrow, he planned to take Supply Ship to Pattington Island with Moira, Sabrina, and Woods. Klayr would be in charge of hiring Second Rank mercenaries from the Mercenary Group there.

Moira and Sabrina spent the whole day preparing for their trip.

The two of them went to the Magic Shopping Street in the Upper District afternoon and haven't come back yet...

Roy casually grabbed two apples and lay down on the wicker chair on the terrace. Lately, he had felt a restless stirring within him of Holy Power.

However, every time he tried to savor the sensation, that wonderful feeling would vanish without a trace...

Several pots of Light Flower were growing on the terrace, and Roy's lounge chair was right in the middle of the pots.

He originally thought he would need to purify a few more demons before he could find a breakthrough.

But now Roy felt that the intense holy light made his entire body almost translucent. As strands of Holy Light Power were peeled out of his body like silkworms spinning silk, they formed a cocoon of light around his body.

Roy finally realized that he might break through the shackles of the tenth-level Priest tonight and advance to become a first-level High Priest.

Originally, a Sacred Tree was gathered within his body. Now, this Holy Light Tree was enveloped by a vortex formed from the aura of holy light. Countless holy lights burst forth from Roy's body, and countless Holy Light Particle floating in the air around the courtyard continuously converged towards the Holy Light Tree within Roy's body at this moment.

The cocoon of light surrounding Roy's body was also growing thicker and thicker...

Roy, trapped inside the cocoon of light, didn't need to breathe; he felt no suffocation at all.

Roy felt as if his body was being assimilated and becoming transparent by countless beams of holy light, while the Holy Light Tree was rapidly growing countless branches and leaves, with this Holy Light Power constantly revolving around Roy...

The next moment, amidst countless bizarre and divine auras, he saw that the world before him seemed to be changing.

In Roy's eyes, all colors seemed to become incredibly vibrant, and even the faintest sounds around him could be heard without any obstruction. The surrounding magical vortex continued to shrink, slowly condensing into Roy's body.

It was a wonderful feeling that was extremely natural and spontaneous.

The Holy Light Tree within his body seemed to have vanished, or perhaps merged with him.

A naturally formed vortex of Magic Power had taken shape around Roy's body, and the lush tree appeared behind Roy as soon as Roy's mind stirred.

This Holy Light Tree no longer has only nine roots; its canopy is now lush and verdant.

Meanwhile, the tree's roots were enveloped by the vortex outside its body, and Divine Light continuously seeped into the Sacred Tree.

Roy stood on the terrace with a look of surprise, watching himself successfully advance. Roy stretched out his right hand, and with a slight movement of his will, a dazzling white ball of light appeared in his palm.

To Roy's even greater surprise... the Holy Light Tree, which was fused with his body, was now blooming...