Proxy Commission

"Senior Sophia, is this the new body you've prepared for yourself?"

Roy asked with amazement and curiosity.

Sophia turned her head. "That's right. I've created an artificial life with an Elemental Bloodline. It should have good potential for growth."

After a brief chat, Roy learned that making the body resemble a little girl was also a way to save materials.

However, even though the physical size was reduced, the quality was not compromised at all.

Sophia had used many Wizard Rank treasures to create this body. Once successfully transplanted, it would immediately be a Formal Wizard.

"It seems this is her path," Roy thought to himself, comparing it to his own situation and contemplating his future.

His Alchemy Talent definitely needed to be developed; it was the fundamental basis for him to become a Witch Realm Alchemist.

His current two talents, Skilled Worker and Alchemy Machine, were both Black Iron Rank Talents. They already provided a solid foundation in the early stages, but they weren't enough for him to soar.

As for new talents, they were nowhere in sight. His previous speculations, such as "whether I can acquire them faster" and "whether more advanced talents exist," remained unconfirmed.

But now that he had finally advanced to Advanced, he should have the resources to explore these possibilities.

Then there was the Witchcraft Inheritance he had chosen: Animate.

This could lead to various branches like Genesis, Creationism, and Potionology.

Whether he chose to be a Puppeteer, a Mechanical Wizard, or a Bloodline Wizard, all offered good prospects and the potential to go very far.

But the prerequisite was still a large amount of resources.

He needed to make good use of Alchemy to provide ample resources for it.

As he was thinking, Sophia said, "I asked you here this time because I know you've just advanced and need some resources to improve your strength, as well as for exploration and research."

Roy snapped back to attention. "That's true. Do you have any specific requests, Senior?"

Sophia replied, "I have a Mandatory Task assigned to me by the Tower, and I'd like to commission you to handle it.

Besides keeping all the reward for the task itself, I'll also give you an additional reward depending on the situation. What do you think?"

Roy thought for a moment. "Could you lend me Sailen to help out?

Last time, the Mirage Orb in Sailen's hand played a significant role, and I'm counting on her."

Sophia said, "Yes, but you'll have to be responsible for her safety."

"Deal!" Roy readily agreed.

As he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something. "Senior, do you know anything about the Tower assigning mentors? I'm a newly promoted Advanced Apprentice, and I still don't have a mentor."

Sophia replied, "I'm not sure, but in the most extreme case, you might have to wait indefinitely."

"Ah? How long would that take?"

"If one or two years isn't enough, then three to five years. If three to five years isn't enough, then maybe ten years. Just wait patiently; there's no set timeline."

"Doesn't that mean this generation of apprentices will be delayed?" Roy said in shock.

"Apprentices come and go. The Tower doesn't care," Sophia said calmly.

Roy was speechless for a moment. After leaving the laboratory, he couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had chosen to self-study early on.

If he had just waited around aimlessly, how long would it have taken?

However, Sophia seemed to have been affected as well?

Roy vaguely heard that she originally had a mentor, but that mentor had later died in the same Forbidden Experiment.

"Never mind, I should go check on that commissioned task."

Collecting his thoughts, Roy headed to the task center as Sophia had directed to confirm the details.

"As expected, it's another mission to eliminate Merman tribes that have landed on the mainland! The mission location is just on the edge of the Great Wind Land Hills..."

Roy scanned the information and understood.

Two days later, south of the Great Wind Land Hills.

Roy and his companions followed the coastline northward, searching for Monster tribes with Merman Sorcerers.

However, under the backdrop of blue skies and white clouds, the weather was clear and the area was empty.

"This part of the coast doesn't seem to have abundant food. I think we should head further north to look for aquatic plants and fishing spots."

Roy thought for a moment and suggested.

"No matter how restless Monsters are, they still need to eat, drink, and excrete. It's highly probable they'll come ashore where there's food."

Everyone thought about it and felt it made sense, so they continued heading north.

Suddenly, Sailen alerted them, "There are three people ahead!"

The group looked ahead and indeed found another suspected apprentice quest team, but there were only three people.

After a period of wary observation from a distance, they discovered through their telescopes that they were actually familiar faces – Chad and others whom they often encountered during classes over the past year but couldn't quite name.

"They seem to be injured. Let's go check on them," Roy said to the group, lowering his telescope.

As they approached, the other party became wary again.

However, they seemed to be in need of help and didn't flee, instead taking the risk to stay.

Before long, Roy and his companions finally understood the situation.

In just the past couple of days, the coastline had undergone significant changes. Several Merman tribes had somehow united, and a powerful Monster had emerged. This group had accidentally stumbled upon them and had no choice but to flee in a panic.

"If the Merman tribes are uniting, we should probably stick together too," Roy suggested gravely after confirming they were alright.

A few hours later.

The group cautiously approached the battle site and found the companions they had spoken of.

However, they had already been eaten by the Monster, leaving only a skull lying alone on the beach. Chad and the other two were overcome with grief, collapsing onto the sand. "Damn it! Damn it!"

Before they could even mourn, the group suddenly spotted two more people being pursued by over a dozen Merman warriors in the distance. One of them was injured and in grave danger.

"It's Aimo and Tigro!" Renion recognized them.

These were also fellow apprentices from the Tower, and coincidentally, they knew each other.

"How dare these mere monsters bully humans!"

"Take down those mermen!"

The group charged forward and, in a short while, successfully dealt with the ordinary monsters, rescuing Aimo and Tigro.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" the two said, panting and filled with emotion.

Roy asked, "What happened to you two?"

"A Merman Sorcerer that can discharge electricity! Far more terrifying than other Merman Sorcerers!" The injured Aimo spoke excitedly and somewhat incoherently.

"It killed our companion the moment we met! We had to flee, and after finally shaking them off, we were entangled by these regular mermen!"

It seemed they had encountered the same Monster. A truly dangerous, powerful leader had indeed appeared among the mermen!