Geometric Mage: First Spell, Circle

Fresh from the shower, Lian put on a new robe, leaving the dirty one from the morning on the chair. Unfortunately, the self-cleaning function was not instantaneous, and the robe could not be stored in the spatial ring, or time would stop, rendering the artifact's function useless.

Though considered artifacts, their only abilities were self-repair for minor damage or self-cleaning. Nothing more.

"Alright, time to head to the place where missions are assigned." Running a hand through his hair, Lian left the room.

After about half an hour of walking, Lian finally reached the association the three students had mentioned.

"Well, the academy is bigger than I imagined… how have I never seen this place before?" he said, staring at the massive structure with a huge, golden-glowing sign.

Lian stood still in front of the grand building, eyes wide as he gazed at the golden sign shimmering under the afternoon sun.

"Silver Twilight Association"

The building was imposing, with tall white stone columns laced with crystal veins and a dark wooden gate, wide open, reinforced with metal plates along the edges.

"Incredible—" Lian entered the association and was immediately struck by the sheer number of students present.

Many were lazily sitting around, chatting about trivial things like the latest trends, arena fights, or girls.

Others were at the mission counter, trying to choose the most suitable task.

But Lian couldn't help but notice a giant glowing screen displaying all available missions, updating in real-time.

It looked like a massive database, refreshing every minute to add new missions or remove completed ones.

Students and professors moved frantically, some whispering, others delivering sacks of materials to a counter managed by a woman in a purple robe.

After recovering, Lian moved toward a bulletin board listing various missions.

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Moon Grass Collection:

Bronze 1 Rank.

Gather 10 Moon Grass stalks in the Mist Forest.

Reward: 50 gold coins. Additional Moon Grass can be sold wholesale at 4 gold coins each.

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Shadow Wolf Hunt:

Bronze 3 Rank.

Eliminate a pack of Shadow Wolves near Highstone village. (Bring their heads as proof.)

Reward: 200 gold coins.

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Caravan Escort:

Bronze 2-3 Rank.

Protect a merchant caravan along the Red Twilight Road.

Reward: 100 gold coins.

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"What the hell—" Reading the various missions, Lian couldn't help but frown slightly.

Were they all so… simple? Plus, the pay was really minimal.

"Well, now that I think about it, I should stop by the shop to figure out how much gold coins are actually worth, considering the training dummy alone costs about 50,000 gold coins…" Lian reflected, continuing to read other missions, hoping for something useful.

After several minutes, reading one mission after another, Lian was starting to lose patience when something caught his attention.

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Artifact Recovery:

Bronze 5 Rank.

Retrieve an artifact stolen by someone named Flammer. (For more information, visit the counter to contact me. No time-wasters.)

Reward: 1,000 gold coins.

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"Flammer?" Lian was speechless reading that name. It sounded vaguely similar to a certain artifact thief he knew. "My scammer's name is Plammer… could they be the same person?"

The guy was offering 1,000 gold coins to recover the artifact.

"Now that I think about it, I have no idea how much artifacts are worth… but I should ask this guy for more information. From what I see, he seems to be the only one who reported it, even creating a request. Should I do the same?"

Lian considered carefully but, after a few seconds, decided to let it go. It wasn't worth wasting time searching for someone who didn't want to be found. Next time, he'd be more careful.

After spending a few more minutes looking at other missions, Lian grabbed the parchment from the bulletin board and headed to the counter.

There was a line of students waiting, each with their missions to take or questions to ask. Fortunately, several people managed the missions, so the line moved quickly.

Lian used this time to observe the students around and the missions they turned in. Most students moved in groups; very few were alone, like Lian.

"Rick would've been a big help in this place… should I have looked for him harder?" The thought of his friend hiding somewhere gnawed at his heart. "I'm a shitty friend…"

"…as soon as I get out of here, I'll go look for him!"

A few minutes later, it was finally Lian's turn. In front of him was a woman in a purple robe. It wasn't anything special; it seemed to be the work uniform for this place.

Everyone working here wore a purple robe, after all.

The woman looked up, her eyes not particularly attentive. In a monotonous voice, as if she'd been repeating the same thing for hours, she spoke. "Submit the document and the mission you want to take or turn in." Her face was stoic.

"Hello," Lian cleared his throat. "I'm actually new here. I don't have any documents with me."

As if she'd just heard the worst news of her life, the woman in the purple robe let out a defeated sigh. "Huh?" Lian could've sworn he heard her curse.

After a moment, she resumed speaking in her monotonous tone. "Give me your full name, rank, affinity, and faction affiliation."

Lian's eye twitched slightly as he listened to the woman, mildly irritated. What the hell, if you don't want to work here, don't! No one's forcing you, damn it!

But he quickly returned to normal. "My name is Lian Veyr, Bronze 4, Wind Affinity." Lian paused for a moment before adding, "No affiliated faction."

The woman in the purple robe, who Lian now noticed had a name tag reading "Karen" sewn on her chest, lowered her gaze to the register with an expression oscillating between boredom and annoyance.

"Lian Veyr, Bronze 4, Wind Affinity, no faction," she repeated, scribbling in the register. "Okay. Your document will be ready tomorrow. Anything else?"

Lian clenched his teeth, trying not to get more irritated, but the woman was testing his patience. "I want information on this mission," he said, placing the parchment on the counter. "The one about recovering the artifact stolen by a certain Flammer. I need to know who requested it and how to contact them."