Noah was interested and gestured to Thaddeus to come inside his accommodation.

He was in need of Credits and he was rather eager to take a break from the monotony of the life in the academy.

Thaddeus sat on the broken bed and took out a small jar exuding the aroma of sweet wine.

He poured it in two gla.s.ses and handed one to Noah.

Noah gladly accepted it but, before he could taste the wine, the door of the empty room opened, showing Ivor that fixedly stared at the jar in Thaddeus' hands.

"It's been a long time since I saw the wine of the Peach river."

Thaddeus' eyes sharpened seeing him.

"Ivor, I thought that you had finally resigned in pa.s.sing down that madness that you call inscription method."

Noah sighed and pa.s.sed his gla.s.s to Ivor.

Thaddeus saw that gesture and his eyes widened in understanding.

"Is he your Master? Is he the reason why you didn't pick my course?"

Noah wanted to give a brief explanation but Ivor was faster than him in replying to the Professor.

"Thaddeus, don't even think of s.n.a.t.c.hing him from me. He is the heir to our method, the most talented and meticulous of all the pract.i.tioners of our school."

Thaddeus shook his head while looking at Noah.

"Try not to kill yourself. There are many other methods that can give you the status of an inscription master. Even if you don't have any talent for the "Attunement" method, you don't have to force your way with that practice. Oh, and Ivor, I already have a disciple."

He was speaking about Ruth.

Thaddeus had become her Master in the last period, it was pointless to describe her excitement when that happened.

Ivor snorted and replied after taking a sip from the gla.s.s.

"And to what use? Only to become a second-rate inscription master? We both know that on a scale of power of the products, the Attunement method is second only to the Elemental forging one."

Thaddeus smiled, fixing his gaze on the middle-aged man.

"If we consider only the power held by the inscriptions of your method, then I can't argue. But you must remember that the stability of your creations is low while the mortality rate of those that practice in that method is extremely high. Overall, a stable method, even if it loses a bit in power, is way better than an extreme one. Yours has almost disappeared after all, while mine is flouris.h.i.+ng everywhere."

Ivor snorted again but didn't answer, Thaddeus' words were unarguable, they perfectly described the current situation in the field of inscriptions.

"Professor, I still need to know the contents of the mission."

Noah stepped in, interrupting their conversation.

He already knew all the disadvantages of the method that he chose so he didn't give much importance to Thaddeus' warnings.

'What's the point of using a safer but inferior method? I'd rather risk my life to obtain something more powerful.'

Thaddeus resumed his focus on Noah and began to explain the contents of the task.

"We finally managed to track down the inheritance ground of the previous Royal family. However, there are a few problems involved that prevent us from attempting to retrieve it."

Noah became extremely interested.

'The inheritance ground of a Royal family! It should be many times more profitable than Eccentric Thunder's one.'

"The first problem is that its entrance is prevented to anyone connected with the Elbas family. Not even those in the Royal army can enter due to the oath that they have with us."

"The second problem is that it's placed outside the borders of the Utra continent. If we act incautiously, the countries nearby might notice something and attempt to claim the inheritance for themselves."

Noah thought for a while before replying to Thaddeus.

"So, you ask those with fewer affiliations with the n.o.bles because we will demand a smaller share of the inheritance?"

Thaddeus smiled slightly before answering.

"That's one of the reasons. The other one is that many of the current large-size n.o.ble families had a deep connection with the previous Royal dynasty. We are afraid that if they knew about the inheritance, they might gang up and start a revolution."

Noah nodded in understanding.

'The wealth hidden by the previous Royal family should be tempting enough to create an agreement between the n.o.ble families. After all, the Elbas dynasty has only a marginal control over all the other n.o.bles, they don't have all the man-power required to stop a joint revolution.'

"What's my share?"

Noah asked.

Thaddeus promptly answered.

"We can give you two hundred thousand Credits and a prestigious position in the Royal city."

Noah shook his head.

"That's too little. We are talking about the previous rulers of this country and I a.s.sume that we have to hide our ident.i.ties during the trip."

Thaddeus nodded.

"How much?"

Noah stared at the Professor for a bit before naming his price.

"I want ten percent of the total value of the inheritance and a full set of potions and pills useful for the mission. I also want the freedom to choose which prestigious position in the Royal city I will get as well as the priority over the items inside the inheritance that can help my growth."

Thaddeus raised his voice.

"Ten percent!? Do you understand the amount of wealth that a Royal family acc.u.mulates during its domain?"

Noah slightly smiled.

"No, but now I know that two hundred thousand Credits are clearly not enough for my services."

Thaddeus' expression froze and Ivor exploded in a sonorous laugh.

"You are getting old, my friend. The new generations are more cunning than you can imagine."

It took a while for them to come to an agreement.

In the end, Noah managed to bargain for three percent of the total inheritance that he could acquire in the form of Credits or items.

The part about the potions and the prestigious position seemed to not concern Thaddeus too much since he agreed almost immediately to those conditions.

When Thaddeus left the room, they had agreed to meet one week from then at the entrance of the academy, there Noah would receive the promised items and meet the other students for the mission.

"I think you could have pushed for five percent, why did you stop?"

Ivor asked that question when they remained alone.

Noah smiled coldly.

"Well, at least they won't get too mad if I keep some souvenir of the trip."