Later on in the evening, Illyan had already sat there for the entire eight hours, having a profound discussion about medicine with the masters of this field. Once they found out his theoretical knowledge had a solid foundation, they started to ask other not-so-simple questions.

Some of them were not even mentioned in the books. Illyan could guess that those were used to gauge his practical experiences. So, after little thought, he just mentioned what he would do in such situations. And as he expected, they didn’t seem to be disappointed or disagree with his opinion about the cases mentioned in the questions. Instead, it showed that Illyan wasn’t just someone who read the books all the time but was actually someone who dabbled in this field for a long time.

It wasn’t surprising that once they concluded the examination, they started to discuss Illyan’s outcome with excitement in their eyes. Or at least two of them did. “This is amazing! If I didn’t know better, I would think I was discussing this with another academic who was a physician for decades!” “Agreed. If it wasn’t against the rules, then I would suggest examining him to the associate level immediately!” “Hmph… His answers were presentable, but that’s all…”

Fortunately, Illyan didn’t need to wait for too long as they finished everything up in ten minutes. They were tired too, after all. They took out a parchment which just looked much more extravagant than what Illyan was used to writing on, and each of the three in front of him stamped it with their seal and wrote their name on it. Perus seemed to be reluctant, but he couldn’t just refuse to do so without any good reason.

In the end, Illyan also wrote ‘his’ name on it and got his official certification put in the wooden box so that it wouldn’t be damaged. He also got a small badge and white physician’s robe showing his new status. “Oh, Kaoran,” Vael, whose voice was now laced with cheerful undertones, called out to Illyan. “I heard that you made a deal with Mr. Korin where he will give you the residence he held onto for so many years.”

When he said this, Illyan furrowed his brow. Why would he ask about that? “That’s right, Mr. Vael. I should get it soon.” “Good. Then if you could, visit my office once you move in. I have a surprise for you.”

After that, they parted ways without much fuss as the old savants were too old to do this kind of thing. They were glad that this was only the low-level examination where the practical exam wasn’t needed. The junior physicians usually use only their knowledge in herbalism to concoct the medicine. As long as the physician knew the ins and outs of the recipe, then there was no way to mess it up. Basic herbalism usually depended mostly on the natural effects of the herbs, and only a few basic concoctions were a mix of at least five herbs.

Illyan never understood how this could be, but Kaoran explained to him that even herbs and other plants adhered to the power stages the sages created back then. That meant that most herbs Illyan knew about were mere mortal stage herbs… Maybe Firestorm Herb was enough to reach Novice Herb.

Those who were talented enough to create complex medicine recipes from more than five ingredients would usually keep it as a family heirloom or sell it to some forces. However, most would not waste their time on mortal herbs. Even if they weren’t talented in the path of magister, their specialization would still make them excellent assistants and so they would be poached by various organizations, either through rewards or through force.

But that was just a passing thought as Illyan hurried to his room. While his body was completely alright, he was mentally drained after all those hours.

However, just as he came out of the examination room, he met someone he just talked about. “Hello, Kaoran! Congratulations on your promotion!” Korin smiled gently as he greeted Illyan. “Hello, Mr. Korin. Thank you. Did you wait here for a long time?” Illyan asked curiously. “Not really. I know that it would take a long time so I came here not too long ago,” Korin said as he started to reach inside of his pocket. “The reason I did so was to give you a gift.”

“A gift?” Illyan wondered what he talked about. However, when Korin took out the key from the pocket, he could already guess. “I already wrapped everything up about the residence a few days ago but didn’t want to burden you with it since your examination was just around the corner. You can move there as soon as you want.”

He gave the iron key to Illyan as he said that. “Thank you for your gift.” Illyan showed a grateful expression as he bowed a little. The thoughts he had were completely different though. ‘Calling something you sold me as a gift, huh. How brazen...’ “Hahah, no need to thank me. After all, we had a deal.” Korin also didn’t want to seem to be too shameless and just laughed it off. “When do you plan to move?” “Probably tomorrow. Today, I am too tired.” Illyan shook his head as he said the truth. “I see… Well, don’t just stay there and visit the institute often. You need to study hard after all…” Korin said with a smile as he said goodbye to Illyan. However, for Illyan, his smile seemed to be weird and made him uncomfortable.

At first, he came right to his room intending to go to bed before moving out the next day, but the growling of his stomach made him realize that he hadn't eaten since the morning. Even though he was used to not eating for prolonged periods, it didn’t mean he enjoyed the feeling of starving.

So, once he changed his mind, he left the room and went to the dining hall. Along the way, he noticed some of the apprentices were looking at him and talking about something. He didn’t find it weird as he was already aware that new academics were often gossiped about. Else, he would worry about it.

But he decided to be still careful and listened to what they talked about. “Hey, do you see it? He doesn’t have the robe!” “Don’t all academics have new robes?” “Heh, so he was bragging at the end. Arun was so embarrassed even though he was right. Someone should tell him.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

After hearing all the whispers, Illyan only shook his head. Why would I wear the robe the moment I finished the exam? Give me a break…

Seeing the peers of his being so superficial despite having such a perfect place to study was making him feel disconnected from them. Not that he had some deep connection with those young students.

He has been different since he was born. At first, it was just his ability but now it was his demeanor too.

There was no need to care what others thought of him unless it would be detrimental to him. Considering the fact that most of those rumors were just a form of entertainment for them, it wasn’t something he would care about.

That was only considering the commoners though. Nord already told him that some of the apprentices could be sons or daughters of nobles who had a slim chance at becoming the heir. They didn’t have much authority, but they were still something that a normal person shouldn’t provoke.

However, for the sake of not being interrupted by them like in the morning, he fished out the badge and put it on his chest. The apprentices’ faces changed when they realized that he was promoted in the end and started to whisper together even more.

Fortunately, people like Arun were rare among the apprentices, so nobody bothered him. In truth, only bored or lazy ones would gossip as most of them studied hard for the chance of becoming academic.

Soon, Illyan got to the dining hall where he met Cara and Nord, whose eyes shined in excitement when they noticed the badge as they congratulated him. They wanted to invite him for a celebration, but he refused under the pretext of being tired and retired to his room after a full meal.

The next day, Illyan woke up with a clear mind once again. He didn’t dawdle around and started to pack everything he had. It wasn’t much, so in half an hour, he was done.

“You are leaving already?” Nord, who sat up on his bed, asked with a sleepy look. He used to wake up one hour later than Illyan who woke up early. This time, he got up early to say goodbye to Illyan and help him if necessary.

After all, they were over a quarter of the year roommates so even if they continue to see each other, it would be much less than before.

However, since Illyan’s belongings were just one bag, he didn’t have anything to pack at all as he prepared to leave. “Yes, Mr. Korin told me that the residence is old, so there will be a lot of work to do. I want to go look to find out what needs to be changed.”

He then bid Nord farewell as he hurried out of the institute. Nord offered help, but since Illyan didn’t even know in which state the residence was, he refused and told Nord that today he would just inspect the house rather than anything else.

As he went out on the streets, he frowned as he looked into the west side of the town. Korin already told him where the residence was, and it shouldn’t be hard to find since the place should be far from other buildings.

That didn’t change the fact that Illyan was disgruntled for needing to look for it. Korin

could at least lead him to it.

He didn’t dwell on it though as he treaded across the streets with a pensive expression. So far, everything went his way and there was no problem going on. Unfortunately, that didn’t make him happy and instead made him more worried.

Now that he finally realized that there was something after him, he felt on edge. He couldn’t hide; he couldn’t escape. He could only face it head-on.

However, he was just a novice stage warrior. Self-proclaimed one.

Depending on his strength was impossible. At the same time, it was necessary.

Because of that, he decided to push his plans forward now that he finally got the residence. During those three months or so, he didn’t just study for the exam but also observed the organizations in the vicinity.

The first who came to mind when talking about nearby forces was the mayor. He lorded over the town with a heavy fist. It may not look like that because of the useless guards, but those were just pawns who had to keep up appearances only.

His own force was hidden away only for his use and could be reckoned with as there were rumors of several of his subordinates being Flow Masters.

Perus also belonged to this force by his own choice.

The next was the force of the Venomous Viper Gang. A few decades ago, one of the soldiers deserted from the military and chose the criminal life of the underworld. The mayor wanted to purge him but never managed to do so.

In the end, the gang leader called Varel unified most of the lesser gangs and purged the resisting ones. In the end, only two gangs remained. Varel also stopped his conquest as he was aware of the situation of the second gang and made a truce with them even before the fight.

Others didn’t know what the content of the deal was, but there had been less violence on the streets ever since and were quite happy about it so they didn’t care either.

The third force which was already mentioned was Heart Bearer Gang whose influence was rooted in the town for several generations at the very least. The townsfolk knew only that much about the history as most information was inherited through words.

What they knew for sure though was that they collected bodies. For as long as they remembered, the members would take part in funerals of normal citizens and take down any criminals that were wreaking havoc.

And all those bodies were passed to…

There was also a fourth force in the town or rather an outside force which encroached on this place. The robed men. Most people didn’t know much about them or didn’t know them at all as they showed up only once in a while.

However, from what Illyan found out, they had dealings with both the mayor and Heart Bearer Gang and by extension the Venomous Viper Gang. Not to mention, there were some rumors about someone forming a big bandit group beyond the walls stirring chaos. From the incident in the wagon that also seemed like their doing.

All of the forces were connected to it one way or another.

Normally, he would rather steer away from such problematic things. But all this time, he had inner thoughts to go against them. Now he realized that it was because of his subconscious desire to get stronger to overcome another Fate Trial.

Since they had the way for him to get stronger, he decided to steal it. Out of all the forces described, he decided that the first victim would be the Venomous Viper Gang which should be the weakest one considering their hierarchy.

Illyan still didn’t know the true prowess of Flow Master and so he didn’t plan to barge into their headquarters head-on. If possible, trying to sneak in to steal the technique would be ideal.

Unfortunately, he was aware that this was too unrealistic. In the first place, did Varel even have this kind of written form of the technique? There was no need for him to steal the written form of technique back then since he didn’t have access to it and didn’t need to either as he was already proficient in it.

Later on, he probably didn’t rewrite the technique either. After training in it for a few months, Illyan realized that there was no way to forget this technique. It felt like part of him already even though he only half-succeeded.

That meant that Varel could just teach it word to word to anyone he wanted to. And those would be only his closest family or subordinates…

From what Illyan knew, he taught only his three sons the breathing technique.

‘Alright. They are the ones…’

Once deciding on his target, his gait quickened as he quickly disappeared from the crowded area of the town…