Adlington turned to look at the man following him as he explored his new home.

"So, what do you want? I assumed you would leave with the construction crew" said Adlington as he started unpacking things from the multitude of spatial rings on his hands

"Uhh, well I was wondering about what you said about the magic sword"

" oh that, well from what I remember people that are talented in the arts of the magic sword show up as untalented in a regular mage test," said Adlington while he grabbed a book he had previously put away

"I know you said you didn't know how but is there any way?" said Bates while staring at Adlington with a passion not commonly seen in someone his age

"hmmm, considering this is a fortress city there is probably at least one person doing those tests here, probably restricted it to only those that join the city military tough"

" So there's no hope, all right then, thanks anyways ill head out now"

said Bates with a look of disappointment in his eyes

"Wait one minute, I didn't say there was no way. My cousin works in the military here, and considering his love for money, he might find a loophole to get you that test, for a hefty sum of course."

" If you could help me with that I'd greatly appreciate it, though I aint sure I can pay too much," said Bates while remembering his nearly empty savings

"Sure im gonna head to the city in around 2 days if you would like to wait for me in the inn I found you at," said Adlington while starting to read the book he had grabbed

"I was wondering if I could stay here till then, I don't mean to intrude but now is not the best time for me to go back," said Bates

" Suit yourself, I have some food but I don't think it is enough for two people"

"It's fine, I can survive off scraps"

In this world, even if someone doesn't have direct control of their mana, like a magic sword or a wizard, as long as they have mana veins, their strength will slowly grow.

There was even a legend of a man awakening as a wizard at 100 even though he had never learned a lick of magic, though most believed that to be nothing but an old story.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Three days later, longer than expected adlington had finished up his laboratory and was now in need of raw materials and food.

The once-empty room had been transformed into a wondrous space filled with an array of desks, each possessing its unique charm. From a simple reading desk to one crafted entirely of enchanted stone etched with mysterious runes, the laboratory seemed to have been inhabited for ages, despite only two days passing since its assembly. An assortment of ancient parchments adorned the desks, while numerous vials containing arcane substances added an air of mystique to the surroundings.

He equipped himself with his now empty rings, except for a bag filled with the rest of his money.

Then, he headed to find Bates, who had mostly been hanging outside reading a book he borrowed from Adlington.

" Are you ready? I have a bunch of stuff to do so I'd rather head out as quickly as possible "

"Yeah I'm ready lets go," said Bates while he closed his book and started heading in the direction of the city

"Where are you going?" said Adlington while throwing a collection of stones onto the floor

"Mhm?"

" You think I've only been fiddling my thumbs up there? Here get inside the circle"

As Bates got into the circle Adlington threw one last stone at the ground.

As soon as the stone hit the ground the rest of the rocks exploded in synchrony leaving a blinding light behind

In the flashing light, Adlington took a step forward while dragging Bates by the hand.

As soon as they both opened their eyes they appeared on a stone platform which seemed to be located at the center of the city based on the large amount of people that were walking around the platform and the multitude of shops and stands located around the area.

Before Adlington could take a good look around, a young man dressed in a simple robe headed towards him and asked for a teleportation fee. Once he paid, he was hurriedly hushed off the platform.

"Alright, my cousins is busy so he won't see us until later so in the meanwhile I'm going to go do some errands"

Said adlington while purchasing a simple map from a child who was selling them to the people who had just teleported into the city

" I need to go get paid from the association then go do some stuff so I'll meet you here at around 7?"

" Yeah that works"

Once they agreed on a time they both headed their separate ways

While Bates headed off to get paid adlington headed off to get a family under contract

As most mages especialy researchers dedicated days in a lab without leaving once they weren't left wiht a lot of time to do house chores so at some point magicians in the past started making contracts with entire peasant family

This contract was helpful to both parties as most magicians learned that it's not a good idea to mistreat the people who cook your food, at least not too much.

So the contract normally involved an entire human family to serve a wizard as servants and in exchange the wizard would provide a liveable wage and protection from other mages.

In some cases, there were also added clauses.

For example, in the magical contract that Adlington had received from his family, in exchange for him aiding in the cultivation of their children in case of magical talent the family would work for 5 generations.

Which was also coincidentally how his family had risen in power as having multiple low-tier mages as servants was very helpful when researching and experimenting with magic.