Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

Although Liam and Mary had been forced to join Demon Gate, there was no slavery within the sect. Disciples and masters received regular wages for their obligatory services, according to their positions and responsibilities.

If they generated more merit through special achievements, they could even be rewarded with non-regular premiums.

However, it was normal for them to receive only their regular wages, which could be collected at places like this. So almost every day there were queues in this area where Liam and Mary had just joined the queue.

While waiting for their turn, they observed the area, which was like the back of an Earthling store. Besides a large area that could hold up to 100 students, the place had a large counter on the opposite side of the entrance. Behind the counter, six Officers went about their business of paying wages, receiving disciples, and occasionally going to the back of the area.

From where Liam stood, he couldn't see what was on the other side of the counter. There was a wall behind the Officers, and each time they went to take resources, they left through one of the two side exits from that area behind the counter.

On the side of this wing where the line was, there were hardly any decorations. Apart from an enormous chandelier on the ceiling, only the special painting on the side walls caught the eye.

Liam glanced at them briefly before shifting his focus to the line ahead of him.

'Is there anything special about these things? Why did I suddenly feel dizzy?' He turning his eyes towards the counter where a strong natural scent was coming from.

Mary could smell it too, and also sense the dense mana emanating from there.

"The things here must be precious... Imagine how good it must be to work here?" she asked in Liam's ear, whispering so as not to be overheard.

Liam nodded, agreeing with the advantages of working in such a place.

Aside from the possibility of siphoning off resources—Liam saw no problem in stealing from a force like Demon Gate, though he wasn't brave enough to risk it now—it was also possible to become stronger simply by working near valuable resources.

Liam had read in a book that special resources were not only valuable for consumption or manipulation. The simple fact of having something valuable with you would be enough to make you grow faster.

But this place didn't have one or two valuable resources, but possibly hundreds of them!

The line moved forward, leaving only 7 disciples in front of Liam and Mary. Behind them, 20 more disciples joined, including Seth, Amias, and Ajax. Liam paid no attention to them, eagerly awaiting his turn.

With six Officers working, he was soon called by one of them.

"Identification," the man said as he saw Liam stop in front of him, not bothering to ask unnecessary questions.

All disciples come to this place for one purpose: to collect their wages.

Placing Liam's badge on a device similar to the one the young man had seen in the previous hall, the man, about six feet tall and dressed all in black, made his way to the inner area of the rewards wing.

Liam saw Mary being called, and the Officer attending to the woman also made his way to collect her resources. She also stood in front of the counter, waiting.

To his surprise, they attended Mary before him and she was soon standing in one of the corners of the area, waiting for him.

Six minutes after the Officer left, the man returned carrying a wooden box.

"Initiate Liam Porter. Congratulations on joining the sect and being promoted. Because of your promotion, your prize includes the items in the welcome box, as well as the first salary as an Initiate. From now on, you can return here once every 30 days to collect your wage."

The man placed a ring over the wooden box, showing that Liam's Initiate wage was there.

"Hmm, thanks." Liam thanked him quickly, picked up his gifts, and left.

The three men who had been on the Eternal Doom Island watched him closely, while the many other students around ignored him.

Not worried about being robbed, Liam made his way to where Mary was, leaving to check what she had gotten when they returned to his room.

Thinking the same thing, the two left the Records Hall and headed for Street Thirty-Seven in a hurry to find out their respective rewards.

...

Locking the bedroom door, Liam first looked at the wooden box, an item similar to the one Mary had received.

While she was checking to see what she had received, Liam noticed that there were five different items in the box.

In one corner of the box was a white glass vial, similar to the pill bottles he had seen in pictures.

In the middle of the box was an unmistakable Arcane Crystal, which Liam could tell was of King-grade, Advanced-level. In the upper left corner was a black dagger, almost touching the item in the upper right corner, a small card.

The last item in the box was a bag of coins, which Liam could tell were filled with silver coins.

'200 silver coins, a dagger that seems to be a First Class item of High-quality, a King-grade Arcane Crystal, pills, probably also of First Class and a card...'

Liam put the items aside and picked up the card. As he opened it, a golden key fell into his hands before he could read the card's contents.

At the top of the hill, where the wind whispers,

There's an old tree where the sun murmurs.

Four steps north, in a straight line,

Then turn east, where the shadow is discreet.

Count seven stones, one by one,

Until you find one that doesn't move at all.

Under that stone, marked with a cross,

is the treasure, shining like the light.

"Huh? What's that?"

Liam read, but didn't understand.

But when he looked at Mary, he saw that the woman was frowning, just like him.

Also holding a card with a key dangling from her fingers, Mary wanted to ask Liam what it could be.

Liam immediately saw that his key differed from Mary's.

"This... Some kind of treasure hunt? But our treasures have to be different. Our keys are different colors and shapes," he said, pointing to the key in Mary's hand.

She looked at her object and then at his and realized that they were indeed different.

Without saying another word, the two exchanged their cards, seeing the directions they were facing were different. But they put the cards aside, having no clue what they were about for the moment.

"What is the quality of your items, Mary? What did you get?"

She looked at her box and said, "A gray dagger, a King-grade Arcane Crystal of Middle-level, the card with the key and a bag of silver coins. And you?"

"Only four items? I have five, and my crystal is of a higher quality than yours." He frowned as he looked at her box.

Looking at it, he realized he had been mistaken in his initial analysis.

'This dagger shouldn't be of First Class, it should be of Second Class!'

She had also received fewer coins than him, half to be exact.

Liam then looked at the ring he had already put on one of his fingers, an item he had already understood to be one of the wonderful space storage items from Twin Land.

He had never come in contact with one before today, but the use of spatial rings was simple. The moment he poured his mana into the silver device in his right hand, he felt his senses reach a space of 1 cubic meter.

"Oh?"

He couldn't help but open his mouth in surprise when he realized what was there. A coin pouch containing 20 gold coins floated near a silver sword. Away from the coins and the sword, there was a flimsy pillbox, larger than the bottle in the wooden box resting on Liam's bed. Finally, one Arcane Crystals floated in this space, giving off the sensation of an Ancestral-grade crystal of the Lower-level!

This was exactly the kind of crystal he so desperately wanted to stimulate a qualitative improvement in Thal'Korr!

Liam's face lit up with an exuberant smile, causing his yellowed teeth to peek through. His companion, oblivious to the contents of his spatial ring, couldn't help but notice the faint scent of anticipation in the air.