Rezen ordered his first ever subordinate to engrave the Tattoo on his body while he watch to check how it was done. By the way, if the gems are called mystic gems, these tattoos on the other hand are called mystic tattoos
Their boring naming sense earned Rezen’s insults as if he did not plan on naming the A.H using numbers
Rezen saw his subordinate suddenly removing his shirt and that made him a bit flustered since although Zero is genderless, it was still a great beauty in terms of facial appearance
“W-why are you stripping?”
“Master, the tattoo starts from my stomach where the elixir field is located” Zero replied innocently, and Rezen internally scolded himself for his dirty mind and let Zero do what he needed to do
Zero stripped all of his clothes and started the process of engraving by biting his thumb until it bled as he drew a circle in his belly button
“Wow… fantasy world is really something. To think that the process was this brutal” Rezen commented
Zero started to draw lines all over his body with the circle in his stomach as the starting point
The lines covered Zero’s torso, his chest, arms, legs, and even face
It was fortunate that there is nothing in between Zero’s legs or Rezen might die from embarrassment
At first, the lines drawn using blood don’t look special. It was quite aesthetically amazing but that was only it
The tattoo lacks the sense of mystery that Rezen has felt from the Mana Warriors. Their tattoos gave him a feeling that they contain the mysteries of the universe much like the magic circles that mages create using their understanding of the elements
That was the case at the start but when Zero’s mana filled the tattoos, they started to change
It started from Zero’s stomach where his elixir field is located, it lit up with a blue color, the color of raw mana
The ‘glow’ spread from his stomach to every part of his body that has the tattoo
Rezen doesn’t know if he should feel creeped out or amazed as those lines suddenly moved and twisted, arranging into something new, something more mysterious
The blue glow of raw mana on Zero’s tattoo started to change color, turning into pure white light
“Light element?” Rezen muttered and he doesn’t know if this was because they have the same name or they are both the same first Artificial Human of different masters but Zero 2.0 also has the Light element just like Zero 1.0
Those Tattoos were definitely filled with the power of the light element and Rezen can sense Zero’s aura getting stronger
Those tattoos now resonate and absorb the power of the light element, boosting Zero’s physical stats and if he wants to, he can imbue his punches and kicks with elemental damage
As for long-range attacks, that would take practice as Tattoo Warriors find it hard to use them
“How uncool is this? As the Master, I think there’s only a 50/50 chance that I could win against him” Rezen sighed
If it was a human mage, Rezen’s chances of winning against a 3rd fusion rank enemy would be quite high (assuming that he use his pills)
However, Tattoo Warriors are different as they move fast using their bodies. They are also stronger than typical mages at the same rank and with Rezen’s fragile body, he might get instantly killed in one shot
“Zero, what level of Tattoo can you engrave to me?” Rezen asks as this is a way to lower his deficiencies
“Ungraded, Master” Zero replied simply, not caring for Rezen’s feelings at all
Seems like Rezen has to start growing spirit plants that refined his physique
Rezen started to talk with his subordinate to learn more things about Tattoo Warriors and he learned a lot
For example, below the 7th rank, as long as the body can handle it, 6th rank Tattoo Warriors can be mass-produced
However, they have difficulty breaking through the 7th rank
Tattoo Warriors can engrave tattoos on themselves or they can ask other people with a higher level of attainment to do it for them since the resulting power would be better
As such, many Tattoo Warriors lack the comprehension of elements making it almost impossible for them to exceed the 6th rank
Basically, for Tattoo Warriors, comprehension can be bypassed with the help of others but if they want to reach the 7th rank then things would be different
Today’s study session was fruitful and Rezen wanted to rest but two visitors suddenly arrived
Rezen had Zero wear his clothes again before he checked on who was knocking on his door
“Hi, it’s me again” Rain greeted happily though her tone has a hint of nervousness
“Hello…” Rezen greeted back though he has some doubts. How did these people discover where he is living?
But well, thinking of their power and status, it isn’t really surprising
Rezen invited them inside as he grabbed chairs from the kitchen since the small sofa couldn’t fit all of them
“Are you rested enough now?” Rain said with a flattering smile and Rezen narrowed his eyes, feeling that something is different
“Yes”
“I see, that’s good. Maybe it’s because your boyfriend is there to take care of you?”
Rezen almost called out his mystic gem to cast a spell, specifically the [Water Spear] that would poke a hole in Rain’s head
“Cough! Cough! He’s not my boyfriend…” Rezen said awkwardly
“Yes, I wouldn’t dare become my Master’s boyfriend”
The atmosphere suddenly turned even more awkward than before and Rezen can feel that the way Rain was looking at him is the same way as she would look at a human scum
“Rezen, we are here to invite you again to be a student of our Academy” Florine said to diffuse the awkward atmosphere
“Sister, I already told you that I can become your Honorary Disciple in exchange for our business agreement” Rezen replied and he saw Florine sighing
“Younger brother, why don’t you want to join us? We really need students as talented as you are! People found out that we were personally scouting for talents and those mages are looking down at us! It has become even harder for us to recruit students!” Rain cried out as she wiped her tears
She was the one that proposed scouting for talents and because of it, they were disgraced
‘I seriously worry for the future of their Academy and students’ Rezen thought, his face twitching at the unsightly appearance of Rain
“Rain stop that. If Rezen doesn’t want to join, we shouldn’t force him”
Only then did Rain calm down a bit and Florine waved her hand and wooden boxes appeared on top of the table
“These boxes contain spirit plants seeds. You said before that you can supply us with the same spirit plants as you had us try, right?” Florine said in a business tone and Rezen nodded his head
“Yes, if you give the seeds to me, I could sell quality 1 spirit plants for only the price of 1 mana stone. As for quality 2 and 3, hmm, I think 20 and 30 mana stones would suffice” Rezen decided on the spot
1 mana stone for quality 1 spirit plant is still a bit acceptable but 20 mana stones for quality 2 and 30 mana stones for quality 3 are too cheap in everyone’s eyes
Spirit plants of quality 2 would be around a hundred mana stones!
The quality 3 is even more expensive in the market but to Rezen, the price is even cheaper than the quality 2 spirit plants!
This sounds unbelievable no matter who would hear it!
“Rezen, are you sure about this? I don’t believe that you don’t know the value of your spirit plants”
It was natural for Florine to be doubtful but truthfully speaking, Rezen doesn’t know the exact extent of how pricey his spirit plants should be
He gave that price since math is a headache and also because he needed something from these sisters
“I know that I am losing out in this deal but those losses are not for nothing” Rezen stated and Florine nodded her head
If Rezen simply gave out such a price that is no different from charity then the doubts in her heart would never be gone
“First, there is the Honorary Disciple thing. I want to use your name as a shield if I ever have enemies. I think the value of your backing, you are aware, right?”
In the ‘mortal world’, 6th fusion rank mages are at the top of the food chain as mages higher than that rank seldom show themselves
That means that at least 90% of the possible enemies that Rezen could have would be deterred using Florine’s backing
Rezen only has 1 life and that is practically priceless. Even the loss of millions of mana stones is nothing
Of course, part of the reason is that Rezen is pessimistic about the future of Florine and Rain’s Academy
Even if he were to take losses by giving such a low price, would these sisters even order bulk and bulk of spirit plants when they have very few students?
“Also, aside from the common seeds, I would want to receive some unique and extremely rare seeds from time to time”
“The duration length of our business agreement would depend on whether the seeds provided are satisfactory or not”
In other words, Florine and Rain can’t slack off! They were basically turned into Rezen’s seed gatherers… which sounds wrong for some reason…
“And… from time to time, I would send some students to your Academy for free like Zero here. Of course, their resources would be provided by me but I want them to be taught in your Academy”
The more Rezen spoke, the more excited he becomes. Who would have thought that scheming and taking huge benefits without the other party knowing it would feel this good?
This is too cool and exhilarating!
Rezen might look like this but he is also a smart guy albeit, goofy at times
“Is that everything that you needed?” Florine asks doubtfully. In her eyes, Rezen’s demands are still too little compared to the advantage she would obtain
She just has to let people try the spirit plants Rezen would supply and many people would surely be attracted
Talents, unique resources, and teachers are what make an Academy great!
“Of course not but they are the demand for now. I might add some more things in the future but of course, I would make sure that they are reasonable”
With that, the two sides made a contract on the spot and refined some smaller details
Rezen doesn’t know whether it be because these sisters are desperate, or they are just really kind, or this is the result of using Claude’s name but they were very amiable
They didn’t even threaten Rezen in any way and tried their best to be very accommodating
Seems like even if a person rose to status as high as the sun, their real personality wouldn’t necessarily change
If they are kind, they would still remain kind
After writing and signing the contract, Rezen send the sisters off and said that the first batch of spirit plants would be given tomorrow but they have to send someone to pick them up
As soon as they were gone, Rezen opened the wooden boxes
Some boxes only contained one type of seeds but in a bulk, they are the most common and can be said as the ‘bare minimum’ resources
The other boxes were divided inside as they contained seeds of different spirit plants or quality
All of these seeds are from quality 1 to quality 3 and there was a variety of them
Rezen doesn’t know if this is because 6th fusion rank mages have capabilities or spirit plants seeds are really common just like what Claude said before
But that doesn’t matter now. The only thing that Rezen focuses on was the fact that he had a great harvest today!
The seeds also include a spirit plant that refined the body upon regular consumption! Rezen needed such a spirit plant for his body to handle higher-grade tattoos!