Way of the Knights

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The next room they entered has a symbol of a leveled scale on top.

Upon entering, the team then saw a huge room filled with numerous items that glimmered in splendor. The air was filled with a pleasant smell, and there is a small bustle all around the place. In this room, they saw weapons, trinkets, medicines, beast cores, and many more. Doing her job as their tour guide, Alice then explained necessary informations about this location.

"This is the Exchange Section. As you can see, this is where students exchange for items that could aid them in battle or cultivation."

"This section is divided into several floors. This first floor has myriad of items that would not exceed C-grade rarity. To exchange for items, one could use either Merit Points or Gold Cards. But beware, 10 Gold Cards are equivalent to 1 Merit Point, and this exchange isn't allowed for items that exceeds B-grade rarity. This is to provide everybody a chance regardless of their financial background."

The team nodded in accordance to the information given. This system makes sense since if this wasn't implemented, then the rich would just hoard all of the treasure, leaving none available for the next generations.

"Items of B-grade rarity could be found on the second floor, but to enter one has to have at least 1000 Merit Points. Higher floors also have similar rooms, as for the exact requirements, pardon me for not knowing since I never entered those floors before." Alice smiled helplessly as she explained.

"Also, aside from buying, one could also sell items in here. Just look for one of the staffs available and they will lead you there. Rumors also said that if you develop a great connection with them, they might give you an invitation to one of their private auctions. But I only heard this rumors, I not sure if this was true."

"Is it now…" Mark whispered, clearly intrigued.

"Do you want to look around or shall we proceed to the next section?" Alice asked for their opinion.

"There will be time for that. Let's move on for now." Raven made the decision, as the rest wasn't against it, they left the Exchange Section and went back to the main room of the Multi-Purpose Building.

Alice then led them towards the room where there is a symbol of a tower on top. Upon stepping inside, the scenery changed once more and once again, the team were stunned by what they saw.

It was like they were transported into some other civilization. Tall buildings, spacious roads and some on going constructions could be seen. There is a wide array of colorful designs and lively atmosphere at this place. Alice did her job and introduced this section to them.

"This place is the Organization Section of the Multi-Purpose Building. Just like the name implies, this is where students who formed, a part of, or looking for an Organization to join, goes. From my knowledge, there's at least ten or more smaller organizations scattered across this place."

She then started walking forward and explained more informations as they go.

"Joining an Organization might be extremely helpful for you. As you now know, Merit Points is just one of the currencies that we could use and earning them would be extremely challenging. However, aside from the missions that the Institute posts, Organizations also have their own missions and clearing them could earn you more Merit Points to spend. This is why at least 90% of the students here preferred to join an Organization to help for their expenses."

"Hey! Those five towering buildings! Are those what I think they are?" Paul asked as he pointed at the said buildings.

The rest also looked over, Alice then nodded towards Paul and confirmed his guesses. "Yes, it is as what you think Young Master. They are the most powerful Organizations here at the Inner Branch. The Scavengers Guild, The Ruby Knight Squad, The Lair Hunters Camp, The Pill Saint Pavilion and The Eternal Horizon Clan. These Organizations as mostly known as the Big Five."

"It really is them! That's cool!" Paul exclaimed in excitement.

No one was overly surprised to know this. It could be said that they are somewhat expecting something like this to happen.

The Big Five sounds very promising and very formidable to be called as such, and they truly have the capital to boast since these aren't mere Organizations that are formed by the students, instead these Organizations are mere branches of their outside counterpart.

The Scavengers Guild are composed of Treasure Hunters, auctioneers, merchants and so on. Their main purpose is to search for new resources and sell them so that the kingdom would have another trump card. They mostly journey to forgotten places or abandoned areas, sometimes they even scavenge outside of the kingdom. Needless to say, the kingdom had greatly benefitted from their transactions and services so it is natural that they grew up so large to be a formidable existence.

The Ruby Knight Squad is another existence that the Kingdom pays attention to. This Organization had one major rule for recruitment: 'Females Only'. And the students here know better than to underestimate it's members. During it's entire existence, the Ruby Knight Squad had always been formidable, every woman who became a part of it weren't just looks, they are a deadly bunch too. In fact Anne's grandmother, Annarosa Fiore, was once the Ruby Knight Captain, and her exploits had been written in the historical records of the kingdom.

The Lair Hunters Camp, another existence that even the King himself, greatly respects. Rumors said that joining this Organization is akin to preparing your own grave. Just like the name implied, everyone who joins this Organization would be trained to become a Lair Hunting Knights, people who brave the dangers of the outside to protect the civilians. They have a high compensation for the missions they post since all of them are particularly dangerous. It is said that some even died from their harsh training, but no one dared to call them out since the Organization never initiated any type of recruitments. They would only accepts someone who walked in whole-heartedly and knew what they are getting into.

The Pill Saint Pavilion, the true overlord of medicine. This is where people who wanted pursue Alchemy and medicine goes. While they still need to raise their cultivation to refine pills and herbal medicines, Alchemists focus their efforts into research of cure or recovering ancient pill recipes. Their mission is simple, and that is to cure and raise the caliber of the knights of the kingdom.

Alchemists are divided into several categories, namely: Beginner, Apprentice, Senior, Master, Grand Master, and Saint ranks.

It is said that there is a Saint ranked alchemist in the main branch of the organization in the past, however there are no solid evidences of this just yet so people tend to ignore these rumors. Nevertheless, this organization is way too important for the kingdom so they then to let them do as they please.

And finally, the ever so mysterious Eternal Horizon Clan.

While it might be called a 'Clan', it doesn't mean that everyone who joined are relatives. They used the word 'Clan' as a form of a Bond with it's members. As for the true purpose of this organization? There's no detailed informations about that.

This organization doesn't have many members within, some says that their headcount is just a fraction of what the other organizations have, but this raises the question as to why they became a part of the Big Five. There are countless assumptions formed by the people but the Eternal Horizon Clan never confirmed nor denied any of those claims, they just remained silent and went on to do their thing, whatever that is.

"Almost all of the students here yearn to be a part of either of them, but their requirements for prospective members are very strict. Out of 100 applicants, only five to ten people will pass, and some of the people might not even be able to stay as a member for an entire year. But this doesn't stop them from trying. Since if they become a true member to any of this organizations, then they would experience great benefits that could change their lives, their membership could even give them the chance to join the main branches of said organizations for even more benefits. So it's acceptable that they are greatly sought after."

Alice explained further with a great reverence and longing on her voice, her expression seemed to sour a little bit as she looked at those five tall buildings. However, she didn't lose herself to this mood and fully took upon the role of being a guide to them.

"That being said, I believe Young Fairies and Young Masters have a greater chance to be recruited to become one of them, so please do consider applying for a spot whenever a chance arises."

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