Chapter 46: Journey
Five years
In the past five years, Drake had stayed within a ten kilometer range of his Ivory Tower, following one of the strictest routine aiming at reaching the top of alchemy and magical studies.
Unlike others in his family, Drake had never stopped studying magic and his mastery over the [Shadow Touch], [Shadow Claws] and [Shadow Wolf Spirit] was almost on par with acolytes from the elemental path of the same level, despite being a bloodline type acolyte.
This gave him versatility that was rare to encounter in a bloodline type acolyte or the body refinement path that he decided to walk.
Drake looked at the acolytes who had been selected for the inheritance war.
[Uncle John] : This uncles of his was only an intermediate rank acolyte, but his mastery over his spells [Shadow Veil] and [Shadow Bolt] was unmatched and made him a terrifying long-range assassin in battle. His contributions in the last war made it clear that he was a true veteran with hardened will and a lot of experience.
[Elder Helena] : Capable of shifting into an infant demonic raven, she was the best scout of the family and could spy on enemies' movement from a safe distance. Few acolytes were capable of flight after all. Furthermore, her battle prowess was the highest among elders.
[Elder Karl] : Coming from the same generation as the patriarch, Elder Karl was a genius with grade 4 talent. However, he had received a deep injury in the war against the Elderwood Household ten years ago, preventing him from advancing to the peak rank realm. However, his mastery over his innate spells was second to none. He possessed the rare and dangerous spell called [Petrification Gaze]. Even Drake would find it hard to survive if he were to look into Elder Karl's eyes directly in battle.
[Loving Crows] : James and Serena Moonfall were famous for being the parents of the Potioneering genius, but they were strong individuals on their own, being advanced rank acolyte themselves. They both possessed shadow curse and offensive spells that made them incredibly strong in team fights
[Elder Peter] : Elder Peter was the oldest acolyte in the family, and the most experienced advanced rank powerhouse there existed in the selected team. Although he looked kind on the surface, he was one of the most ruthless existences Drake had encountered. He was the kind of person to burn down an entire village to drive out a criminal since it was the quickest way to deal with a threat. Elder Peter was the head of the extermination force of the family, and he possessed a wide variety of tracking spells and close range finishing blows.
Besides those five advanced rank acolytes, there were 5 intermediate acolytes including Uncle John. His cousins Emma and Catherine were part of them, but there were also acolytes from the above generation like Pete and Gale. Lastly, there were also 5 beginner rank acolytes with more experience, but their strength was very insignificant in comparison to the rest, so Drake never really considered them as real assets for this expeditions.
As the main alchemist of the family for the past five years, there was no one in the family that did not know about him, just like there was no one in the family that he did not know. The low-ranked acolytes often ran errands for him and sought resources in the territory for his experiments, and the higher ranked acolytes would often commission potions from him. Most intermediate rank acolytes who broke through recently only managed to do it thanks to Drake's help in refining a regent potion allowing them to do so, even when their bloodline purity was not high enough to break through naturally with the passage of time and meditation.
'With such a team, this expedition should be a success...', Drake analysed.
With his current strength, Drake did not fear peak rank acolytes, and he certainly did not fear the creatures in the pocket realm. After all, magus-rank existences were not allowed inside and were forcefully ejected once they surpassed a certain threshold of strength. This was also one of the reason why the magi from the royal family could not enter the pocket dimension, as much as they wanted to explore its ruins and harvest the rare and precious resources stored within.
He also knew that the Magi from the Royal Family were bound by a contract and could not harm the citizens of the Porfield Kingdom. This thus assured the different magus households that they would not try to steal from them after their expedition inside the pocket dimension. Of course, it was not as if they did not earn anything from overseeing the inheritance war.
The contract was benefitial to both parties. Their research was fully financed by the crown, and there were thousands of commoners working to attend the botanical gardens growing magical resources for the magi's experiments. Furthermore, they would send their apprentices in the inheritance war.
The Second Prince's party possessed two advanced rank acolytes with quite a bit of fame: Werewolf Gale and Jakar the magic swordsman, disciples of Magus Rutherford and Magus Steelguard respectively. As for the First Prince, he was supported by the princess, a peak rank acolyte who was taught by Magus Anderson.
Drake knew that every single individual who would enter the pocket dimension was selected, and the elites would surely either die or rise afterwards. He would make sure to mitigate the family's losses and strengthen himself in the process. After all, he was not that far from the peak rank realm, and he surely hoped to advance within the pocket dimension.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone