Rise of the Nightmare Crestmaster

Aldrich wanted to see the Hall of heroes himself, but he was busy today. He had to get the important matters settled first.

Aldrich couldn't believe that he wasted four hours in city hall just to get most of the paperwork over with.

The department of commerce and trade had many civil servants. But the sheer number of people that needed to process work through the department was cause enough for delay.

Not to mention the intentional tardiness of the civil servants.

Even when they knew that he was a student in the Crest academy they didn't change their treatment. Considering that not many of the students become Crestmasters it made sense.

Only a true Crestmaster was worthy of better treatment, potential was nothing, true achievement was everything.

In fact, if he didn't spend three silver coins just to get the work done he would have had to wait for two weeks at least. When he understood what those dirtbags wanted he just started slipping coins left and right.

And what do you know? The work that was delayed a couple hours was done in fifteen minutes. Fuck, corruption was a serious problem, ordinary citizens were basically screwed over.

This only served to reinforce Aldrich's determination to not be ordinary. The fate of the ordinary was to get the scraps, to lick the bottom of the barrel and to grovel in mediocrity.

He will not suffer this fate.

After a quick lunch, he went to buy several sets of clothes, trousers, vests, shirts and shoes. He also got some long coats and cloaks, and perfumes and two rings.

Some were fancy others were practical, as a soon-to-be adventurer he was bound to spend a lot of time out in the wild.

And as a business owner he needed to look the part. He was going to be involved in big projects so he needed a look that would inspire confidence and trust.

Aldrich then returned back home in time for dinner, he washed up and ate his fill. Next he went on to revise all his notes from the past and memorizing the monster codex number 3.

The variety in monstera was something to behold, there were some incredibly disturbing monsters in this book. Rarely seen grade one monsters such as the Swamp hag had the ability to poison the air.

The poison gas could induce hallucinations at first but after continued exposure it would lead to loss of mobility, this was the case for Crestmasters, ordinary people would die after two minutes of inhaling that gas.

Aldrich closed the book and took out an empty book, he started writing down his two year plan to save Isger. This was his main priority right now, revenge would come later.

He also had to find the missing Adera, if something happened to her, he would not be able to forgive himself.

First of all to get Ayemon's help he needed to accomplish five grade two quests within two years. Obviously, he couldn't just start taking grade two quests the minute he became a Crestmaster.

It became all the more evident how difficult that accomplishment was the more he understood about adventurers and Crestmasters.

Grade one Crestmasters could take any quests they liked, the guild wouldn't stop you under normal circumstances. That was not the issue.

The problem begins with knowing that grade two Crestmasters were elite, in a city of millions of people which is also where people from the entire province congregate there are very few individuals who achieved that rank.

And even fewer parties, for example like the Mace of Garan, a newly rising grade two party of four.

Basically jumping into grade two quests without being a grade two Crestmaster was not wise. So, for the first year, he was going to finish as many grade one quests as possible.

The year after that he was confident in becoming a grade two Crestmaster so it was only natural to move on to grade two quests.

That would make his prestige and fame shoot through the roof, which would be of great help in getting an Archbishop to helping Isger. Of course, in the meantime he would be trying other things on the side like the attempt in the nightmare realm.

Or maybe through the company he made, he named it: the Holy Grail. He didn't know which of the methods would ultimately bear fruit but one of them definitely will.

,m The best part about this plan is that all three methods worked in tandem with one another.

The nightmare realm helped in raising his stats and getting more skills and treasure, which would fuel the Holy Grail and his success in the Knights of last Sustar would propel his fame to greater heights.

This way not only would he not be distracted but it would also get better for him the more he kept at it.

Aldrich didn't write in the common tongue but in Quohen, after all, this was sensitive information, it had to be kept safely.

As for the True Saint's Folk he was conflicted, a part of him wanted to find them and punish them at this very moment. But another part, a more composed part of him wanted the opposite.

It was better not to encounter them before he became a grade two Crestmaster at the very least. Right now he would accomplish nothing, their powers and secrets were terrifying.

But Aldrich wasn't just hoping for things to work out, if in the case he could somehow expose their existence to the Empire he could watch from the sidelines as they were butchered.

The True Saint's Folk is a powerful organization but it was no match for the Empire in any way. It was a conclusion that he reached not by blind faith but pragmatic deduction.

Otherwise why would they go so far to hide their deeds? They were clearly unprepared for a frontal confrontation with the Empire.

Although he wanted to do it with his own hands, preferably. But if he got the chance to rat them out, then he might as well do it.