Finally home.

Finally back in his own Mage Tower.

Finally, he could eat the normal food of Nevis City. Oh, but that last item, Garrett didn’t find particularly appealing.

Fried fish. He had had enough of it in the Black Gate Peninsula, and to be honest, though delicious fresh from the fryer, it became disgustingly greasy as it cooled;

Potato cakes. God knows, with the Black Gate Peninsula’s northerly location, many things couldn’t grow there, and potatoes were their staple food;

Beetroot salad, red wine stewed lamb, roast goose, oxtail soup, apple pudding, chicken pie...

Oh, and donuts, gingerbread, and delicious, honey-drizzled pancakes.

The entire dinner, with its fat content, meat content, and sugary desserts series, was clearly over the top.

"First, a toast to the beautiful elven lady!" said Andrew Lynn, the first to raise his glass in the dining room of the Mage Tower. Following his toast, everyone at the long table raised their glasses: Seraina, Norwood, Aurora, and the two apprentices positioned further back, Priestess of the God of Nature, Miss Annivya, and Necromancer Leon...

Under the constant white light of the Undying Flame, the red wine gently swayed, rippling beautifully in the glass.

See, not even first in line for toasts anymore. Indeed, they are a bunch of fickle folks, no longer loving me...

Garrett silently raised a glass of water, sneering internally as he clinked glasses with everyone in turn. Clink, clink, clink, and with a final dull thunk, his glass met Bernard’s enormous beer mug.

"Next, a toast to Garrett for safely returning!"

"And after that, to Garrett for successfully advancing to a fifth-level mage and a fifth-level priest!"

Smiles exchanged among friends. At the end of the table, the two apprentices gave a soft cheer:

Though the Mage Tower was not lacking in fifth-level mages, having the owner of the tower advance to a fifth-level priest still made the future seem more promising. At the very least, attending the council to pick up projects would now be even more justified.

Garrett looked around, his smile growing slightly. Having traveled extensively for over half a year, he had improved, and so had his friends:

The mage badges on Lynn’s and Aurora’s chests had changed from five bronze stars to a gold star, clearly indicating advancement to sixth level;

Mage Norwood’s badge had also gained a star, his entire demeanor more radiant, his white hair significantly reduced;

Even the apprentice necromancer, Leon Carlos, now wore an official mage badge, a bronze star shining brightly.

Garrett stood up, smiling as he filled his glass with water and raised it high:

"Like me, everyone has advanced! To our collective success and progress, cheers!"

Everyone stood, Aurora stretching out her arm to clink glasses with him, shouting ahead of the others:

"Of course, we have to try to advance! Otherwise, you’d surpass us!"

"Exactly, when I first met you, you weren’t even a mage yet, now you’re a fifth-level mage," Lynn also smiled as he clinked glasses with him, creating a ringing sound: ɌΆＮŎＢƐŝ

"If I don’t push myself, I’ll be left behind, won’t I?"

And besides, Garrett was both a priest and a mage. Considering Lynn had only learned necromancy, he was at a great advantage in terms of advancement speed.

"Not at all... Brother Lynn, in terms of combat ability, I still couldn’t beat you even if I advanced a few more times!"

Garrett admitted this with great admiration. Lynn had been able to move behind enemy lines and kill a bunch at below fifth level; he had been chased to the sea by a seventh-level knight, yet managed to set a trap and counter-kill; according to him, before that, he had even explored some strait in collaboration with Mage Gelman...

When he had first met him, Lynn was traveling around alone, accompanied by a golden skeleton and Mr. Troka. Unlike himself, who the Magic Council almost wished to confine under Igor Peak for a lifetime...

If the council rated Lynn’s combat power at 10, Garrett’s would probably only be 0.5.

After several rounds of toasting, everyone quieted down, waving their knives and forks, and began to seriously fill their stomachs. Halfway through, Garrett picked up a piece of pancake, smiling as he asked Lynn:

"Is this still your skeleton’s handiwork?"

"How did you know?" Before Lynn could nod, Seraina, brimming with excitement, stretched out her head and hastily asked. Her eyes sparkled brightly, and right after speaking, she quickly forked a piece of pancake into her mouth, chewing vigorously:

"

Umm... not particularly sweet..."

"Because it tastes exactly the same as last time," Garrett chuckled as he glanced at Seraina:

"The first time I met Brother Lynn, he invited me to eat pancakes, made by his golden skeleton. The sweetness, the softness, exactly like this one."

"Really? Can a skeleton cook?" Seraina curiously chewed another piece, and then another, quickly finishing half a plate by herself:

"Can it cook other dishes? Can it roast meat?"

"Uh... actually, even if a skeleton can cook, it needs to be taught by its master... or, in Black Crow Swamp, there are batches of domestic skeletons, but if you want to learn new recipes, you need to buy new skeletons, or send the old ones for retraining..."

Is it really that amazing? Miss Silver Dragon’s eyes widened as she looked at the pancake, then at the other dishes on the table:

"Did it make all these?"

Seraina had seen Garrett release the silver skeleton and control it to perform surgery; she wasn’t particularly disgusted by the pristine, radiant skeletons. Lynn’s golden skeleton could nod, shake hands, remove its head to bow, then put it back on, making it look quite unique.

Now, it even had the additional skill of cooking!

Having eaten out during her travels, never cooking for herself, Seraina was eager to get a skeleton to play with...

"Uh, this golden skeleton is issued internally within our school, only available to elite students," Lynn quickly nipped her idea in the bud:

"Ordinary skeletons are also sold to the public, but except for necromancers, other schools aren’t very interested, preferring to buy magical automatons from alchemy workshops. Hey, even though our skeletons are cheaper and easier to maintain..."

Garrett silently facepalmed. See, that’s the role of appearance. If every skeleton was fitted with a facade, obviously, the market would open up.

"Do you think fitting an illusion would help?" Lynn looked at him with a complicated expression:

"First, any mage able to buy a skeleton would know a bit about ’seeing through disguises’; second, regular maintenance of skeletons still involves dealings with Black Crow Swamp; and most importantly, no matter how much the appearance changes, the inside is still a skeleton, you can fool others but not yourself!"

Well, if you have a mental block, there’s nothing to be done. However, Garrett considered himself well-adapted to skeletons, and ordinary people didn’t have the ability to see through disguises. So...

"Brother Lynn, ordinary skeletons, the kind that can lift people and do rough work, with illusions, how much would one cost? How many could our Mage Tower’s savings buy? How many can a first-level necromancer control simultaneously?"

"What... are you planning to do?"

Lynn looked at him warily. Seeing Garrett’s enthusiastic interest in skeletons, more than a typical necromancer would, he felt something big was brewing...

Actually, the Mage Tower didn’t need that many skeletons. Most chores, controlled by the tower spirit MOSS and invisible servants, were adequately handled. What invisible servants couldn’t do, the two apprentices, Annivya and Carlos, could easily manage.

Besides, Garrett was now a fifth-level mage, officially able to recruit apprentices. Of course, Aurora and he had already reached this standard, but since Garrett wasn’t recruiting, they didn’t want to step ahead of him...

"I want to open a hospital." Garrett set down his knife and fork. He looked earnestly at Lynn:

"Brother Lynn, you know me, my mage level advancement largely depends on medical practice. So, I want to open a place accessible to everyone, where they can receive treatment. Of course, I can also do some related research."

Without sufficient donations, not everyone could receive treatment in a temple; the infectious diseases hospital wasn’t his, and he couldn’t handle such a big institution; the port clinic covered too small an area.

That time, when he surveyed the entire city for public health matters, he realized there were far too many impoverished people without any access to medical resources.

More importantly, he wanted to recruit a few apprentices, guiding them on this path. Spreading the seeds of medicine, while he himself conducted research and performed surgeries, at least he’d have some help!

Lynn also put down his utensils. He stared at Garrett’s serious face, pondered for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh:

"Sure! With your current status, opening a small clinic and recruiting three to five apprentices is entirely feasible. — I’ll go back and speak to the teacher, just from our branch, we could send five or six people over!"

"Wait! — I don’t want to recruit only necromancers!"

Garrett, enthusiastic, immediately unfurled the new hospital’s blueprint. This hospital, compared to his clinic in Hartland City, was significantly larger:

A three-story building, outpatient services on the ground floor

, inpatient services upstairs. It had 20 beds, expandable to 50 in extreme cases. It also included a research building for animal care and experiments, all in one place.

Clinical departments included internal medicine, surgery, an operating room; medical technology departments included a pharmacy, a laboratory, and a sterilization room. Planned for five healers, five apprentices, plus a number of skeletons for rough labor...

As for how to turn these blueprints into a hospital, Garrett boldly looked to Norwood, the Mage Tower’s oldest and most experienced mage.

"Mr. Norwood! Could you please accompany me tomorrow to tour the lower city area, to find a suitable place where we can buy land and build a hospital?"

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay