Genius Mage in a Cultivation World

"Huh?" Layn\'s vocabulary momentarily limited to just this single world. While infusing energy into his brain tissue was the solution the archmage figured out based on the knowledge of the rules and laws of the world he knew, there was still a hint of doubt whether it would work in the first place. .

And from the looks of it, it did.

"Wait," noticing Layn\'s uneasy look, Irea backed out with shock appearing in her eyes. "Are you for real? Did you already reach the second stage?!" Irea almost dropped the few things that she took from her home upon realizing the truth.

"Well, I would lie if I were to claim otherwise," Layn turned his eyes to the side, unwilling to let the girl look into his eyes directly. "But let\'s stop with that. How about we hit the guild on our way out?" Layn didn\'t bother to wait for Irea\'s response, instantly pulling her back the way they came from. "I hope it\'s still open even so late in the night. I seriously didn\'t expect for everything to close so quickly here."

Layn was aware that there was no point in looking for the quality of life that he was used to in his original time in this city. \'But to think that the entire city would be as good as dead,\' thought Layn while shaking his head.

The road to the adventurer\'s guild was relatively simple. As it was located near the outer end of the city, all they had to do was to basically return to the gate of the outer academy before doubling the distance they traveled within the city… just by changing the direction of it.

In less than an hour, Layn and Irea stopped before the thick doors leading to the guild. The bright light seeping from underneath the windows\' shuts only proved Layn\'s hopes right this time.

"Okay, now that we are here, are you going to tell me what we are here for?" Irea let go of Layn\'s hand before moving in front of him, blocking his path to the building\'s doors.

"Isn\'t isn\'t it obvious?" Layn looked at Irea as if she was some kind of clueless child. "I thought that you would prefer if we grabbed your friends from that party, how was it called… Wild wolves I guess?" Rubbing his chin to recall this small detail, Layn then looked directly into Irea\'s eyes. "Or could it be that you no longer consider them important?"

"Ah!" After a moment of silence coupled with a truly angered look on Irea\'s face, Layn realized how did his words sound like. "Don\'t get me wrong, I\'m not trying to say you are heartless or disloyal. I just thought that it was something like a permanent team you would always join forces with rather than just a makeshift group organized for the shared purpose." 

Layn looked back at the memories he made back in the desert. With how everyone reacted to the death of one of their own, with how the entire group appeared to be indebted to that bastard Layn cut himself… It just felt as if the \'wild wolves\' were a group consisting of permanent members, with permanent agenda.

"Well, it\'s not like I don\'t care for them… But you want them to join us not only to save them from what\'s going to happen nearby but also to have them as the first batch of disciples for your academy, am I right?" Irea took a step forward before placing her forefinger under Layn\'s chin, only to pull it up a moment later.

"I won\'t ask how did you know. But yeah, that was the idea," answered Layn while feeling the pressure from the position this girl put him in. With Irea\'s finger probing Layn\'s chin upward, even despite her smaller posture or personal power, she was able to exert dominance over the man.

"Then we cannot ask them to join us. I know them far longer than you." Irea shook her head while moving her eyes towards the lit windows of the building nearby. "They would never allow anyone to put their beliefs into doubt, so your teachings would likely fall on an unfertile ground."

"Even if I were to show them the prowess behind them?" asked Layn while leaning his head over his shoulder.

"Yes,  even then," Irea replied while hanging her head low. "Don\'t underestimate how obstinate people can be when someone will challenge what they believed in for their entire life," added Layn\'s girlfriend in a muffled voice. 

"How come you didn\'t have any problems like that, then?" asked Layn while looking at Irea\'s cute expression.

"Well, you didn\'t really leave me with any option not to accept it," Irea replied while growing a small smile on her face. Yet, before the discussion could develop any further, the noise coming from the building beside them finally alerted both of them about their purpose in this place.

"Ugh." Layn moaned while a shiver traveled down his spine. The same feeling from before appeared, yet this time, far stronger.

"What was… that?" Irea asked, proving that she was also able to sense this wave of magical disturbance.

"They are getting closer. If they use about four times as much strenght, they might be able to crack the treasure," answered Layn before stepping forward and grabbing Irea\'s hand. "We don\'t have much time. Let me do the speaking this time."

Pushing the doors open, Layn lead the two of them inside. And just as the faint aura of light and constant noise hinted, the insides were pretty lively. About half of the seats in the main room of the guild were occupied by people enjoying their drinks and meals.

\'This place is just as relaxing as ever,\' thought Layn to himself before approaching the counter.

"Hello, I would like to post an urgent job offering. Would it be problematic if I announced it out in the open here?" Layn asked the receptionist that barely even bothered to raise his eyes on the newcomers.

"The guild takes ten percent of the quest\'s worth as commission. As long as you deal with it, you are free to do whatever you want." the receptionist answered in a tone that clearly hinted at his intention to just get rid of the annoying people. \'It seems that the night-shift workers are just as positive here as they were back in my times,\' Layn ridiculed the situation in his thoughts as he stepped away from the counter and reached the middle of the huge room.

"Everyone! I\'m sorry to bother you so late in the night, but I have a pretty profitable job for anyone interested!" shouting from the bottom of his lungs, Layn instantly managed to gather a tiny bit of attention… before it diffused back into the merrily chatting that filled the guild as background noise.

"I\'m looking for twenty people of any level, willing to brave dangers and follow me to my destination." Adding even more explanation, Layn no longer had any audience bothering with him. Focusing on their drinks, food, and talks, the mercenaries didn\'t seem to take him seriously at all.

"I\'m paying one grade one stone for this month-long mission for anyone I will accept. Right off the bat." Layn pulled out one of the stones from his pocket. And despite how everyone in the building ignored him so far, by the time the archmage raised the stone high in the air, he was already surrounded by a small group of burly men.

"It\'s not wise to pull out such a wealth in here." Layn only managed to blink his eyes when he heard the advice. \'They are not here to snatch it?\' Surprised by the unexpected outcome, Layn could only smile. "Don\'t worry. If I\'m pulling it out, it means I have my own means of protecting it."

In the end, Layn simply shrugged his arms in response. At the same time, Irea peacefully took one of the seats before ordering two mugs of beer.

"If you say so… WATCH IT!" Turning around, one of the men who surrounded Layn before instantly reverted his movement, turning the swing of his body into a swing of his fist. Directed squarely at Layn\'s face, the man didn\'t give the archmage any chances.

Snap.

"ARGH!" The man who attempted to attack Layn ended up backing a few steps while moaning in pain and holding his broken arm close to his chest. Layn didn\'t even need to use magic to deal with this kind of brute force. By employing the help of one of the close-quarters techniques that the hero herself taught him during their journeys, catching and then breaking an arm of a random stranger posed no challenge to Layn at all.

"You… Fight nicely!" Once the man finally calmed down, he raised his hate-filled eyes at Layn, only to allow his anger to diffuse before laughing out loud. "I guess you are really qualified to hold such wealth. My bad, go on."

Backing off, the man proved that his brain still had its usual structure rather than turning into yet another muscle on his enormous body.

"As I said before, I\'m willing to employ twenty people. A grade one stone is a down payment for all the chosen ones, while those who will pass my evaluation at the end of the mission, might obtain another reward, one far greater than anything ever offered in this guild." Layn repeated his words from before and even built upon them a bit. 

"What is the mission?" A random voice asked. Looking towards its source, Layn saw a young man in the middle of his twenties calmly sipping on the bear he had. Surrounded by a party of seven other people, he looked just like any random protagonist of the books and comics Layn would read in his spare time back in the future.

"In short words, we are going to the desert. To its exact middle to be precise." Layn explained before putting a wide smile on his lips.. "That\'s the ultimate goal of the mission… and where the second part of the rewards will get distributed."