Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

"Wait a minute, does that mean I have to be available at a moment's notice?"

Hughes frowned, suddenly remembering Vaka, who had always sat in the corner of the hall.

"That's true in theory, but you just need to ensure the 'key' is safely given to them."

Dora nodded.

"Waka has been staying in the Coral Oath, but that's simply because he doesn't have anywhere else he wants to go. Besides, you're a space wizard, you should have some ideas, right?"

Upon hearing this, Hughes nodded thoughtfully.

"That's true."

Now that he had confirmed with Dorati that he didn't need to hand over the key in person, he immediately had a lot of ideas to make things easier for himself.

"..."

After a short while, having familiarized himself with the last teleportation array, Dorati turned around and said:

"Then, you should now enter into a pact with the Coral Oath."

"it is good."

Hughes nodded, agreeing readily.

Such an important position naturally requires corresponding constraints, so he was not surprised by this and had already made preparations before coming.

As soon as he finished speaking, Dorati stepped forward again and teleported him to a dark little room.

"call out--"

"Oh? Where is this...?"

After teleporting over, Hughes immediately recognized the familiar coral platform in front of him, and the statue of Tios standing on it.

Without a doubt, this is the place where he made a vow with Geda when he joined the Coral Oath.

"I suppose you've remembered by now."

Noticing Hughes's changing expression, Dorati spoke slowly.

"But this time it's a little different. This time the contract will act on your soul, not the badge."

"I understand."

Hughes' expression remained unchanged; he simply took a small step forward.

"Then let's begin quickly, Lord Dorati."

Upon hearing this, Dorati nodded and then took out her coral badge and placed it on the coral stand.

"..."

Initially, the Coral Oath was just a small organization. In order to expand its size, the contracts that were signed only applied to the badges, in order to attract illegal wizards to join.

This tradition continues to this day, even though the organization is now much larger than it used to be.

However, these wizards are just outsiders; "doing tasks in exchange for rewards" is the Coral Oath's mode of interaction with them.

They were unable to access the organization's core affairs, let alone know the organization's secrets that were off-limits to those with the Golden Rings...

Only insiders like Netti and Dorati have access to better resources and those secretive matters.

But since Hughes became the key administrator, he was essentially becoming an insider.

After all, the various "keys," the items sealed in the treasure vault, and the teleportation arrays leading to "certain places in the center of the continent" are all secrets that cannot be known to the outside world...

"Alright, the contract has been concluded."

The ceremony proceeded quickly, and Hughes felt as if his soul had become more connected with the statue before him.

As the key keeper, he made two vows: never to betray the Coral Oath, and never to steal items from the vault.

"Okay, let's talk about the benefits of your position."

After presiding over the contract ceremony, Dorati retrieved the badge that had been placed on the coral platform.

"In addition to the fixed reward, as the key keeper, you can also take one item from the vault each year."

Upon hearing this, Hughes's eyes flickered slightly.

"Can I come and pick it up anytime?"

Dora nodded, and then handed the string of shell keys left by Vaka to Hughes.

"Yes, but the opportunities from each year cannot be accumulated."

Having said that, he guessed what the other party was going to do next, so he said no more and turned to leave.

"Whoosh...whoosh—"

The next second, the surrounding space distorted, and his figure instantly disappeared from the spot.

"Then let's go take a look right away."

On the other side, seeing that Dorati had already left, Hughes picked up the string of seashell keys left behind by Vaka.

The sooner he gets the treasure, the better, so he chose to pick it out today.

"Splash..."

Soon, Hughes swam through the waterway and arrived at the treasure vault of the Coral Oath branch.

The treasure vault's entrance was made of interwoven corals of various colors. He stepped forward and touched them, discovering that the corals' magic resistance was ridiculously high; even a level one fire spell would likely struggle to leave a mark.

"So these corals were also Netil's doing?"

Hughes composed himself and did not immediately open the treasure vault door, but instead first drew upon a trace of spatial energy.

He could sense that, perhaps because he had already formed a contract, Netil's "gaze" had slowly disappeared.

So he decided to take this opportunity to test whether these corals could completely isolate spatial energy.

Fortunately, while they could block the infiltration of spatial energy, they could not completely stop it. After a long period of time, a few strands of spatial energy still seeped into the treasure vault.

But that's enough...

After the test, Hughes dissipated the condensed spatial energy and then took out a blue seashell, which was the key to open the treasure vault.

"Click...click-click..."

Soon, after the shell was inserted into a gap in the coral door, the surrounding coral began to slowly move to both sides, revealing the interior of the treasure vault.

"Click...click click..."

Hughes stepped in slowly, and the coral behind him closed up gently.

The entire treasure vault was constructed of blue-green crystals and was filled with a dazzling array of rare treasures and forbidden knowledge.

Some of the treasures are displayed on shelves, while others are carefully sealed in separate crystal cabinets.

"..."

Hughes's eyes scanned the treasures rapidly, while his mind worked to identify their functions and origins.

There was nothing here that he didn't recognize; after all, as the key keeper, he naturally needed to memorize everything in the vault.

Of course, this does not include what's inside the "secret room"...

After a cursory glance, Hughes reached the end of the treasure vault.

There is also a door here, a door made entirely of some kind of blue crystal.

Beyond the door lies a secret chamber, where even more precious and hidden items are stored.

Hughes could also choose what was inside the secret room, so he would naturally take a look at the items before making a decision.

Then, Hughes took out another seashell.

"Buzz..."

The next moment, the seashell released a layer of pale blue ripples, which quickly spread and enveloped him.

Enveloped by the ripples, he slowly walked forward and passed straight through the heavy crystal door without any hindrance.