With almost two thousand points in my bank account, I could now rest easy and wait for the pyramid scheme to start. I spent most of my time at the Medical Hall, learning under Eliss. Potion-making became a lot more interesting after I was allowed to experiment on my own. I had a long way to go before becoming a potioneer but working at the lab felt rewarding.

During that time, I also overheard a few stories about Robb and Park Sungjun. The two healers who came after me and acted as bait in my stead have also adapted to the life at the Healing Temple. Robb has successfully advanced to the first circle; he could now work as a healer and spent his free time at the Lovers Hall. He chose a different path from me. I occasionally came across him in the dining hall; we chatted but I maintained some distance, not wanting to get too close to him.

On the other hand, Park Sungjun had yet to advance but his mana pool expanded considerably. He listened to my advice to endure and had eventually been accepted by the other attendants, especially since two more humans have been recruited by the Healing Temple. During one of the outings, Robb brought back a pair of girls who now worked as attendants. With two newcomers, the focus of the bullying shifted away from Park Sungjun to these two girls.

When I worked at the Healing Hall, I started encountering a lot more humans than before. Following the Healing Temple’s steps, many other organisations started recruiting humans. They remained on the fence for long but also understood that they needed fresh blood to revive their organisation. Over time, the size of these organisation gradually shrunk as not all the newborns of the Union were able to use spells. It was their chance to rise up once again.

The Spatial Bank was the first to bring Richard Mackenzie but afterward, the Dream Merchants, the organisation built for the users of the Illusion element, brought a couple to be healed too. The Dream Merchants were another popular entertainment provided that allowed their customers to experience unique situation and explore other worlds through illusions. The humans were a hot topic at the moment, and many were curious about how Earth looked like.

The School of Thoughts that consisted of Psychic element users also brought an elderly man who revealed to me that he used to work as a psychiatrist before entering the tower. Natures Guard followed behind and brough back two middle-aged men to help them learn about the flora and fauna of Earth.

While life was relatively safe and peaceful inside the Healing Temple, outside, battles were raging every day. The Healing Hall was running at full capacity and even had to request help from the other halls to heal the guards and bounty hunters involved. Mountains of human corpses were brought back almost every day and sold to the crafting organisations. There were many researches taking place, looking for potential applications of human organs in different disciplines.

It was a procedure every race went through when they first entered the tower. The Everyoungs were experimented on to find the secret of their youthfulness. Thankfully, after countless experiments, a potion that slowed down aging was discovered and one of its main ingredients was the tears of an Everyoung.

However, as far as I could remember, no human organs were ever used in any potions. Humans simply did not have any redeeming physical qualities like the youth of an Everyoung, the physical strength of a Lycan or any natural affinities that many races had.

…

On a particular day, I successfully brewed a batch of Healing Potions and proudly bottled the potions after they passed Eliss’s evaluation.

“You have nothing planned for the afternoon, right? We are going to go out after lunch.” The dark elf announced.

“Where are we going this time?”

“We’re going to CRAFT.”

“Huh?” I paused for a moment as I processed her response.

“CRAFT as in the organisation, not the verb. It’s my bad; you probably have not heard of it since you only stayed in the Healing Temple after entering the first floor. CRAFT or C.R.A.F.T stands for the Collaborative Research Alliance of Future Technologies. It is the organisation that controls most of the production and market of crafted items.”

“They are our competitor. In the past, they tried to push the Healing Temple out of the potion market by controlling the supply of materials and even poaching the talented potioneers. We usually ignore their rules and regulations but today, they are holding a conference to discuss the latest advancement of their research.”

“Everyone who qualifies as a craftsman has been invited and all the potioneers of the Healing Temple are going there. You can come to listen to the talk and learn a few things.” Eliss explained as her expression gradually became colder.

“I see…” I pretended to listen attentively, but I already had a basic understanding of CRAFT. I stayed away from it in my past life since it was not an organisation that was friendly to humans. It sided with the city hall and harmed many individuals before the humans entered the Union. Even after the human race became an official member of the Union, CRAFT continued its experiments on humans.

‘Going straight into the lion’s den… No doubt that I won’t even get the opportunity to attend that talk. CRAFT will certainly not allow a human there. I presume that the Healing Temple’s goal should still be to provoke the members of CRAFT.’

“Do I really have to go?” I asked cautiously.

“Of course. Why would you not want to go?” The dark elf focused her intense stare on my shoulders; it was a clear sign that the conversation was over.

“Fine…”

…

A few hours later, I jumped on a white horse and joined the group of healers about to head out. The entire Medical Hall was attending the conference at CRAFT, including Alanna, the Hall Master of the Medical Hall. CRAFT was located on the other side of Tussock; it would take about an hour to travel there on foot but only twenty minutes on a horse.

With the dryad at the front, the delegation of forty healers left the Healing Temple. Such a large group riding horses attracted a lot of attention even as we avoided the busy city centre of Tussock. I rode at the back of the delegation with Eliss; as she was one of the youngest potioneers, her status in the Medical Hall was not very high and she was relegated to the back. While the back was not the safest position, I liked this position since it was less crowded.

CRAFT’s building soon came into view. It was a large cubic building made of dull brown bricks. It did not look very imposing compared to the Healing Temple but according to Eliss, there was a large underground facility right under our feet where experiments were carried out.

From the back, I noticed a tall Tauren, accompanied by a group of craftsmen greeting the Hall Master. We dismounted as a group of slaves stepped forward to take care of the horses. We were escorted inside to attend the conference. Things went on smoothly until it was my turn to step inside the building.

“Hold on! What is a human doing here?” The snow elf holding the door open exclaimed in an accusatory tone. “Humans should be brought in through the back door.”

‘Here it goes…’ I internally sighed.

“What is wrong with that?” Eliss swiftly intervened. “This human is my student. He is here to attend the conference. Can’t you see the robe he is wearing? He is a member of the Healing Temple; not one of the wild humans you captured.”

The snow elf clicked in tongue loudly. “He may be a member of the Healing Temple, but he is not a potioneer. CRAFT only invited knowledgeable people to attend the conference.” He crossed his arms and coldly snorted.

“As I already said, he is my student. He may not qualify as a potioneer yet, but he is at the level of an apprentice. Are you telling me that no apprentices are allowed inside?” Eliss replied sharply as he eyes shifted to the other apprentices the Healing Temple has brought.

I watched the two elves arguing with each other for my sake. With one look, I could tell that the snow elf was looking down on me. Many members of CRAFT had similar mentalities; they thought of themselves as superior beings who did not hesitate to sacrifice everything else for the sake of advancing and developing their craft. Sadly, while not many people shared this opinion, the ones who did were often vocal about it and were in positions of power. They leaned on one extreme of the political spectrum known as the Purists. In his eyes, I was just a pile of materials that should be sacrificed for the greater good of the Union. Just the fact that I stood in front of him was an affront; I could not be allowed to attend the conference and be treated as a guest.

I ignored the snow elf and waited for the other healers to intervene; I knew that with the commotion they were causing, it would not be long before the higher-ups would notice it and I also believed that it was all part of the Healing Temple’s plans. To infuriate CRAFT and at the same time, to show that humanity had some potential as craftsmen. Many other organisations and private workshops were also attending the conference and most of them were fence-sitters when it came to the conflict between the humans and the Union.

The pointless argument was quickly gathering everyone’s attention. “What is happening here?” A voice asked.

“Hall Master.” Eliss respectfully said as she faced the approaching dryad and Tauren. “This person is refusing to allow my student to enter and attend the conference. He claims that only craftsmen are allowed to enter when clearly, many apprentices will also be attending.”

“Oh?” Alanna, the Hall Master of the Medical hall raised an eyebrow and glanced at the Tauren.

The latter frowned lightly. He sent a suspicious look at Alanna and I before asking the snow elf. “Is that true?”

“I am simply following the rules. Only potioneers are allowed to attend the conference. Furthermore, I believe that the rules and regulations of CRAFT only recognise the races of the Union as craftsmen.” The snow elf firmly answered.

The Tauren sighed. “Alanna. Did you really have to bring this controversial human here? You already knew this was going to happen.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” The dryad replied with a chuckle.

“We invited the Healing Temple despite our differences to share the results of our research. Only by collaborating will we be able to develop. You should not use this conference to push the political agenda of the Healing Temple.”

“I apologise for the inconvenience, but I only brought him along with the other apprentices to learn a thing or two about the researches taking place. He has a lot of potential. It would be a shame if I killed off his potential by preventing him from attending events around the crafting circle.”

I silently watched as the two continued to argue. The Healing Temple had succeeded in focusing everyone’s attention onto me. The Hall Master did not hesitate to stress how I became an apprentice after less than a month of learning, showing the potential that humanity had.

At the end of the day, this small conflict was just part of a much larger battle between the two extreme opposites of the political spectrum of the tower. The Purists wanted to live as they did before entering the tower and each race wanted the right to govern themselves prove that they were the superior race. On the other hand, the Formalists fully embraced the opportunity given by the tower; their goal was to bring all the races together and live as a large united community which also meant accepting the newer races.