Apothecary lab.
Under the brilliant firelight of wall lamps, Ivan drained a small glass bottle in one gulp.
The next second, he found himself in a gloomy space, filled with swirling dust. Several figures burst through the dust and approached him. He could see that they were wearing neat priest black robes with cowled hoods revealing heads with two horns, and faces with beastly pupils and sharp fangs.
These figures had their claws bared, uttering venomous curses as they tried to grab at him.
Seeing this, Ivan frowned and waved his hand to send a burst of spiritual power sweeping through, shattering the figures.
“How exactly are magic stones formed, and why are there always these monstrous figures with such intense hatred?” He was no longer a newbie to consuming Magic Stone Water, understanding that the illusions originated from the raw material—the magic stone itself.
The magic stones contained some kind of deep-seated resentment, which was why things that wanted to attack him appeared in the illusions, and he always felt that their black robes were somewhat similar to a sorcerer’s robe.
After the illusion dissipated, Ivan hadn’t actually gone anywhere; he was still sitting comfortably in the apothecary lab.
Strength: 3.9, Agility: 5.1, Body Constitution: 5.1, Spirit: 5.4
A panel with his attributes appeared in the membrane of light, and he stared at it with shining eyes, his spiritual power had actually increased by 1.2 graduated degrees. It was worth investing thousands of magic stones, he thought to himself, as all his efforts were worthwhile.
In terms of other physical aspects, he had not seen much improvement recently. His strength, however, had increased by 0.3 graduated degrees since he left Flying Fish Port and Agility and Body Constitution had only increased by 0.1 graduated degrees.
This was because his Combat Energy had entered a period of slow growth, and without other Breathing Secret Medicines, it was difficult to enhance further in the short term.
Then, he glanced at the Academic Prodigy panel, which displayed experience points.
[Apothecary Skill Experience Points +60]
[Apothecary Skill: lv4(737/1000)]
These past few days, the experience in Apothecary Skill had risen rapidly, growth in Runes Skill, Enchantment Skill, and Knight Breathing Skill was also noticeable, the latter benefiting significantly from the cultivation of ‘Spring Bud.’
Through his diligent efforts, all wood silkworms had fused with the Spring Bud and also assimilated some of the Curse of Demon’s Resentment.
Nowadays, the curse power left in him was only a fraction, equivalent to the amount initially transferred by Toyennes, which he suppressed effortlessly. Observing that the wood silkworms showed no anomalies suggested that they could endure more curse power, which was good news for him.
In fact, compared to their time in Mulberry Valley, the wood silkworms had gotten much stronger, mainly because they had previously been in a state of malnutrition, as Randall had mentioned—they had been severely starved. By feeding plant-type element stones, they were now not just in a normal state but had exceeded it.
The normal condition of the Silkworm Queen occasionally brought him surprises; almost every two or three days, a new wood silkworm larva would appear, the offspring split from the queen.
…
The six-person patrol mission still needed to continue, heading out early and returning late. During subsequent patrols, they encountered various creatures.
On the sixth day of patrol, the team discovered a covertly hidden tree monster.
It was a short tree covered with roots and vines, with rudimentary facial features, capable of manipulating the surrounding roots and vines, but fearful of flame spells.
Following academy protocol, the six-person team proceeded to eliminate it, and Ivan collected some materials capable of performing ‘Vine Entanglement.’
On the ninth day of patrol, the team encountered a patch of sharp-toothed flowers.
Whenever a creature approached, the sharp-toothed flowers would suddenly leap out, aiming for the creature’s head, and the consequences were unthinkable if they succeeded. They also feared flame spells, and the team proceeded to eradicate them.
On the eleventh day of patrol, the six-person team once again encountered a mud monster, but not as fierce as the previous swamp mud monster, and it was easily dispatched.
Under Cody’s lead, they took a trip to Windy Bay City, lingering there for over two hours.
Ivan experienced the culture and customs of this alien realm’s small city, and compared to Flying Fish Port, it had many more elements related to sorcery. The ordinary people here needed to regularly take a potion called ‘purification agent’ to avoid the effects of the random force fields occasionally emitted by the sorcerers.
Even with timely intake of the purification agent, ordinary people couldn’t stay too long—ten years in Windy Bay City was the maximum, as staying longer would severely reduce their lifespans.
Besides ordinary people, there were quite a few older sorcerer apprentices residing within Windy Bay City, not all of whom came from Mongna Ant Land Cottage.
On the twelfth day of their patrol, the six-member team began to inspect a special area, which was also the most dangerous location in their mission.
Cody said gravely, “Everyone, stay alert, this is no ordinary place, the number of magicalized creatures here is several times higher than in other areas.”
He was referring to the sizable area of withered yellow grass ahead, where only a few sparse clumps of grass stubbornly survived, even blooming a few small flowers, which were surprisingly admirable.
Occasionally, there were some small puddles among the grass, with nothing particularly special about them.
Hayden muttered, “I heard there’s a sewage pipe underneath that connects to several high-energy labs at the other end.”
His words reminded everyone of the previous swamp mud monster, making them shiver inwardly—such a place could not be overemphasized.
“Don’t listen to that nonsense; such rumors are unreliable.”
Cody glanced back at him, annoyed that in such a time, he still demoralized the team—truly a reluctant individual.
In times of crisis, drastic measures are needed. Cody distributed ‘Mania Potion’ to each team member, and under their operation, a thin mist was created, which the breeze spread evenly across the barren grassland.
Soon after, the ground burst open and mud splashed around as worm-like creatures as thick as arms emerged, flipping clusters of grass blossoms.
“These are swamp worms.”
The Mania Potion had punctured a nest of swamp worms, and an area at the front of the grassland saw various sizes of swamp worms appearing; most swamp creatures spit mud, and half of those mix in acid—swamp worms belonged to the latter.
Swamp worms were a broad category including many types; Ivan couldn’t identify which type these were but knew they weren’t the ones whose molts could be used to create insect nests.
“Puff puff puff.”
Upon encountering the apprentices, the creatures greeted them with acid.
‘Fiery Bee Sting,’ ‘Ice Spike Skill,’ ‘Rotating Wind Blade’
The older apprentices didn’t hold back and responded powerfully with spells aiming at the swamp worms.
Ivan was not idle either; he commanded about a dozen rapid wood silkworms to transform into rapid wood moths, which shot out like bullets, easily piercing through the bodies of the worms. A swarm of moths was like mowing the lawn, slicing the worms into segments upon contact, not at all inferior to the other spells.
Now, in terms of speed, his rapid wood silkworms were rated around 3.2 on the scale, already comparable to some Knights; when they moved in, it was akin to a group of Knight Class.
The performance of the rapid wood silkworms was somewhat surprising, prompting the other apprentices to take an extra look before continuing to clear the swamp worms.
With everyone’s combined efforts, any swamp worm daring to emerge was annihilated.
Following Cody’s indication, they changed position around the grassland and continued using the Mania Potion, with only a few black-scaled water snakes appearing, which Hayden single-handedly cleaned up.
Continuing to switch positions, several spots attracted nothing until they returned to the opposite side of the previous swamp worm territory, where a few magicalized creatures finally emerged.
This unusual situation was cause for caution, and as they exchanged glances, they all saw the prudence in each other’s eyes.