Time swiftly passed, and before long, it was time for the task settlement.
“How many?”
At the workshop’s external window, Carmel and Ivan stared intently at the apprentice inside, eager to find out how many credits they had earned after a busy month.
The apprentice inside looked at Carmel with a troubled expression.
“Come on, speak up. How many credits do I have, and how many does Ivan have?”
“Carmel Lidia, you have earned a total of 144 credits.”
“Ivan Marichardon, 147 credits.”
Urged by Carmel, the apprentice reluctantly relayed the final results in a quiet voice and helped to record the credits onto their crystal tokens.
“Ah, I knew I was short,” Carmel thought, knowing very well the daily count was accurate. He couldn’t have misremembered, but it still stung to confirm his loss. He had never lost to anyone before, including his sister Heidi.
“Carmel, it’s only a difference of 3 credits, it’s really not worth fussing over,” Ivan mused, silently relieved for himself. If not for his Enchantment Skill reaching Level 5 and a Small Light of Wisdom aiding him, he might indeed have lost to Carmel.
[Enchantment Skill: lv5(101/1500)]
[Runes Skill: Lv4(345/1000)]
With an unlimited supply of raw materials, his Enchantment Skill had excelled beyond others to become the first to break through Level 5.
It’s worth mentioning that at Level 5 the reward was only a Small Light of Wisdom, not the Light of Great Wisdom.
Additionally, Apothecary Skill was also close to level 5.
“You’re right, I definitely won’t dwell on it,” Carmel said, his youthful face strained as he nodded vigorously and then pulled a small box from his pocket and handed it over, “Fair’s fair, Ivan, you really are remarkable.”
“Then I won’t be shy about accepting it,” Ivan pocketed it casually, a bit embarrassed as he looked at Carmel; his demeanor hardly seemed like one who wasn’t bothered.
“Ivan, see you next time.” Without waiting for a response, Carmel quickly walked away. “How could it suddenly dawn on him? Why can’t I have a moment of Sudden Enlightenment? Is this the difference between a genius and a mediocrity——”
Ivan’s hearing was exceptional, catching every murmur from Carmel’s mouth clearly from afar, leaving him speechless about Carmel’s claim of not being bothered.
Should he return it?
He immediately dismissed that thought, knowing Carmel all too well. At the moment, Carmel was just bitter; if Ivan returned the prize, Carmel would likely feel humiliated and get upset.
“Never mind, Carmel will get over it eventually.”
Ivan checked the credits in the crystal token, 147 to be exact, equivalent to three years of credits, which now enabled him to purchase a Bubbling Potion, with a 3rd Class apprentice status soon within reach.
This was thanks to Carmel, making Ivan feel slightly guilty about it.
He first went to the canteen, and only after returning to his room did he inspect the contents of the small box—it was a low-level magicalized item, a shield named ‘Green Tree Star,’ primarily adorned with Plant-type runes, with Earth-type runes as secondary.
“The rune lines engraved on low-level magicalized artifacts consist of rune bundles, with my rune line reaching a maximum completeness of 86%, so producing the Green Tree Star shouldn’t be a problem.”
For a sorcerer apprentice, the biggest shortcoming is their own defensive capability, as acquiring defensive spells is somewhat of a luxury. Instead, defensive magicalized items are more reliable.
But such magicalized defensive items are also priceless and hard to come by.
For an Enchanter, the best solution is to find a blueprint and make it themselves.
Considering his own safety, Ivan felt he should make the Green Tree Star as soon as possible.
A quiet night passed.
The next day, Ivan hurried to the three-story round house early in the morning, having planned his purchasing schedule, only to receive a summoning from his teacher, insisting he come over.
“Hey, Ivan.”
“Good morning, Gina.”
At the door, he encountered his senior sister Gina, who had also come promptly.
“Did the mentor call for you?” both said at the same time.
“What are you doing standing at the door? Come in quickly.” The door opened automatically as Randall’s voice came through.
Without saying anything else, the two hurried into the living room to meet Randall.
As soon as the door opened, Randall got straight to the point, “Gina, Ivan, there’s an urgent task that you two need to undertake.”
So sudden?
Ivan felt a chill in his heart and quickly asked, “Mentor, it’s not a compulsory conscription task for the Hunting Team, is it?”
Randall replied, “Not exactly, but it’s related to the Hunting Team and our Enchantment Group. Someone in the group nominated you and Gina.”
From the side, Gina asked, “Who?”
“Heidi Lidia.”
Upon hearing this name, Gina visibly relaxed, “Oh, it’s her. Then I have no problem.”
Ivan furrowed his brow, it was the Lidia family—could this be a coincidence? Whether it was for an enchantment task or the Green Tree Star, he had taken advantage of the Lidia family, which made him uneasy.
He tried asking, “Can I refuse?”
Randall countered, “Won’t you ask what the task is?”
Ivan shook his head, knowing that this was a critical time to enhance his abilities; if he had a choice, he would definitely not want to participate.
At that moment, Gina reminded him, “Ivan, you’d better not refuse. From what I know of that woman, if you refuse, it might really turn into an unavoidable conscription task. She has the means to make it so.”
Ivan glanced at the mentor, and Randall did not contradict this statement.
“Alright, I’ll participate. What about the time?”
“It’s an urgent mission. The location is a major city on the western border of the Edarasay Kingdom. Gather in front of the enchantment workshop tomorrow at six o’clock.”
Both were of the same mind, and most likely, it would become a reality. Ivan was someone easily persuaded, but the timing was more sudden than he had anticipated.
After discussing the details of the task, Randall asked Gina to go prepare while he kept Ivan back.
“Did you provoke Heidi?”
“I don’t know her.”
Enjoy new chapters from empire
Ivan only knew Carmel from the entire Lidia family. Normally, that guy wasn’t so petty, but now he wasn’t sure.
With a wave of his hand, Randall made an object float onto the table, “A second-hand insect nest used by others before. If you don’t mind, I’ll charge you 260 low-grade magic stones, how’s that?”
Ivan awkwardly touched his pocket, “Mentor, I haven’t been earning much magic stone lately.”
In fact, he had saved up 640 magic stones recently, but he had other uses for them soon. The not-so-useful insect nest had to be set aside for now, given how quickly this task had come up.
“Having an insect nest will make the little ones more comfortable. You can owe it for now.”
Randall frowned, this was slightly against the principle of equivalent exchange that sorcerers advocate.
“Thank you, Mentor. I will repay it when I return.” Ivan certainly wouldn’t be polite; with the insect nest, he could easily take all the rapid wood silkworms with him.
After leaving the round house, Ivan hurried to the trading area and began his purchasing plan.
Raw materials for the Green Tree Star, worth 280 magic stones.
A Bubbling Potion and a supplementary potion, worth 100 credits and 200 magic stones.
The book of magic including Thorny Strangulation, Ground Vine Skill, Active Absorption, Secondary Energy Fireball, Frosty Air, Mage’s Hand, Immobilization Spell, costing 14 credits and 140 magic stones.
Only when he had 20 magic stones left did he stop and hurried back to his dormitory.
The danger of this mission was unknown, and he had to quickly consume the Bubbling Potion. As for whether it would have some negative effects on his body, he couldn’t afford to consider that much now. Using it within the academy was safer than outside.