It was already six in the afternoon, and as autumn set in, the daylight hours grew shorter.
Dago, taking advantage of the fading light, quickly made and ate his dinner.
He sat cross-legged on his small bed, practicing Meditation to restore his Mental Power.
Ten minutes later, he exited his Spiritual Space, waiting for the soul entropy in the light sphere to dissipate.
He looked expectantly at the only Mental Potion on the small wooden table, deciding to consume it himself to increase his Mental Power.
Only with increased strength could he go to Moonlight Lake to pick moonlight flowers and concoct more Mental Potions.
He would talk about selling Mental Potions when that time came.
Moreover, with the help of the system panel, the difficulty of his Potion Crafting would significantly decrease.
With pleasant expectations in his heart, Dago put on the deerskin boots placed by the bed...
He walked towards the small wooden table, gazing at the dissolving silver-white liquid in the glass bottle.
“Why do I remember Mental Potions being purple? This bottle of mine should be fine, right?”
Dago thought, feeling a little apprehensive.
But he steeled himself, gritted his teeth, twisted open the cork, and tilted his head back, drinking it all in one gulp.
The icy liquid, like a thousand-year-old piece of ice, slid from his throat to his stomach.
Dago’s brows furrowed sharply, his two eyebrows twisting into a knot at his glabella, as if he was using all his strength to sever some sharp stinging pain.
He resumed his Meditation practice, entering his Spiritual Space, where the silver-white substance, like the black substance before, entered the Spiritual Space and appeared near the light sphere.
The silver-white substance immediately plunged into the light sphere, like adding fuel to a fire, causing the light sphere to instantly burst into brilliant light, and the soul entropy accumulated inside was swept away in an instant.
Not only that, the diameter of the light sphere also surged from its original dozen meters to over thirty meters in length.
More Mental Mist was captured by the rotating light sphere and rapidly refined inside, and Mental Power, like a small stream, rotated around Dago’s humanoid soul body, gradually diminishing...
Until it transformed into a drop of deep blue liquid and merged into his glabella.
Dago’s consciousness naturally perceived everything clearly; his soul body within the light sphere was like an omniscient being.
He monitored everything from all angles, without any blind spots, and he hadn't expected the silver-white Mental Potion to be so pure.
As the deep blue droplet merged into his soul body, Dago felt his consciousness operate faster and see more clearly.
With a thought, he exited his Spiritual Space.
He brought up the system panel.
【""Wizard Universal Meditation Method"" (Beginner 811/1000); ""Ice Crystal Cannon"" (Beginner 966/1000); ""Resonance Art"" (Beginner 331/1000); ""Detection Art"" (Beginner 257/1000); ""Potion Crafting"" (Beginner 1/100)】
In less than a month, he became a Level 3 Apprentice Wizard.
This was mainly due to the progress of his Meditation, which significantly accelerated the growth of his Mental Power.
“Although it’s a common commodity in the Wizarding World, I feel that if I keep practicing and improving, my Meditation efficiency should be comparable to those Wizard geniuses, right?”
Dago thought with anticipation.
His practice of Ice Crystal Cannon had not slackened either; it was currently his most destructive Wizardry.
Its casting speed had also increased again; now Dago only needed five seconds to conjure an Ice Crystal Cannon.
The ice element attachment of Resonance Art had accumulated to his wrist, and the detection range of Detection Art was gradually increasing to thirty meters.
The stronger Wizardry and faster casting speed naturally led to a surge in combat power, giving Dago confidence.
“Take Moonlight Lake and completely escape this impoverished life.” Dago gave himself a pep talk.
Running to the open space outside the Shelter, a deep blue halo appeared around the pupils of Dago’s eyes.
With his mental vision activated, he could now clearly see the energy particles within three meters of him, and he raised his hand, forming a pistol gesture.
A fist-sized Air Bullet condensed at his fingertip within three seconds and shot towards a tree; the tree over ten meters away was directly snapped by the air blast...
The unfortunate thing was that its power still hadn't changed much...
However, its current power was enough to take down a Shadow Leopard with one shot, and with his current Mental Power reserves, casting twenty Air Bullets was no problem; if it were Ice Crystal Cannon, it would be about four shots.
The remaining time was dedicated to practice; under the moonlight, Dago entered a furious spell-casting practice mode.
The next morning, Dago pushed open the wooden door of his Shelter, wearing a gray Apprentice Robe, and, supporting his old back, breathed in the fresh air in the open space.
He had pushed himself a bit too hard last night; he stretched his body and did a set of calisthenics.
“This morning I need to go to the Wizard Hall in the Town to get certified as a Level 3 Apprentice Wizard, and also go to the Academy to tell Rosalyn Wizard about the new Potion Crafting method for Mental Potions.”
Dago planned his morning itinerary.
After a quick, perfunctory breakfast, Dago meditated and practiced for a while in the open space.
After about one or two hours, he brushed off the dust blown onto him by the Air Bullet’s air blast and set off for Aynak Town.
The magnificent Wizard Hall.
Dago emerged from inside, wearing a brand new gray robe, his face still showing lingering novelty and joy.
This was a Level 3 Apprentice Robe inscribed with the 【Cleaning】 rune; he wouldn't have to clean his robe himself anymore.
It was a gift from the Wizard Alliance to newly promoted Level 3 Apprentice Wizards.
He packed his old set into the satchel on his back, which still had Shadow Leopard fur sewn into it.
When he returned to the Shelter, he would sew it into his new Level 3 Apprentice Robe; it was getting colder, so it would serve as insulation.
Dago thought, looking up to see that the leaves on both sides of the central street were already starting to turn slightly yellow.
Due to his practice of Resonance Art, Dago was becoming increasingly sensitive to changes in air temperature.
He tightened the satchel on his back and walked towards the Academy.
On the way from the central street to the Academy, Dago constantly saw nobles and wealthy merchants, dressed exquisitely and with a demeanor and speech clearly different from ordinary commoners.
Most of them were sitting in beautifully packed carriages, heading out of the Town.
Dago even saw several Wizards with stern expressions and imposing auras, as if they had an invisible halo, hurrying through the streets.
Those who gave him this feeling were almost certainly high-level Level 3 Apprentice Wizards.
Such individuals usually stayed within the Academy and didn't venture out.
Although a bit puzzled, Dago didn't pay too much attention to it, guessing that Aynak Wizarding Academy might have some group activity recently.
He heard that the Academy held internal competitions every so often, like those Academy-wide tournaments.
Many Academy Wizards, living in a comfortable environment, didn't need to risk their lives for meager resources.
They spent years indulging in various research in the Wizarding World, some so exaggerated that they even forgot the spells and Wizardry they had mastered.
So, such competitions were usually held to motivate the Academy Wizards to get moving.
Dago was naturally full of anticipation for such Academy tournaments, purely out of curiosity to watch.
As he was thinking about these things, Dago saw a crowd gathered on both sides of the main road leading to the Academy gate, and people were still constantly flocking there.
Dago also followed towards where the crowd was gathering.
When he finally squeezed into the densest part of the crowd, he found everyone bowing their heads, hands clasped, whispering silently.
Dago looked closely, his pupils quickly contracting.
A funeral procession of Academy Wizards slowly advanced along the road leading to the Academy gate; there was no mournful music, only the soft sound of leather shoes on pebbles and the occasional rustle of clothes caught by the wind.
The older Wizards at the very front each held a walnut urn in their arms; their steps were slow, and the boxes in their arms were light.
Their backs were held straight, as if they were carrying not a handful of ashes, but the honor of Aynak Wizarding Academy.
Sunlight pierced through the clouds, casting dappled shadows on the road, and they stood in a line before the principal, holding the urns.
The principal of Aynak Wizarding Academy, wearing a splendid white Wizard Hat and with a long white beard.
Gently, as he touched each urn, he recited their names and chanted a loud spell.
At the end, he would kindly and softly say, “You’re home.”
Until the second-to-last urn, Dago heard the name he least wanted to hear: Rosalyn Wizard.
A wave of unstoppable hot tears welled up in Dago’s eyes.
The wind blew, and Dago silently wiped the corners of his eyes, turning away from the crowd, crestfallen.
In the outer fringes of the crowd, someone sighed deeply, speaking in a heavy, low voice.
“The Black Robe Wizard from the Dark Crystal Highlands has officially launched a war… Aynak Town is no longer safe!”
Dago returned to his Shelter, put away his satchel, took out the last of the monster meat, and went to find Old Marico.
“Old Marico, do you have any wine? Tonight I want to eat meat and drink wine.”
For once, Dago threw everything about cultivation and danger out of his mind.
He just wanted to drink heavily, and it was his first time drinking in this Another World .
Old Marico saw that Dago was in a very bad mood, took the meat and started grilling it, saying nothing, and took out two large bottles of wine from the treehouse, handing one to Dago.
Gulp, gulp, Dago pulled out the cork and took a big swig...
After two violent coughs from the spiciness, he said to Old Marico, “You tell me, how could such a good person just be gone?”
Old Marico still said nothing, raising his wine bottle, expressing everything through the wine.
Later, Dago only knew his head hurt terribly; he staggered up from an unfamiliar bed, pushed open the wooden door, and walked out.
The moon was bright and the stars sparse; the night wind rustled through the forest, and the hooting of an owl echoed in the distance.
He stood on Old Marico’s treehouse platform, one more step and he would fall off.
Old Marico was sitting in the open space below the treehouse, breaking off dry branches one by one and tossing them into the flickering bonfire in front of him, making soft crackling sounds.
Dago patted his head like he used to pat a television when he was a child, and felt much better.
He climbed down the vines that extended to the platform.