Level 6 Mage

Strength 1.2

Constitution 1.1

Agility 1.3

Mental Power 10.458/10.458

Mana 10.3/10.3

Level: Level 6 Mage

Roland looked at his current attributes inside the room, a trace of satisfaction appearing on his face.

In truth, he had broken through to Level 6 Mage a month ago. He had merely chosen to announce it today.

However, after advancing to Level 6 Mage, the Tier 1 through Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potions had almost no effect on him anymore. Even Level 5 Potions were less than half as effective as before.

But to break through from an intermediate mage to a High Mage, one's Mental Power needed to reach twenty points.

That practically required doubling his Mental Power. According to Nuwa's calculations, if Roland relied solely on Level 5 Potions, it would take him at least four or five years to break through to High Mage.

That was undoubtedly far too slow for Roland.

Moreover, now that all twelve people, including Ryan, had become mages, the quantity of potions required had increased dramatically. Roland's current Mental Power was clearly beginning to fall short.

Therefore, not only for his own strength but also for the overall strength of the territory, Roland had to accelerate his growth.

Especially after experiencing the war against Neil Bergman, that thought had lingered in his mind every moment of every day.

That was also why Roland had announced his advancement to Level 6 Mage and his ability to brew Level 5 Potions ahead of time.

It was so that he could rightfully purchase the materials needed to brew Level 6 Potions in the future and rapidly increase his Mental Power.

However, Roland also understood that too much was as bad as too little. Though he was anxious, he did not release a larger batch of Level 5 Potions all at once.

In this month's dealings with Leslie, Roland still intended to focus primarily on Level 4 Potions, supplemented by a few Level 5 Potions.

Then, after some time, he would gradually adjust the sales ratio between his Level 4 and Level 5 Potions.

Until he had left himself enough time to prepare for purchasing Level 6 Potions.

Thinking of this, Roland instinctively asked Nuwa, "Nuwa, calculate how I can provide Level 5 Potions to Leslie while controlling the risks."

"Recommendation: in future transactions with Leslie, increase the proportion of Level 5 Potions among total potion sales by twenty-five percent each time."

"After four months, all potions sold can be replaced with Level 5 Potions."

Nuwa's answer made Roland's plan even clearer.

"How much pure profit will I have each month by then?"

"Approximately 1,400 gold coins, as well as forty-five Level 5 Potions."

Roland frowned when he heard that. The gold coin profit was somewhat lower than he had expected.

With the profits from Level 5 Potions, even with a success rate of only thirty percent, he should have earned around 1,600 or 1,700 gold coins.

"Master, as Ryan and the other eleven continue to grow stronger, it is estimated that all of them will break through to Level 2 Mage in four months. By then, purchasing materials to brew Tier 2 Potions for them will cost approximately 380 gold coins per month."

"So that's how it is." Roland suddenly understood.

Recently, Ryan and the others had all been taking Tier 1 Potions, which only cost a little over a hundred gold coins. Roland had not paid much attention to it.

After Nuwa's reminder, Roland could not help but smile wryly.

Although he was earning quite a lot, his expenses were also growing larger and larger.

Not only did he need to support the future Mage Regiment of Ryan and the others, but even the territorial guard force, which had already begun to take shape, was another concern.

Their equipment had yet to be secured, and Roland still owed Leslie 3,000 gold coins.

So Roland was even beginning to hope that another Neil Bergman would come along and deliver a hefty war indemnity.

Of course, that was only a passing thought. Roland would not put himself in danger for such a small amount of gold.

After frowning and brooding for a while, Roland still failed to come up with any good solution.

At present, Roland's greatest expense was undoubtedly the hiring fee for the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group.

But Rising Light Island still needed the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group's strength, and the guards still needed O'Neal's training. It was clearly not something he could cut easily.

Unable to think of a solution for the moment, Roland stopped dwelling on it and turned to today's potion-brewing work.

As Roland's skills in potion-making improved, the speed at which he brewed potions also grew faster and faster.

In less than three hours, he successfully brewed one Level 5 Potion and eight Tier 1 Potions.

After finishing his meditation for the day, Roland's workday came to an end.

Seeing that it was still early, Roland felt like inspecting the territory.

Over the past few months, he had been run ragged training Ryan and the others while drilling the guards, so James had been managing the territory's various affairs on his behalf.

With that in mind, Roland summoned James and Old Nob.

"Greetings, Young Master/Apothecary Roland."

"There is nothing to do today. Come with me for a walk around the territory."

"Yes, Young Master." Old Nob was extremely excited. He had not accompanied Roland for an extended period in a long time.

Meanwhile, James's face suddenly took on a thoughtful look.

He did not believe Roland simply wanted to take a casual walk. Roland had surely come to inspect the progress of the territory's various affairs and construction.

After thinking it over for a moment and finding no major omissions, however, he smiled and hurriedly agreed.

"Let's go." Roland took in their reactions but said nothing. He immediately headed outside first.

Their first stop was naturally the residential area. Half a year had passed since the territory was opened up, and the residential area had clearly changed enormously from when it was first established.

It had grown from only a few dozen wooden huts to more than three hundred houses. And after gaining the architect Martin, the homes throughout the residential area had been arranged in a neat, orderly fashion without the slightest sense of clutter.

Many workshops had also been added to the residential area, such as an ironworking workshop, a Textile Workshop, a grain workshop, an Oil Refining Workshop, and more. Though none were large, and some workshops perhaps had only one person in them, they had laid the foundation for the territory's self-sufficiency.

The outskirts of the residential area were no longer surrounded by that simple earthen wall. After the spring planting ended, Roland assigned most of the slaves to Martin.

Through the efforts of two to three hundred slaves, a stone wall two meters high and half a meter thick now enclosed the entire residential area.

At the four corners of the stone wall, four five-meter-high watchtowers had also been erected.

Although both the stone wall and the watchtowers appeared quite crude, this was already the limit of what Roland could accomplish at present.

After all, Rising Light Island was only a little over ten square kilometers in size. Its area was too small, resources on the island were scarce, and many supplies had to be purchased from outside.

Thus, building an impregnable city wall would have cost an astronomical sum that Roland simply could not afford. He could only use the island's rocks and mountains to construct such a simple stone wall first.

Though the wall looked crude, it could still greatly improve the residential area's defenses.

After all, while a two-meter stone wall was nothing to professionals, it was not so easy for ordinary warriors to climb over, especially when defenders were stationed on it.

Ever since this stone wall was built, Roland had been sleeping much more soundly.

After making a circuit of the residential area, Roland wore a satisfied expression and repeatedly praised James for his good work.

"This is merely my duty. I do not deserve your praise." Seeing Roland's satisfied expression, James also breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"No, those with merit should be rewarded, and those with faults must be punished. Otherwise, who would still be willing to work for me?" Roland waved his hand and continued, "Steward James, your salary will be doubled this month."

Although Roland did not have much savings on hand, he understood which gold coins should be spent and which should be saved.

As the only person on Rising Light Island currently capable of serving as an administrator, James was naturally someone Roland needed to win over.

"Thank you, Apothecary Roland." James could not help but beam with delight.

"Let's go. Next, we'll take a look at the docks." Roland nodded and led the two of them toward Rising Light Island's docks again.

After being destroyed several times, Rising Light Island's docks had finally been built. To withstand magical beasts that could appear at any time, a considerable amount of wrought iron had been used in the later stages of construction, making them appear very sturdy.

Beside the docks stood a simple workshop, now under Anthony's management.

During this period, Roland had not built any Single-masted Merchant Ships. Instead, he had built several small fishing boats.

To avoid magical beast attacks, the small fishing boats could only operate along Rising Light Island's coast, but they had still brought in plenty of seafood and fish, supplementing the island's meat supply.

Seeing that both the docks and the shipbuilding workshop were orderly, Roland did not linger. He led the other two to the eastern plain.

Across 1,200 mu of farmland, after more than two months of growth, the rye, wheat, and barley had all sprouted tall stalks. Ears of wheat and barley had begun to form. Though they still looked somewhat tender, they already carried the promise of a bountiful harvest.

This sight made the smile on Roland's face grow even wider. Although grain brought little profit and was nothing to Roland, it was the greatest stabilizer for Rising Light Island.

Once this batch of grain was harvested, Rising Light Island would become completely self-sufficient in food.

That was extremely important for a territory. It meant that as long as Rising Light Island possessed sufficiently strong defenses, it would have no fear of an enemy blockade.

"Old Nob, have you estimated the output for this season's crops?" Roland casually asked as he touched a heavy sheaf of wheat.

"Young Master, we have. Since our farmland was only recently reclaimed from wasteland, this year's crop yield will only barely reach seventy percent."

"Mm." The smile on Roland's face gradually faded.

That was unavoidable. Newly reclaimed wasteland still contained large quantities of gravel, tree roots, weeds, and other obstacles, all of which would inevitably affect crop yields.

But after another two years of repeated plowing and clearing, the land would gradually become mature farmland, and crop yields would reach their peak.