Sinkhole

Although Du Pont didn't want to cause trouble at this particular time, that didn't mean he was a pushover.

In a place like the Mage Academy dormitory, these guys probably wouldn't dare to cast spells to kill someone, but they still outnumbered him. He should find someone weaker to bully.

Who would be a good target?

"Yo, if it isn't Big Donkey." Just as Du Pont's expression turned cold and he prepared to strike first, he heard the person who always looked at him with disdainful eyes sneer, "What's up with all the free time? Here to show off your stink again?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Du Pont was completely confused, not knowing what the other person was saying. However, since they had the numbers and hadn't directly attacked, they probably didn't want to start a conflict.

Perhaps due to his physique, Du Pont stood out among the apprentices, towering over the others by half a head on average.

Although he didn't have much muscle, he wasn't afraid to fight, relying on his height and long legs.

If you're soft, I'll be hard. Du Pont's expression was impatient, and he frowned, "Go get some hot water to wipe yourself down, and move out of the way if you have nothing to do."

The person's face turned unpleasant after hearing this, but he didn't stop him. Du Pont swaggered to the boiler, his eyes constantly watching the guys behind him out of the corner of his eye.

He didn't want to be held down in the hot water after he'd filled his container; that would be worse than death.

However, the worst-case scenario didn't happen. After those people saw that he really was just getting water, they stopped paying attention. They were just staring at each other, probably communicating with telepathy.

"Excuse me." After filling the hot water, Du Pont greeted the group while sticking close to the wall. The person in front let out a disgruntled snort but still made way for him.

It was too dangerous to be surrounded in the middle; it was much better to stick to the wall.

Du Pont walked at a leisurely pace. When he was shoulder to shoulder with the group, all the muscles in his body tensed subconsciously, and he raised the wooden bucket a little higher, ready to splash it out at any time.

However, the worst didn't happen. After walking about three meters away, Du Pont finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Damn it, that scared the hell out of me.

But what the hell are these guys doing here? He remembered that the Mage Academy didn't care about minor things like smoking.

The academy's biggest requirement for apprentices was to submit items on time. They had almost no requirements for private morality. The biggest restriction was that they were not allowed to fight or cast malicious spells on others. No one would care if they went out and partied wildly during the holidays.

This was, after all, a world in the Middle Ages/Renaissance period. There were people who got married at his age, and there were countless brothels and gangs in the city. It could be said that as long as you paid taxes, it was a legitimate business.

After muttering a few words to himself, Du Pont returned to his room and took off his clothes to wash himself. His eyes immediately welled up with tears.

He finally knew why those idiots called him Big Donkey.

His root... ah, no, his static talent was completely off the charts!

No wonder he wasn't popular, no wonder he had such an unflattering nickname. Although having such a thing wouldn't necessarily make people hostile, the former Du Pont was a teenager and might have liked to show off, so it was only natural that people looked down on him.

But compared to this substantial weight, what was that little bit of insult?

This was definitely his most precious asset!

In a good mood, Du Pont cleaned his body and began to think about other things.

Du Pont obviously didn't have a girlfriend. It could be said that he possessed a powerful weapon but had no use for it. At most, he could just go to the bathhouse and show off to others, a complete waste of resources.

But who was he? A modern person from the 21st century who had been exposed to the dazzling world and had seen all kinds of strange things on the Internet. Wouldn't it be a disservice to this God-given talent to leave it idle?

What's more, he had a good appearance, and girls were usually willing to take the initiative to ask him to go to class together. In his experience, he could hook up with a girl by saying a few sweet words and beckoning.

That didn't seem right either. Annie had told him at noon that she would lend him a scroll, but it was almost dark now and she hadn't come. It seemed that he might not be worth as much as a scroll in her eyes.

She had no taste at all!

The advantage of his body brought him a good mood. Du Pont regained his thoughts and came to the table, taking out the parchment with great ambition.

There was no use in rushing the matter of money now, so improving his strength was very important.

This was, after all, a dangerous world. It would naturally be best to honestly improve his mage level in the academy. Even if he didn't go out to adventure, his ability to earn money would increase by leaps and bounds with each level, which was a much higher return on investment than taking the postgraduate entrance exam.

When he was strong enough, he could try going out on adventures, doing bounty missions, and searching for treasures. Maybe he could pay off his debts after a few times.

However, just as Du Pont cleared his mind and was about to write, he realized that something was wrong.

The smell of his ink was very different from the one he used in the training ground.

After staring at the ink bottle for a few seconds, a line of introduction appeared.

Daitou Goose Ink: A cheap ink commonly used by Haluar apprentices. It has a gentle magic power and can easily preserve handwriting for more than 20 years. A normal bottle can be used by an apprentice for one to two months and costs 1 gold coin per bottle.

'System, how big is the difference between the ink I used in the training ground and this?'

The ink used in the training ground is Magic Blood Ink, which is made from magic-containing blood mixed with elemental essence. It is favored by the vast majority of mages and costs 30 gold coins per bottle.

Du Pont immediately felt uneasy after hearing this.

Although a 30-fold price difference didn't mean that the difference between the two inks was 30 times, even if there was only a one-fold difference, the effort he had to put in might not be on the same level.

'Then the parchment I used when copying scrolls in the training ground was 1st Circle parchment, right?'

Du Pont breathed a sigh of relief after receiving a definite answer.

If the materials he used in the simulation were also high-level goods, then his previous experience would be completely useless.

Forget it, thinking about this is not as good as trying it out. How much worse can it be?

First, cast Mage Armor to find his state, then strike a match to light a candle to avoid being disturbed by the sunset. After everything was completed, Du Pont picked up the quill, wrote a few times on the discarded parchment to adjust the ink to its most perfect state, and began to write.

The deep blue ink left magical characters on the parchment, that Arcane Arts energy. Thirty minutes later, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a long sigh of relief as he looked at the scroll in front of him.

Success!

Rubbing his temples wearily, Du Pont closed his eyes. How long did it take me to copy this scroll in the training grounds?

[12 minutes 46 seconds]

Nearly a 2.5x difference?

Du Pont found this result acceptable, but another thought occurred to him.

Charles had said it took him nearly an hour to copy a scroll. Judging by his seat, Charles's strength should be slightly better than his own, so that statement was probably exaggerated.

Looks like that little fatty isn't so honest after all.

Just as Du Pont was about to strike while the iron was hot and copy another scroll, a system notification stopped his pen.

[You have successfully copied the Level 1 spell Mage Armor scroll, consuming 10 experience points]

What!