How important were Experience Points?
To the natives, this was a nonexistent concept. Yet whether mages studied how to construct spell models in class or warriors swung their swords a thousand times a day to wield their weapons like extensions of their limbs, they all sought the same result.
To gain greater power and have more trump cards when danger arose.
Under the academy's reformed spell system, mastering three first-circle spells was enough to become a level-two apprentice, but becoming a level-three apprentice required mastering four first-circle spells and two second-circle spells.
Du Pont had already met the former requirement, while the latter remained a distant prospect.
However, according to his exploration of the system, as long as he saved up 2,000 Experience Points, he could rely on the system to directly become a level-three mage and comprehend two additional spells.
Of course, he could also do it without relying on the system. He could comprehend two second-circle spells himself and become a level-three mage, saving those precious Experience Points for his next plans.
This could greatly increase the speed of his advancement. It could even be called the greatest help he had received, but the fact that painstakingly Scribing Scrolls did not increase his Experience Points and instead reduced them was hard for him to accept.
Wasn't this all for nothing?
In response to his question, the system gave him an answer.
Scribing Scrolls or crafting magical items will inevitably consume a certain amount of Experience Points. The exact amount depends on the level of the crafted item. This applies to all mages.
Du Pont fell into thought after reading it.
Besides the magical power contained in their materials, magical items also required enchanting arrays to awaken them. It seemed this step also required Experience Points—or rather, soul power. It was a basic setting, not something aimed specifically at him.
"Would a failed attempt waste Experience Points?"
When he saw the word "certain," Du Pont's heart sank.
Ten points per scroll was not much, but he only gained 24 Experience Points from one class. As Construction Mages, they also had other subjects such as staff combat, engineering, and golem studies. On average, they could earn at most 72 Experience Points a day, and they even had two days off each week.
In five days, he could earn at most 360 Experience Points. Yet he had to spend at least 100 Experience Points a week Scribing Scrolls. With his original 40% success rate, he would spend around 250 Experience Points on scrolls every week, leaving him with only 110 Experience Points.
Would he have three spell classes every day?
No. Engineering and staff combat only had one class each week, but golem studies was a daily course. In other words, his total Experience Point income would decrease by another 48.
360 - 250 - 48. After that whole process, his net weekly gain would only be 62 Experience Points. Four weeks made 248 a month. He currently had 390 Experience Points and needed 2,000 to reach level three, meaning that if he studied honestly, it would take him six and a half months to become a level-three mage.
On top of that, Scribing Scrolls consumed a great deal of energy, causing fatigue and headaches. Forcing himself to continue would further reduce his success rate.
"This is such a scam..." Du Pont could not help calculating inwardly.
If he did not scribe scrolls, then he would not need to account for failed attempts. He would gain an extra 1,000 Experience Points a month out of nowhere. As long as he remained healthy, his net Experience Point income from studying would not fall below 1,440 each month. That way, he would only need a month and a half to advance to level three—a full four times more efficient.
At that thought, Du Pont nearly died of anger.
Damn it, the academy's requirements are completely unreasonable. No wonder apprentices with mentors who don't need to scribe scrolls advance so quickly. There are even rumors that children of noble families can become High-level Mages before adulthood. Paying versus not paying is an entirely different level of efficiency. I'm nothing but a workhorse.
I'm a fine young man, a future pillar of my country, and I'm being oppressed like this? They're practically sucking my blood!
Could he put up with this?
He could not!
To hell with school. He was leaving!
No, wait. The Middle Ages did not seem to care much about that sort of thing. If he left, he would have no stable source of Experience Points, let alone anywhere to learn new spells.
Honestly sitting back down in his chair, Du Pont could only seek advice from his most reliable current companion: his creditor.
Is there any way to quickly increase Experience Points?
Killing creatures with souls will yield corresponding Experience Points. The exact amount depends on the strength of the deceased target's soul.
Hearing that, even Du Pont's heartbeat became heavy.
Kill creatures with souls—the stronger, the better?
But he had never even slaughtered a fish before.
As a citizen of a great food-loving nation, he had naturally seen livestock being slaughtered. During holidays, his family would kill chickens, ducks, fish, and similar living creatures to make delicious dishes. But thanks to his parents' hard work, he had never had to do such things before getting married. He basically only helped with chopping vegetables, stir-frying, or making dumplings, while everything else was taken care of for him.
The fiercest thing he had ever killed was probably one of those giant flying cockroaches from the south.
Such things clearly had nothing to do with powerful souls, and the information Du Pont received after checking made him suck in a cold breath.
Commoner, Challenge Rating 1/8, 20 Experience Points Goblin, Challenge Rating 1/8, 15 Experience Points Kobold, Challenge Rating 1/8, 25 Experience Points Black Bear, Challenge Rating 1/2, 100 Experience Points Ghoul, Challenge Rating 1, 200 Experience Points Griffin, Challenge Rating 2, 450 Experience Points
Simply put, a Challenge Rating represented a danger that four adventurers of the same level could most likely handle. Remove one person, and the danger would increase drastically.
Killing one goblin only gave him 15 Experience Points, while he needed 2,000 to level up.
It sounded easy enough, but goblins always moved in groups. Could he face ten goblins at once if he entered a dungeon?
Du Pont felt that was unlikely. Once numbers exceeded a certain threshold, quantity became quality. If the terrain was any more complicated, he would be at an even greater disadvantage. With his current strength, soloing a goblin nest was basically impossible.
Not to mention that he would need to kill over a hundred of them to gain enough Experience Points.
Looking at it this way, 24 Experience Points from a single class was actually quite a lot. He could gain Experience Points just by studying, and even if it cost money, that was not terribly unscrupulous.
But if he obediently remained a workhorse like this, his fate would be to fade into the crowd. When the time came, he would have to watch people's expressions even when faced with a robber. This world was far from peaceful.
Learning second-circle spells was already so difficult. Would learning third-circle spells take him more than a year?
After thinking for a long time, Du Pont asked, "Is there a more civilized way?"
Reading books to acquire knowledge and training martial techniques will also increase Experience Points to a certain extent. If the user can learn a specialty independently, they will save substantial resources and gain an additional class level upon meeting the requirements.
Upon seeing this information, Du Pont thought of a way to "increase" his Experience Points.
He could use money to buy other people's spell scrolls to complete the academy's assignments and avoid losing his own Experience Points.
A scroll in the academy was worth three gold coins. In other words, he could save up 30 gold coins a week to avoid losing 100 Experience Points. That was 120 gold coins a month. If he could manage it, he would no longer need to worry about being exploited for Experience Points, and he would advance in two months no matter what.
This was undoubtedly an extremely worthwhile deal.
Although a fourteen-year-old had plenty of time to waste, wasting time should at least involve eating, drinking, having fun, or flirting with girls. What was the point of miserably scribing scrolls every day?
Saving three months and becoming a level-three mage to escape this misery was an incomparably worthwhile trade.
But another problem arose. Where was he supposed to earn 120 gold coins a month?
Not to mention that he still had a debt of 1,000 gold coins to repay.
"How am I supposed to make money...?"
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