Permission Freeze, Damp Jungle

"This is a publicly announced trial mission for the seventh ring."

Bennigo said, "There should be quite a few other First Level Wizard from other Arcane Circle going there then."

"First Level Wizard?"

Ronan blinked. "Doesn't the Brain-Eating Flower appeal to a Level Two Wizard?"

Ronan originally thought that this was a great item that could greatly enhance mental strength and increase the chance of comprehending One Segment Magic Domain Resonance, something that level two wizards could easily find.

Bennigo seemed to see through his thoughts and shook his head, saying, "Don't forget, when I said that Brain-Eating Flower could greatly enhance mental strength, I was referring to you, based on the standard of First Level Wizard."

A level two wizard's mental power is dozens of times stronger than that of a level one wizard. What is a precious potion to you may just be an ordinary, common thing to a level two wizard.

Moreover, the ancient potion recipe I possess isn't something just anyone can easily obtain. Even if one masters the recipe, the potion's effect of increasing the chance of comprehending One Segment Magic Domain Resonance only applies to First Level Wizard.

"Why?"

Ronan asked.

"Because of the special medicinal properties of the Brain-Eating Flower, and the difference in the mental power forms between a second-level wizard and First Level Wizard."

Bennigo tapped his temple with his finger and explained simply, "When the effects of the Brain-Eating Flower take hold, there will be a process that completely shatters your mental power."

A level-two wizard's spiritual energy, condensed into crystals, cannot withstand such torment...

Ronan's face lit up with understanding. If what Bennigo said was true, then if he accepted the mission, he only needed to be careful of the other First Level Wizard from the other six Arcane Circle.

This undoubtedly reduces the difficulty significantly.

But Bennigo's next words completely extinguished the slight sense of relief that Ronan had just begun to feel.

"What I just said is just the normal situation. Although the Brain-Eating Flower is not that valuable to a Level 2 wizard, we cannot rule out the possibility that a Level 2 wizard would go to compete for it."

The key is...

Bennigo looked him in the eye and said in a calm but firm tone, "If I were Travis, this mission would be the best opportunity to obtain the Nightmare Tungsten Steel from you."

"You mean Travis will have someone try to harm me during this mission?"

A sharp glint flashed in Ronan's eyes.

"If he knew you answered."

Bennigo said calmly, "That's almost inevitable."

Unless he suddenly loses interest in Nightmare Tungsten Steel and stops pursuing the matter of you beating up some of his wizard subordinates..."

Ronan nodded slowly, expressionless. "Alright, I understand."

He looked down at the sprouting Saint Blood Tree seeds on the lab table and asked, "How often do these seeds need to be watered with my blood?"

"For now, once a week is fine. I'll let you know in advance."

Bennigo answered.

Ronan nodded, then suddenly thought for a moment and said to Bennigo, "Oh, by the way, if you have some free time recently, could you help me prepare a batch of healing potions? Other potions, Rune Stone, and magical items are all fine too; I'm almost out of magic stones."

"So fast?"

Bennigo frowned. "I remember giving you a batch just now."

"Please, that was two months ago. I can't accept quests and earn resources in the Arcane Circle anymore. Besides..."

Ronan glanced at his right index finger, which had just bled but was now almost completely healed, and said in a low voice, "My recent cultivation has indeed required a lot of magic stones and resources."

The outer city of the Seven Ring City.

Having just returned from Bennigo, Ronan walked down the long street in the Gray Magic Robe he had bought when he first came to the Arcane Circle.

From afar, you can see two figures basking in the sun, close together, at the entrance of the Blueberry Inn.

Alida, with her small stature and head of blue curly hair, looked like a docile little lamb standing next to Jacob.

Jacob must have told her a joke, which made her laugh nonstop.

Good afternoon, Lord Ronan!

Jacob, with his sharp eyes, spotted Ronan from afar and quickly stood up straight to greet him.

Alida, on the other hand, was much more relaxed, not as reserved as Jacob, and greeted him with a smile, "Hello, Lord Ronan."

Ronan smiled and nodded to the two of them.

Perhaps because Jacob broke through to level eight of the Apprentice class last month, taking another step closer to becoming a full-fledged wizard, Alida's father's attitude softened, and recently he has been allowing the two of them to go out on a date once a week.

Even as Ronan walked into the Blueberry Inn, near the top of the stairs, Ronan could still hear Alida and Jacob talking quietly.

"Lord Ronan has become even more handsome since he cut his hair short. Recently, several witches have come to ask me if Lord Ronan needs a mistress..."

"I feel that Lord Ronan's aura is getting stronger and stronger; I can barely breathe in front of him."

"Idiot, that's because your health is deteriorating! Don't meditate too much, I don't want to be a widow after marrying you."

"Alida, what are you saying!"

Once inside the room, Ronan sat down on the sofa in the living room.

There was a freshly brewed chrysanthemum tea in the teapot on the table.

Ronan poured himself a glass, then took out a silver disc with the Arcane Circle symbol from his Storage Waist Pouch to examine it.

This thing is his identity certificate as a formal member of the Arcane Circle, and it is also a tool for his daily communication with the Arcane Circle, somewhat like Communication Stone.

The first message he received from the Arcane Circle as his mental energy seeped into the disc was a notification that because he had failed to complete the required tasks for four consecutive months, his status as a core member of the first ring had been revoked, and he had been officially demoted to an ordinary member.

Ronan's expression didn't change much, which was within his expectations.

In fact, Ronan only learned a month ago that ordinary Arcane Circle wizards could apply to the Arcane Circle for "meditation protection".

The protection period can last up to three years, during which no tasks need to be performed and no penalties will be imposed.

He tried to apply, but it was immediately rejected without reason.

After the "downgrade" notification, the remaining messages were all similar—[Your potion commission has been cancelled!] [Sorry, your rune commission request was not approved.] Ronan read through all the messages one by one, feeling nothing.

Normally, as a core member of the first Arcane Circle, he would enjoy a series of privileges, including purchasing potions, Rune Stone, commissioning the forging of magical items, commissioning enchanting, and so on.

Whether he's buying things or shopping, he can enjoy certain discounts within the Arcane Circle.

However, all of these "privileges" are now "frozen" without exception, because if he fails to complete the minimum monthly task, he will not even receive the basic benefit of ten High-Level Magic Stone per month, which is available to every official member of the Arcane Circle.

Aside from having the status of a formal member of the Arcane Circle, I haven't enjoyed any of the benefits or privileges I should have, and it's almost no different from when I was homeless.

He suddenly understood why Bennigo had given him the first and second tiers of Metal Element Spell Inheritance back then; perhaps Bennigo had foreseen that he would encounter this situation.

Within the Arcane Circle, certain individuals who are above the rules are manipulating them, attempting to force him to submit.

"That's why we should accept this task even more."

Ronan took a sip of hot tea, his mind replaying the mission Bennigo had mentioned to him earlier.

The importance of the Brain-Eating Flower to his cultivation improvement is one aspect, but the mission itself is also relatively rare, a seventh-ring public mission that Travis and others cannot tamper with.

If he succeeds, he will be given a precious "breathing period".

"Knock knock knock—"

A polite knock came at the door, followed by Alida's voice.

"Sir, is there anything you need to send today? The messenger will be leaving before three o'clock."

Ronan raised his head slightly. "No need, thank you Alida."

"Alright, sir, have a good time."

Alida's footsteps faded away at the door. Ronan shook his head with amusement, knowing full well that she was probably trying to get a tip from him again.

When people are in trouble, they will subconsciously want to grasp something to rely on, and loneliness often makes people miss it.

Ronan was no exception.

During this period of free time, he wrote letters to Old Wells, Venecia, and his relatives in the Earl Territory, who were far away across the ocean.

Ronan realized that more than half a year had passed since he parted ways with Old Wells and the others. He only knew that the place they went to was called Restwind Harbor, but he didn't know how they were doing now.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Ronan opened his Character Panel.

Name: Ronan Damien

Age: 17

[Talent: Non-attribute Affinity, [Immaculate Body] (Active)]

[Strength: Level One Wizard (47%)]

[Skill: Basic Meditation Technique - [Clarity Realm] (Master 265/1600)]

Energy Missile-Particle Torrent (Master 240/1600)

Charged Weapon - Power of Breaking Law (Master 177/1600)

Ice Ball - Desperate Ice Seal (Master 200/1600)

Ascetic Body Forging (Master 157/1600)

Frost Ray (Expert 24/800)

Animated Metal (Mastery 12/400)

[High-Energy Crucible] (Proficient 54/200)

In two months, relying solely on meditation, my Strength Progress increased by 1%.

This speed is neither fast nor slow compared to that of an ordinary First Level Wizard. At this rate, it will take him about three years to reach the late stage of first level and nine years to reach the threshold for promotion to second-level wizard.

The three Extraordinary Magic Domain powers—[Particle Torrent], [Power of Breaking Law], and [Desperate Ice Seal]—are steadily improving. Without spending too much effort on them, Ronan can generally expect to gain dozens of points of proficiency. He is already quite satisfied.

The biggest improvement was naturally in the [Ascetic Body Forging] skill, which focused on cultivation. In just two months, the proficiency level increased by a full 150 points!

It seems they're determined to make up for all the progress they missed in one go.

At this moment, the white ball of light inside Ronan's body had grown from the size of a fist to the size of three fists, several times larger.

What it brought to Ronan was an even more surging and magnificent vitality.

Nourished by this vitality, it was as if a live volcano, ready to erupt at any moment, was brewing within him.

Under the burning vitality, the physical strength after activating the [[Immaculate Body]] seems to increase without limit, and cannot be measured by specific numbers.

Of course, the biggest improvement is in the physical defense of the [[Immaculate Body]]. It went from being able to withstand low-level zero spells without taking any damage to mid-level zero spells, and now to high-level zero spells. The [[Immaculate Body]]'s ability to resist elemental attacks has been greatly enhanced.

If you were to take a close look at Ronan's skin now, you would find that there seems to be an extremely thin, transparent stratum corneum on the surface of his skin, which was naturally formed under countless spells.

Behind this series of tremendous improvements in physical strength was Ronan's complete disregard for cost in consuming drugs.

For the past two months, he has been drinking first-tier healing potions almost like water, just for the small amount of life force they contain that can quickly replenish the meager life force consumed by the light orbs in his body.

After two months, Ronan's savings were almost depleted. After searching through his Storage Waist Pouch, apart from some essential items that could not be sold, the rest of his belongings were estimated to be worth less than ten High-Level Magic Stones in total.

This is nothing compared to the extravagance of spending thousands of High-Level Magic Stone before.

"Physical training, if taken too seriously, is a bottomless pit of resources."

Ronan couldn't help but sigh. If it weren't for Travis and the others interfering, he could have bought the treatment through the platform within the Arcane Circle, and the cost would probably have been much lower.

It was also because of his practice of "Ascetic Body Forging" that Ronan had mastered almost all the low-level zero elemental spells he could find, and he had mastered almost all of them to the level of proficiency or above.

With ice magic as his focus, his intermediate-level zero-rank [Frost Ray] has already advanced to the Expert Level, and he estimates that it will only take him one or two months to break through to the master level. He has not yet tried to advance any spells other than low-level zero-rank spells to the Master Level, so he is a little unsure about the timeframe.

"When the [Frost Ray] also develops Extraordinary Magic Domain, that will be the time when the 'Domain of Despair' truly undergoes a qualitative change. I wonder what it will be like then..."

Ronan thought for a moment, then gently closed the panel, got up, and walked into the small training room inside.

Picking up a blank Rune Stone at the lab bench, Ronan casually began to carve runes. For him now, Rune Inscription was no longer a skill to make a living, but rather a pastime to pass the time and a unique way to calm his mind.

"Please help me register for this task."

The following morning, in the Seventh Magic Ring Quest Hall, Ronan stood in front of a quest window and pointed out a quest with a particularly prominent mark on the quest book to the Arcane Circle Wizard in charge of quest registration.

As a publicly available trial mission in the Seven Rings, it is usually "pinned" to the top, and Ronan found the "Brain-Eating Flower" mission that Bennigo had mentioned without much effort.

Of course, the mission did not mention anything about "Brain-Eating Flower" at all; on the surface, it only encouraged the wizards of the Arcane Circle to explore a Secret Realm Space called "Damp Jungle".

Only wizards with inside information knew that the rare magical Brain-Eating Flower existed in the "Damp Jungle".

"Okay, go wait outside. An airship will take you there."

After the mission registration was completed, the wizard at the window handed Ronan a white Rune Stone, which served as proof of the mission and the key to enter the "Damp Jungle" Secret Realm Space.

Without accepting the mission, Ronan had no way to bypass the Arcane Circle and enter the "Damp Jungle." Unauthorized exploration of a claimed secret realm was a serious violation of the entire Wizard World.

As Ronan accepted the voucher and walked out of the mission hall, he habitually glanced around at the various mission windows, but this time he didn't see the green-haired witch.

He composed himself and stood quietly at the entrance of the mission hall, waiting with several other wizards. They were not very strong, around the mid-level of level one, just like him, and were ordinary members of the Arcane Circle.

After waiting for a while, another young wizard arrived, his robes marked with the identity of a first-level core, and he emanated mental energy fluctuations belonging to the late stage of the first level.

The several First Level Intermediate Wizards who were waiting with Ronan immediately surrounded him. Judging from their harmonious interaction, it seemed that they had agreed to this arrangement beforehand.

At that moment, someone from the small group across the street came out and asked Ronan if he wanted to join them.