Boost

"Two magic stones for a pound of magical beast meat really is..."

Ronan thought for a long time but couldn't find a suitable word to describe it. In the end, he could only sum it up with, "Fucking awesome."

Magical beasts had unusual constitutions, and their flesh and blood contained vast amounts of energy particles, making it easier to tantalize the taste buds of wizards who dealt with energy particles year-round.

So even with only simple cooking, magical beast meat tasted far more fragrant than ordinary meat.

Ordinary Wizard Apprentices were already troubled by the erosion of energy particles. After eating magical beast meat, they still had to take potions to dissolve the accumulated energy particles.

Only formal wizards, whose physiques had undergone preliminary modification by energy particles, could eat it without restraint.

Ronan's Ascetic Body Forging had reached the proficient level not long ago, and his physique had improved significantly once again. That was why he could enjoy it without worry.

He mainly just wanted to try something new.

After news spread that wizards from the Black Wizard Land were about to invade, all of Hoddam was gripped by a tense prewar atmosphere, and the prices of all kinds of supplies soared.

The only thing whose price had not risen—and had instead plummeted—was probably magical beast meat.

"According to the butcher's assistant, supplies are tight right now. Every wizard in Hoddam is doing their best to arm themselves, using every magic stone where it counts to prepare for the coming battle.

"Far fewer people are willing to spend money satisfying their appetites, so the price of magical beast meat, which is difficult to preserve, has naturally dropped."

"This meat from the rank-zero magical beast White Fang Arrow Boar used to sell for a full five Low-Level Magic Stones per pound."

Ronan sat in his chair and picked at his teeth for a while.

For some reason, he felt unbearably hot all over.

Even after downing two large pots of plain water, he could not extinguish the fire burning inside him. He could only begin body-forging practice on the spot, trying to vent the energy that was practically overflowing from him.

Two hours later, Ronan was soaked in sweat, as though he had just been fished out of the water. Only then did he finally feel normal again.

"Am I the only one who reacts like this after eating magical beast meat? Am I allergic to it?"

Ronan was puzzled.

Logically, if energy particles built up in the body in great quantities and could not be expelled, the symptoms should not be like this. It should have been extremely painful.

But just now, he had clearly felt as if he had taken some miraculous tonic, his entire body swelling with excess energy.

He casually called up the Character Panel and glanced at it, letting out a small sound of surprise.

The Ascetic Body Forging listed in the skill column had gained a full 11 points of proficiency compared to before.

And that had only been from one practice session after a meal.

"Could magical beast meat provide an auxiliary boost to body-forging techniques?!"

Ronan blinked, finding it hard to believe.

But after thinking it over carefully, he felt that he was simply making a fuss.

"This probably isn't a secret at all. To wizards, this slight benefit from magical beast meat is utterly insignificant.

"Wizards who can afford magical beast meat would never spend their efforts on body forging, while wizards who practice body-forging techniques rarely have the means to afford magical beast meat. I barely count as an exception myself."

As for ordinary people who cultivated the path of knights, they had probably long regarded magical beast meat as an invaluable treasure that could only be encountered by chance.

No matter what, it was good news for Ronan.

With magical beast meat assisting him, his progress in Ascetic Body Forging would undoubtedly be much faster. And it just so happened that magical beast meat was cheap right now.

After his brief delight, gloom swept over him again.

Ronan walked to one side of the cabin, took down a One-Handed Sword hanging on the wall that gleamed with cold light, and casually swung it in his hand as he sighed softly.

"War..."

More than half a month passed, yet the tense atmosphere in Hoddam Wizard Land showed no sign of fading. If anything, it grew even stronger.

It increasingly felt as though a great war was about to begin.

The Black Robe Wizard corpses hanging from wooden stakes at the town entrance had long since dried into mummies, and two more stakes had been added.

Soaring prices for goods and housing, fresh blood-soaked corpses in black robes, and wild rumors flying everywhere—every one of these things constantly stirred the fragile, sensitive nerves of the lower-tier wizards in the wizard land.

Ronan was affected as well.

In fact, Ronan, who had grown accustomed to the harmonious society of his previous life, was even more anxious than most people when faced with the imminent arrival of war.

He followed the trend and made a massive purchase of supplies, stockpiling enough food in his already cramped cabin to last one person for nearly half a year.

Besides cultivation, he deliberately set aside part of each day to gather wild fruit, drying it into preserved fruit or making it into jam.

Most of the game meat he caught was turned into cured meat and jerky as well. Ronan had never known he possessed so many skills... Anxiety had forced them out of him.

Fortunately, as a Rune Master, Ronan had also received some of the benefits brought by the war.

The prices of magical tools and equipment had surged, and rune prices rose along with them.

The price of a Cleaning rune had risen to two magic stones, while a Shine rune had risen to three.

That increase was still minor. The prices of intermediate and higher-level runes had risen far more dramatically. The highly sought-after Protection runes were already approaching fifteen magic stones each.

Naturally, Ronan would not give up such an excellent opportunity to make money. He had long begun researching the engraving of Protection runes, and had even developed a strong interest in the work of enchanters.

At the end of the day, Rune Masters still worked for others, like assembly-line workers at the bottom rung. Enchanters were different—they could be considered highly skilled technical professionals.

At the same level, the difference in income between the two was considerable.

Unfortunately, let alone enchanting, Ronan had spent more than half a month researching even a tiny protection rune and still had not gotten the hang of it.

The complexity and inscription difficulty of a Zero-Order Intermediate Rune far exceeded his expectations. Even with the Character Panel's assistance, his self-study progress was as slow as a turtle crawling.

He picked up the One-Handed Sword he had bought at the Wizard Market for half a Low-Level Magic Stone and practiced the mundane knightly sword technique the seller had included with it for a while. Feeling in good condition, Ronan set down the sword and resumed practicing the inscription of protection runes.

Using the magical tool ring on his hand, which was enchanted with a completed protection rune, as a reference, he practiced until his Spiritual Power was nearly exhausted, wasting several blank Rune Stones.

Ronan wearily rubbed his brow. As he absorbed the gains and insights fed back by the panel from several practice sessions, he took a deep blue potion in a beautiful crystal bottle from the pouch at his waist.

A Low-Level Spirit Concentration Potion.

Affected by the "war," potion prices had become absurdly high as well.

Fortunately, before the price surge had become too outrageous, Ronan had emptied his savings and sold the "Low-Level Healing Potions" he had stripped from the dead wizard—later discovering they were specifically used for healing wounds—scraping together enough magic stones to buy three Low-Level Spirit Concentration Potions in one go.

He had already drunk two. The third bottle in his hand was also the last.

"The effects are getting worse and worse... I hope I can break through successfully."

Ronan silently prayed as he looked at the 94% progress bar displayed beside Level Four Wizard Apprentice on his Character Panel.

Without further hesitation, he uncorked the crystal bottle and drained the entire potion in one gulp. Then he filled it with plain water, rinsed it out three times, and drank every drop.

After finishing all that, Ronan quickly climbed onto the bed and sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to meditate with full concentration.