The Beginning of a New Life

The next day, early morning.

Opening his eyes, Reilo still felt that everything that had happened yesterday was like a dream.

Warm sunlight streamed through the glass window, falling onto the white bedsheets. After confirming that he was indeed at the Moon Bay Inn of the Grand Natural Sciences Academy, and that everything from yesterday was not a dream, Reilo finally sat up from the bed.

Remembering something, Reilo sat up abruptly and picked up the Space Box that Shatuo had given him yesterday.

"This is truly incredible!"

Reilo toyed with the Space Box, thoroughly delighted and unable to put it down.

After playing with it for a while, Reilo took out from the Space Box the Folding Fan gifted by Senior Brother Wushuang, the Scare Bottle gifted by Bailing, and the Ice Fire Bird Notebook gifted by Lianyi, examining them closely.

Since Reilo had not yet mastered the Energy Magnetic Field of a scholar—what mages called mana—he could not activate the functions of these two Magic Props, but that did not stop him from appreciating them.

First was this magic Folding Fan.

Though it was cracked in many places, one could still vaguely make out the image of a Three-Headed Monster Bird spreading its wings, imposing and majestic, as if it were some kind of Magic Beast naturally gifted with wind power.

"No, that's not right."

Reilo noticed that the ribs of the fan were acceptable, seemingly made of some special wood, but the key was the fan's surface. The paper was definitely not made from plant fibers pressed into sheets; it seemed to be woven from some extremely fine and delicate material!

After thinking for a moment, Reilo took out a magnifying glass, also one of the items Shatuo had placed in the Space Box.

When Reilo carefully observed the fan surface through the magnifying glass for a while, he finally discovered its subtlety and could not help but be greatly astonished.

The fan surface was actually woven bit by bit from some kind of feather threads, and then etched with tens of thousands of tiny runes using an unknown method!

Seeing how such fine feather down had been perfectly twisted into threads, then woven horizontally and vertically into a fan surface, and etched with tens of thousands of needle-tip-sized energy runes, Reilo was struck with an indescribable awe. Was this alchemy?

"Such a masterful, godlike technique, yet in Senior Brother Gubo's words, it's just a minor discipline?"

Then, Reilo turned his attention to the Scare Bottle.

The dark green Scare Bottle was very small, with no decorative patterns on its surface. An ordinary-looking cork was wedged into the bottle's mouth. Reilo tried to pull the cork off, but perhaps because he lacked an Energy Magnetic Field, the cork was stuck tight and would not budge.

Shaking his head, knowing that these Magic Props were quite peculiar, Reilo did not persist.

As for the Ice Fire Bird Notebook from his master's wife, Reilo observed it for a long time. Aside from its special material that allowed for long-term preservation, it seemed to have no other particular functions.

Finally, there was Senior Brother Gubo's money pouch.

"Five gold coins, sixty-three silver coins. My father worked hard hunting for a whole year before he died and couldn't earn even close to that, yet Senior Brother just handed it to me casually. Sigh..."

His mind was filled with stray thoughts, but then he remembered the cost of his inn stay last night—three silver coins—and Reilo felt a pang of pain, his heart bleeding!

Three silver coins meant three hundred copper coins.

In Lake Onyx Town, that could buy fifteen kilograms of Black Bread, nearly a month's worth of food!

This showed how high the prices were at the Grand Natural Sciences Academy, far beyond what Lake Onyx Town could compare with.

"Oh, right!"

Reilo suddenly thought of the Star Core Necklace he wore close to his chest.

"According to my father, the Star Core Necklace can determine whether a prey has Magic Beast bloodline. Let's see if the Star Core Necklace reacts to these Magic Props!"

The necklace pendant looked like an unremarkable Agate Stone. Reilo found the tiny raised button on the pendant and pressed it against the Folding Fan.

"Beep, beep, beep! Detected: Three-Headed Wind Kite feathers, sixty grams; Storm Wood, two hundred fifty-four grams."

It could actually analyze the composition!

If he learned alchemy from Senior Brother Gubo, could he rely on the Star Core Necklace's composition analysis feature to attempt replicating high-level, complex Magic Props?

His curiosity piqued, Reilo pressed the Star Core Necklace button against the Scare Bottle.

"Beep, beep, beep! Detected: Residual, weak soul. Energy too low to analyze."

It seemed the main value of the Scare Bottle was this soul, and it didn't appear to be very high-level. No wonder, compared to those astonishingly valuable Magic Props, the Scare Bottle sold for only a few silver coins. It seemed that if one mastered the internal technique, the crafting process should not be too difficult.

Then, Reilo looked at the Ice Fire Bird Notebook.

"Beep, beep, beep! Detected: Ice Fire Bird hide, four hundred grams; Memory Marrow, fifteen grams; Mountain Essence, one gram; Mithril, one-quarter gram."

"Huh?"

Unexpectedly, this Ice Fire Bird Notebook contained other materials, and the crafting process seemed unusually complex. No wonder Senior Brother Gubo had looked so pained at the time.

Knowing that his master's wife had given him a treasure, Reilo happily put it away.

Finally, Reilo pressed the Star Core Necklace button against the Space Box.

"Beep, beep, beep: No valuable substances detected."

Whether it was because the Star Core Necklace could not analyze the Space Box's material, or because the materials used to make the Space Box contained nothing the Star Core Necklace considered valuable, Reilo got no result.

"How can this be?"

After thinking for a while without coming to any conclusion, Reilo packed up his gifts and stopped dwelling on it.

He got up and dressed.

"I've already left Lake Onyx Town to escape the church and come to the Grand Natural Sciences Academy. I need to work hard for my future life. First and foremost, I need to find a place to stay!

This inn costs three silver coins a day, which is ninety silver coins a month—almost a gold coin. Such a price truly pains Reilo."

The morning on Scholar Street wasn't particularly busy, mostly just shopkeepers opening up for business.

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!

Suddenly, the blue stone pavement beneath their feet trembled. Pedestrians noticed and scattered in all directions.

A squad of mercenaries, about a dozen strong, came running swiftly down the middle of the street. Their armor and animal skin coats were stained with grime and blood from fierce battles. On the back of a thundering Long-Haired Giant Elephant lay a pale-faced casualty, clearly showing signs of poisoning.

"Move it, move it, get the hell out of my way!"

This massive Long-Haired Giant Elephant was actually spewing black smoke from its nostrils, filling the air with a sulfurous stench.

Reilo, who had retreated to the side, stared in shock. He silently compared himself—even a few hundred of him wouldn't be enough for this terrifying elephant to trample for sport. This was simply not something an ordinary person could face head-on!

"It's the Mammoth War Hammer Mercenary Group!"

"Tsk, looks like the Grand Duchy is at war again!"

Reilo caught the whispers of passersby clearly and swallowed hard.

For a small town like Lake Onyx, nestled in the heart of the Grand Duchy, the word "war" was utterly foreign. But that didn't lessen the townspeople's fear—it was a terror far greater than the death rate of hunting in the Demon Eagle Forest.