Graduation Trial Mission

"Vice Dean, what you say makes sense, but I am still determined to graduate. Staying in the academy, I would ultimately just be a boy under protection."

"Sigh, very well. You should be aware of the traditions here at Ulada Magic Academy."

"Within a few days, our academy instructors will deliberate and assign you a suitable trial mission. As long as you successfully retrieve these items from the Magical Beast Mountain Range, we will grant your graduation."

"Of course, if you reach the seventh rank, you will not need to participate in this trial."

Jonathan smiled slightly. The Vice Dean understood his intent and told Jonathan to return and wait for news.

For the next few days, Jonathan prepared to stay in the academy dormitory.

"What? You're participating in the graduation trial? I thought you had finally found a conscience and were coming back to live with us, but it seems I thought too much."

"You have a conscience, but really, not much of one."

Listening to Collette, Jonathan couldn't help but feel torn between laughter and tears. "Is it really that exaggerated? I'm already a sixth-rank mage; I don't want to be a slacker in the academy like everyone else."

"Nowadays, graduating early and being tempered by reality is good for me."

"You, being tempered? A seventeen-year-old marquis—I'm sure His Majesty the King and the Dark Church are both waiting for you to graduate."

"Your future is truly bright."

"Forget it. Since you've made up your mind, it's useless for us to say anything more. We haven't gathered in a long time; let's drink until we drop today."

"Drink until we drop!" Ford also shouted.

That day, Charles and Jonathan helped the dead-drunk Ford and Collette back to the dormitory.

The two of them exchanged bitter smiles.

Jonathan returned to his room and practiced for a good while before resting.

The next day, someone delivered a letter.

At this time, the other three had already gone to class, leaving him alone in the dormitory.

"For me?"

After the messenger left, Jonathan opened it and saw it was sent by Abraham.

After reading for a while, a smile appeared on his face.

"He arrived at the O'Brien Empire. That's good; for a warrior like him, it's indeed a fine place to go. Aunt Sanita is pregnant, so he must be very happy. After all, he finally has a true successor."

The letter contained Abraham's current address, and the ending expressed his hope to meet Jonathan again soon.

After burning the letter, Jonathan continued his cultivation.

Two days later, the academy sent his trial mission: retrieve the snake gall and magic core of a sixth-rank Red-Lian Poison Snake, as well as the tail stinger and magic core of an Earth Scorpion.

Graduation missions are quite difficult for sixth-year students.

However, Ulada Magic Academy never explicitly stated that one could not cooperate to complete the trial, so most participants did so; only those who trusted their own strength would attempt the trial alone.

"Trying to make me retreat in the face of difficulty?"

Jonathan was knowledgeable; seeing these two types of magical beasts, he knew the academy was intentionally making things hard for him, as both were pack-dwelling creatures.

Furthermore, in larger groups, there would exist seventh-rank magical beasts.

Such a mission might not even be completable by a seventh-rank mage; for a sixth-rank mage, the only chance was to wait for these beasts to stray from their group.

The mission time was only two months, and failure would result in being barred from applying for graduation for another year.

That day, July 10th, Jonathan set off for the Magical Beast Mountain Range once again.

At the same time, fifteen-year-old Linley was undergoing life-and-death training in the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

In the month he had spent in the mountain range, he had encountered several assassination attempts, leaving him with several deep scars.

This experience made him thoroughly understand the dangers of the outer perimeter of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Humans were even more dangerous than magical beasts!

The scars on his body were bloody lessons.

Jonathan traveled at full speed and entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range in less than two days, his pace barely slowing down.

Some magical beasts along the way didn't even have time to attack; often, by the time they lunged, Jonathan had already slipped past their mouths and claws.

By the time they looked for Jonathan's figure, he was long gone.

This trip to the Magical Beast Mountain Range was not only to complete the mission but also to collect magic cores of various elements to take back for research.

Within two days, Jonathan found the Red-Lian Poison Snakes.

The areas where Red-Lian Poison Snakes lived were filled with poisonous weeds, their favorite food.

In addition to their own extreme toxicity, these magical beasts possessed fire-element attributes and could launch fire-based attacks.

They were also incredibly flexible and agile; a sixth-rank Red-Lian Poison Snake's attack speed was comparable to that of a peak seventh-rank warrior.

Jonathan stood on a large tree, watching the dozen or so Red-Lian Poison Snakes, each several yards long, crawling on the ground. They flicked their tongues from time to time and occasionally raised their heads to scan their surroundings.

"The old way, then."

Jonathan instantly cast Shadow Mist, shrouding a radius of several hundred meters.

Then, he donned a layer of Earth Guardian Holy Armor made of jade, used an Anti-Gravity Spell to lighten his own weight, and gripped a black dagger engraved with Durability and Sharpness runes, creeping forward without a sound.

If it weren't for the fact that the scales of these Red-Lian Poison Snakes were extremely tough, low-level spells like Sharp Stone Spell wouldn't be able to pierce them at all.

The power of the Earth Spike Array was sufficient, but the fluctuations of earth elements in the ground meant that even if Jonathan cast it instantly, the snakes had a high chance of dodging it.

It was better for him to do it himself; with the sharpness of this dagger, combined with his level seven strength and battle aura, a single strike would be enough to decapitate them.

However, he forgot that snakes were extremely sensitive to temperature, and they used this to lock onto Jonathan, slamming into him and sending him flying just as he was about to launch a sneak attack.

Given the strength of these Magic Beasts, if not for the Earth Guardian Holy Armor, he reckoned several of his ribs would have been broken.

"I underestimated you!"

Jonathan was slightly annoyed and began a forceful, head-on slaughter, his dark battle aura surging around his body like a tidal wave.

"Get lost!"

Using his physical techniques, he directly batted or kicked away most of the Red-Lian Poison Snakes, then unleashed a streak of black light that flashed across one of them.

The Red-Lian Poison Snake in front of him was instantly severed in two; he then stepped on the snake's head, crushing it to pieces, and after finding the magic core, he immediately shouldered the thousands of pounds of snake carcass and began to run.

One snake gallbladder was enough; if he stayed, he would only be entangled by them and waste his energy for nothing.

At this moment, Heavy as Light played a huge role; Jonathan leaped onto an ancient tree and kept jumping between the trees, shaking off the Red-Lian Poison Snakes before long.

After finding the snake gallbladder, he extracted it, wrapped it in gauze, tucked it into his pack, tossed the snake carcass aside, and left immediately.

The snake carcass he discarded immediately became a feast for the surrounding Magic Beasts, giving them a hearty meal.

In less than half a day, he found an Earth Scorpion and, without much effort, obtained its tail stinger and magic core before leaving calmly.

He headed north, crossing thousands of miles in just a few days, and obtained quite a few level five and six magic cores; light and dark types were rare, while earth, water, fire, and wind types were more common.

Among them were two thunder-type cores, one level five and one level six, contributed by a pair of Thunder Leopards he had hunted.

He didn't even bother with anything lower than that.