The group soon arrived at the Mission Hall. Whether it was the Arcane Society or Borne Ioulaum, the head student, both were very popular at the academy. Their appearance together in the Mission Hall quickly drew the attention of everyone nearby.
"Come on, let's go turn in the mission together."
Back at the academy, Lisper had returned to her usual coolheaded and efficient self, ignoring the curious looks around her.
Those who could study at Giles Academy were either from wealthy families or from the nobility. Even the commoners enjoyed relatively comfortable lives. Forget Lizardfolk—many had never even killed a chicken!
When they saw the Lizardfolk behind them, reduced to a limbless stump, they were both curious and frightened.
According to the Chip, the Lizardfolk Chieftain was level 11. He was only one level above Borne, but their ranks were completely different!
That was right. On the way back, Borne had already reached level 10 in the system.
According to the system's settings, level 11 was high rank.
And high rank meant one had begun to undergo a transformation in the very nature of one's life!
If Borne hadn't had the advantage of time, terrain, and circumstances, and if he hadn't bluffed the Lizardfolk, his third-circle [Stinking Cloud] wouldn't have been boosted by two circles by the Weave. That was what had brought the high-ranking Lizardfolk down. Otherwise, a mere third-circle spell might not have been enough.
The high-ranking Lizardfolk had a truly terrifying vitality. He had already woken up on the second day after they left the forest. Fortunately, Borne had cut off all four of his limbs; otherwise, it would have been difficult to bring him back to Seventon.
Even so, despite having no food or water, the Lizardfolk Chieftain had been left out for five or six days and showed no sign of fatigue. Even his limbs had begun to heal, slowly regenerating!
His hatred of humans went without saying. Seeing so many people suddenly appear around him, his amber eyes instantly turned bloodshot. He struggled and roared without pause, as if he wanted to tear every human in sight to pieces!
The Arcane Society members were used to the Lizardfolk's roars and remained unfazed, but the students nearby couldn't handle it. They had never seen anything like this and hurriedly backed away in fear!
President Lisper frowned as she glanced at him, understanding the purpose behind the academy's decision to start issuing off-campus missions.
Even though she and the others had done little more than tag along for nearly the entire mission, they seemed to have changed completely after returning from it.
Borne paid no attention to what was happening around him. The academy was a little bubble; anyone who had never experienced a battlefield was still a rookie.
Still, the Lizardfolk Chieftain's constant roaring over the past few days had helped the Chip collect a great deal of information about the Lizardfolk language.
Borne had nearly mastered beginner-level Draconic. All he needed now was to learn how to hold a normal conversation.
Of course, until he reached high rank, Borne had no intention of getting involved with creatures like dragons.
"I bet we'll get a lot of points for this!"
Borne was in a very good mood. Never mind wiping out the entire Lizardfolk tribe—even the Cursed Stone in his possession was worth plenty of points.
Still, the final amount would depend on the academy's evaluation.
The mission desk worker stared at the Lizardfolk tied up on the ground and was completely dumbfounded.
Did you people misunderstand what an investigation mission was supposed to be...?
They had been sent to investigate, and instead they had hauled an enemy back with them. The worker had no idea how to handle this.
Information had no set standard. Aside from the basic minimum reward, there was theoretically no upper limit.
And this Lizardfolk seemed to be high rank, a bona fide enemy leader.
When the worker learned that this was the Lizardfolk tribe's chief, he was already numb with shock...
Then, when the group mentioned that the Lizardfolk tribe had been wiped out, the worker fell silent.
What the hell was an appropriate reward for this? It was beyond his authority to decide, so he hurriedly reported it to his superiors.
They had brought back the Lizardfolk tribe's chieftain. The value of that, both as a trophy and as a source of strategic intelligence, was enormous. There was no question that they would receive a generous point reward.
But deciding how many points to award was a bit of a problem. There were no other cases to use as a reference...
And a high-ranking prisoner of war—capturing one was a tremendous military achievement even on a battlefield! Especially when he was the enemy leader...
So how many points should they award for that?
They couldn't hand out rewards carelessly, or it would make future off-campus missions difficult to organize.
Were young people nowadays really this outrageous?
The evaluator gave them no definite answer and simply told them to go back for now. The reward would have to be decided by Scholar Hawkes!
"Looks like the reward this time will be substantial."
Belon was very excited.
The other Arcane Society members were clearly looking forward to it too. Borne would certainly get the lion's share of the reward, but they would still receive something. Besides, the number of points didn't matter much—the privileges and benefits were what counted most.
For example, the president of the Arcane Society belonged to an institution recognized by the academy. One of the privileges that came with it was the right to borrow the Scrolls of Netheril once a year.
"Looks like we won't get our reward today."
Borne had only agreed to go on an off-campus mission with President Lisper. Now that it was done, he was ready to head back.
Borne said goodbye to President Lisper and the others, then flew straight back to his underground lair using [Fly].
The Arcane Society members watched Borne fly away right in front of them, and could only laugh helplessly.
The rule against flying within the academy had been established by the first president of the Arcane Society. Back then, the academy had only recently been founded, and its rules were full of loopholes. The Arcane Society had proposed many of the regulations and even set some of them directly.
Although the academy's teachers didn't interfere with students' activities outside of their studies, the president of the Arcane Society was also the strongest student!
Who would dare disobey?
The first president had assumed that the Arcane Society offered such excellent benefits that every student who entered the academy would aspire to become its president.
And the president would naturally be the strongest student. Although there had been a few years when the head student wasn't the president of the Arcane Society, the president had still held absolute authority.
Who could have imagined someone as outrageous as Borne, who had no interest in becoming president of the Arcane Society?
There was nothing they could do now but let him do as he pleased.
In the past, they might have grumbled about it, but after seeing the outside world, the affairs of the academy suddenly didn't seem all that important.
Back in his underground laboratory, Borne finally felt at ease.
Everything around him was just as he had left it. The magic storage device was full, and the excess magical energy was slowly seeping out, making the magical energy throughout the underground laboratory grow more active.
This was the second-generation magic storage device. It had been running well for over a month.
Borne set down the extra things and changed into a brand-new noble's robe.
Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at the Wizard Tower.
Borne teleported straight to the floor where the earl was.
"You're back. Looks like you got quite a haul this time!"
The earl could tell at a glance that Borne's magical power had changed.
Borne's mouth twitched. He had been planning to show off, but the old man had seen right through him.
The old man was getting stronger and stronger. Even though Borne was now a mid-rank Arcanist, he still couldn't see how powerful the old man was.
If he hadn't known the earl was a high-ranking Arcanist, he would have thought he was an ordinary person.
Borne had taken down a high-ranking Lizardfolk, yet he couldn't even see through the old man...
Was the gap between those of high rank really that great?
Or did the old man have some miraculous item that could hide his presence?
A faint glow appeared in Borne's eyes, and the colorful world came into view once again. But the moment he looked at the earl, he was stunned.
Before he could react, his eyes hurt as if they had been pierced by needles. They snapped shut by reflex, and the spell pattern stopped.
"Oh?! Is this the spell pattern that helped you advance? Not bad!"
The earl smiled and nodded. "Also, don't go around using it to peer at things indiscriminately, especially people stronger than you. Probing into someone else's abilities without permission is very rude."
Borne rubbed his eyes and grunted in displeasure.
The earl laughed. He was becoming more and more pleased with his only grandson.
Then he asked Borne what had brought him there.
The earl's expression changed when Borne placed the Cursed Stone, "sealed" in lead foil, in front of him.
"You wiped out that Lizardfolk tribe?"
"Yes. Apart from the high-ranking Lizardfolk I kept alive, the rest were dealt with."
"Mm."
The earl nodded.
He didn't say anything more about what Borne had done.
At that point, Borne noticed that the earl had said "you," not "you all."
The destruction of the Lizardfolk tribe had been part of the plan. It was simply supposed to be carried out by the academy's senior leadership.
Borne's involvement had been completely unexpected.
The first mission had only been intended as a trial run. They had sent the Arcane Society to ensure it went smoothly and to set a good example.
They couldn't have people dying—or even getting wiped out—on the very first mission.
The academy's senior leadership had expected the Arcane Society members to encounter only a few minor troubles, given their abilities. Nobody would die. Even if they were in danger, the dean was confident he could save them. Losing a limb or two wouldn't count as a serious problem either.
Then, after a few minor twists and turns, they would return to the academy and complete the mission. Finally, the academy would send people to wipe out the small tribe, then have the students sum up the experience and pass on what they had learned to those who came after them.
The whole plan had been arranged extremely well, tailored exactly to their abilities.
The one thing the academy had failed to account for was bringing Borne along.
What should have been a well-planned mission had turned into Borne's one-man show, while everyone else had gone on a trip.
So that's what happened...
Borne shook his head with a trace of self-mockery.
Then he suddenly wondered: did this count as a max-level player taking newbies through a dungeon, clearing it at full health and even claiming the hidden rewards?
He hadn't come away empty-handed. Though it felt like he'd been played, he had gotten all the benefits. As for the reward to come, he wasn't expecting much anyway.
"I brought this back. It's too dangerous to leave with you."
"Wait, what is this?"
"The Heart of God."
"The Heart of God?"
"Mm. You can think of it as a deity's core."
The earl explained calmly.
Borne swallowed, unsure what to say.
"You don't need to be surprised. It's only a false god, the ancestral god or god of faith of some race."
As he spoke, the earl reached out and grabbed the Cursed Stone.
No, his fingers didn't actually touch it. Borne saw dozens of magic circles form between the earl's fingers, quickly sealing the "stone." As the earl lifted it and put it into his dimensional space, the seal was complete. The whole process was smooth and effortless.
Borne was dumbstruck.
Was this what it meant to be a big shot...?
"This Heart of God hasn't yet given birth to a 'spirit.' Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to wipe out those little Lizardfolk so easily. Remember, if you come across another tribe with an idol, be careful and stay as far away as you can. Don't touch one unless you're high rank. If you run into a powerful 'spirit,' even I might not be able to defeat it."
Borne listened and nodded thoughtfully.
Indigenous Spirits, huh?
The earl's attitude made it clear that they weren't unfamiliar with such things. No, perhaps they had even begun studying them.
On Faerûn, many intelligent races were still uncivilized, living together in tribes. Most worshipped their ancestors. Over time, this could give rise to special spirits—spirits that possessed part of a deity's power.
Naturally, the temples everywhere ruthlessly suppressed these spirits, calling them "false gods"!
In fact, Borne knew very well that many of the gods who called themselves true gods had once been Indigenous Spirits.
To study the power of "gods," even to become one!
Borne understood that this was an inevitable path. As Seventon expanded, it had wiped out many tribes, and it was certain to obtain the cores of Indigenous Spirits.
Because of the backlash from its worshippers, the core of this "Heart of God" had been corrupted by a curse. But Nether had surely obtained cores that hadn't been corrupted by such backlash.
The power of "Indigenous Spirits" was weak, but the power they used was no different from that of true "deities"!!!
Before you continue