Intermediate Warrior Apprentice

Potioncraft's potions had been developed for every profession, with an extremely broad range of applications: mental power potions, strength potions, agility potions, focus potions, antidote potions, and more. They were made to give every profession a simple, brutal boost. Yet the price was equally steep: gold coins—vast quantities of gold coins.

Trading mental power potions for strength and agility potions was relatively cost-effective for Dole. If he had to buy those potions with money earned solely from gathering herbs, he would probably work himself to death in the mountains. A single bottle cost more than one gold coin; even after one round trip, he could only afford a few bottles.

While the medicine took effect, he picked up his woodcutting knife and began practicing in the courtyard—the basic sword arts.

At present, he only knew the most basic sword arts: thrusting, slashing, chopping, lifting, and other foundational movements. But those were not particularly important. At the smithy, he practiced basic hammer techniques whenever he could. Every day, he swung a ten-kilogram hammer tens of thousands of times. It trained a person far more than basic sword arts ever could, more than enough to build his strength.

Bal lay at the doorway, watching Dole practice basic fist arts and basic sword arts. His eyes narrowed slightly as memories of his childhood surfaced.

It had been a world steeped in darkness. From the day he was born, he had had to fight his brothers for food. Once he was a little older, he had needed to fight outside and catch his own prey. When he grew older still, he had needed to battle even more powerful magical beasts. Nearly every day had been spent wandering the line between life and death. That had been truly hard. Now, Dole had never undergone the tempering of life-and-death struggles, yet he was already doing remarkably well. At the very least, he had learned how to kill.

Watching Dole grow was actually quite interesting.

There was nothing entertaining in Duomeng City. It did not even have advanced meditation methods or advanced battle aura techniques. Otherwise, he would have snatched them long ago just to take a look.

But now that he thought about it, even without anything advanced, Dole's talent was well suited to the path of a wizard. Once he became a first-rank wizard, they would leave this place and head for a broader world.

Bal had already planned out Dole's future path.

His injuries appeared to be recovering very quickly, but the further along the recovery went, the slower it became. It would likely take several years. He might as well follow Dole during that time and see what this world was like.

He would treat it as raising someone from scratch. Bal was as steady as a mountain.

After training for a while, Dole felt the heat in his body gradually fade, and only then did he slowly stop.

He could clearly feel his blood and vitality increasing, his muscles swelling, and the immense effects of the strength and agility potions.

With a slight circulation of his blood and vitality, he felt his entire body brimming with power. The muscles in his limbs bulged, and an unprecedented sense of strength rose within him.

Having reached this stage, he knew that he had essentially entered the bone-forging and organ-training phase—the stage of an intermediate warrior apprentice.

Next, according to the book, he needed to eat more meat to replenish the nutrients required by his organs and bones, while using large quantities of medicinal herbs to aid in organ training and temper his insides.

A beginner warrior apprentice's physical fitness was roughly twice that of an ordinary person. At the intermediate stage, it would reach around three times that of an ordinary person. At the advanced stage, it would surpass ordinary people in every respect, at a minimum of four times their capability.

The gap between advanced and intermediate warrior apprentices was not actually that great. The main difference was that, at the advanced stage, one needed to train the body to a state of complete perfection. Then, upon that foundation, one trained battle aura. Once battle aura was cultivated, one became a first-rank warrior.

Battle aura was the mark of a warrior becoming extraordinary.

Yet in this world, whether battle aura techniques or meditation methods, all were controlled by the powerful and wealthy. They were difficult to obtain, resulting in streets filled with intermediate and advanced warriors, while true extraordinary beings were scarce. Even when they existed, most came from the powerful and wealthy or from knightly families. Ordinary people had virtually no chance to rise. Most chose to attach themselves to nobles, leaning against a great tree for shade. Thus, the nobles grew ever stronger while ordinary people grew ever weaker.

Once Dole understood this, his heart grew slightly heavy.

Those people at the top really were black-hearted devils. To control ordinary people, they would stop at nothing.

Still, he did not need to consider any of that yet. It was far too early.

He had dealt with Aoduo and his son. Next would be Fele, Carmen, and that sanctimonious bastard Dis.

Returning to his room, Dole tidied his bed, drank a bottle of mental power potion, and quickly entered meditation.

Ability Society headquarters.

Mosade sat at the head of the room, carefully studying the materials Bichi had provided, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Are you certain this information is genuine and accurate?"

Bichi let out a soft breath. "There were five intermediate wizard apprentices with me. We all saw it together, so we should not be mistaken. There is another wild wizard in the mountains outside. We found traces he left behind, as well as tools he once used. They were all broken, but it is clear enough that he should know potioncraft."

Had Dole been there, he would have been shocked beyond measure. He had only just left, yet they had already found him. What kind of efficiency was that? Those were boundless mountains.

Mosade nodded and casually closed the documents. "Judging from your analysis, the things left behind by the other party indicate that he is at most an intermediate wizard apprentice. Nothing noteworthy. Still, you suspect that he is connected to the people who previously lingered near the magic crystal mine. What basis do you have for that?"

Bichi shook his head. "None. Just intuition."

Mosade chuckled softly. "Then I'll leave this matter to you." Bichi nodded.

Mosade swept his gaze across the others. "How is construction progressing at the moment? How far has the road been built?"

Mike, Tina, and Longze were responsible for this matter.

Mike was the first to step forward. He respectfully handed the documents in his hands to Mosade. "It is all here. In about two more months, the road will reach the foot of Magic Crystal Mountain. I can guarantee it upon my family's honor."

Mosade nodded. "Good. I understand. If possible, you may also go help. Though magic crystals are not of primary use to you, they are still decent spellcasting materials. When the time comes, they will be distributed according to merit."

At those words, the six people's eyes immediately lit up.

Normally, they had only small amounts of magic crystals when producing spellcasting materials. But if they were given shares now, would that not mean that in the future, they could freely throw out materials and cast magic just like their teacher?

At the thought, all of them were tempted.

"Yes, Teacher. We will work hard."

Mosade smiled faintly. "We produce very few magic crystals here. We rely entirely on shipments from Chris County. This magic crystal mine will be the key to the rise of Duomeng City's Ability Society. I hope you seize this opportunity. If even one more wizard can emerge, then just imagine what that would mean for yourselves and your families." He threw out an immensely tempting prospect.

Dole had no idea that his location had already been exposed. After honestly working iron for several days, he gradually adapted to his increased strength. He could now wield Hammer No. 3 freely, a sign that he was about to become a second-rank blacksmith.

Of course, only his strength had reached the required level; he still needed skill. He would have to forge a second-rank ironwork—whether a sword, spear, armor, or something else—to prove his ability.

An intermediate warrior apprentice working as a blacksmith, coupled with Dole's advantage in mental power, meant that every hammer strike gave him precise control over his strength. Becoming a second-rank blacksmith at such a young age was not exaggerated at all, though others did not know this.

After learning to control his suddenly increased strength, Dole began taking "strolls" outside in his spare time after work. The purpose of those strolls went without saying.