An Unexpected Development from Jeremy

Suppressing the urge to fight, Benjamin began testing the defensive capabilities of his water sphere.

He turned the sphere into a bubble that enveloped him. Then, he tried punching it with his fist.

Damn, that hurt!

Benjamin felt as if he had struck a layer of bulletproof glass. The bubble didn't budge; it didn't even ripple or deform, let alone break. He felt as though he were inside a bubble made of bulletproof glass.

Recalling the battle between the paladins and the elderly mage in the outer district that day, Benjamin felt that even if his bubble wasn't as powerful as that Water Barrier, it should at least be able to withstand a strike from a blessed longsword.

Considering both the offensive and defensive capabilities of the water sphere, he could already defeat a fully-fledged paladin without much effort.

The Water Element Crystal had brought a leap in his strength.

He had felt a bit reluctant to use it earlier, but now, he felt it was worth it.

It wasn't just his magical prowess; even his affinity for elements had improved significantly under the influence of the Triangle Glyph. Looking at the water sphere beside him, which he was preparing to use to condense a new glyph, he noticed it was absorbing water elements much faster than before.

It looked like he would be able to learn new magic in just a few days.

It was a double blessing, and Benjamin was even more satisfied.

Honestly, if he could be given a few more Water Element Crystals, he could soar to the top. Who needed to meditate? His method of cultivation didn't have any bottlenecks anyway.

But that was just a pipe dream.

According to those two mages, element crystals were rare. They weren't like the spirit stones in cultivation novels that could be mined from veins. Their appearance followed no pattern, so finding them was entirely a matter of luck.

Therefore, he estimated it would be difficult to get another one anytime soon.

He should just focus on his cultivation.

The road ahead still had to be walked one step at a time.

And so, following this leap in strength, Benjamin began his daily magical studies, calming his mind to meditate.

It must be said that after the Triangle Glyph was significantly strengthened, Benjamin's ability to gather water elements had improved, and his meditation efficiency had increased quite a bit. Now, the amount of water elements he injected into the Triangle Glyph in an hour was nearly double what it had been before.

At this rate, wouldn't he get faster the more he meditated?

Was this cultivation method too heaven-defying?

However, this question was answered after he meditated for an entire afternoon.

Through his observations that afternoon, he discovered that although the efficiency of his meditation had increased, the "appetite" of the Triangle Glyph had grown as well. To make the glyph stronger, it required more than twice the amount of water elements as before. Consequently, the balance meant his rate of growth hadn't actually accelerated; instead, it showed a trend of gradually slowing down.

As expected, there was no such thing as a heaven-defying cultivation method.

His dream of soaring to the top was completely shattered.

He estimated that once his level reached a certain point, the demand of the Triangle Glyph would become immense, and his meditation efficiency would become very high. Water Element Crystals would become meaningless to him; perhaps a single crystal wouldn't even compare to an hour of his own meditation.

He knew it—there was no such thing as a free lunch. If someone could get a pile of element crystals and then open up a consciousness space, wouldn't they become the strongest in the world overnight?

Balance was something that was surely difficult to break.

Dripping water wears through stone; slow and steady wins the race. That was the true essence.

...Damn, he really had become a "watered-down" person. Having chosen the path of water magic, even his internal monologues were becoming increasingly "watery."

He couldn't help but think this.

Just like that, Benjamin's routine of moving between two points began.

The Church didn't bother him, and neither did Michelle. He went to military training every morning and spent the rest of his time meditating at home. His plan to have Jeremy unearth Annie's relics also began; amidst his normal errands, he would slip in a task for Jeremy to investigate Michelle's strongholds, looking for the "third tree at the old spot."

He had only checked two locations and hadn't found the "third tree" yet, but Benjamin wasn't in a hurry. The bishop had given him the locations of eight strongholds; he would just let Jeremy search slowly.

The military training was also progressing well, and Benjamin felt his physical fitness had improved quite a bit. Dean had also taught them many practical combat techniques, many of which were specifically designed for use with pistols—Dean called them "Gun-Body Arts."

As part of practicing the Gun-Body Arts, Dean also began allowing them to handle guns—toy guns. Benjamin estimated that it wouldn't be long before Dean had them start real shooting training.

He wasn't interested in shooting training; he had his shooting interface, so he didn't need to practice. However, once shooting training started, he could take the opportunity to steal some bullets to use later, which would be very convenient. As long as he didn't steal too many, Dean shouldn't notice.

He had no choice; he only had sixteen blessed bullets in total, and he really couldn't bear to use them.

As for the enchanting section in the Introduction to Magic, he had found time to finish reading it, but he lacked the environment to practice. Enchanting required physical objects, but he couldn't practice in the real world for fear of being sensed by the "Purifiers," and he couldn't bring physical objects into his consciousness space. Therefore, enchanting had to be shelved for the time being.

He also didn't go looking for a way to open the treasure vault. Obedience was a terrifying thing; if he followed one of Michelle's orders, he would start following the second. Anyway, he intended to drag things out with Michelle; as long as the curse didn't activate, he would act as if it didn't exist.

And if the curse did activate... he would suffer and struggle for a while, then continue to act as if it didn't exist.

It was just a matter of whose will was stronger, right? Either way, he was determined to be a stubborn squatter!

He would never let Michelle manipulate him.

Benjamin felt that in a few days, Michelle would lose her patience and come to negotiate with him again, interrupting his peaceful routine. As for how to deal with it, Benjamin hadn't decided; he would just play it by ear.

However, to his surprise, it was Jeremy who broke the peace.

Something had happened on Jeremy's end.

"Master Benjamin, I am truly sorry. I don't know what happened to Jeremy, but he disappeared after he went out to run errands for you yesterday. We haven't seen him for an entire day. If you have any instructions, you can tell me instead."

That noon, after Benjamin returned to his room from lunch and was preparing to meditate, the butler knocked on the door, entered, and said this to him.

Benjamin was stunned.

He suddenly remembered that the last instruction he had given Jeremy a day ago was to go to the third of Michelle's former strongholds to see if he could find the "third tree." If he did, he was to dig up whatever was under the tree and bring it to Benjamin.

How could he have disappeared?

The location of this third stronghold was in the outer district. It wasn't a desolate place like the Prison Ruins, nor was it a notoriously chaotic area; it should have been relatively safe. Not to mention, he had sent Jeremy out during the day.

It seemed... some special situation had occurred.

Thinking this, several bad possibilities flashed through Benjamin's mind.

It was possible Jeremy had run into Michelle there and been captured; it was also possible he had encountered mages like the last time or other bad actors and been killed; of course, there was another possibility: he had dug up Annie's relics, been discovered by the Church, and taken away to be brainwashed.

If it were the third possibility...

Benjamin shuddered.

"Alright, I understand. You go back to your work; it's fine here." He immediately made a decision and instructed the butler.

The butler nodded and left.

And Benjamin began to prepare to go out.

Regardless of which possibility it was, he had to go to the outer district. Jeremy was his manservant, and he had gone missing while running errands for him; he couldn't just hear this news, act like nothing happened, and stay home to continue meditating.

If something had truly happened to Jeremy, he had to save him, otherwise, his conscience would be uneasy for the rest of his life.

Even if he had truly been captured by the Church.

Carrying a heavy heart, Benjamin left the house and set off once again toward the outer district.