Do You Have Time?

Zeliel glanced back at the mustached man and felt even more convinced that he had the face of a crooked merchant.

Four gold coins? Was he trying to fool an idiot?

Even the finest Heavy Pressure spell scroll could not sell for that price.

Did he think all mages were rich and ripe for the slaughter?

"Fifty silver coins," Zeliel casually offered.

"What?!"

The mustached man's voice immediately rose to a shriek.

"Fifty silver coins? Young master, you must be joking! Fifty silver coins wouldn't even buy the parchment! This is a magic scroll!"

"You know this is a magic scroll, not some family heirloom. Its quality is average, and the spell structure left by its inscriber isn't very clear. Don't tell me you didn't know that."

Zeliel spoke calmly. "I assume you had other mages appraise it long ago, didn't you?"

The expression on the mustached man's face stiffened. "Th-then you still can't haggle like that. Fifty silver coins is absolutely impossible. I can lower it to three gold coins."

"One gold coin." Zeliel's face remained expressionless.

"One gold coin is too low."

The mustached man shook his head. "Two gold and fifty silver. That's my bottom price."

"I'll pay no more than one gold and twenty silver."

"Two gold coins! All right? Two gold coins—that's already very cheap."

"Then keep it and sell it to someone else." Zeliel turned and left again without hesitation.

"One gold and fifty silver! I can't go any lower!"

The mustached man gritted his teeth and named his final price. "Not a single coin less!"

Zeliel paused.

He still had three gold and twelve silver on him. Spending one gold and fifty silver on a scroll...

Fine. He could accept that.

"Deal."

With the newly purchased Heavy Pressure scroll tucked into his pocket, Zeliel headed to the outskirts where he usually practiced magic.

He spread open the slightly yellowed parchment scroll. It was completely blank.

Zeliel poured his mental power into it. A faint glow rose from his body, and the parchment began to emit a soft light as well.

The hidden secrets within the scroll opened their doors, and a brand-new spell structure flooded into Zeliel's sea of consciousness.

From the input interface to the mana conduits, then the acceleration circuits... the guiding runes...

Just as he had said before, the quality of this magic scroll was not particularly good. Its inscriber was clearly still lacking in skill, and many parts of the spell structure were blurry and indistinct.

For anyone else, it might have taken a great deal of effort and one or two weeks of study to restore it.

Fortunately, Zeliel possessed Spell Structure Evolution. This minor problem, where only part of the spell structure was unclear, was quickly resolved.

After just over ten minutes, the spell structure of Heavy Pressure appeared clearly in Zeliel's sea of consciousness. The number of spells he had mastered rose to six.

The faint glow on the scroll faded away, leaving behind nothing more than an ordinary sheet of waste paper.

"Phew... Heavy Pressure."

Zeliel clenched his hand. "Let's see how it works."

But if he cast this spell into empty air, it would be hard to judge its effects.

Zeliel surveyed the area and spotted a bird perched on a high branch nearby.

The distance gave the bird plenty of security. It tilted its head at Zeliel beneath the tree, unable to understand what he was doing.

You'll do...

Zeliel chose his target.

After a brief charge-up, Heavy Pressure was released!

"Bang!"

The bird sensed something was wrong and had just spread its wings to flee when an invisible force suddenly burst forth!

The Heavy Pressure guided by Zeliel unleashed a blast of mana from above.

The finger-thick branch snapped at once, and the bird fell from the air, plummeting stiffly toward the ground.

"Huh..."

Zeliel was a little surprised.

The effect was pretty good.

Once the charging was complete, the spell was released instantly. The enemy would have virtually no chance of dodging it; it was impossible to guard against.

It might not possess much killing power, but in battle, this brief slowing effect could very well produce miraculous results. It might even turn defeat into victory.

Over the next few days, Zeliel continued practicing magic, working hard to absorb the increase of four intelligence points.

"Fireball!"

"Bang!"

A brilliant fireball bloomed from his palm, then shot straight into the river, raising a cloud of white steam.

Zeliel had now become quite proficient in controlling these second-tier spells.

Meanwhile, the analysis progress of Mistflow Veil had reached 52%, while Arcane Missile was at 64%.

Both spells would still need some time before their analysis was complete.

However, one matter had continued to puzzle Zeliel.

He had clearly gained four points of intelligence, yet his casting speed when casting without a staff had not improved at all. It remained stuck at just over four seconds.

Every time Zeliel tried to optimize the spell structure, he failed. It was as though some invisible barrier was blocking him.

After analyzing it several times, Zeliel arrived at a conclusion.

Not every attribute increase could shorten casting time.

A mage's growth curve advanced in stages rather than in a straight line.

Only when intelligence reached a certain threshold could the spell structure be optimized again.

He just did not know what that threshold was.

It seemed he would have to take on more missions and level up again.

Early morning.

Redbeard Inn.

Marcus sat by the bed and opened his leather tool bag. Inside were two long whetstones and a small jar of thick maintenance oil.

In the faint morning light, the patterns on the blade were clearly visible, along with traces of dark red staining.

Marcus sat silently for a while before picking up a soaked strip of linen.

He wiped the surface bit by bit. After cleaning it, he used the two gray sandstone blocks to sharpen the edge.

"Scrape... scrape..."

The grinding sound was somewhat grating, and tiny iron filings fell with soft rustles.

Under Marcus's careful sharpening, the blade's lines became smooth once more, regaining their proper sharpness.

Marcus began oiling the sword.

The ointment-like oil was spread evenly across every corner of the blade.

It not only prevented the steel from rusting in damp conditions, but also made the sword easier to draw. When its edge cut into an enemy's body, it would slice through flesh more smoothly as well.

After every step was complete, Marcus tested the edge with his thumb. He was very satisfied with this maintenance job.

Just then, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

"Knock, knock..."

"Come in." Marcus sheathed his sword.

The wooden door opened, and Zeliel entered.

"Hi."

Zeliel greeted him.

"Do you have time? Want to go to the Adventurers' Association and pick up a mission together?"

The result was exactly as expected.

"Of course." Marcus smiled.

Before heading to the Adventurers' Association, Marcus and Zeliel made a special detour to the inn where Vales was staying temporarily.

He happened to be free as well.

Vales did not hesitate much before readily agreeing to their invitation.

After their previous missions, Vales had already become quite accustomed to this team.