Three Low-Grade Magic Stones

In the secluded forest, bizarrely shaped trees grew wild in every direction, and a thick layer of fallen leaves covered the ground.

Dago drew the dagger from his waist and began cutting apart the Shadow Leopard's hide, flesh, and bones.

He had no choice. He was alone, without any help. Though he had no knowledge or experience in handling magical materials, he decided to treat a dead horse like a living one.

"A magical beast is still a kind of animal, right?" Dago muttered.

He skillfully opened its belly and removed the organs, then stripped away the hide... handling the prey like an old hunter.

He had to quickly butcher the Shadow Leopard's corpse, because the spreading scent of blood might attract other predators.

Before long, he had finished cutting it apart and cast Ice Crystal Technique to freeze the chunks of meat.

A whole sheet of pitch-black fur lay on the ground, writhing like a true shadow.

He could not bear to use the fur to wrap the meat again. He rolled up the hide and stuffed it into his pack, then laboriously hoisted the meat onto his shoulder.

This batch of meat was much heavier. The Shadow Leopard's size was no joke, and he was struggling to carry it.

It's all money. Even if I can't take it, I have to take it. Dago thought.

Only the fresh air between the trees and the tranquil, beautiful surroundings soothed his exhausted heart.

He walked for a while, rested for a while, and finally returned to the shelter around noon.

He dropped the meat from his shoulder onto the table with a thud, then went to the water jar to wash his hands and face. He immediately felt much more refreshed.

He took out a small portion of the Shadow Leopard meat. Today, he was going to eat like a nobleman too.

He placed the meat on the grill and roasted it over charcoal until it sizzled.

As he grilled it, he sprinkled on the seasonings he had mooched from Mariko. Once it was about eighty percent cooked, he started gnawing on it.

"So good I wouldn't let go even if you slapped me."

Dago chewed in huge bites, not forgetting to offer his review.

Not only was it delicious, but he also felt faint streams of warmth flowing through his body, soothing away the fatigue in his flesh.

He had not expected magical beast meat to have such a remarkable nourishing effect. He could not sell all of it.

After all, he was only eighteen. His body could still grow, and especially after stepping into the extraordinary, he needed even more food.

He decided to keep half the magical beast meat and take the rest to town to sell for Magic Stones.

As for the Shadow Leopard's fur, he would keep it for now. Mainly because he did not know its value and was afraid of being cheated.

After thinking it over, Dago realized that hiding the fur in the shelter would not do, even if he did not know how much it was worth.

Judging by its color alone, its value as a collectible in the mundane world would be worth quite a few gold coins.

"Why not sew it into the inner layer of my apprentice robe? No one will be able to see it anyway." Dago had a sudden idea.

With that, he rummaged through the boxes beneath his wooden bed and took out needle and thread to start sewing.

He finished before long. The Shadow Leopard's fur covered fully two-thirds of the broad robe.

Dago looked at the gray robe and nodded in satisfaction. Low-key, luxurious, and tasteful.

After putting on the apprentice gray robe, he felt slightly uncomfortable from its added weight, but otherwise there were no problems.

After making those preparations, he set off for Aina Town with the chilled Shadow Leopard meat and a waterskin.

He first went to the familiar butcher shop in town, but after the fat owner learned it was magical beast meat, he waved his hand and said he had no channel to sell it.

The customers at his butcher shop were poor people from the town's residential district. No one could afford expensive magical beast meat.

Dago thought about it and agreed, so he headed toward the town's Wizard Hall.

The Wizard Hall was where the extraordinary and the mundane intersected. There should be a way to sell magical beast meat there.

Just as Dago expected, after he explained his purpose at the Second-Level Wizard Apprentice counter,

a middle-aged Apprentice Wizard behind the counter helped contact a wealthy merchant in town who was interested in buying it.

"The Wizard Hall will take twenty percent of the completed transaction as the service fee for this trade."

The middle-aged Apprentice Wizard spoke blandly.

Dago's mouth twitched, but he still agreed.

After meeting the wealthy merchant at the Wizard Hall and haggling for a while, they closed the deal at six Low-Grade Magic Stones.

After deducting the Wizard Hall's service fee, he received a total of five Magic Stones from this transaction.

He had originally planned to shop around, but near the end of his conversation with the wealthy merchant,

the middle-aged Apprentice Wizard overseeing the transaction directly released his mental power cultivation, faintly pressuring Dago.

On the other man's home ground, Dago could only swallow this loss in silence.

He walked out of the Wizard Hall gritting his teeth, then strode down the street with an unhappy expression. He guessed the middle-aged Apprentice Wizard was somewhat in cahoots with the wealthy merchant.

Although this transaction was equivalent to half a year's tuition,

Dago still vividly remembered the danger of hunting the Shadow Leopard.

If he had not had the advantage of daylight and a sneak attack, he would never have been the Shadow Leopard's match.

It was originally a nocturnal magical beast. At night, its fur could even blend into the darkness, making it nearly invisible. That was how it got the name Shadow Leopard.

If he had not encountered the Shadow Leopard during the day, he would already be dead.

Dago took out the five Low-Grade Magic Stones he had just received, each about the size of a pigeon egg.

Holding them in his hand, he could clearly sense the energy particles accumulated within them.

With these five Low-Grade Magic Stones, the days ahead would be much easier.

"I'm never trading at the Wizard Hall again. They're nothing but bloodsuckers," Dago said bitterly.

After putting the Magic Stones back into his money pouch, Dago took out his pocket watch and checked the time. It was a little past three in the afternoon.

It was still early, so he walked over to Academy Square to take a look around.

He still had a whole Shadow Leopard hide in his hands, and he did not want to entrust it to anyone from the Wizard Hall again.

He decided to go to Academy Square himself and first learn about the market for magical beast hides.

Now that he had money in his pocket, his whole mindset had changed.

When he arrived at Academy Square, Dago even dared to stop in front of some stalls and ask about prices with a pretentious air.

"A low-grade rune equipment piece, and you dare ask for fifteen Magic Stones? You might as well rob someone."

Dago walked away from a stall with a look of "disgust."

After walking a little farther, Dago's gaze stopped at a stall piled with books.

His expression shifted slightly as he slowly approached.

The stall owner was an elderly Apprentice Wizard. He wore a gray robe washed nearly white, but he looked quite energetic.

Seeing a customer approach, the old Apprentice Wizard's eyes lit up, and he warmly greeted Dago.

"Take a look. These are all low-level spells I collected back when I was studying."

Dago sensed the faint mental power fluctuations from the old Apprentice Wizard, stronger than his own. He politely nodded and began carefully flipping through the books.

He was currently only one Spell away from meeting one of the requirements for becoming a Third-Level Wizard Apprentice.

Moreover, judging from this magical beast hunt, he also needed a detection-type wizard spell.

Otherwise, if he encountered an awake Shadow Leopard attacking him next time, he did not want to die without even knowing why.

These books were probably compiled and bound by the old apprentice himself. Their covers all looked similar, differing only in thickness.

Dago searched through them. Many seemed to be notes of some kind, and many covers had yellowed with age.

He casually picked one up and flipped through it. Most of it contained cultivation insights, but it was not what he needed.

"Do you have any detection-type wizard spells?" Dago asked.

"Yes, yes. That yellowed book at the side is one."

He pointed to a book beside a stack of booklets and told Dago.

Dago picked it up and quickly flipped through it. "How much is this one?"

"Three Low-Grade Magic Stones," the stall owner quoted.

"One Low-Grade Magic Stone. I'm a poor apprentice with no Magic Stones," Dago haggled, putting on a pitifully poor expression.

"Two Low-Grade Magic Stones. If you can't afford it, leave. Don't waste my time."

The old apprentice frowned, his attitude gradually turning cold.

Dago gritted his teeth and bought it in the end.

He counted out two Low-Grade Magic Stones from his money pouch and handed them to the old apprentice. Taking the book, he got up and left the stall without looking back.

He searched other stalls for Moonlight Flower, a raw material for potions, but after making a full round, he did not see any stalls selling it.

He casually asked at a stall selling potion ingredients and learned that many magical materials had been placed under academy control due to the approaching war.

Their circulation and sale had been prohibited.

Stalls selling magical beast hides were even rarer. There was practically nothing that could offer him any useful reference.

Dago could only leave Academy Square in disappointment. It seemed he still had to rely on the Moonlight Flowers in the forest to verify his method, while the Shadow Leopard hide would have to be kept for now.

The sun slanted westward, and it was nearly six when Dago returned to the shelter, full of frustration.

Dinner was lavish. Venison soup paired with the remaining magical beast meat. Dago treated himself well, letting the delicious food wash away the exhaustion in body and mind.

After dinner, beneath a sparse moonlit sky, Dago lit a fire and sat on a wooden stump outside the house, reading the detection-type wizard book he had bought by the firelight.

He read through the entire book from beginning to end. Based on the old apprentice's annotations, he quickly understood it all and began trying it out.

This wizard spell simply expanded the detection range of Mental Sight.

It's like a high-powered flashlight, changing from scattered light to a focused beam. So that means Mental Sight can detect energy particles farther away? Dago thought to himself.

The Mental Sight activated by his Meditation Technique currently extended about two meters around him. That was also the range in which he could condense Air Bullets.

Once he activated Detection Technique, it could extend Mental Sight's detection range tenfold, allowing him to sense the fluctuations of energy particles within twenty meters.

This wizard spell was especially effective against concealment-type wizard spells. It could basically prevent sneaky ambushes like the Shadow Leopard's preferred tactic.

This would undoubtedly improve his exploration progress in the southwestern part of the forest, allowing him to develop the Moonlight Flowers as soon as possible.

Once the academy's people discovered them first, his Moonlight Flowers would basically be lost to him.

Like Resonance Art, this entire wizard spell had only one Spell.

A sapphire-blue ring of light flowed through his eyes as scattered energy particles entered his Mental Sight. He softly recited the Spell for Detection Technique.

His mental power slowly flowed forward, as though parting a gentle fog of lies before his eyes, revealing more and more emerging energy particles.

With this, he had gathered three Spell-type wizard spells. The only thing separating him from becoming a Third-Level Wizard Apprentice was meeting the mental power requirement.