Running Into Walls Everywhere

"I said this is the price now. Rent it or don't. There are plenty of academy wizards in town looking to rent a place. If you can't afford it, get lost."

A male wizard with roughly the strength of a Level-Two Apprentice waved his hand impatiently.

"Remember the original website domain "

"I've seen plenty of academy wizards like you. The town is full of useless posers like you right now."

The man looked as though he were disgusted and trying to drive him away.

As he spoke, the man gradually sensed that something was wrong with the air around him...

It became so heavy that breathing grew difficult. His face turned red as he began gasping for air.

A faint light flashed in Dago's eyes. His expression was cold, and a powerful aura emanated from him as he said, "I don't care what impression you have of other academy wizards, but when it comes to me, I hope you learn some manners."

The man's face went deathly pale. He stared at Dago in terror, then suddenly dropped to his knees and repeatedly kissed Dago's deerskin boots.

Dago said nothing. He merely looked down at the man expressionlessly.

Accompanied by the man's ragged, frantic breathing, the atmosphere became increasingly oppressive. Just as the man was about to lose consciousness, Dago released the pressure his mental power had placed on the air.

Only then did the man gulp down fresh air. He covered his face and wept toward the sky, having never felt the world was so wonderful.

Dago turned and walked straight outside, leaving behind one sentence. "Next time, learn to treat your guests politely."

Back on the street, he watched the passersby coming and going and felt somewhat emotional.

This world was suffering for the weak. Yet power without restraint was also destined for Destruction.

The inexplicable fury that had surged up earlier had driven him to want to crush that man's head.

Fortunately, he had held himself back. Wizards were forbidden from killing one another in town.

If he were investigated, the administrators would put out a warrant for him. At worst, he could only end up becoming one of the Black-Robed Wizards.

"I still need to settle my state of mind. Still, neither in this life nor my previous one was I naturally an evil person!"

Dago let out a breath of foul air. He found it somewhat strange, but did not dwell on it.

In the blink of an eye, afternoon arrived. He casually ate something in the residential district before returning to the Wizard Inn.

There, he ran into a dejected Selena. The two went to the tearoom together and found an empty seat.

Dago asked first, "How did it go?"

"I kept running into walls everywhere," Selena said softly, lowering her head and not daring to look at Dago.

"It's fine. I had the same experience. That's normal."

"Has there been any progress with the Moonlight Flower?"

"Lord Dago, I've already mastered the cultivation method for Moonlight Flowers. As long as we find a suitable place, we can begin planting them."

"Just call me Dago. That's good news. You can grow the Moonlight Flowers in the future, and I'll refine the Mental Potions. Magic Stones will pour endlessly into both our pockets."

At that, Selena raised her head. She and Dago exchanged a smile, both imagining mountains of Magic Stones piled before them.

"A wizard's main task during the apprentice stage is to accumulate mental power. I still have a long way to go before I'm qualified to challenge the realm of a Formal Wizard."

Dago thought about it. According to his original plan, he would enter the academy after arriving in town and continue learning wizard knowledge.

But the academy was currently closed to entry, disrupting his plans. He could only choose to remain in town.

For now, he would stay at the Wizard Inn and wait until the academy reopened.

Night fell. A glass oil lamp cast soft, bright light as Dago sat at the table in his room, recording something.

Dago was analyzing and reviewing his previous battles, identifying gaps and making up for shortcomings.

Those wizard battles had seemed thrilling but without danger. In truth, the problems had been serious.

The biggest issue was his lack of control-type methods. Dago could not help frowning as he wrote. His offensive capabilities were already severely excessive.

He had almost no control skills. His several kills of Black-Robed Wizards had all relied on the Ice Crystal Cannon's overwhelming destructive power and the unexpected timing of his attacks.

Against wizards who specialized in turret-like firepower, Dago's fighting style might still prove effective.

However, if he faced wizards who specialized in speed or shield-based defenses, once he lost the initiative, it would be difficult to establish an advantage again.

"Control skills are an indispensable part of building any complete combat system."

"Only by effectively limiting an opponent's movements can one maximize the hit rate of one's spells."

Dago considered it and wrote these thoughts down. At present, continuing to improve his ice-element spells was the best choice.

He stroked his chin, considering various directions for developing ice-element spells.

After a while, he thought of another aspect: defensive spells. At present, he had two defensive methods.

One was the protective barrier from his Protection Rune ring, while the other was the ice-element armor from Resonance Art.

The Protection Rune ring provided a mid-range energy shield, while the ice armor provided both physical and magical defense at close range.

Dago rubbed his head, considering whether he should specifically learn a defensive spell.

But after further thought, he decided against it. There truly were not many people at the apprentice stage who learned defensive spells.

That was because defensive spells at the Apprentice Tier were generally fragile. They would need to be renewed after taking just two attacks from spells of the same level, wasting already precious mental power.

Rather than passively taking hits until death, it was better to kill the opponent directly.

"After defense comes recovery and enhancement."

Dago began a new set of notes. He remembered the time he had faced that final Advanced Apprentice Black-Robed Wizard.

If he had not still possessed the last Silver-White Mental Potion he had refined himself, he might have died.

At the final moment, it had produced a miraculous reversal in a desperate situation.

There were also many potions capable of explosive on-the-spot effects in battles between wizards.

Especially during the apprentice stage, when mental power was already insufficient, whoever possessed a powerful mental recovery potion effectively had an extra life.

Therefore, if Selena and he could mass-produce Dago's Mental Potion, they could absolutely monopolize the wizard market.

There was no doubt about that. After all, he had drunk it several times himself, and its effects were simply explosive.

Oh, right. Dago had even flamboyantly named this exclusive Mental Potion Dago's Mental Potion. After all, he was the one who had discovered it.

There were also healing potions, antidotes, stamina potions, and the like. He would have to restock on all of those at Academy Square later.

By the end of his notes, Dago realized that every aspect of his plans revolved around one most crucial thing—Magic Stones.

At present, he had too few Magic Stones. Setting aside the Patrol Guard's public property, he possessed only eight Low-Grade Magic Stones.

"Take it slow. I'll have Magic Stones eventually."

Dago comforted himself, then took out the Leather Storage Pouch.

The fastest way to obtain Magic Stones at present was to open this storage pouch in his possession.

So he began extending his mental power into the pouch, erasing its previous owner's mental imprint.

About an hour later, Dago's mental power was exhausted, and a needle-like pain in his head warned him to stop.

After rubbing his temples, Dago began practicing the Meditation Method again, refining Mental Mist and converting it into mental power.

After working continuously for several hours like this, he finally could not bear the strain any longer. He lay down on the soft, comfortable bed and fell fast asleep.