Neighbors in the Forest

His mouth slick with grease, he patted his belly in satisfaction. He had eaten more than a dozen skewers, and his stomach had visibly swollen.

He set the remaining venison over the fire to smoke-roast, drying out the moisture and turning it into jerky.

As for selling fresh meat, that was out of the question. Without any preservation methods, it would spoil before long. Taking it into town himself would fetch a much higher price, but it would hinder his cultivation progress.

He planned to sell the smoked venison jerky to the town butcher shops and the deer hides to the leather shops. His future routine would probably be to head into town early in the morning to sell the jerky smoked overnight and the tanned hides.

The afternoons would be for routine hunting, as well as Dago's practical training with Air Bullet.

After sunset, naturally, all his time would go toward earning skill progress points.

Perfect. A three-way win.

The days that followed proceeded according to his planned routine.

Before he knew it, half a month had passed.

In the clearing outside the shelter, an Air Bullet the size of a fist shot rapidly toward a tree so thick that one person could not wrap their arms around it.

Bang!

A violent explosion rang out. A large spray of wood chips burst from the thick trunk, leaving a hand-deep crater in its surface.

In the distance, Dago, who had just fired an Air Bullet, wore an unusual expression as he lowered his head, seemingly deep in thought.

"Ever since the skills on the system panel entered the beginner stage, it has become harder and harder to gain progress points."

"It seems there is a limit to skill cultivation in the later stages. That makes sense. It would be unrealistic to touch the root of it all using only low-level spells."

As he thought, Dago summoned the system panel.

[Universal Wizard Meditation Method (Beginner 78/1000); Air Bullet (Beginner 56/1000)]

"Ever since Air Bullet entered the beginner stage, the compression speed and flight speed have both increased a lot, and its power has improved considerably too."

He felt that his understanding of the Air Bullet spell had deepened considerably.

Its essence was actually using mental power to control energy particles, forming a membrane that compressed the air.

But afterward, the difficulty of compressing the air increased exponentially. Once it was compressed to the size of a fist, it was nearly impossible to make any further progress.

At present, with the total amount of mental power he possessed, he could fire four Air Bullets in quick succession.

This had undoubtedly greatly increased his hunting speed. Swift Deer were basically killed the moment they showed themselves. As for magical beasts, he had yet to encounter even one. Perhaps he would need to venture deeper into the forest.

During this period of hunting, his diet had improved, his physique had strengthened considerably, and the color gradually returned to his face.

He rummaged through the deer-hide pouch he kept close to his body.

"One, two, three... nine. I've already saved up nine Low-Grade Magic Stones."

This was the result of Dago's hard work over the past half month. The bulk of his Magic Stone income came primarily from deer hides.

His skinning skills had improved greatly. The hides he produced were complete and beautiful, greatly increasing their value.

As for the venison, quite a bit of it had ended up in Dago's own stomach. After all, he was still growing, so naturally his appetite was a little larger.

Dago took out his brass pocket watch and checked the time. It was now half past four in the afternoon.

He planned to visit a neighbor in the forest, a new friend he had made a few days ago.

The two had met by the shore of a small lake. The atmosphere at the time had been incredibly tense, since the Wizarding World followed the law of the dark forest.

But after they showed each other their Apprentice Wizard badges, they had made peace and begun talking amicably.

Within the Wizard Alliance, killing a wizard who possessed an official badge was a serious crime. Once discovered, the culprit would be wanted throughout the entire alliance, with countless bounty wizards hunting them down.

This was one of the few protective policies the Wizard Alliance offered lower-level wizards. Either one was absolutely certain they could kill a wizard without being discovered, or they had to coexist peacefully.

After finishing his training for the day, Dago returned to his shelter. Carrying a bag of recently hunted venison, he set off into the forest.

He headed west, walking for around thirty minutes before a small wooden cabin built among the trees appeared in his field of vision. It was not tall, but it was exceptionally well hidden.

He slowly approached it and arrived at a small patch of grass beneath the treehouse.

"Is Wizard Mariko there? It's Dago."

Dago called loudly from beneath the treehouse.

"You're here, my friend. Wait for me, I'll be right down."

An old brown-haired man in a worn gray robe poked his head out from the treehouse and replied.

Then he nimbly climbed down from the treehouse along the vines.

Mariko was stronger than Dago. He was a Third-Level Apprentice Wizard, but he had an optimistic personality, with few desires and no particular ambitions.

According to him, he had long since given up all hope of advancing to become a Formal Wizard.

Mariko was an old resident of this forest and had good relationships with the other Apprentice Wizards living there.

He was quite skilled at grilling, and in the days since Dago had met him, Dago had often come to his home for barbecues.

After climbing down, Mariko warmly hugged Dago. When he saw the bag of meat in Dago's hand, he immediately understood Dago's intentions.

He laughed heartily and started a fire in an open patch of ground.

Soon, tender venison was placed on the grill, sizzling as orange-red coals roasted the fat from it.

Mariko expertly controlled the heat. He grabbed a large handful of special seasoning from the pouch at his waist and sprinkled it over the meat, instantly filling the forest with a rich fragrance.

The two sat on a bare fallen tree trunk in the clearing. Dago took the dagger from his waist and began cutting up the roasted venison.

"Want a drink? I brewed this berry wine myself."

Mariko took out a beautiful silver flask from his worn cloth robe and asked Dago.

"No. I still have to head back later."

Dago chewed on a large piece of roasted venison and shook his head in refusal.

The two ate and chatted casually. Dago learned many things from Mariko, things about the academy and the Wizard Alliance.

Mariko had traveled to many places in his youth, but he had never left the territory of the Wizard Alliance.

That showed just how enormous the Wizard Alliance was. Its highest authority was the High Council, which had seven seats, each belonging to one transcendent wizard organization.

The High Council followed the principle of majority rule. Once more than four seats approved a proposal, the remaining seats could not block it and had to offer their full support.

The High Chairman was jointly elected by the seven seats, serving a term of one hundred years. His main duty was to maintain the normal operation of the High Council.

The Emerald Forest was one of the wizard territories belonging to the seven seats, and the transcendent wizard force entrenched here was known as Emerald Life.

Most wizards within Emerald Life were nature-type wizards who loved peace and revered nature.

They were proficient in life magic, potion-making, and the modification and development of the physical body. Their core belief was that only an immortal body could create an immortal soul.

Ainak Wizard Academy was merely one of the countless small wizard organizations existing within the Emerald Forest.

"Have you heard? Those lunatics from Dark Crystal Eulogy are coming to attack."

Mariko gazed at the small fire and spoke with a worried expression.

Dark Crystal Eulogy was also one of the Wizard Alliance's seven seats. Unlike Emerald Life, they believed that only souls born from the paths of death could achieve soul immortality.

Their favorite thing was grinding Dusk Crystal into powder, mixing it with bone powder, and inhaling it. But there was no denying their individual strength. The crazier they were, the stronger they became.

As two of the High Council's seven seats, they could not directly go to war themselves. The fighting was all done through proxy wars.

Those matters were too far away. Dago shook his head and gave no response.

Right now, he only wanted to save enough Magic Stones and go to the academy to learn new spells.

"By the way, how far are you from becoming a Third-Level Apprentice?"

Seeing that Dago remained silent, Mariko asked another question.

"Ah... still a long way off."

Dago sighed helplessly.

Mariko patted his shoulder and comforted him. "You're still young. You have plenty of time. Take it slowly."

Dago nodded. Neither of them delved too deeply into the subject.

To advance from a Second-Level Wizard Apprentice to a Third-Level Wizard Apprentice, one had to meet two conditions.

First, one had to master three Spell arts. Second, one's mental power had to undergo Metamorphosis.

Put simply, spells required money, while mental power required training.

After eating and drinking his fill, Mariko somehow got drunk and began wildly dancing a belly dance under the firelight.

Seeing that he was drunk, Dago smiled bitterly and laboriously dragged him back up to the small treehouse. Supporting Mariko's limp body, he laid him on the bed to sleep.

After finishing all that, he gently closed the door, climbed down from the treehouse, and prepared to return to his shelter.

He made his way back to the shelter and began training again in the clearing.

Over the past half month, the thick trees around the shelter had suffered terribly.

The clearing around it kept getting larger from his training, while the pile of firewood beside the shelter kept growing higher.

Compared to his past life, he was practically a different person after gaining the system panel. Now, he refused to let even a moment capable of earning progress points go to waste.

Watching the progress points on the system panel slowly tick upward, even the dullest cultivation no longer felt boring in the slightest.

He had to earn enough tuition for Ainak Wizard Academy as soon as possible and learn new Spell arts.

Spell arts were spells containing incantations, developed by wizards through thousands of years of research into ancient extraordinary species. They possessed greater power and more terrifying effects.

They were basically monopolized by the seven seats of the High Council and could only be learned within their spheres of influence.

That was why Dago had to go to Ainak Wizard Academy. Only there could he learn Spell arts.

Dago picked up his waterskin and took a drink, then continued training diligently, constantly refining his mental power and firing Air Bullets...

He trained for a full four or five hours.

"I'm exhausted..."

Dago returned to the shelter and collapsed onto the small bed. His whole body completely relaxed. He thought of nothing and did nothing, staring blankly at the ceiling with lifeless eyes.

[Universal Wizard Meditation Method (Beginner 88/1000); Air Bullet (Beginner 90/1000)]

Air Bullet was progressing faster than the Meditation Method, but that was perfectly normal.

The Meditation Method was hindered by Soul Entropy, while Air Bullet required only mental power.

As the Meditation Method improved, the total amount of mental power also continued to increase, but Soul Entropy was always hindering the Meditation Method's progress.

"It seems that if the Meditation Method continues improving, it might be able to eliminate the effects of Soul Entropy. In that case, I won't be much slower than those potion-guzzling wizards, and all this sweat I've shed won't have been in vain."

Dago secretly looked forward to it. Carrying that expectation, he would be able to sleep well again tonight.