Lottery and Departure

After this brief interlude, Serie, who was in low spirits, took a few glances at her disciples who were about to part ways, announced their dismissal, and vanished into the night.

Once the teacher had left, Guter also bid a sincere farewell to his junior brothers and junior sister.

Though there was still much they wanted to discuss, the night was deep, and in the end, only a "goodbye" could convey their reluctance to part.

Back in his room at the inn.

Guter took off his coat and hung it up, then flopped straight onto the bed, rolling around on it.

Lying beside the pillow, Guter summoned the System Interface to check what that notification from the evening had been about.

Ding!

Main Quest: Maintain the Examination (Part 1) Completed

Quest Requirements: Assist Teacher Serie in completing the First Mage Examination held by the Continental Magic Association (Note: This Main Quest is divided into two phases, with the Oysaster Branch Examination being the first half).

Quest Rewards: Random Otherworldly Item X1, Talent Trait Draw Chance X2

Related quest rewards have been distributed to the System Space.

"So it was this Main Quest. No wonder the notification sounded right when Teacher Serie announced the end of the examination."

Seeing the quest rewards, Guter immediately opened the System Space interface, intending to draw them all to add some security before his journey began.

Ding!

Random Otherworldly Item drawn. Congratulations, host, you have obtained the weapon—[Abe no Hirakiri].

Ding!

Talent Trait Draw Chance X2 used. Congratulations, host, you have obtained the Talent Traits: [Indifferent Disposition (White)], [Innate Tomb Raider Saint Body (Green)].

"Looks like I didn't get anything good. And this weapon called [Abe no Hirakiri]... it can't really be what I think it is, can it?"

Harboring a shred of suspicion, Guter clicked on the detailed description of [Abe no Hirakiri].

To his dismay, his guess was spot on.

Item Name: Abe no Hirakiri

Item Description: Crafted by Yamagami-kun, a homemade pistol used to assassinate a certain famous figure in an island nation.

The entire gun is made from a handle, battery, metal tube, steel pellets, and black powder, wrapped in black tape, and uses electronic ignition.

Extremely concealable in appearance, it can inflict lethal damage on ordinary people within mid-range.

Gazing at this homemade pistol in the System Space, which looked like a camera, Guter was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

The weapon [Abe no Hirakiri] was indeed a legend that had influenced the course of history. In his past life, it would undoubtedly have held immense collectible value.

But in this world's setting, it was as useless as a chicken rib—almost no practical value.

As an otherworldly item, it had no historical value; as a weapon, it couldn't pierce a Demon's body above nor break through a mage's Defense Magic below.

Basically, it could only sit in the System Space gathering dust.

No longer paying attention to this weapon, Guter read through the other two Talent Traits he had obtained.

Indifferent Disposition (White) / (Pending Activation)

Description: Your seven emotions and six desires will be greatly erased, like a long-lived being who has weathered the vicissitudes of time.

Effects: Increased meditation efficiency, increased casting speed, loss of the vast majority of emotions.

Host, do you wish to activate this trait?

[Yes] / [No]

Faced with the system's prompt, Guter firmly chose "No."

Though Guter craved power, if the price of obtaining it was the emotions that made him human, he wouldn't even give it a second glance.

Besides, it was just a white-grade Talent Trait. Even if it boosted his strength, how much could it really improve?

Ignoring that, Guter turned his attention to the other Talent Trait.

Innate Tomb Raider Saint Body (Green) / (Pending Activation)

Description: You will obtain the Innate Tomb Raider Saint Body, granting you extremely precise perception of the locations of any ancient tombs or ruins.

Effects: When exploring ancient tombs or ruins, your intuition will usually point to the correct location.

Host, do you wish to activate this trait?

[Yes] / [No]

"This?"

Though his financial situation was far from comfortable, Guter still had some moral bottom line and would never set his sights on the wealth of the dead.

But then he recalled that this world contained labyrinths and ancient ruins. This Talent Trait might not be entirely worthless after all.

Oh well.

Since it was a green-grade Talent Trait, activating it wouldn't have any negative effects on him.

With that thought, Guter mentally selected "Yes" and activated the trait.

The next moment, a flash of insight seemed to streak through his originally calm mind, but when Guter carefully sensed it, nothing appeared to have changed.

Yet Guter knew in his heart that this was only because he wasn't exploring a relic at the moment; when the chance came another day, he would naturally feel the boost brought by the Talent Trait.

Given the poor lottery results, Guter irritably closed the System Interface and began to question whether his [Great Fortune] trait was actually bringing him any luck boost.

[Ding!]

[Due to the completion of Main Quest the Examination (Part 1), and as the host meets the conditions for unlocking the subsequent quest, the follow-up quest has been automatically activated.]

[Main Quest the Examination (Part 2)]

[Quest Requirement: As the current chief senior disciple, you must assist your teacher, Lord Serie, in completing the second half of the First Mage Examination hosted by the [Continental Magic Association] (Holy Capital Hutrall Headquarters Examination).]

[Quest Reward: Random Otherworldly Item X1, Talent Trait Upgrade Chance X1, Talent Trait Draw Chance X2.]

The main quest has updated, huh.

Well, whatever. Hopefully, the next quest reward will let me draw a good Talent Trait.

After this sigh, Guter glanced out the window at the deep night and the silent streets. To avoid affecting his early morning rendezvous with his teacher outside the city, he decisively got out of bed, extinguished the lamp, returned to bed, and immediately entered a high-quality "dormancy."

If you asked Guter how he managed this, it was actually very simple.

He just needed to get into bed, cover himself with the blanket, and then control his mana to circulate the [Body Tempering Method], letting the steady mana vibrate a few times within his body.

In just a few breaths, he could shut down all stray thoughts and let his body enter the deepest level of dormancy.

As for the high-intensity fatigue this cultivation brought to his body?

The system would clean it up promptly at midnight, and by the next morning, he would have a body full of energy once again.

The next day.

[Oysaster] City Gate.

The young guard soldier held Guter's identification documents in his hand, flipping through them several times before returning them to Guter.

"Sorry for the wait, sir."

"I never imagined that Lord Serie's disciple would be so young."

"Maybe my teacher just likes the young type like me."

Guter replied humorously to the young guard. After taking the identity papers issued to him by the [Continental Magic Association], his gaze swept across the area outside the city.

Soon, not far from the city gate, he spotted a parked carriage.

And from the carriage's cabin, Guter also detected a familiar mana fluctuation. His teacher, Lord Serie, should be inside the carriage at this moment.

However, as Guter walked straight toward the carriage, what he didn't know was that

Serie's mana had not only been revealed in front of her disciple.

In the sky thousands of meters away from this place, one of the Demon [Seven Sages], Miracle Graosam, stared in shock at the direction where Serie was below.

"Even at this distance, it can catch my presence and launch a warning attack?"

Clutching the wound on his waist that had been pierced by an unknown magic, Miracle Graosam felt the urge to retreat.

This book has made it onto Qidian's New Book Rankings. Thank you to all the readers for your support, especially those who have been following along all this way. Thank you for your support and for making this possible.