Chapter 36 – Bottleneck

Bottleneck

“Didn't you read the notice? If you aren't a level 3 acolyte, then going out is practically throwing your life away!”

A voice sounded, and Kaliweir appeared behind Neela.

“You're back?” Leylin asked.

“Yeah! Here is the reward for our mission. 15 magic crystals!” Kaliweir opened the pouch and there, sat 15 magic crystals.

“According to our prior agreement, each of us gets 3 magic crystals!” Kaliweir divided the magic crystals and then opened a large black sack. It was filled with many Red-Eyed Raven claws, as well as feathers, eyeballs and other miscellaneous materials.

“There is also this stuff! Only the Red-Eyed Ravens’ two claws have some worth. Each one can be sold for about 1 magic crystal. As for the other materials, they’re worth roughly 15 magic crystals in total! Do you guys have any questions? If not, we'll be dividing them accordingly!”

The Red-Eyed Raven claws were only needed to prove that the mission had been completed. After it has been confirmed, the acolytes are allowed to keep them, and they can be considered additional income.

“I have no problem with that!” Leylin smiled. This time, he merely wanted to gain experience and was not too fussed about the number of magic crystals.

This time, earning 30 magic crystals at once could be considered a lot. However, there were also the expenditures of this mission to factor in — Neela and Lilisse used a hastening potion, and Kaliweir used the seed from the Nimble Grass. As for Leylin, he had used an explosive potion, hemostasis potion, and a strength potion. All these expenditures amounted to over 30 magic crystals.

If they were to calculate everything, the mission would be considered a flop and would not even compare to Leylin’s brewing of potions to earn money.

Seeing as Leylin had agreed, Neela, Lilisse, and Raynor could only nod their heads.

“In this mission, Leylin, you did the most. If not for you, we would have long been dead, so it’s alright if you take a little more!” Kaliweir was extremely sincere, and it seemed as though he had made up his mind about this long ago.

“I don't need it!” Leylin smiled and picked out two of the Red-Eyed Raven claws, as well as some other materials, from the bag. After estimating that the things he had taken out were worth around 6 magic crystals, he stopped.

“These will be enough for me.”

“Alright, then we will redistribute the items again...” Kaliweir felt a little forced, but Lilisse and Raynor were obviously happy about it.

All of them, more or less, had wounds on their bodies. Something seemed to have happened recently to the academy, and accepting missions would no longer be a possibility if it turned out to be dangerous. The group quickly exchanged their contact information and left the mission area.

Kaliweir left the fastest. By now, the black fur had already grown to his thighs, making his legs look like those of a gorilla, and it seemed like he could not wait to seek help.

“Goodbye!” Lilisse and Raynor bade farewell too.

“Could you tell me your dorm number?” Neela stuck closely to Leylin’s side while whispering into his ear.

Warm air blew into his ear and he felt a little ticklish.

“I’m not in the mood for that! Maybe next time!” Leylin declined. Right now, his body still ached faintly, so how could he be in the mood to do it?

“Alright! I’ll be waiting!” Neela laughed coquettishly and gave him a light peck on the cheek, before running away quickly.

Leylin shook his head and turned around, returning to his dorm.

As he opened his door, he saw that everything in the room had remained the same as before his departure and a feeling of security washed over him as he entered.

“The mission did not even last for a month, so why do I feel like a lot of time has passed?”

Leylin shut the door, placing the cross blade, sack, and other items aside before lying on his bed.

He enjoyed the soothing comfort provided as he rested on the soft bed.

“A.I. Chip! Show me my current stats!”

[Beep! Leylin Farlier, level 2 acolyte, Knight. Strength: 2.5, Agility: 2.7, vitality: 3.0, spiritual force: 4.2, Magical Power: 4.0. Status: Healthy]

There was an overall increase in the stats; his Strength, Agility and vitality had all increased by 0.3, while his spiritual force increased by 0.1.

“After advancing to a proper Knight, all my stats have risen. As for my spiritual force, this is the result after one month of continuous meditation!”

Leylin gazed at the 3D image of him, “A.I. Chip, calculate how much more the internal life energy in my body raises my stats.”

After a Knight ignites their internal life energy, there will still be a breakout period for their stats to increase. However, Leylin had already increased his stats plenty through meditation, so the effects may be diminished slightly.

[Establishing task, calculation in progress…...]

[Beep! The simulation has ended. Expected increase in Host’s stats: Strength: 0.6, Agility: 0.3, vitality: 0.1!] The A.I. Chip’s voice sounded.

If my stats were at 1.9 like the average person, this internal life energy would be able to raise all my stats by at least 1. However, now that my foundation is so high, raising it will be even more difficult!”

Leylin reasoned.

“The Farlier Family is only a newly established line of Knights. They have no training methods to pass on for after one turns into a Knight, so I have no inkling of how to advance to a Grand Knight.”

Although there should be information regarding this aspect in the academy, the potential of Knights are much inferior to that of Magi, so I can forgo this goal for now!”

Ever since he entered the academy, Leylin had devoted all his time and effort to his Magus studies and delayed his training to become a Knight.

Even a Grand Knight will only end up as a follower or servant of an official Magus. Besides, a Knight’s journey will end after becoming a Grand Knight. As for Magi, they can continuously advance, so Leylin naturally chose the path with a better prospect.

“Besides advancing to a Knight, this map is the only benefit of my trip outside this time.

Leylin projected the image of a huge map.

Faint blue lines formed the general outline of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy as well as its surroundings. It was even more detailed than the one Kaliweir had.

On this map, the path that Leylin and his party had taken was the clearest. Furthermore, the vicinity of where the Spider Faced Mushrooms had been found was even marked as a dangerous zone.

This map was formed through his own exploration, the scanning from the A.I. Chip, as well as the map that Kaliweir had.

It could not be said to be completely free of mistakes. But this was definitely the most detailed map amongst the acolytes. He would be able to fetch a price of at least 2 magic crystals if he were to sell it.

In the centre of the map, green words highlighted the location of Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.

“From this map, it can be seen that our Abyssal Bone Forest Academy is only taking up an insubstantial area on the south coast. It could also be said to be in a rural area.

“Furthermore, with Abyssal Bone Forest Academy in the centre, the Death Seas would be to the south. To the north, it would be the Mountain Plains of Despair; to the west, Sage Gotham's Hut; and lastly, the Poolfield Kingdom to the east.

The north and south area are all forbidden regions, with countless dangerous creatures residing within them. Some with differing bloodlines, some of which have been contaminated. They are also haunted by evil spirits that are filled with grievances. Any acolyte stepping foot in those regions would die ten out of ten times.

“As for Sage Gotham's Hut, it is another faction of the Magi. I have heard that there are some conflicts between Sage Gotham's Hut and Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, so I can't go there either.”

“The only one left for acolytes to explore would be the Poolfield Kingdom.”

Leylin thought indifferently. The factions in this world were similar to those of the Japanese during the world war, where various factions were divided in accordance to their territory and they controlled the various kingdoms from the dark.

In these kingdoms, the Magi bloodlines would be either royalty or nobility. As for the Knights, their bloodlines would commonly be those of wealthy families.

“In regards to their social hierarchies, the Magi would be like the feudal lords of the Warring States and the Knights would be the warriors and soldiers serving under them. Furthermore, they don’t have a lone sovereign governing them as a whole; there are as many small kingdoms as there are stars in the sky, fighting solely for their own benefits in a chaotic era.

“There are a few Magi families supporting the Poolfield Kingdom behind the scenes. The kingdom has a total of 19 provinces. Each area is extremely vast, with many small Magi families, wandering Magi, and travellers living there. They would definitely not come to the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy to make any trades, so there should be some kind of small markets over there. I’ll try concealing my identity and head there to sell my potions!”

Leylin’s Potioneering skills were only average, but with the help of the A.I. Chip, his succession rate for brewing had long surpassed his senior Merlin and could even be comparable to that of his mentor, Kroft. However, all of this had to be kept with the utmost secrecy. As such, Leylin did not dare sell too many of his potions inside the academy.

However, once he advanced to a level 3 acolyte, he would reach a bottleneck. Without a vast amount of resources to use, one could only slowly progress with time.

Even a fifth-grade acolyte, without resources, would require at least 3 years advancing to a level 3 acolyte!

Leylin was only an average, third-grade acolyte, and could only rely on this bit of income on the surface. To satisfy the requirements for advancement, who knows how long he would have to wait.

“A.I. Chip! Simulate the requirements that I need to advance into level 3 acolyte!”

[Prerequisites for level 3 acolyte: spiritual force: 7, mastery of at least 3 spell models, 500 grams of Reactive Elixirs required to aid with breakthrough.]

“Learning the 3 spell models is easy, but the Reactive Elixirs will be troublesome to obtain. I will need at least 500 magic crystals!”

Leylin’s expression was extremely solemn. As a Potioneering acolyte, he naturally knew what Reactive Elixirs were. These potions were not the same as elementary potions like the strength potions or hemostasis potions. However, they required someone to have reached the basic level of Potioneering. There are those which increase spiritual force, vitality, or even potions that can reinforce the mind runes at an alarming rate. The demand is always greater than the supply for them.

“500 magic crystals is a little too much. However, after I have finished mastering the elementary Potioneering techniques from Mentor Kroft, I can then start practicing with basic potions. I might only need to purchase 100 magic crystals worth of ingredients to make the potions myself.”

“It seems like the most important thing will be to get my spiritual force up to 7!” Leylin appeared to be deep in thought, “A.I. Chip! According to my current status, how long will it take to meet these prerequisites through meditation?”

[Using the Host’s spiritual force as a base, simulation in progress!]

[Beep! The simulation has been completed. Estimated time needed: 8 Years 6 Months and 15 Days!]

The A.I. Chip responded without any emotions.

“That long?” Leylin’s face turned pale, “What’s the problem? It only took me a little over a year to raise my spiritual force to 4.2 from the stats of an ordinary human... “

[The host has gained a resistance towards meditation, changing to a higher tiered meditation technique is recommended. Another option is to find ingredients that are compatible for raising the effects of meditation!] The A.I. Chip projected a screen, with the various data and results on it.