Reincarnated as a bamboo rat, it begins its extreme survival struggle.

Perhaps, after leaving the large

After the adventuring group's tedious tasks, she found a way to continue improving.

Jasmine was packing her things inside the tent. Edu wanted to help, but he couldn't get involved in Jasmine's efficient work.

He could only stay by Jasmine's side and watch her direct the people around her as they quickly prepared for evacuation.

Compared to the others in the camp, Edu didn't have much to carry, just a heavy bag of coins.

Initially, Edu sold the Shadow Leopard body material he had for two gold coins, and after defeating the monster horde, the stewards also gave him ten gold coins as a reward.

The twelve gold coins in this pocket were not light in weight, and their purchasing power was also extremely strong.

In Cangxing City, the monthly expenses for an average family of three are about two silver coins. The expenses for a low-level professional are more than those of an average family, generally around five silver coins.

One gold coin can be exchanged for ten silver coins.

The money Edu had was a huge sum of money that he might not be able to earn even after doing dozens of odd jobs. It was enough for him to live off his savings for several years.

The only way Edu could think of to spend this huge sum of money in a short time was to go to school.

In Edu's simple and youthful mind, he had no concept of luxury goods, nor did he understand the purchasing power of the upper class.

Just like when I was a child, I would get two cents of pocket money every week or two, which I could use to buy bubble gum or cheap spicy snacks. Back then, I was very envious of classmates who could get one cent of pocket money every day.

According to Edu, Bell found that studying in this world, or rather, pursuing professional education, was an extremely resource-intensive endeavor.

The reason why professions like warriors and archers are so popular is because their learning threshold is low and the other costs of learning are not high.

A group of teenagers ran to the entrance of the Warrior or Archer guild and tried to practice, and those with talent could quickly get the hang of it.

For ordinary families, providing their children with a bow or a sword is a headache, but they can manage it if they grit their teeth.

After all, if their own child has weapons and can barely become an apprentice-level professional, he can perform the simplest tasks and contribute to the family income to some extent.

This is the common situation for ordinary people to become professionals. Only those with a slightly better financial situation or those with exceptional talent can choose other professions with slower returns.

As for professions like bards, mages, and priests, even a dog would shake its head in disbelief; ordinary people simply can't afford such high-end professions.

A twelve or thirteen-year-old child who wants to become a bard must first go to the Bards' Guild to learn.

The learning cost during this period is not high. The guild can guide you through learning a few simple and universal poems and teach you how to condense magic.

Then, if you want to go further, you need to buy a musical instrument that can effectively transmit magic.

According to Edu, musical instruments are generally more expensive than weapons, as they are magical items and therefore extremely expensive.

With musical instruments, what tasks can an apprentice-level bard perform, and how much combat power can he contribute?

The answer is that they basically have no combat power, and can only do simple missions with extremely low rewards.

These tasks are basically guaranteed to lose you money; making money from them is extremely difficult.

There aren't many tasks that can be done alone, and there aren't many people willing to take apprentice-level bards on group missions.

How can one become a truly useful bard?

Pay money to attend classes at a music academy.

Chapter 55 Igniting the Corpse

The very nature of the bard profession dictates that it is not a profession that can be quickly developed and rewarded.

Low-ranking bards are also considered to be professions where no one can be found.

No one wants to bring a bard along for group quests, since nobody wants a teammate who can't help much and just wants a share of the loot.

The fact that bards needed to pursue higher education required a lot of money, effectively blocking the path for ordinary people to enter this profession.

Bards need money to further their studies, but without combat power, it's difficult to earn money. Without money, they can't continue their studies, thus completing the closed loop.

"After leaving the bamboo forest, I plan to first go to the Bards' Guild for basic training, and after becoming an apprentice bard, I will go to the music academy in Azure Star City for further studies."

Edu told Bell about the expensive tuition fees at the music academy. There was only one music academy in Cangxing City, and it cost ten gold coins to study there for one semester.

By paying money, one can receive guidance from one of the few high-ranking bards in Cangxing City within the music academy, but the learning effect is not guaranteed, and the guidance time is extremely limited.

As for what kind of high-ranking bard will guide you, that depends entirely on luck.

The music academy will ensure that there are more than three senior bards present each week, but the specific senior bards will be there entirely depending on their individual arrangements.

If you're lucky, you might encounter a few older, highly skilled bards who are good at teaching.

If you're unlucky, the senior bards sitting in the music academy will be those young, strong, and experienced warriors who have just finished their missions and have no desire to interact with anyone.

"I feel like this music academy is a rip-off. Paying to get in doesn't guarantee the learning results; how much you gain depends entirely on your luck."

According to what Bell learned from the conversations of the humans, ten gold coins, if spent at an armor shop, could buy a set of ordinary armor for a warrior.

Those are genuine production materials; they can be patched up and used for many years.

"There's no other way; if I want to get guidance from a high-ranking bard, I can only go to a music academy."

The number of high-ranking bards in Azure Star City can be counted on two hands. They each have their own area of ​​expertise, but all of them are guests of honor of the major powers.

The most renowned high-ranking bards were military musicians belonging to the Azure Star City army.

He once single-handedly imbued a legion of five thousand men with three intermediate spell effects—[Bull Power], [Resilient Body], and [Heroic Heart]—through military music performances.

The ability to apply buffs over a very wide area is the core competitive advantage of advanced bards.

But these things have little to do with ordinary bards, since they are not capable of doing that.

"By the way, aren't you going to buy a musical instrument? Do you have any specific ideas?"

"I did have one before, and I was planning to buy a castanets to help me keep the beat when I sing, but now I'm not in a hurry. Once I get into the music academy, I can use all kinds of instruments for free, so I'll decide when to go."

Magical musical instruments have always been expensive, after all, making instruments is a laborious process, and there are not many people who have mastered this skill.

It doesn't seem like a blacksmith.

This is a type of job that requires some strength; you can easily start by hammering and smelting with a furnace.

Most people who can create magical musical instruments are either bards or have other professions related to magic.

Even the cheapest magical instruments, like castanets that can transmit magic, cost five silver coins.

Other magical musical instruments are priced directly in gold coins, and better magical instruments are not cheap.

"Hmm... Let's prepare to leave the bamboo forest first. But you won't have to worry about tuition fees."

Looking at the bustling mining camp, Bell, unlike the somewhat bewildered Edu, listened attentively to all the conversations taking in.

Bell paid particular attention to the words of those managers.

Although Bell could only understand a small part of what they were saying, he still heard descriptions of Edu as a genius and information about helping Edu.

Edu may not realize what it means to be the subject of so much discussion, but Bell knows that being a genius is a great asset for attracting investment.

"I'm going out for a bit, I'll be back in a little while."

No longer thinking about what was about to happen in the human camp, Bell jumped out of Edu's pocket, wiggled his hips, and disappeared into the camp.

He left in the direction of the previous monster invasion; there were no humans there, and he was far away from the newly arrived Bloodhand mercenaries.

He ran to a wooden fence, took out his iron sword, and disassembled it into several logs, which he then put into his inventory.

After this period of slumber, as Bell's level increased, five new storage slots appeared below his original five-slot inventory.

The size of each storage compartment has also been significantly improved, allowing it to hold items 2.5 times larger than Bell's size. Similar items will be merged in the inventory, without taking up more space.

The improved inventory gave Bell more room to maneuver.

Previously, due to the limited storage space in the inventory, and the fact that Bell's iron sword, workbench, and furnace always occupied three slots, many of Bell's ideas could not be realized.

But as the inventory expands, many of the actions Bell imagined can become a reality.

Bear Grylls

Race: Bamboo Rat (Small Animal Template)

Level: lv.9 (7/50)

Health: 33 (+2)

Mental strength:

magic:

Lucky:

Skills: [Information Insight], [Fire-Loving Wisdom], [Living Shadow]

Occupation: [Bard - Apprentice Level]

Inventory: Iron Sword, Crafting Table, Forge, Shadow Panther Skull, Log

After awakening this time, Bell's level skyrocketed, and his attributes improved significantly.

In terms of physical attributes, Bell's physical strength is on par with that of ordinary humans. Although his absolute strength is not comparable to that of a human behemoth, his smaller size makes him more agile than a human.

Of course, this is the physical attribute of a level nine Bell. Generally, humans at level three or four will have a physical body with a value of Bell.

At the same level, the small animal template is the weakest template, and this is difficult to change.

However, unlike his physical weakness, Bell's mental growth clearly exceeded the upper limit of the small animal template, and even far surpassed the average level of the human template.