Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

With his mouth full of grease, he patted his belly contentedly. He had eaten more than a dozen skewers, and his stomach was quite swollen.

The remaining venison was roasted over a fire to dry it and make venison jerky.

As for selling fresh meat, forget about it. Without preservation methods, it will spoil in no time. If he sells it in town, the price will be much higher, but it will affect his progress in cultivation.

He would smoke the venison into jerky and sell it to butchers in town, and sell the deerskin to leather shops in town. His future life would probably consist of going to town early in the morning to sell the jerky that had been smoked overnight and the kneaded deerskin.

The afternoon is the regular hunting time, which is also Dago's live-fire training with air grenades.

As for after sunset, that time will definitely be used entirely to gain skill progress points.

Perfect, a win-win-win situation.

........

The following days were spent following the planned daily routine.

Before we knew it, half a month had passed.

In the open space outside the shelter, a fist-sized air blast flew rapidly toward a tree that one person could not encircle.

"Bang!"

A violent explosion rang out, blasting a large amount of wood chips from the thick tree and leaving a deep dent embedded in the trunk.

In the distance, Dago, who had just released an air blast, looked strange, lowered his head, and seemed to be thinking about something.

"As the skills on the system panel reach the beginner level, it becomes increasingly difficult to obtain progress points."

"It seems that there is an upper limit to skill training in the later stages. After all, it is unrealistic to be able to touch the root with just low-level spells."

As he thought about it, Dago brought up the system panel.

[The Wizarding Universal Meditation Method (Beginner 78/1000); Air Bomb (Beginner 56/1000)]

"Since learning about air bullets, the speed of compressed air and flight has increased significantly, and the power has also increased considerably."

He felt that his understanding of the spell air bullet had become more profound.

Its essence is actually the manipulation of energy particles by mental power to form a membrane that compresses air.

However, as time went on, the difficulty of compressing air increased exponentially, and it became extremely difficult to compress it beyond the size of a fist.

Currently, with his total mental energy, he can fire four air bullets in a short period of time.

This undoubtedly greatly increased his hunting speed. He could kill the deer as soon as they appeared, but as for magical beasts, he hadn't encountered one yet and would probably have to go deeper into the forest.

During the hunting season, his diet improved, his physical condition improved significantly, and his complexion gradually improved as well.

He fumbled around in the deerskin bag he kept close to his body.

"One, two, three, ... nine. We've already collected nine low-level magic stones."

This is the result of Dago's hard work over the past two weeks; the majority of the magic stone income comes from deer hides.

His skinning technique has greatly improved, producing complete and beautiful deer hides, which significantly increases the price of the deer hides.

As for the venison, a lot of it actually ended up in Dago's own stomach, since he was still growing and naturally had a big appetite.

Dago took out his brass pocket watch and checked the time; it was 4:30 in the afternoon.

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

The two met on the shore of a small lake, and the atmosphere was incredibly tense, given that the wizarding world is based on the Dark Forest system.

However, after exchanging apprentice wizard badges, the two sides shook hands and made peace, engaging in friendly exchanges.

In the Wizarding Alliance, killing a wizard who holds an official badge is a serious crime; once discovered, the entire alliance will issue a warrant for the arrest, and countless bounty hunters will pursue the individual.

This is one of the few protective regulations the Wizarding Alliance has for lower-level wizards. Either you have a 100% guarantee that you won't be discovered after killing a wizard, or you can coexist peacefully.

After finishing his training for the day, Dago returned to the sanctuary, carrying a bag of venison he had recently hunted, and headed into the forest.

He walked westward for about thirty minutes until a small wooden cabin came into view, nestled among large trees. It was not tall, but it was exceptionally secluded.

He walked slowly over and came to a small patch of grass under the treehouse.

"Is Wizard Marico here? This is Dago."

Dago shouted loudly from under the treehouse.

"You're here, my friend. Wait for me, I'm coming down."

A brown-haired old man wearing a tattered gray robe poked his head out of the treehouse and responded.

He then nimbly climbed down from the treehouse using the vines.

Old Maric is stronger than Dago. He is a level three apprentice wizard, but he is optimistic and has little desire or ambition.

According to him, he had completely given up hope of becoming a full-fledged wizard.

Old Maric is a long-time resident of this forest and has a good relationship with the other apprentice wizards living there.

He has excellent barbecue skills, and Dago has been coming to his place to barbecue every day since they met.

After getting off the bus, old Marico gave Dago a warm hug. When he saw that Dago was carrying a bag of meat, he immediately understood Dago's intention.

He laughed heartily and started a fire in an open space.

Soon, the tender venison was placed on the grill and sizzled and dripped with oil from the orange-red charcoal fire.

Old Marico skillfully controlled the heat of the barbecue. He pulled out a handful of special seasoning from his waist pouch and sprinkled it on, instantly filling the forest with a rich aroma.

The two sat on a bare tree trunk lying across the ground in an open space. Dago picked up the dagger at his waist and began to cut the roasted venison.

"Want some wine? My own homemade berry wine."

Old Marico pulled a beautiful silver flask from his tattered robe and asked D'Ago a question.

"No, I need to go back later."

Dago, with a large piece of roasted venison in his mouth, shook his head and refused.

The two chatted casually as they ate. Dago learned a lot from old Marico, about the academy and the Wizarding League.

Old Maric had traveled to many places when he was young, but he never left the territory of the Wizarding Alliance.

It is evident that the Wizarding Alliance is an enormous behemoth. Its highest authority is the Wizarding Supreme Council, which has seven seats, each belonging to one of the seven transcendent wizarding organizations.

The Supreme Council adopts the principle of majority rule, meaning that once a bill is passed by more than four seats, the remaining seats cannot obstruct it and must fully support it.

The Supreme Speaker is elected from among seven seats, serving a term of one hundred years, and is primarily responsible for maintaining the normal operation of the Supreme Council.

The Emerald Forest is one of the seven wizarding territories, and the transcendent wizarding force residing there is called the [Emerald Life].

Most of the wizards in Emerald Life are nature wizards who love peace and revere nature.

They are proficient in life magic, potion making, and physical modification and development. Their core belief is that only an immortal body can create an immortal soul.

The Academy of Wizards of Enark is one of countless small wizarding organizations that exist within the Emerald Forest.

"Have you heard? Those lunatics from [Dark Crystal Aria] are coming to kill us."

Old Marico looked at the small fire and said with concern.

The Dark Crystal Aria is also one of the seven members of the Wizarding Alliance. Unlike the Emerald Life, they believe that only souls born in the Netherworld of Death can achieve immortality.

Their favorite thing to do is grind the dark crystal into powder, mix it with bone powder, and then ingest it. However, in terms of individual strength, they are unparalleled, becoming stronger the more they are exposed to it.

As seven members of the Supreme Council, they cannot directly engage in war; they fight proxy wars.

These things are too far in the future, Dago shook his head and did not respond.

All he wants to do now is save up magic stones so he can go to the academy to learn new spells.

"By the way, how far are you from becoming a level three apprentice?"

When old Marico saw that he didn't speak, he asked again.

"Sigh, it's still a long way off!"

Dago sighed and said helplessly.

Old Marico patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "You're still young, you have plenty of time, take your time."

Dago nodded, and neither of them discussed the topic in great depth.

To advance from a second-level wizard apprentice to a third-level wizard apprentice, two conditions must be met.

First, one must master the three incantations and spells; second, one's mental strength must undergo a transformation.

To put it bluntly, magic costs money, and mental strength requires training.

After a hearty meal and drinks, old Marico got drunk and started wildly belly dancing under the firelight.

Seeing that he was drunk, Dago, with a wry smile, struggled to pull him up to the small wooden house in the tree, and then helped old Marico's limp body to bed.

After doing all this, he quietly closed the door and climbed down from the cabin, preparing to return to the shelter.

He walked back to the shelter, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, and then began to cultivate in the open space.

For the past two weeks, the sturdy trees surrounding the shelter have suffered greatly.

The surrounding open space kept getting bigger and bigger, and the firewood in the shelter kept piling up higher and higher.

Having the system panel, he was like a completely different person compared to his previous life. Now, he would seize any opportunity to increase his progress points.

Watching the progress value on the system panel gradually slide by, even the most boring training will not feel tedious in the slightest.

He must earn enough money as soon as possible to pay for the tuition at the Wizarding Academy of Enark and learn new spells.

Spells and incantations are spells with incantations that wizards have developed after thousands of years of research and summarization of ancient extraordinary species. They are more powerful and have more terrifying effects.

Essentially, the seven seats in the Supreme Council are monopolized, and learning is only possible within their sphere of influence.

Therefore, Dago had to go to the Wizarding Academy of Aynor, because that's where he would learn spells and magic.

Dago picked up the water pouch, took a sip, and then continued his intensive cultivation, constantly refining his spiritual power and launching air blasts...

They practiced for a full four or five hours.

"I'm so tired..."

Dago returned to the shelter, collapsed onto the small bed, and completely relaxed. He didn't want to think about anything or do anything, staring blankly at the ceiling.

[The Wizarding Universal Meditation Method (Beginner 88/1000); Air Bomb (Beginner 90/1000)]

The progress of air bombs has outpaced that of meditation, but that's not surprising.

The practice of meditation is hindered by [Soul Entropy], while the air bullet only requires mental energy.

As meditation techniques progress, the total amount of mental energy also increases, but [Soul Entropy] continues to hinder the progress of meditation techniques.

"It seems that if I keep improving my meditation technique, I might be able to eliminate the effects of soul entropy. That way, I won't be much slower than those drug-using wizards, and all the sweat I've shed won't be in vain."

Dago secretly hoped that he would get a good night's sleep that night.