Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Within the Angra Ring Mountains, the Shadowmoon Tower Academy occupies only a very small area.

Besides the Shadowmoon Tower, this entire region is also home to three other major wizarding organizations.

The vast mountains surrounding it, and the endless forests at its base, hold countless treasures of resources.

Some are places where potions grow, and some are ancient relics.

For an ordinary wizard apprentice to venture deep into the treasure hunt alone, the chances of survival are slim!

Ian followed the route he remembered, walking for about half an hour along the dimly lit forest path, where more and more people began to appear.

Most of them, dressed like Ian, were low- to mid-level apprentices living in the wild forests.

Soon, they arrived at the nearest gathering point, Nightfall Town.

In the two years prior, Ian had only visited this place a handful of times, harboring a strange fear of it.

He followed the crowd through the gate, and the noise immediately hit him.

He subtly surveyed his surroundings, observing everything he saw.

Banners with strange patterns, resembling family or organizational symbols, were displayed in front of shops on both sides of the street.

Along the bluestone path, all sorts of strange and unusual stalls were set up.

"Fresh Ghost Face Flowers, only 50 fragments each, hurry and get yours!"

"Come and see, what a beautiful purple fox fur!"

"The newly released magic dust is twice as potent, and we don't have much stock left."

……

As Ian walked along, the chaotic and foul smell filled his nostrils.

There was the stench of human body sweat, the bitterness of roasted herbs, and the fishy smell of animal glands...

He noticed that most of the items on the stall were priced in terms of magic stone fragments.

Magic stone fragments are the smallest form of currency among wizards; one magic stone equals 100 fragments.

Occasionally, a few red figures would pass by in the crowd.

The vibrant red stood out starkly against the gray backdrop, and wherever it passed, it seemed like a raging flood, causing the crowd to scatter.

A red robe is the mark of a high-ranking wizard apprentice.

In this remote region, few advanced apprentices come here; they usually only appear in settlements or towns near the tower.

After browsing around for a while, Ian got a general idea of ​​the prices.

He stopped and his gaze was drawn to a stall that occupied most of the aisle.

The stall owner was an old woman, her thin body wrapped in a dark red robe.

She was surrounded by various dry and wet potions, bundled up casually on the carpet.

Especially those moonflowers, some of which still had dew on them.

There's also the Snake-Speaking Flower, the Starlight Moss, and the Withered Blood Vine...

These are all low-level potions, and Ian recognizes most of them. He didn't expect there to be so many in this market.

"How much is the moonflower?" Ian couldn't help but ask.

"30 Magic Stone Fragments per plant, discounts available for bulk purchases, interested?"

The old woman's voice was hoarse, and her pale green eyes stared straight at Ian.

Ian felt uncomfortable being stared at and shook his head to walk away.

"Little one, if you don't want to buy, don't ask questions and disturb my business, hmph!"

After the old woman finished speaking, an extremely powerful energy fluctuation emanated from her body.

In an instant, Ian's hair stood on end, and he felt a strong threat of death.

"This person is definitely a high-level wizard apprentice; Kenna is no match for her at all."

Ian quickly apologized in a low voice and walked away in a flustered manner.

"These people here are so arrogant! They won't even let me ask the price?"

After that, he lost all interest in looking around and went straight to the town's legitimate potion shop.

The potion shop not only has a wide variety of medicinal herbs, but also a variety of ready-made potions.

Following his memory, Ian entered a clean-looking shop with a green leaf logo on the signboard.

A huge magical lamp hangs from the ceiling of the shop, casting a soft and bright light.

"Hello, what would you like, sir?"

A girl in a green robe came over to greet them.

Only two small ear tips were visible on her head.

Ian concealed the surprise in his eyes and took out a list.

"Look at this batch of materials, how many magic stone fragments do we need?"

The girl took the list, glanced at it, and looked up at Ian.

"One set of the above materials costs 80 magic stone fragments. If you buy 50 sets or more, you can get a 5-fragment discount."

Ian's list contained all the ingredients for the sobering potion.

He wasn't afraid of being exposed; countless wizard apprentices studied potion-making every year, so it wasn't anything special.

"Give me ten servings. How many magic stones does one of these sobering potions cost?"

The medicinal herbs here are much cheaper than those Simon sells, and you don't have to worry about them being adulterated.

Her hatred for Simon intensified.

After buying the materials, I inquired about the price of the sobering medicine at the counter next to me.

"Six magic stones, would you like them, sir?"

"Isn't it 5 magic stones?" Ian was taken aback.

"This was made by our shop's potion maker, so the quality is guaranteed, and the effects are stronger than those elsewhere."

After observing it carefully through the glass, Ian concluded that it wasn't much better than his own.

It seems this potion maker's potion-making skills aren't that high.

After leaving the potion shop, they spent some gold coins to buy enough food to go home.

Crossing the square, I saw a large notice board standing in the center, with a crowd of people standing below, looking up at the information on it.

Ian stepped forward and saw that the table was filled with various tasks.

"Long-term collector of Magic Light Leeches, 10 Magic Stone Fragments per leech, contact address: ✕✕✕"

"Team up in Hot Bend Canyon to hunt Fiery Rhinos. Plenty of experience, guaranteed to yield at least 2 Magic Stones per hunt..."

"Explore the Misty Swamp, gather the seeds of the Vampire Vine, and hunt down the Earth Demon Dragon along the way..."

……

Ian narrowed his eyes slightly. The Fiery Rhinoceros and the Earth Demon Dragon were both demonized ferocious beasts.

Before they were corrupted by demonic power, most of them were ordinary ferocious beasts, which underwent mutations due to the corruption of demonic power.

Although they haven't reached the next level yet, they all possess some innate magical abilities and are extremely fierce.

Looking at the dangerous tasks listed above, with their meager rewards—some even yielding only a few dozen magic stone fragments—he felt a pang of regret.

Every two months, his family would send him at least 20 magic stones to cover his study expenses.

"Truly, they don't know how lucky they are!"

At this moment, Ian deeply felt the full support and earnest expectations of his family.

At the same time, he became even more vigilant, knowing that Simon would never let him, this "fat sheep," go easily.

But he is no longer the blank slate apprentice he once was.

"Once I break through to the next level, I won't have to stay cooped up at home like a gopher anymore!"

On his way home, Ian remained cautious, and thankfully no accidents occurred.

His experiences in town this time greatly affected him, and he made up his mind that he would never leave the town until he had reached the intermediate apprentice level.

In the days that followed, Ian was like a wound-up robot, practicing witchcraft desperately during the day, reading books and concocting potions when he was tired, and taking drugs and meditating at night.

He now only needs four hours of sleep a day and is still full of energy.

As time went by, Ian's overall strength grew rapidly.

[Star and Moon Low-Level Meditation Skill Proficiency +1]

[Secondary Frost Ray Proficiency +1]

……