Full-Time Magister: The Ruler of Wind and Rain

After encountering the one-eyed demon wolf, the team members unanimously agreed that the most difficult part of their mage training was over. After all, it was already a rare occurrence for a group of high school mages to successfully kill a servant-level demon; if there were even more difficult trials to come, then these instructors would be incredibly incompetent.

Wang Yu smiled without saying a word. The one-eyed demon wolf was something he'd deliberately tricked into running into, hoping to give everyone extra points. Based on his understanding of mage training, he was certain there was a servant-level demon lurking at the end of that route. But let these team members have their fun for now; their amusement won't last long.

The team of thirty people slowly made their way into the valley. When they accepted the mission, each team's objective was the same valley. Wang Yu had been hoping that a team would meet him there, but unfortunately, with him leading the team, the journey was far too smooth, putting them at least two or three days ahead of the other teams.

After a spirited armed picnic, Wang Yu's team successfully arrived at the valley entrance before sunset. They set up camp, arranged sentries, and started cooking. In just over ten days, most of the team members had been trained into qualified novice hunter mages. Of course, this didn't mean they had enough experience and strength, but rather that they had begun to understand teamwork, whether in magical combat or in the less exciting but more crucial tasks of exploring routes and setting up camp.

After the meal, Wang Yu instructed Guan Yao to lead the team to rest, while he took Zhang Guangle and Zhao Manyan to scout the entrance to the valley ahead of time. This afternoon, when they were setting up camp, he sensed some unusual magical fluctuations in the direction of the valley, but due to the chaotic elemental and magical environment of the forest, he couldn't detect any concrete clues.

The reason for bringing these two along was that it was getting dark, and it was essential to bring a flashlight (just kidding). Also, the perception of shadow-types is usually enhanced at night, so Zhao Manyan, who had the most magic tools and was the most skilled in using them among the light-types, and Zhang Guangle, the lucky one who had just awakened the shadow-type, were dragged by Wang Yu onto the path of the tea-serving soldiers.

Several hundred meters from the valley entrance, Zhang Guangle suddenly grabbed Wang Yu's sleeve and stopped, saying, "Wait! It seems like there's something here!" He then closed his eyes and carefully sensed it. His sudden stop startled Zhao Manyan; if Wang Yu hadn't held him back, Zhao Manyan would probably have already donned his full set of magical gear.

Wang Yu, who appeared calm on the surface, was also greatly shocked. He prepared his defenses, gripped the wind rails ready to release at any moment, and grabbed the other two people with both hands. If there was any movement, he would rush back a hundred meters first.

Fortunately, the eerie silence didn't last long, and Zhang Guangle's senses ended. "I only sensed fluctuations of shadow magic energy in the valley. I don't know if it's some kind of magical accumulation or a corresponding magical beast."

"Regardless, let's assume it's a demon inside. Let's head back to camp; looks like we'll have to keep watch all night." Wang Yu was also somewhat helpless about the possibility of a shadow magic-related demon. These things are generally weaker than common servant-level demons during the day, but at night, they're comparable to advanced-stage great demons. For now, all they can do is prepare to deal with demons, while hoping in their hearts that it's not a shadow-type demon.

Back at camp, Wang Yu summoned the three vice-captains and informed them of the suspected Shadow Demon's appearance. They all agreed to strengthen their guard that night. It was destined to be a sleepless night. The four of them, each leading a Light-elemental member, took up guard duty in one of the four directions of the camp, while Zhang Guangle, with the last Light-elemental member, remained in the camp ready to provide support. Although Wang Yu and his team were serious, the team's morale wasn't significantly affected. Perhaps it was because Wang Yu had led them to slay a one-eyed demon wolf; now these high school students were all highly motivated, eager to encounter another demon and showcase their training achievements.

Facing the valley alongside Wang Yu was Zhao Manyan, an important supporting character in the original story who seemed to be overlooked by his family. His magical equipment, though expensive, was, given the Zhao family's wealth, Wang Yu guessed was standard equipment for novice mages. The two grabbed two embers from the campfire and started a fire at their post. Under the firelight, Zhao Manyan's tension began to surface. After all, facing demons was dangerous, but waiting for them was far more agonizing.

"Don't be nervous, bro." Wang Yu took out some skewers from his spatial ring and stuck them near the fire. "Instead of thinking about those demons that nobody knows if they even exist, let's think about having some fun."

"What fun could there be?" Zhao Manyan took a few skewers and stuck them in his side. "There aren't many girls in the team with good figures. The ones that are decent are either your type or I can't beat them. I can't steal your food, bro. So what fun could I possibly have?"

"Old Zhao, why are you so narrow-minded? Besides, what do you mean by 'they're all my type'?" Wang Yu pretended to be a gentleman, speechless and rubbing his forehead. "There are only about ten girls in our team. If you're picking the ones with good figures, aren't you limiting yourself?"

"Keep pretending. I don't think your neighbor Old Wang is a good person either." Zhao Manyan raised his middle finger.

Wang Yu smiled and waved his hand: "Although my surname is Wang, the biggest difference between me and Old Wang next door is that Old Wang next door craves ripe fruit, while I prefer the fragrance of flower buds."

Speak like a human.

"I like Xiao Lei."

Zhao Manyan first raised two middle fingers, then turned to raise a thumb: "Oh my, does that mean we're not in competition anymore! Brother, you're really my brother. From now on, if you have any girls you don't like, just push them all to me."

After a few laughs, Wang Yu began to steer the conversation back on track.

"Old Zhao, I know you're from the Zhao family, and you know more than a wild mage like me. I have about a million on hand right now. Where do you think I should spend it to best improve my strength?" Actually, Wang Yu still has 1.7 million, but when you're out and about, you shouldn't reveal all your assets.

Zhao Manyan didn't stand on ceremony with Wang Yu. After thinking for a moment, he said, "You've already mastered the initial stage, so reaching the intermediate stage will be a piece of cake. In that case, you don't need to consider Star Liquid. It's five million a bottle, which is too low in cost-effectiveness."

"If you have the connections, you could buy some star chart scrolls. They're useful for helping you cast intermediate spells when you're just starting out, and they can even help you survive. They cost around 300,000 to 500,000 each, so you might consider buying a few."

"Forget about magical artifacts. Even slightly better ones cost over eight million, and anything below that price is of questionable quality."

"Renting a Stardust artifact is an option, but I heard that the Mingzhu Academy preparatory class can borrow Stardust artifacts for half a year each year, so renting it isn't very cost-effective. It depends on your preference. The market price is around 100,000 for a month's rental. Forget about buying it; it starts at 5 million, which isn't within your budget."

"There are some naturally occurring items with elemental power on the market, such as rare stones or strange bones from demons. These generally have some auxiliary effects on the cultivation of elemental mages, but there is no standard market price for these things. You have to evaluate them yourself."

After listening to these suggestions, Wang Yu was not satisfied with any of them. The threshold for magical tools was too high; he had no use for the star map scroll. As for magical artifacts, Wang Yu was currently carrying the Star River Magical Artifact that Old Man Bao had "borrowed" from him, so he naturally didn't think much of it. And the last one, relying on things with elemental power for cultivation, Wang Yu felt was not very reliable.

"Besides these, are there any other reasonable ways to improve by spending money?"

Zhao Manyan was stumped. A beginner mage's spiritual world couldn't accommodate a spirit seed, so the ways to strengthen oneself were basically limited, right? But the Zhao family was different; he actually came up with a solution: "Hey, I've thought of something. Would you be willing to be a gambling freak?"

"What?" Wang Yu didn't understand.

"Secret Scrolls: High-level hunters can register as Secret Mages at the Mage Guild and then write down valuable but uncertain information they've obtained in Secret Scrolls, which they then sell for a certain price. These aren't expensive, so many mages buy a lot at once. If they don't get the information they want, they consider it an opportunity to broaden their horizons. But if they're lucky, and they manage to buy two or three Secret Scrolls with related information, then the accuracy of that information is very high. Acting immediately often yields benefits, such as spirit seed fragments, rare demons, rare treasures, and so on."

"Wow, you can do that? The mage really knows how to make money." Wang Yu only thought of the Zhimi scrolls after hearing Zhao Manyan talk about them. He immediately made an appointment with Zhao Manyan to take him to the Zhao family's shop to buy some Zhimi scrolls after this training was over.