Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

In the secluded, dense forest, strangely shaped trees grow wildly everywhere, and a thick layer of decaying leaves lies beneath your feet.

Dago drew the dagger from his waist and began cutting through the shadow leopard's fur and flesh.

There was no other way; he was all alone, without any help. Although he lacked the knowledge and experience to handle magical materials, he decided to give it a shot, even if it seemed hopeless.

"Warcraft is a kind of animal, right?" Dago muttered.

He skillfully disemboweled his prey, removed the internal organs, and then cut off the hide... handling his prey like an old hunter.

He had to quickly butcher the shadow leopard carcass, as the scent of blood could attract other predators.

In no time, he finished cutting the meat and used Ice Crystal Spell to freeze the pieces.

On the ground lay a whole sheet of dark fur, writhing like a real shadow.

He couldn't bear to wrap the meat in fur anymore, so he rolled up the fur and put it in his bag, while struggling to carry the meat on his shoulder.

This time the amount of meat was much heavier, after all, the Shadow Leopard was quite large, and he couldn't handle it.

"It's all money, we have to hold on even if we can't hold on," Dago thought to himself.

Only the fresh air and tranquil, beautiful environment of the woods could soothe his weary soul.

He walked and rested intermittently along the way, and finally made it back to the shelter by noon.

He slammed the flesh from his shoulder onto the table, washed his hands and face by the water tank, and felt much more refreshed.

He took a small amount of Shadow Leopard meat; today, he was going to act like a nobleman and have a meal.

He placed the meat on the grill and grilled it over charcoal, where it sizzled.

While grilling, sprinkle with seasonings I got from old Marico, and start eating when it's about 80% cooked.

"It's so delicious that I wouldn't let go even if you slapped me."

Dago chewed the food in big mouthfuls, not forgetting to add a comment.

Not only was it delicious, but he also felt a warm current flowing through his body, soothing his fatigue.

Unexpectedly, monster meat has a miraculous effect of nourishing the body, so we can't sell it all.

After all, he was only eighteen years old, and his body could still grow. Especially after entering the extraordinary realm, his need for food increased even more.

He decided to keep half of the monster meat and sell the rest in town to earn magic stones.

As for the shadow leopard's pelt, he kept it for himself, mainly because he wasn't sure of its value and was afraid of being scammed.

After thinking it over, Dago realized that hiding the fur in the shelter wouldn't work, even if he didn't know its value.

However, judging by its fur color alone, its collectible value is worth a considerable amount of gold coins even in the ordinary world.

"Why not sew it into the lining of my apprentice's robe? No one will be able to tell anyway," Dago suddenly thought.

After saying that, she went under the wooden bed and rummaged through the chests and cabinets, took out a needle and thread and started sewing.

It was done in no time; the shadow leopard's fur covered two-thirds of the wide robe.

Dago looked at the gray robe and nodded in satisfaction; it was understated yet luxurious and sophisticated.

Wearing the apprentice's gray robe, apart from feeling slightly uncomfortable due to its heaviness, there were no other problems.

After some tinkering, he took the chilled Shadow Leopard meat and water sac and set off for the town of Aenark.

First, he went to the familiar town butcher shop, but the fat owner waved his hand after learning that it was monster meat, indicating that he had no way to sell it.

His butcher shop's customers were all poor people in the town's residential areas; no one could afford the expensive monster meat.

Dago thought about it and agreed, so he headed towards the town's wizard hall.

The Wizarding Hall is a crossroads of the supernatural and the mundane; there should be channels for selling monster meat there.

As Dagger expected, he went to the counter of the second-level wizard apprentice and explained his purpose.

A middle-aged apprentice wizard behind the counter helped contact a wealthy businessman in town who was interested in buying the item.

"The Wizard Hall will take 20% of the transaction as a service fee."

The middle-aged apprentice wizard said calmly.

Dago's lips twitched, but he still agreed.

Finally, after meeting the wealthy merchant in the wizard's hall and some haggling, they settled on a deal for six low-grade magic stones.

After deducting the Wizard Hall's service fee, he received a total of five magic stones from this transaction.

He had originally planned to compare prices from several vendors, but during the final part of his conversation with the wealthy businessman, things took a turn for the worse.

In the wizard hall, the middle-aged apprentice wizard who was in charge of the transaction directly released his mental power, subtly putting pressure on Dago.

On the other side's home turf, D'Ago could only swallow his anger and suffer in silence.

He walked out of the wizarding hall through gritted teeth, his face full of displeasure as he strolled down the street. He suspected that the middle-aged apprentice wizard was somewhat involved in collusion with the wealthy merchant.

Although this trade earned him the equivalent of half a year's tuition, it was a risky trade.

Dago still vividly remembers the dangers of hunting the shadow leopard.

If it weren't for the opportune moment and the surprise attack, he would never have been a match for the Shadow Leopard.

It was originally a nocturnal beast, whose fur blended into the darkness at night, making it almost invisible, hence the name Shadow Leopard.

If he hadn't encountered the Shadow Leopard during the day, he would have been dead long ago.

Dago took out the five low-level magic stones, which were about the size of pigeon eggs, that he had just acquired.

Holding it in your hand, you can clearly feel the energy particles that have accumulated inside.

With these five low-level magic stones, the days ahead will be much easier.

"I will never trade in the Wizarding Hall again, you pure vampire," Dargo said bitterly.

After putting the magic stone back into his purse, Dago took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time; it was a little past three in the afternoon.

It was still early, so he walked to the college square for a stroll.

He still had a complete Shadow Panther pelt in his hand, and he didn't want to entrust it to the people in the Wizarding Hall again.

He decided to go to the Academy Square to learn about the market for monster furs first.

Now that I have money in my pocket, my whole mindset has changed.

When they arrived at the college square, Dago dared to stop at some stalls and pretend to ask about the prices of the items.

"You dare ask for fifteen magic stones for a low-level rune equipment? You might as well just rob it."

Dago walked away from a certain stall with a look of "disdain".

After walking a little further, Dago's gaze stopped in front of a stall filled with books.

His expression shifted slightly, and he slowly walked up.

The stall was run by an old apprentice wizard who looked quite old. He was wearing a faded gray robe, but he looked very energetic.

When a customer arrived, the old apprentice wizard's eyes lit up, and he greeted Dago very warmly.

"Look, these are all low-level spells I collected when I was studying."

Dargo sensed the stronger spiritual energy emanating from the old apprentice wizard than he had, nodded politely, and then carefully began to read.

He is now only one spell away from meeting the requirements for becoming a third-level wizard apprentice.

Moreover, judging from his recent monster hunt, he also needs a detection-type spell.

Otherwise, he didn't want to die without knowing why he was attacked by a shadow leopard while it was awake.

These books were probably compiled and bound by the old apprentice himself; the covers are all similar, the only difference being their thickness.

Dago started searching and found many things that looked like notes, many of which had yellowed covers.

He picked up a book at random and flipped through it; it was mostly about cultivation insights, but it wasn't what he needed.

"Do you have any detection-type witchcraft?" Dago asked.

"Yes, yes, that yellowed book on the side is it."

He pointed to one of the books next to a pile of books and told Dago.

Dago picked it up, quickly flipped through it, and asked, "How much is this book?"

"Three low-grade magic stones," the stall owner quoted a price.

"One low-grade magic stone, please. I'm a poor apprentice, I don't have any magic stones," Dago said, looking like he was very poor as he bargained.

"Two low-grade magic stones. If you can't afford it, then leave. Don't delay my business."

The old apprentice frowned, his attitude gradually turning cold.

Dago gritted his teeth and finally bought the items.

He counted out two low-grade magic stones from his purse and handed them to the old apprentice. He then took the book, stood up, and left the stall without looking back.

He searched for moonflower, a raw material for potions, at other stalls, but after wandering around, he didn't see any stalls selling it.

I casually inquired at a stall selling potion ingredients and learned that many magical materials were in short supply due to the approaching war.

It has been placed under the control of the college and its circulation and sale are prohibited.

As for stalls selling monster pelts, they were even rarer, and there was basically nothing he could offer any advice.

Disappointed, Dago left the academy square. It seemed he would have to rely on the moonflowers in the forest to verify his method. He would have to keep the shadow leopard fur for now.

As the sun began to set and it approached six o'clock, Dago returned to the shelter, feeling utterly dejected.

Dinner was sumptuous, with venison soup and leftover monster meat. Dago treated himself to a good meal, letting the delicious food wash away his physical and mental fatigue.

After dinner, under a clear moon and sparse stars, a fire was lit, and Dago sat on a wooden stump outside, using the firelight to peruse the divination book he had bought earlier.

He read the entire book from beginning to end, and based on the old apprentice's annotations, he quickly grasped its meaning and then began to try it out.

This witchcraft expands the scope of the spiritual vision.

"Just like a powerful flashlight, it changes from scattering to direct beam, so does that mean the energy particles that the mental vision can detect can be from a greater distance?" Dago thought to himself.

His current mental vision, activated by meditation, extends to a range of approximately two meters around him, which is also the range within which his air blasts are concentrated.

Once the detection technique is activated, the detection range of the mental vision can be extended tenfold, which means the fluctuation of energy particles within a range of twenty meters.

This spell is quite effective against stealth spells, and can basically prevent Shadow Panthers from ambushing from the shadows.

This undoubtedly accelerated his exploration progress in the southwest direction of the forest, enabling him to develop the Moonflower as soon as possible.

Once the academy discovers it first, his Moonflower project is basically over.

The entire witchcraft, like the resonance spell, consists of only one incantation.

A sapphire blue halo swirled in his eyes, and scattered energy particles entered his mental vision as he softly chanted the incantation for a detection spell.

The spiritual energy flowed slowly forward, as if parting a gentle, deceptive fog to reveal more and more energy particles emerging.

In this way, he had acquired three spells and magic techniques, and was only one level away from becoming a level 3 apprentice at level 50, needing to reach the required level of mental strength.