My inventory is full of monster materials.

"The Path of Ice is not only a level 1 ice spell, but also a powerful control spell, with a damage-to-control ratio as high as 1:9."

Suddenly, Clyde thought of something, took a step forward and grabbed Mark's arm, but then realized he was being annoying, so he asked with a fawning smile.

"Sir Mark, what's the maximum number of times you can cast this spell?"

Mark had anticipated a change in the other party's attitude, but he hadn't expected the pharmacist to be so enthusiastic as to be almost ingratiating.

However, he was not the kind of person who would be smug and complacent. After a moment's thought, he answered Clyde's question.

"With my current magic reserves, I can probably cast it 4-5 times, after which I must stop to recover."

"4-5 times...4-5 times..."

Upon hearing this, Clyde lowered his head and muttered softly, then suddenly raised his head again, his eyes shining as he pressed for an answer.

"If I prepare enough 'Basic Magic Potions' for you, can you cast them a few more times?"

"..."

Mark smirked. Was he being treated like a heartless magic machine?

"If I have enough magic power... I can probably cast it 2-3 more times. As you know, casting spells consumes mental energy, unless you can replenish my mental energy."

"Well..."

Clyde gave a helpless, bitter smile.

"I cannot concoct spiritual potions because it requires not only mastery of potion-making but also a certain level of expertise in the soul; otherwise, the resulting potions would be extremely harmful."

"But I think 6-8 times of the 'Frozen Road' is enough."

"Okay! It's settled then."

After saying that, Clyde came to Madeleine and spoke solemnly.

"Madeline, assign this mission to the 'White Eagle' squad."

Madeline crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and asked.

Are you sure?

"Sure."

Madeline then looked at Henry and his group.

"Have you accepted this commission?"

Captain Henry looked around at the team members, Mark, Emily, and Brady, and the three of them returned his gaze in approval. Then he slowly nodded to Madeline.

"no problem."

Madeline released her hands, turned her head towards the door, and said.

"Very good, come with me. In the next phase, we need to finalize all the details of the task. Given the client's urgency, the process will be expedited. Just to clarify beforehand, we will also need to sign a 'fair contract' between the three parties at the end."

Immediately afterwards, the group followed Madeline away from the bathhouse.

In the corridor, Henry excitedly put his arm around Mark's shoulder.

"Well done, Mark. I was about to give up, but I didn't expect it to work."

"Needless to say? My older brother is the leader of the team."

Brady had already established a connection, and his face was beaming with pride.

Emily, standing next to her, nodded in agreement.

Mark responded to his teammates' smiles one by one, but what he was thinking about was what had just happened.

Actually, he already knew the outcome.

The purpose of deliberately undermining the pharmacist was, of course, to gain more status and benefits—though not directly.

During the meeting, Mark had already seen through the complex calculations Clyde had left on the wall.

For example, if the current intelligence is n=13, the number of "freezing rays" α=0;

Substituting into the fundamental formula for magical effects: E(n) = ω · 2^α · 1.2^n;

We can obtain E≈10.70ω

In addition, there are two correction factors:

Skill "Freezing Ray Lv3 (White)": ...Spell control +60%;

Talent "Frostblood II (White)": Ice elemental affinity +40%;

Furthermore, the damage control efficiency ratio of "cryotherapy" is 3:7.

Finally, we can conclude that E2≈16.78ω.

16.78ω!

Mark was well aware at the time that his "cryotherapy" was insufficient to meet the requirements.

But I wasn't flustered at all.

Because in addition to "intelligence", "magic rings" are also factors that determine the effect of magic.

Under the same conditions, the level 1 spell "Frozen Path" has twice the magical effect of the level 0 spell "Freezing Ray".

Not to mention that the damage control efficiency ratio of the former is as high as 1:9.

So when Mark unleashed "Frozen Path," Clyde decided on the mission without hesitation, and even his attitude changed.

Furthermore, it wouldn't matter even if Mark didn't possess this spell.

A skull with "Intelligence +3" is preserved in the secret room.

Simply swap it into your equipment slot, and the magical effect will be off the charts.

Even Mark was a little scared just thinking about it.

……

……

The next morning, at the east gate of Songmu Town.

The town's outer defense consisted of only a symbolic low wall, two meters high. Guards on duty at both ends of the road yawned incessantly, while people came and went in an endless stream on the cobblestone road.

A conspicuous white canvas-covered horse-drawn carriage was parked on the lush roadside.

Next to the carriage were piles of wooden boxes and packages of various sizes, all filled with essential survival supplies.

For example, enough charcoal, dry rations, oil, salt, salted meat, and several barrels of ale for six people for more than ten days... as well as some survival aids such as tents, iron pots, tinder, ropes, and repair tools...

At this moment, Mark was sitting on a mountain of goods, engrossed in reading a blue book.

The burly Henry, clad in armor, and Brady, who preferred tight-fitting light leather armor, busied themselves carrying the "hill" onto the carriage in batches.

In front of the wagon, Emily, dressed in a simple priest's robe, was feeding two brown packhorses oatmeal with a wooden bucket, while gently stroking their necks with her other hand to soothe them.

After half an hour.

The last item to be moved was a tall, heavy mahogany wardrobe.

Brady, with his arms wrapped around the wardrobe and legs spread like a crab, stepped onto the platform with slight trembling, and then, with great effort, stuffed the wardrobe into the innermost part of the covered wagon.

Then, the red-haired boy collapsed onto the floor, panting heavily, but looked at the wardrobe with great curiosity—the wardrobe door was sealed tightly with five brass locks.

So Brady asked Mark, who was already sitting inside the covered wagon.

"Brother Mark, what's in this wardrobe? It's not clothes, is it?"

Mark closed the book, smiled slightly, and responded jokingly.

"You said it's a wardrobe, so the things inside must be 'wearable' items."

"Oh?"

Brady became even more curious.

What kind of clothes need to be locked up so tightly?

Could it be something as valuable as Uncle Henry's full plate armor?

Brady couldn't resist and reached out to tug at the brass lock.

Clang! Clang!

boom!

A solid chestnut landed squarely on Red Hair's head.

"Oh my goodness~"

Brady clutched his head and cried out in pain.

Henry, who intervened, showed no sympathy; instead, he gave a stern warning.

"This is something your brother Mark specifically told me to keep, don't touch it."

"It's okay, he'll find out sooner or later."

Mark didn't seem to care. Instead, he patted the wooden planks of the covered wagon beneath him and asked Henry.

"Henry, why didn't you just rent one? Why did you buy a whole carriage?"

Henry sighed helplessly.

"Hey, you don't know, I've asked at several taverns."

"The coachmen and merchants all ran away in fright when they heard that we were going deep into the Golan forest."

"Moreover, this mission will last at least 15 days, so we need to have enough supplies. We can't do without a vehicle. So I gritted my teeth and spent 8 gold coins to buy this carriage."

Seeing the big guy's distressed expression, Mark joked.

"Looks like you've really gone all out this time."

"Absolutely."

Henry's eyes were unusually firm.

Suddenly, the big man remembered something else and took out a brocade scroll from his pocket and handed it over.

"By the way, this is the official power of attorney. Take a look at it and see if there are any problems."

Mark took the reel.

The first thing you feel upon touching it is a cool sensation. The scroll is made of dark blue brocade with silver thread along the edges, and the shaft is a brass round shaft with exquisite engravings.

Such exquisite items are incomparable to those parchment items posted on bulletin boards.

But what truly gives this scroll its significance is the silver-lined "sword x staff" emblem, unique to the Adventurers' Guild, etched on the cross-section of the brass shaft, representing the difficulty level of this quest—

Silver level.