Above the mage

Chapter 137 Poisonous Insect Cultivation

[Spell Combat Practice]:

Serve as a sparring partner in magical combat to improve your own spellcasting skills.

Payment is made per instance, 2 gold coins per instance.

Claim:

The mage's level is third-class mage apprentice or above.

He has mastered and can use more than five combat spells flexibly.

[Fire Lizard Care]:

Help feed the Fire Lizard, a creature from the first ring of the ley lines. This includes feeding it once a day and accompanying it on its outings.

Compensation: Paid monthly, 15 gold coins per month.

Requirements: Fire lizards are highly energetic and have a very high activity level throughout the day; those who accept the task must have outstanding physical strength.

[Refining Machine Trial]:

I tried out the alchemy machine I made, the "Sound Weaving Machine".

This alchemy machine was made by me to capture and weave sounds from nature and everyday life. Your task is to record more than a hundred unique sounds for this alchemy machine.

The task has a one-week deadline.

The reward is 2 gold coins, and priority access to subsequent optimization tasks for this alchemy machine. If you make relevant suggestions and they are adopted, there will be additional rewards.

There are no requirements for accepting this task.

[Take care of the moonflower]:

Please help look after twenty special "moon root grass" plants.

Note: These twenty "Moon Root Grass" plants are my graduation project. Those who lack a sense of responsibility should not accept this task. If the task is not completed and affects my graduation project, I will be required to compensate you!

Compared to the tasks assigned by the academy, these tasks issued by mentors and students are undoubtedly much more comprehensive.

Moreover, the rewards for some tasks are not proportional to their difficulty at all; it seems like they're just throwing money away.

For example, the task of "Trial of Alchemy Machine".

Recording one hundred different sounds in a week is not difficult at all, and it doesn't require much effort.

However, the reward is 2 gold coins.

This is practically free money!

That's normal, since there are many students from the "second generation of magicians" in the Cyrus Academy.

These people are not short of money at all, and they certainly don't lack people to be their "suckers".

Moreover, alchemists themselves are "rich".

Of course, there are also many pitfalls associated with "getting money for free".

Just like the first [Spell Combat Training] quest, it looks easy and the reward is quite high.

However, magic combat can result in injuries, and the mission requirements make no mention of how to ensure safety during sparring or any compensation plan for injuries.

Furthermore, combat spells are among the most secretive spells in a mage's spellbook, and it's not worth revealing everything for a reward of 2 gold coins.

Without a doubt, this mission is a "bottomless pit".

Whether it's "free money" or a "trap" is for the students to decide for themselves.

If you get scammed, you can usually just accept your bad luck.

Just as Gao De's thoughts were wandering, the words on the mission notice board suddenly jumped.

The "Alchemy Machine Trial" task has disappeared from the bulletin board.

Then Gaode Maps saw an old student taking a mechanical device that looked like a music box from the receptionist at the counter.

Clearly, the trial task has been taken over by this veteran student.

This annoyed Gao De somewhat—he had also taken a liking to this task.

In the blink of an eye, the prize was won by him.

Just as he was feeling regretful, Gao De, whose eyes were still subconsciously browsing the tasks, suddenly discovered this task on the task bulletin board.

[Poisonous Insect Cultivation]:

Care for the three types of poisonous insect eggs that I have cultivated. These insects possess unique characteristics and contain potential magical value.

Those who accept the task are required to ensure the successful hatching of the venomous insects, and then promptly process any "defective" insects after hatching, selecting only the qualified ones, in accordance with their own instructions.

Note: None of the three types of venomous insect eggs are ordinary venomous insect eggs. Two of them are eggs of the 0-ring ley line creatures "Fire Kiss Ant" and "Scorpion", and the remaining one is the offspring of the 1-ring ley line creatures "Phantom Centipede" and "Thorn Centipede".

Even newly hatched, these three types of poisonous insects possess a certain degree of toxicity, and care must be taken during the cultivation process to avoid contact with the toxins.

If you are unfortunately infected, I will not provide compensation.

In addition, those who accept the task must master and skillfully use the spell "Detect Poison" to regularly monitor whether poisonous insect eggs show signs of toxicity in order to predict the hatching time of the eggs.

Those who are afraid of poisonous insects should not accept this task, as it may have adverse effects on your physical and mental health!

Reward: Upon completion of the task, you will receive a rare 0-level spell recipe – [Swarm Spawn].

Upon reading the task description and rewards, Gao De's eyes lit up, and he was overjoyed.

Defective products should be handled promptly.

The so-called "handling" actually means execution.

According to the description, there are three types of these poisonous insects: two are 0-ring ley line creatures and one is a 1-ring ley line creature.

Since it is a creature of the earth veins, if it is killed, "Wind Spirit Moon Shadow" can obtain the corresponding source.

The creatures of the first ring of ley lines are powerful, but how powerful can the newly hatched larvae be?

Newborn lions are all easy to handle.

This means that Gaode can collect two 0-ring origins and one 1-ring origin through this task!

Yes, it's the first ring of origin that he would never dare to even think about under normal circumstances!

As for the quest reward, although it's not the most tangible monetary reward, a rare spell recipe is far more valuable than monetary rewards for a high-ranking player like Gaode who is already aiming for "superior feats".

After all, rare spell recipes aren't something you can just get with money.

How many times can you get both the source and a rare spell recipe?

Moreover, he also happens to possess the ability to detect toxicity, which meets the requirements for accepting the mission.

Gao De dared not waste any more time now; if he missed this mission again, he would be heartbroken.

He immediately ran to the mission counter, handed over his identification badge, and formally applied to accept the mission of "Poisonous Insect Cultivation".

Upon hearing that Gaode was preparing to take on the task, the staff at the counter explained in detail what wasn't listed on the task information board:

"This task was issued by Bounty Master Shaw."

"He has been dedicated to researching the fusion of leyline biological toxins and magical potions, and is also an outstanding insect tamer."

"Insect control? There's such an obscure profession?" Gao De thought subconsciously.

"Also, the [Swarm] spell effect causes a temporary swarm of insects, including mites, fleas, and parasites, to appear on the target."

"The advantage of this attack method lies in its unpredictability and strangeness, but the damage is not actually outstanding."

Although the damage isn't outstanding, summoning insects on the target can inflict mental damage, and if the target is female, the mental damage can be doubled. Gao De thought to himself.

"Also, I must remind you that although the mission rewards look very tempting, this mission is not easy."

"You need to take care of a large number of venomous insect eggs that you are cultivating, and their growth cycle is quite long, so it may take one to two months to complete this task."

The more quantity, the better, otherwise how can I collect all the original sources? This shortcoming is actually an advantage for Gaode.

"Such a long time, yet all it yields are spell recipes that can't be immediately converted into profits, which is why this quest is unpopular."

Those who usually take on missions in the logistics department are ordinary commoner mages.

They need to complete tasks to earn money to pay for the courses, and in turn, they need to complete the courses to earn credits.

A quest that rewards a spell recipe is naturally less popular in this case.

It's not that rare spell recipes are bad, it's just that the primary task for students in the academy is still "credits".

Rare spell recipes are more like icing on the cake.

Just like when you're really thirsty, it's not that milk tea is bad, but what really quenches your thirst is pure water.

I only choose milk tea when I'm enjoying myself.

"Are you sure you still want to apply for this task?" After explaining the details and precautions, the staff member asked for confirmation a second time.

"Of course, I'm sure!" Gao De replied without hesitation.

Although he has already sensed the foreseeable financial crisis, he still has some savings and can afford to be a little more "indulgent".

The staff were somewhat taken aback by Gao De's decisiveness, but they didn't say anything more. They started registering Gao De and then handed him a certificate representing his acceptance of the task.

"Take the certificate and go to Instructor Shaw in the Potions Department. He will assign you a task."

"Okay." Gao De took the voucher, turned around and left the logistics department, heading to "Larry Building" where the potion department was located.

Compared to the deserted "Gavon Tower" of the rune system, "Larry Tower" is much more lively.

This is because, although rune masters are considered the top of the three starter families, their numbers have always been extremely small due to the high barrier to entry.

Potions Masters have always been the most numerous of the three starter families.

Gao De entered Larry Building and quickly found his mentor, Shaw.

After he explained his purpose, Professor Shaw did not hesitate and immediately took Gao De to the breeding room he had specially rented to cultivate the three poisonous insects.

(End of this chapter)