Above the mage

Chapter 448 Development Expertise

The weather was perfect as we stepped out of the White Pagoda in the Ocean Abyss.

Gao De let out a long sigh.

This was truly an unexpected delight for the warrant officer mage.

His immediate change of mage rank was to demonstrate his mage talent to everyone.

Under the Sea Sentinel system, exceptional mage talent can bring him many conveniences and privileges.

More importantly, he needs to obtain a great deal from the Plantagenet dynasty, including various precious secret knowledge, which can only be obtained by those in high positions.

As an immigrant and a grassroots mage, in a traditional ancient dynasty like the Golden Bird Flower, the only thing one can rely on to forge a path to heaven is talent.

Furthermore, ordinary talent is not enough; it must be a historical-level talent, an amazing aptitude that would make even the mages of the Golden Flower Dynasty take notice.

Gaode is very self-aware; he knows clearly that he does have some talent, but he is still far from being at a historical level.

However, his thinking was exceptionally clear; he had already figured out a path that suited him:

He also has the resources of the North.

This is something the Golden Plantagenet Dynasty has no way of knowing.

Therefore, in their eyes, all their achievements are due to their own talent.

In summary: what others perceive as Gao De's talent is his actual talent plus the support of resources from the North.

Snowballs always get bigger and bigger as they roll.

Thanks to the resources of the North, he achieved success beyond his actual talent.

Then, relying on such achievements, they can obtain more resources from the Plantagenet dynasty.

With this mutual encouragement, the Six-Eared Macaque became the real Sun Wukong.

For example, the current warrant officer mage is an enormous resource.

Gao De rejected Lieutenant Colonel Grayling's suggestion to postpone his promotion because he had ample confidence in himself.

Before advancing to the second ring, Gao De did indeed need to rely on resources from the Northern Territory to fake his exceptional mage talent.

However, after awakening his second-circle specialization, [True Ice Bloodline], even disregarding the resources of the North, he possessed a historically significant mage talent.

—If he wanted, he could even be promoted to the Fourth Ring Road before he turned twenty.

Of course, this mage talent can only be maintained up to the fourth ring.

But in any case, this already gave him a lot of confidence.

Another point is that the title of the youngest warrant officer mage in the history of the Sea Sentinels is itself a tremendous resource.

Because this title itself is a "story".

In his previous life, many ordinary people made their fortunes by "selling stories" and eventually became capitalists.

This sensational title will act like a magnet, attracting everyone's attention and opening doors that were originally closed to him.

Moreover, from another perspective, his warrant officer status was promoted through Lieutenant Colonel Grayling.

It's not just his age and rank that will cause controversy and attention; Lieutenant Colonel Grayling will also face similar controversy and attention due to his promotion.

Whenever his performance was poor, Lieutenant Colonel Grayling would face the same criticism.

In other words, from this point on, he and Lieutenant Colonel Grayling were in the same boat, sharing both glory and ruin.

By getting a promotion, you can also gain an "ally" at the lieutenant colonel level for free.

Blood earned!

The second-circle spells seized from the Snowfield Guardians can be used to make potions in the North.

However, the potion ingredients for the five second-circle spell recipes that Phoenix himself possessed could only be collected and purchased from the Plantagenet dynasty.

The five second-circle spell recipes are: [Animal Messenger], [Tree Skin], [Blindness/Deafness], [Calm Mind], and [Bear's Resilience].

Now, what he needs to do is to quickly gather the potion ingredients corresponding to these five second-circle spells.

With this in mind, Gaode went straight back to the Vanjoren district.

Although Kensington is the most prosperous area in Dorne, and as a noble district, Kensington also has the largest number of magic supply shops.

However, precisely because of its large scale and excessive commercialization, in pursuit of profit, the shops sell mostly magical materials that can be cultivated and produced in large quantities, with very few sold individually.

However, the main ingredients for second-circle spell potions are all second-tier items.

Once you reach this level of item, it's rare to find them in large quantities.

The Vandrolen district is the mage district of Dorne, with many small magic supply shops catering to mages, and the variety of magic supplies is actually more abundant.

Therefore, auxiliary materials can be purchased from large magic supply stores in Kensington, while it is more reasonable to purchase main materials from Vandroren.

With this in mind, Gao De began wandering around the Van Troon district.

Although the Sea Sentinel's dormitory is located in the Vandrolen district, he usually only goes between the dormitory and the Collingwood Art Museum. So, even though he has lived here for more than half a year, he has not really explored the area properly.

After wandering around for a while, Gaode stopped in front of a small shop called "Old Dwarf's Crucible".

The shop's storefront is very small, resembling a long, narrow cuboid.

This might still be hard to imagine.

It's about the same size as the Zhengxin Chicken Cutlet Shop that opened in a crack in the wall in my previous life.

Despite its small size, the shop window facing the street displays glass bottles filled with fluorescent moss.

This is one of the auxiliary materials required for the [Blindness/Deafness] spell potion.

Gao De pushed open the door and went inside.

A scent mingled with the bitter aroma of herbs and the delicate fragrance of bay leaves wafted towards me.

The shopkeeper was a one-eyed old dwarf who was currently focused on grinding some kind of purple powder behind the counter, the sound of the metal pestle and mortar clashing crisp and rhythmic.

"Kid, what do you want to see?" The old dwarf didn't even look up, his voice hoarse from years of dealing with magical materials. "Don't expect to find mass-produced, generic stuff here. Everything I have is one-of-a-kind."

Gaode pointed to the glass bottles in the shop window by the door.

"I want that bottle of glowing moss. Also," God recalled the main and auxiliary ingredients needed for spell potions, and rattled off, "I also need dark raven tail feathers, silent mushrooms, and moonlight butterfly wings."

When the old dwarf shopkeeper heard Gao De recite such a long list of magical materials as if listing dishes, he finally raised his head.

He looked Gao De over with a surprised expression through his cloudy, one-eyed eye, then stood up and expertly took out three boxes from the shelf behind him piled with boxes, handing them to Gao De.

"I only have three materials here: Moonlight Butterfly Wings, Ironthorn Bark, and Night Blind Spider Silk."

Gao De naturally didn't expect to be able to gather all the magical materials at once. In fact, finding four kinds in such a small shop was already a pleasant surprise for him.

However, he remained outwardly calm.

Unlike large magic supply stores where items are sold at fixed prices, these small, individually-run shops offer items at negotiable prices.

If he acts too desperate, he'll inevitably be taken advantage of and fleeced.

What followed was a fierce, albeit bloodless, round of bargaining.

In the end, the young Gaode emerged victorious, and the seemingly cunning old dwarf shopkeeper was utterly defeated by him.

The old dwarf shop owner was still a little dazed as he watched Gao De leave the shop with the materials he needed.

He couldn't understand how he, who had been in business all his life, could be completely outmaneuvered by Gaode in the bargaining process.

As Gao De left the store, a smile appeared on his lips.

【Emotion Sensing+】is really useful.

Just now, during the bargaining process, he quietly cast a "Perception of Emotions+" spell on the old dwarf shopkeeper.

His mental strength of 233 allowed the spell to take effect successfully.

After the spell took effect, he gained complete control over all of the old dwarf shopkeeper's emotions.

So no matter how eloquently the shop owner speaks, saying things like "this is already the lowest price,"...

Nothing could fool him, because in his perception, the old dwarf shopkeeper's emotions were clearly cunning rather than hesitation and heartache.

It's like a bankrupt version of telepathy.

Therefore, Gaode Maps can always negotiate the price down to the real bottom price.

All four materials were purchased at a low price, saving a full thirty gold compared to the market price.

Still basking in the joy of his successful price negotiation, Gao De continued to stroll around the magic material shop where he had made his purchase.

Finally, he had collected three of the five spell potion ingredients, only missing the ingredients for [Calm Mind] and [Bear's Resilience].

One is missing one auxiliary ingredient, and the other is missing both an auxiliary ingredient and a main ingredient.

The total cost was 615 gold, saving nearly 200 gold compared to the normal market price.

In other words, this single shopping trip recouped the money spent on learning the [Perceive Emotions] spell.

As for the missing materials, Gaode was not in a hurry.

As a sea sentinel mage, traveling all over the country and going on "business trips" is a regular occurrence for him.

When you go on missions to other regions, you can visit the local magic supply shops and you'll definitely be able to gather the materials you're missing.

With that thought in mind, Gao De lost interest in searching for the remaining magic materials and took a ride back to the Walmart magic material store.

He first concocted three magical potions with all the materials he had already purchased, drank them all, then took the high-grade blood food he had brought back from the Northern Territory and headed towards the Azure Wave Court where the foster children were being raised.

Clear sky.

The water plants that emerge from the water sway in the wind, like green ribbons dancing in the water.

Tiny duckweed floats on the lake water near the shore, like a light green veil covering the lake surface.

The dumplings floated lazily on the water, their round bellies peeking out to enjoy the lake breeze and sunshine.

With a long-term supply of high-level blood food from Gaode, its growth rate is astonishing, far exceeding that of other porpoises of the same age.

This is the charm of scientific feeding.

So much so that when they returned to Biboting, their former "friends" began to envy it.

Seeing the envy of its peers, the capybaras made Tuanzi feel much happier. It couldn't help but swish its tail contentedly, splashing up a few small water droplets.

Suddenly, its nose twitched slightly, as if it had sensed something. With a "carp leaping out of the water," it flipped over and its short limbs moved rapidly in the water, splashing up a string of water droplets, and swam quickly towards the shore.

Upon seeing this, Gao De, who had just arrived at Biboting, smiled and took out a piece of high-grade blood food with blood streaks from the leather pouch at his waist, casually tossing it onto the water.

The dumpling leaped into the air, its massive body tracing a graceful arc in the sunlight, and precisely caught the bloody prey in mid-air.

It chewed greedily, its sharp teeth making a "crunching" sound as it bit into its bloody food, and soon swallowed it whole.

Then, it eagerly approached the shore, gently rubbed its wet nose against Gao De's palm, and made "ooh ooh" sounds, its round eyes full of anticipation.

Gao De knew what Tuanzi was trying to express, so he leaned forward, stroked Tuanzi's round head, and a slight magical fluctuation appeared at his fingertips as the power of [Beast Link+] was unleashed.

Soon, he received a clear mental fluctuation from Tuanzi.

"You don't want to stay in the Azure Wave Garden anymore?"

Tuanzi nodded vigorously.

It is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

Having seen the scenery outside and experienced the stimulation of the outside world, Tuanzi felt uncomfortable being left in this small Bibo Garden, as if it were locked in a cage.

In order to persuade Gao De, Tuanzi sent another message.

"Living in natural water systems can help you grow faster, and the increased activity can also improve your digestion and absorption of food?"

Gao De raised an eyebrow, his fingertips stroking the dorsal fin of the dumpling, sensing the urgent emotion it conveyed.

The unchanging pond in the Azure Wave Garden flashed through his mind, contrasting it with the complex ecosystem of the wild waterways. His eyes flickered slightly, and he asked again, "Approximately how much longer will it take you to reach the second tier?"

Six months to a year. A vague concept of time emerges in my consciousness.

In a natural water system, it might only take half a year, but in the Azure Wave Garden, it would most likely take a year.

This is equivalent to saying that comfort leads to decadence, while danger leads to progress.

The benefits of raising dough balls in natural water systems are obvious, but the downside is that natural water systems harbor many dangers.

After considering it for about ten breaths, with a heart full of anticipation, Gao De finally nodded.

Strong flowers cannot be grown in a greenhouse.

Furthermore, if Tuanzi wants to break through its bloodline limitations and grow into a second-tier or higher beast pet, training is also necessary.

Having made his decision, Gao De stopped hesitating and immediately ended the foster care, putting the dumpling into a capybara bag and taking it to the Great Swamp Water System around Dorne.

The reeds swayed in the wind, and the long cry of a heron could be heard in the distance.

Gao De untied the bag, and the dumpling jumped into the water with a "plop," its excited cries mingling with the splashing water.

"But you can't go too far. I need to be able to find you when we're on a mission," Gao De instructed.

Tuanzi nodded repeatedly.

Gaode didn't waste any more words and waved his hand.

The dumpling excitedly plunged into the water, making two gurgling sounds, creating ripples on the lake's surface before quickly returning to calm. It was unclear where it had gone to splash around.

Gao De shook his head helplessly.

This is somewhat similar to raising a child.

The circular venue, with its dome supported by cast iron beams and pillars, is illuminated by magic crystal lamps that light up the open space in the center of the venue.

The ten tiered seating areas were full of people.

The central arena was covered with a dark red carpet, and iron pillars stood at the four corners, with curved sword-shaped decorations welded onto them.

This is a fencing arena, a venue for competitive fencing activities, but it is not a fencing school or a place for exchange; its nature is more like an underground boxing gym.

Gao De entered the fencing venue amidst a warm welcome from the goalkeeper wearing a half-mask.

The reason he came here is that after awakening the Zhenbing bloodline, Gao De's cultivation pressure has been greatly reduced. He plans to take some time to actively trigger the [Adaptive] feat and specifically improve his combat power.

Adaptive technology is a specialty with unlimited growth potential.

Previously, he mostly triggered the "adaptive" function passively.

The main reason is that he has too many more important things to do and simply doesn't have the time and energy to focus on developing [adaptive] technology.

But now, he has the energy and time for it.

(End of this chapter)