"This guy! I hope to never see him again!", Lafa thought.
"Argh, now I feel bitter because of him! This jackass! Jerk!", she used up 5 minutes of her life to think of all kinds of words to insult Sun.
...
"Demon Shadow Plant!"
After searching for an hour, Sun found the plant. Now, he needed to wait for it to ripen, open itself, so Sun can take out the seeds.
"Sylvie, can you estimate the time of bloom?", Sun asked.
"Oh, this one? A Demon Shadow Plant? You found a quite interesting plant. It'll probably ripen in two hours. Do you need me to create an illusion barrier for you in case of others finding it?", Sylvie asked.
"Sure that would be nice"
...
In the group Sun just passed was the guy Sun met before. Marvin Herrmann. He was greatly embarrassed by Sun during the Exam, so he held a grudge against him.
"Tsk, that Sun Reed. A human on top of that! Balad Magic School - I still got in after the loli girl degraded my scores.", Marvin kicked away a stone.
"When I see him ever again, I'm going to give him a good beating. I'm at Intermediate Rank 2 at the moment. He's human, so his cultivation should be really slow. His exam scored might be good, but if he doesn't have a high Ranking, his talent is wasted... HAHAHA", Marvin kicked away a bigger stone.
"Boss, the Plant should be around here.", a group member walked to Marvin.
"Is your information correct? I don't even see shadows around here, so how's a high-class plant like the Demon Shadow Plant growing here? Do you take me as a fool?", Marvin got mad.
"Boss, no. This should be a reliable source...", the guy shivered while he talked.
"Tsk, search this area! We definitely need this plant! This will help me with my Shadow element! If you don't find it, then not only I'll not pay you - I'll also make sure you won't find another job!", Marvin threatened them.
"This young master is too cruel.", the rest of the group thought.
...
Inside the illusion barrier, two hours eventually passed.
The Demon Shadow plant opened itself giving off a sweet fragrance.
"1, 2...3! Three Seeds!", Sun found himself lucky enough.
Sun took the Seed and almost immediately, the plant lost it's color and withered away.
"Hehe... a 300-year-old plant died like this...", Sun found it hilarious.
Then he turned to Bell and called him over.
The little guy played with a demon insect and nearly killed it.
*Hizz*
Bell turned excited after seeing the Seeds.
"Here eat them.", Sun placed them on the ground for Bell.
The lizard used its tongue for the Seeds to stick to them and swallowed them in one guy.
"..."
After eating, shadow element engulfed Bell like a fire prison.
Sun could hear some screeching of Bell and thought the process of advancing must be very painful.
*Boom*
The lizard shell exploded and dragon-shaped black-spirit-like Bell was reborn.
*Grrr*
"Oh, are you alright little one?", Sun asked.
In any case, Bell cannot be called 'little one' again, since it's as big as a tiger now.
Sun thought that the Spirito Forming Stage is sure strong. Bell grew so much bigger. He was not the little lizard anymore. Little dragon may be more suitable.
"Well, then. I've achieved my goal for today. Let's head back. Sylvie, you can deactivate your barrier.", Sun said.
"Okay, but be careful, there are a group of people outside. They're probably searching for the plant as well.", she said.
"No problem as long as they're not Master Rank.", Sun was pretty confident in himself since he endured a hell training for two years and looking back. He learned quite a lot from the old geezer.
...
"Boss, the surroundings are changing to a dark forest.", the same group member said to Marvin.
"What? Is there somebody here?", Marvin was infuriated that someone else came earlier than him.
"If you find anyone here - seize him!", he commanded.
"Haha, now you need some Advanced Ranking people to help you bully the weak?", Sun stood on a tree branch.
"SUN REED! Get your ass down and kneel before me if you want to come out of here alive!", Marvin said with a shameless smiled on his face.
"Today is the day I'll get my revenge!", he thought and the Demon Shadow Seeds were second priority for him now.
"Haha. If you're a man, come and fight me one-vs-one.", Sun provoked him.
He knew this guy from the Examination. Marvin tried to bully him and though he was trash back then. Sun got much stronger than before and suppressed his powers to be seen as Beginner 3 Rank.
"Ah, sure! You're only Beginner 3?! I'll show you true power! Today is the day I'll cripple your useless human body.", he said and jumped up to the tree branch in front of Sun.
"Young Master!", the guy was a bit worried. If anything happened to Marvin, he would be the one responsible for it.
"Don't butt in. This is a personal matter.", Marvin said and dashed without warning to Sun.
Sun yawned and looked a bit bored after evading his sword slash.
"You look down on me? Merely a Beginner 3!"
"Have a taste of my Dimension Splitting Blade."
Marvin cast a spell on his sword and it started to gather shadow element.
"Here!"
"Bell, time to see your power.", Sun gave Bell the signal to attack.
Since Bell's intelligence had been enhanced, he could understand Sun's gestured and interpret them right.
*GRRR*
Bell absorbed the Shadow Element attack of Marvin.
"HOW? Who's this guy?", Marvin was confused that his killer move was just eaten by a little dragon.
"My creation? Problem?", Sun asked with a bored face.
"Tsk. Hehehe...guys! Get him!", Marvin said and pulled back.
"Hm, not very manly I see. You're a coward.", Sun said and activated his Soul Origin.
"Time for punishment.", he said and cracked with his bones.