"So what is the final trial?" Mike asks Synthia
"It is... difficult to say the least," She answers cryptically
"Come on now, I helped you this much I might as well help you finish this," Mike says
"..."
Synthia does not say anything for a good while as she seems to be having a mental battle in her head on whether to tell Mike her last trial that Dorthia has given to her. Now she did not want Mike to flat out reject helping her as it was something incredibly dangerous and difficult to do.
"Alright, the final trial is... to slay the black dragon Ulthug that has made a lair to the north of the capital city in the mountains and recover an artifact of Dorhtia's church," Synthia says deciding to tell him
"That's it?"
"Wh- Yes that is all I need to do..."
"Oh well I thought it would be something worse but this is perfectly fine," Mike says casually as he goes over and rubs Orion's head
"..." Synthia is at a loss for words as to Mike's reaction to a dragon
She had thought that he might be scared and completely reject helping her which was why she was reluctant to tell him the final trial that she had to face since without him dealing with a dragon would be substantially more difficult for her as she could not do it alone. Only a few powerful individuals in the entire world could actually slay or defeat a dragon on their own but those people were extremely few to the point where they could be counted on both your fingers and toes and still have room for more.
"You... aren't worried about the dragon?" Synthia asks
"Hm yeah I ain't worried about it I have had a few dealings with dragons before so I should be able to help you get back your artifact," Mike says casually as if it is a regular thing for him
"Wha..." Synthia is stunned with how casual Mike was about this whole thing
Dragons were probably one of the strongest creatures in the world with some of the more powerful ones being worshipped as Gods by some people. Still, Mike acting this way she would have thought he was probably insane as getting even close to a dragon is rare let alone having some dealings with them.
Of course, Mike was referring to the times when he encountered dragons in Dungeons and Dragons. It literally had 'dragon' in its name so you were bound to encounter a dragon regardless of who you are playing with because first off dragons are cool and powerful, and second dragons are great creatures who like to horde treasures and can help people depending on the color that they are.
The prospect of treasure was definitely appealing to Mike but he was not that greedy as there would always be a chance for gaining more riches in the future plus if he stole from a dragon's stash of loot he would be cooked alive depending on the type of dragon it is. There were many types of dragons in the D&D world but Mike was not really sure if they were the same as this world's dragons and even then he was not sure about their personalities and traits, so he would have to take it slowly.
Researching about dragons would be the best bet for Mike to do so but the thing is that there might not be enough information for Mike to utilize and also he could not yet read...
"Look Synthia I will help you out with your final trial since my master and I will be going back to the capital once we are done here," Mike says
"When are you going to leave then?" She asks
"I don't know yet as my master is the one doing most of the work while I spend my time on the sidelines"
"Oh well I guess we can leave together than just tell me a day before you both leave so that we can go together," Synthia asks
"Sure no problem I will tell you once he is done with what he came here to do," Mike says
"Well then I will take my leave then so until then farewell Micheal," Synthia says as she gets up and leaves the inn
Mike smiles wryly as she left him to deal with the bill.
Still, Mike does not really complain and pays for the food before getting up and going back upstairs into his room.
'Well that was interesting to watch, I think you like her' Sarenthia says
She had listened in on their conversation a bit like a sort of third wheel on a date that was there but essentially ignored.
"I ain't got time for love," Mike says
'Sure you don't' She says sarcastically in his head
"What? Do I find her attractive yes, but do I have the time to fall in love? No, I don't,"
'Well, you still have feelings for her now don't you?' Sarenthia questions
"Of course I do who wouldn't have feelings for a beautiful lady that could break every bone in my body with a single punch"
'... You know what I mean'
"Yes I do know what you mean but I am not going to fall in love or have any sort of any person regardless of how beautiful, strong, or rich they are," Mike proclaims
'...'
"Anyway do you want breakfast or not?" Mike asks
'Sure'
Mike unsheathes Sarenthis and drags his finger along the blade to draw blood and feed Sarenthia. It felt like Mike was getting a papercut but he tries to not think about the slight pain that much as he feds Sarenthia her 'breakfast' in a sense.
Sarenthia would take a bit of blood from Mike in the morning to stay active and whenever he killed something she would drain the blood from the corpse after he took what he needs from the corpse of the creature. She would generally not need to drain blood in battle as she would be leaving Mike unprotected so she would only do that as a last resort of needing some excess energy to burn quickly in a fight like the one that happened back underground.
Mike was thinking more about his system as he was worried about how he was going to get that thing online again since it needed more mana Mike could use some mana crystals to speed up the process but he was not sure if it would be enough as everywhere he goes a mana dead zone follows him. At least that showed him that the system was still there working on doing whatever it was that it did. That brought some comfort to Mike at least.
He could probably buy a few mana crystals from the Castleburns since mana crystals were not that hard to come to by for the rich while the common folk had a harder time getting their hands on one so Mike could probably get a few from them. Still, he did not really want to ask them for help in this matter since Mr. Castleburn wanted to kill him for kissing the hand of his daughter before he left.
Mike only did that cause he wanted to and piss off the noble Mr. Castleburn. In Mike's opinion, he kind of deserved it as he was a creepy father probably from what he saw when there at their manor. It was worth it as well, so he had no regrets for his actions.
All that aside Mike might be able to find an unrefined mana crystal at the market as someone may be selling them while not knowing their worth.
Unrefined mana crystals look just like regular rocks at first glance, but if magic crafters refine them they can make it into a mana crystal depending on the amount of mana in them. The problem is that people cannot tell if a seemingly regular rock has the potential to become a mana crystal since the method to find them requires an extremely strong magic user to cast a spell to check the rocks. From what Dike told Mike about mana crystal's there is only one individual in the kingdom who can do this spell and that is Grand Wizard Grosso.
Mike however wants to try his luck with his newfound mana seeing the ability to see if he can find unrefined mana crystal rock to utilize them to help his system get up and running again. Mike liked not having to roll for anything he did but he needs to access his spells, inventory, and other aspects of the system that he has.
Mike had tried training himself to cast spells by himself but he soon concluded that he needs to relearn the cantrips that Dike had given him since the system just did the hard work for him. Of course, he tried but as soon as he opened up the book that Dike gave him he realized that it was going to be tough to do the spells anytime soon.
Besides chanting the spell and using weird hand gestures like most regular spells need there was another step that Mike needed to do which was create a magic circle. Creating a circle allows a magic user to cast spells of the spell level. Mike did not have that, so that was his first problem and if he attempted to make one, he would need to have total concentration for a good 4 to 5 hours to make just a magic circle for cantrips alone.
Once Mike created the circle then he would have to embed the circle with the spells that he would use which would take even longer to add to the circle than actually making it. This would be an extremely complicated process just to be able to cast spells and even after all of that if one did not have the ability to cast spells then the circle would be destroyed and the person would suffer a severe backlash.
Mike knew he could cast magic through the system per se but by himself, Mike was not really that confident in finding out because from what he had heard from Dike the backlash is deadly to some people with varying degrees of severity depending on the spell. This made Mike extremely scared at attempting to make a magic circle and going forwards with the other steps that there are since he was not really sure if he could live if he attempted it on his own. Mike would have to wait until the system was available to him so until then he has only focused on training his body and mind through the exercises to actually be of some use in a fight.
Mike finishes up feeding Sarenthia and places her back in his scabbard before he looks at Orion who was acting a bit weird. He was just staring at the door not moving at all as if entranced by it. Mike gets up and opens the door cause he thinks that Orion may just be wanting to go downstairs and outside to go to the bathroom, but he instead moves to Dike's room door and stares at it.
Mike who is confused tries the door to find it locked before he takes out a spare room key that Dike gave him to his room. Dike had a spare key to Mike's room as well in case anything happens they both can get into each other's rooms even if they are locked. After Mike unlocks the door Orion walks on in and sits down in front of the drawer on the nightstand in Dike's room which was near the bed. Seeing this Mike is confused but he still opens the drawer to find a badge similar to the Royal Wizard badge that Dike has, but the one in Mike's hand was smaller, had a different color, and had different decorations than Dike's.
It was pulsating in a reddish hue that seemed to be beating just like a heart would in a rhythmic tempo. Mike picks it up and as he does the red glow of the badge stops and changes into a solid green color and stops pulsing.
"Please state your name" A robotic voice rings out from the badge
"Um... Micheal Bridlington" Mike says giving his fake name
"Identity verified, welcome Micheal," The voice says before the green glow disappears
"Um... what was that?" Mike mutters to himself
"This is the apprentice badge, here you can ask any question related to your standing or class amongst your peers and teachers"
Mike did not get what this badge was saying to him at all since he never was told by Dike.
"What can you do then?" Mike asks
"Answer questions, give directions, insight, ideas, and more" The badge responds dumbing it down for him
"Well, where is Dike then?" Mike asks as he had not seen Dike all day even though it was early in the afternoon by now
"There is no Royal Wizard named Dike in the archive's databanks"
"Then what was the name of the wizard who left this for me then?" Mike asks
"Searching..."
"The Royal Wizard who has taken the apprentice Micheal Bridlington is Royal Wizard Daniel"
"Alright then where is Royal Wizard Daniel?" Mike asks as he wanted to know where Dike is even though it was the early afternoon he was not back yet
"Royal Wizard Daniel is currently in Irondale city and is unconscious"
"Wait what?!" Mike screams out loud
"Where is he in the city?!" Mike asks
"Location to Royal Wizard Dike cannot be given to the current user due to low status" The badge responds
"He is unconscious I need to help him!" Mike shouts at the badge
"Location to Royal Wizard Dike cannot be given" The badge responds again irritating Mike even more