[A crushing victory, you've earned 544.5 experience.]
[You scoured the area and obtained:]
[Ordinary Resources: Wood 45 units, Minerals 45 units, Food 45 units]
[Special Resources: Mercury 5 units, Sulfur 5 units, Gemstones 5 units, Crystals 5 units]
[Gold Coins ×330]
[Building blueprints: Training Ground]
[Basic Treasure: Bone Helmet]
[You've completed the instance task and earned 1650 experience.]
[Your level has increased to LV3.]
After scouting around for a while, Qin Muye discovered there wasn't much of interest in the Skeleton Training Ground and naturally left the instance. The experience from killing monsters, coupled with the instance task experience, directly elevated him from LV2 to LV3, still with a choice of one skill from three options.
[1. Intermediate Academics (Under the influence of the Wisdom Skill, allows reciprocal learning of Levels 1-3 Magic)]
[2. Basic Logistics Skill (Increases land movement by 10%)]
[3. Basic Sailing Technique (Increases sea mobility by 50%)]
The choice was obvious; it had to be Intermediate Academics. The other two attributes seemed quite appealing, especially the Sailing Technique with a direct 50% increase, but the problem was that he was on land. When would he have the chance to go to sea?
He had already positioned himself as an in-house researcher, so in the future, he could simply command his subordinates, there was no need to engage directly in battle.
The Bone Helmet was decent, providing an additional point of defensive power. Qin Muye naturally gave it to his Champion Level Spirit Monster. There was no need for him to charge into battle; for him, being able to escape was enough.
Currently, in the early stages, wild monsters wouldn't attack proactively, so there was basically no danger.
The whole sweep had yielded considerable resources, but unfortunately, it was still a long way from being able to repair the Mage Tower. Once the Wisdom Tree task was completed, he planned to establish several Spirit Monster workshops, aiming to increase the number of Spirit Monsters under him to over a thousand.
As for the Training Ground building, it seemed to not be so straightforward—it could evolve troops from ordinary to elite, yet Champion Level was out of the question.
Having learned the required skills, Qin Muye set out escorted by his Champion Level Spirit Monster to find the Wisdom Tree.
During this journey, Qin Muye's progress in learning the Magic Eye was quite rapid, with only a few nodes left, mainly because this magic was constructed in the eye area, so the difficulty was significant.
If he had relied on "Lord Era," he could have learned it directly, but unfortunately, Qin Muye was self-taught.
Luckily, all of his Talents and Skills were focused on learning aspects, otherwise, it wouldn't be a matter of a single day, but possibly not even a month would have been enough to master it.
The return journey was much quicker than the trip to the Skeleton Training Ground. En route to the training ground, the Champion Level Spirit Monster had bulldozed its way through wild monsters and also picked up a great deal of materials, so the pace had been much slower.
On the way back, however, they had nothing to carry, and with the Champion Level Spirit Monster carrying Qin Muye and hauling three Spirit Monsters at a sprint, the time spent was less than half of the initial journey.
With an impressive 15 attack and 10 defensive power, it could shatter Qin Muye with a single punch; naturally, its speed surpassed both his and the Spirit Monsters'.
Otherwise, how would it be a 2nd order Champion Level?
The Wisdom Tree sensed Qin Muye's return, but its expression held little surprise, indicating that Qin Muye could deduce that the Wisdom Tree was aware of the Skeleton Training Ground situation, and even knew more than he did.
"I didn't expect you to be so quick, little mage, alright, this is the reward I promised you," the Wisdom Tree said without sadness or joy.
[You have completed the clearing task and received a Warrior Promotion Certificate and 1650 experience points.]
Qin Muye checked his inventory and indeed there was an additional promotion certificate, which looked like a manual. What it specifically was would have to wait until he read it.
"Why not use it immediately?" asked the Wisdom Tree, its figure fading as if it wanted to witness the reclassification process.
"It seems that you are not your true self, just an avatar," Qin Muye said with a hint of disappointment. The Wisdom Tree must be at least of hero status and seemed to be restricted in the form of an avatar.
If it was the true self, Qin Muye would definitely dig up the Wisdom Tree and plant it back home, but unfortunately, it was just an avatar, still bound by the rules of the 'Lord Era' game-world, the kind that disappears after being accessed.
Clearly, the Wisdom Tree's avatar had taken a special interest in Qin Muye after seeing him cultivate a Champion Level Spirit Monster and gave him a promotion certificate as a result.
But Qin Muye was not one to be content with his lot. Under the pressure of death, he forced himself to overwork, constantly learning how to cunningly plot.
Where there was not enough strength, there was scheming. From the beginning, he and the Wisdom Tree were testing each other.
He wanted to see what would happen if the Wisdom Tree broke its promise, and the Wisdom Tree also wanted to see how these so-called Lord-given lords created heroes. Unfortunately, neither got what they wanted in the end.
"Let's go, back to the Mage Tower," said Qin Muye, turning to leave. The Wisdom Tree watched his figure intently before finally dissipating.
An avatar that dissipated was of no value to Qin Muye.
What mattered more now was to hurry back to the Mage Tower, as night was falling.
Although during the newbie period one only needed to guard against other lords and not worry about wild monsters, from the situation with the Wisdom Tree's avatar, one shouldn't consider the native residents fools. The emergence of Lord-given lords would surely attract attention from all quarters. With 7 and 30 days of protection, it was highly unlikely these natives could harm the lords, but indirect probing was possible, just like with the Wisdom Tree's avatar.
'I only have four days left of the invulnerability that lasts 7 days, and after that, life will become difficult. And after the 30-day Adaptation Period, it's likely I'll have to confront the natives.'
He understood that the enemies of the lords were not just wild monsters but also included natives.
Like the force to which his Mage Tower belonged and the force associated with the Wisdom Tree.
Currently, they were likely isolated from the natives of the Magic Continent, so Qin Muye had not encountered them yet, and that was the reason for the 7-day newbie period.
'I wonder how many of these thousand people will survive. Without chat channels, trading stores, or forums, it's directly preventing all lords from communicating.'
In Qin Muye's eyes, these lords were natural allies, as they all came from the same world and belonged to the same faction, naturally making them closer than the natives.
On his way back, Qin Muye also mastered the magic of Magic Eye.
[You have learned Level 1 Source Magic: Magic Eye.]
[Level 1 Magic]
[Source Magic]
[Magic Eye: +1 vision for 10 minutes, consumption: 1 Magic Value.]
"At least I've succeeded. 1 Magic Value for 10 minutes isn't expensive, but it's a pity it can only be taught to hero units. Champion Level isn't enough," Qin Muye mused after learning the skill. He had of course tried to teach it to the Champion Level Spirit Monster right away using Intermediate Scholarship, but failed.
Level 1-2 magic doesn't require the Wisdom Skill, while Level 3 magic learning does.