"Sigh, I say, your spirit beast is really amazing." Mr. Royce leaned against the wall of the cave and panted. "Not only can we talk, but we can also find the cave."
"Brother, how did you train your spirit beast? My owl won't say anything. Teach me." Mr. Royce's eyes were filled with admiration. "I'll train my owl too. By the way, what's the name of your spiritual pet?"
"I don't know how to train it either. Maybe it's talented." Michael observed his surroundings. He felt that it was inconvenient to call it a monster or a little bat every time, so he casually came up with a name and said, "Its name is Kanal."
"Not everyone can learn things that depend on talent." Carl sat on the ground to rest. "Everyone has different talents. Royce, your talisman is potent. I've seen most of the mages' talismans, but they can't compare to yours."
"Of course, my talisman is the first place in the academy competition." Mr. Royce became proud. "Back then, even the charms of high-level mages couldn't compare to mine, let alone low-level ones!"
Apart from the annual assessment, the magic academies on the continent of Tyre would also organize various magic competitions every year.
Generally speaking, in such competitions, mages of different levels would compete in different groups. For example, mage apprentices could only participate in mage apprentice competitions.
However, Mr. Royce was an exception. He had won first place in the mage apprentice talisman competition for three consecutive years, and in the third year, his score was far more than that of the second place. Thus, in the fourth year, the Tyre Continent's Magic Association made an exception and allowed Mr. Royce to participate in the competition between the mages.
The Tyre Continent's Magic Association was where mages were registered and managed on the entire continent. It was responsible for everything related to magic in the world and gathered the most powerful people on the continent. They would arrange some yearly competitions, not just to test the mages' abilities; it allowed ordinary people to admire a mage's strength.
After all, there were still many ordinary people in this world. Mages needed them to acknowledge their own abilities so that ordinary people would be willing to pay for the protection they received regularly.
For a normal apprentice, it was already a great honor to make an exception and join the mage competition. They could brag about it for the rest of their lives.
Mr. Royce even won first place, making him even prouder and more famous on the continent.
But at the same time, he was even more famous for his unbalanced strength, such as his terrible alchemy and ordinary combat ability.
Those people were unable to catch up to his charm ability and were extremely jealous of him. They wished that he would collapse immediately.
"Hmph, so what if the talisman's strength is high? His other abilities aren't good either, and he might be kicked out of the academy before he can even become a mage."
They were whispering in the dark.
When they saw that Mr. Royce had successfully passed the academy's annual assessment because of Michael's help, their mocking voices began to accuse Mr. Royce of being someone else's bloodsucker.
These people were too weak and did not have the ability to compete with others. They slandered others in the dark and tried to find the possible problems in others through various methods.
It was as if they were no longer bugs in the gutter after proving that others were incapable.
"The sandwiches you make are also very delicious." After observing the surroundings, Michael said seriously, "You're a good person. Don't mind what they say."
Michael had inadvertently heard a few of the slanderous remarks about Mr. Royce. After Michael had taught them a few lessons, they no longer dared to speak in front of Michael. Instead, they went to a place where Michael could not see them.
Michael saw how hard Mr. Royce was working. He had been working hard to practice alchemy and other skills he was not good at. He wanted to prove to others that he was not a good-for-nothing who relied on Michael to survive in the academy.
"Let's rest for a while." Michael sat down and relayed the information that Kanal had just told him to everyone. "The scent of the spiritual plants in this cave will cover our scent. The magic beasts wandering outside won't be able to find us. We'll regain our senses in a day and return to the depths of the Dark Forest."
"Moreover, the effect of this potion can only last for twelve hours. If the potion was discovered by the magical beasts within these twelve hours, the magical beasts would target it even if the potion lost its effect. However, it would no longer be effective after it lost its effect. So let's wait here until it loses its effect before we go look for foxtail grass."
"I agree with Michael." Carl had almost recovered, and he agreed with Michael. "And this cave looks relatively safe. However, I suggest picking the finished products of the spirit plants here. They look like they're about to bear seeds."
"The alchemy effect of these spiritual plants themselves is not very good, but their seeds have better healing abilities." Carl pointed at some plants on the wall of the cave. "Fortunately, the location of this cave is not obvious. Otherwise, others would have picked it up before we could find it. "
"We've finally picked up a treasure!" Mr. Royce exclaimed, "This is called a blessing in disguise. Let me see what good things there are." As he spoke, he began to wander around the cave.
"Sigh! What is this?" Suddenly, Mr. Royce's exclamation came from the depths of the cave.
Carl and Michael hurried over and found Mr. Royce looking warily at the humanoid creature lying on the ground.
Blood spread all over his body, and it was impossible to tell if he was a human or a ghost. As if sensing someone coming over, he struggled to get up, but he fell back halfway due to his injuries.
"I'm Eric the elf." The person on the ground spoke hoarsely, "Who are you? Why did you barge into my cave?"
"We are Mage Team Z," Michael introduced.
"Found an investment target! Invest in an elf for a bottle of high-grade healing potion. You will receive an intermediate sorcerer's stone."
Intermediate Sorcerer's Stone! That was something that only existed in legends. After all, it would take several low-level sorcerer stones to refine it into an intermediate-level one. With just one, the magic staff would be upgraded to a top-level magic staff, increasing its attack power by several thousand times.
Michael then asked if the elf would attack them. After all, they had barged into the elf's healing territory.
It would be troublesome if the other party did not have good intentions and attacked them right after it was saved. Although the intermediate sorcerer's stone was excellent, it was obviously not a good idea to help the other party without knowing whether the other party was good or bad and his true strength.