There were two patterns on Morgan's palm, precisely on his Vergina Sun pattern, indicating a person's Magic Arcana rank. Adeline saw clearly that Morgan was just a student with two patterns, a Rune student.
'He only has two patterns on his mark, but why can he cast such powerful magic?' Adeline asked herself.
"Did you master the spell of boosting strength temporarily?" asked Adeline.
"Does such a spell exist?" Morgan asked back, never having known that such a magic spell existed.
"Of course. Such magic spells belong to non-elemental magic spells, such as strengthening magic and so on. However, because the spell's level is absolute magic, it is very difficult for others to learn," Adeline added.
At the moment, Adeline and Morgan sat on a large rock by the waterfall pond, looking at the evening waterfall. Lilia, Parker, and Nancy were busy extracting something from the bodies of the two third-level monsters.
Unlike the red-horned wolf this afternoon, monsters with the third level and above usually had a high complexity regarding extraction. That's why Parker and Nancy came to Lilia's aid.
'I have to get that power enhancement spell. It'll help a lot when fighting enemies with higher strength than me,' Morgan explained.
"Does the academy provide that spell book to learn from?" Morgan asked Adeline.
"It seems so. They keep many absolute magic spells that are known to be powerful. However, it is complicated to obtain them except for one thing," explained Adeline, Morgan was even more curious about Adeline's words until he looked closely at the girl's face.
"What's that?"
"You have to win the second exam," Adeline explained.
"Second exam? I heard that it's an extra exam. Every student is not required to take it. Am I right?" asked Morgan. Adeline cleared her throat as her palm grasped a rock and threw it into the center of the waterfall pool.
"From the stories I heard from the seniors who came to the dormitory. The prize in the Second Exam is as big as a treasure," Adeline replied.
"The student who wins first place in the exam will have the privilege of choosing three items in the Academy's master library," Adeline explained.
"Second place gets two, and third place can only take one," said Adeline.
"So, if you really want to get the magic spell, then you have to win the second exam and go to the Academy's library," added Adeline.
Morgan nodded. At least Adeline's information was quite valuable to him. He could know what he had to do to get the spell from inside the academy. However, the competition would be fierce because it would compete with Arcana students.
Even so, Morgan was quite confident in his abilities. He was sure he could pass this first exam and become a winner in the second exam.
"Alright. That's all for tonight's. You'd better return to your place," Adeline replied, rising from her seat on the rock.
Lilia came near the edge of the pool, calling out to Morgan with a raised hand. The girl said that extracting the third-level monster was successful, and she had gotten a few things from it.
Four plates, two third-level monster essences, three carmine gems, three Amethyst gems, and a gold-patterned lion rib. Morgan looked at the items carefully.
'Gold-patterned lion ribs? Isn't this the material for summoning beasts?' Morgan asked.
He held the rib with his right hand, smiling as if he knew what he was about to do. Adeline looked at the objects, but since she was defeated by the two lions, she had no right to take any of them.
"Just keep them for yourself. You killed it, after all." Adeline excused herself as she walked away and waved goodbye, Parker and Nancy following behind. Morgan took four plates and a gem to give to Adeline.
"Adeline!" called Morgan, Adeline looked back at the young man.
Morgan handed the object to Adeline. Adeline was surprised because what Morgan handed over was an important thing in this exam, the plate.
"At least you helped at first. Take this plate for you," Morgan explained.
"Are you sure? In this exam, even one plate is precious," Adeline asked, making sure.
"Of course." Morgan smiled, not objecting at all. Adeline smiled widely, putting the whole thing into a black pouch while not forgetting to thank Morgan. Parker and Nancy were glad that at least they hadn't come to Morgan's place empty-handed.
Adeline smiled sweetly, returning to say goodbye while inviting Morgan to hunt monsters tomorrow morning. Morgan and Lilia agreed to the idea.
Now, only Lilia and Morgan were still in that place. Two third-level monster essences and a gold-patterned lion rib.
"What are we gonna do with these?" asked Lilia, curious.
"We might as well keep them while waiting for Albert to wake up," Morgan replied, storing them in his black pouch.
Lilia nodded. The two walked together back to the cave where they were hiding. That night, Morgan's group could rest in ease.
***
The next day.
As Lilia expected, Albert woke up from his stupor and found himself inside the cave. Lilia could be seen accompanying him on the side while Morgan had left to catch fish again.
"What happened?" sighed Albert, clutching his head, still hurting.
"You were defeated by an Arcana student," Lilia replied.
"That's right! Where are they? What about Morgan? Did we manage to escape? Did they take all our plates?" asked Albert, blasting Lilia with a thousand questions.
Morgan came to the top of the cave after he was done fishing. He was surprised to find Albert awake and looking fit.
"Morgan?"
"Good morning, Albert. Are you fully recovered?" Morgan asked.
"W-What about our plates?" asked Albert, curious.
"Our plates? Last I counted, we had over 60 plates," replied Morgan.
"Wh-What? 60 plates?" asked Albert.
"Haven't you told him everything yet, Lilia?" asked Morgan, Lilia shook her head.
"I see, huh? I'll explain while we eat. Come on, you must be hungry, right?" asked Morgan.
"Hey, Morgan. Are you awake?" asked someone from outside, Morgan guessed it was Adeline.
Morgan stepped outside and saw Adeline arrive in her armor. She didn't come alone but with Parker and Nancy.
Lilia walked along, with Albert following close behind. Albert saw Adeline's beautiful face. For some reason, Albert's heartbeat was racing even though he was not scared or angry.
"Truly the face of an angel," Albert praised, speaking straightforwardly because of the response from his heart.
Adeline whispered to Morgan after seeing Albert's expression, "Who is that man?"
"He's a member of mine. He was injured quite badly when fighting Arcana's students. You should know, his abilities are also quite great," Morgan explained.
"Hmm... doesn't seem as great as you." Adeline said so because she saw Albert fall due to the slippery stone footing. His body fell into the pool of water, causing Lilia to panic, and the girl went to save Albert.
"He's recovering," Morgan whispered, turning his head to the side to look at Adeline, "So, where is our hunting route today?"
"I've found a cave with a swarm of red-winged bats in it. It looks like no one has explored the place yet," Adeline explained.
'Red-winged bats? If I'm not mistaken, they're second-level monsters, just like red horn wolves,' Morgan explained.
"How about it?" asked Adeline, confirming the readiness of Morgan's group.
"Alright. We'll go after we're ready."