"This Magic Stone Flower is quite worth it."
Ronan exclaimed.
After selling the runes, the enthusiastic workshop clerk promoted their main magic tool products to him for a long time.
If Ronan had enough Magic Stones in his pocket, he might have actually bought one of the low Zero Rank Level magic items.
"Can't afford magic tools, but I must replace the rune engraving knife, the old one is worn to the point it might affect the success rate of engraving..."
Ronan suddenly remembered this, subconsciously turned around to go back to the workshop, but the next second he gently slapped his forehead.
"Stupid!"
"Buying things should definitely be cheaper from street stalls! Go to the Wizard Market!"
Because things went smoothly, Ronan had plenty of time for this trip.
With eighteen low-level Magic Stones in his waist, Ronan walked boldly through the Wizard Market filled with stalls.
He roamed until the sun was low in the sky, then walked out of the town.
He spent two low-level Magic Stones at a miscellaneous stall and bought a good quality rune engraving knife.
Although it was second-hand, the material used was a special metal called tungsten silver, and both the feel and durability were much better than Ronan's original one.
Originally, he planned to find a house to live in the town's residential area once he had money, but after being shown around a few places by a housing agent, Ronan was not quite satisfied.
Town life has its benefits: safety and convenience.
But there are also many downsides, such as being noisy and crowded, and wanting to have some quiet time alone for cultivation still requires spending money to go to a special Magic Training Room, or else just heading to the wilderness.
Now Ronan no longer felt as insecure as when he first crossed over. After living more than two months in a treehouse, he gradually got used to life in the forest.
After thinking it over, Ronan eventually decided to put the plan of moving into town on hold.
"Better to save more money, then just go live at the academy..."
On the way home, Ronan stood on a high slope near the forest, looking at Hoddam Academy shrouded in white mist in the distance, and silently made up his mind.
Although it seems like he's slowly getting on track, the road ahead is still tough.
To keep progressing steadily on the path of a wizard, he ultimately has to be at the academy, where there is a true complete and systematic inheritance.
This is almost impossible to achieve as a Wandering Wizard.
"Hoddam..."
Ronan took a deep look at the mist-shrouded center, his lips slightly mouthing, then turned around, holding his money bag as he ran toward the forest ahead.
.....
The days went by calmly, one after another.
Ronan's daily routine was still a strenuous cultivation.
Having a character panel, his current self is almost a completely different person compared to his previous life. Now, he is tireless in any activity that can increase his proficiency.
Watching the values on the character panel slowly increase, even the most mundane training does not feel boring.
"Drip-drip-drip—"
Sweat dripped from his chin onto the wooden floor, spreading out into a clear, dark patch.
In the stuffy cabin, Ronan was shirtless, wearing only a pair of white shorts, his whole body in a twisted posture that was almost eerie, half-lying on the ground.
His face was red and tight, his teeth biting his lower lip firmly, prominent veins on his forehead, with mist steaming from his head, as if enduring tremendous pain.
If there were outsiders present, looking closely at Ronan, they would notice his body was contorting in an incredibly slow motion toward a more extreme posture.
It's unknown how much time passed.
Suddenly a crisp "snap" sounded in the cabin, like something suddenly breaking.
Followed by a series of "crackling" booming sounds.
The Ronan who was still a second ago, now sprang up from the floor like he was having a cramp, with the continuous popping sounds of muscles and bones coming from his body.
After the "spasmodic hopping", came sweat pouring like rain.
Ronan's pores seemed to burst like a flood, with large drops of sweat rapidly oozing from his body, forming "streams" on the surface that trickled into the cracks of the floor beneath his feet...
Moments later, the nearly dehydrated Ronan sat on the ground, weak and listless, but his face could not hide his joy.
"Damn it, I've finally managed to enter the gateway of this torturous Self-torture Technique..."
"Pain can stimulate the growth of spiritual power, so conversely, the increase in spiritual power can naturally enhance my tolerance to pain... This method really works!"
"I'm truly a genius!"
With a face full of pride, Ronan pulled up his character panel.
[Name: Ronan Damien]
[Age: 16]
[Talent: No Attribute Affinity]
[Strength: Level 3 Wizard Apprentice (45%)]
[Skills: Basic Meditation Technique (Mastery 221/400)
Energy Missile (Expert 288/800)
Charging Weapon (Proficient 67/200)
Rune Engraving—Clean (Proficient 77/200), Shining (entry-level 21/100)
Ascetic Body Refinement (entry-level 1/100)]
Compared to more than a month ago, Ronan's attributes had undergone a tremendous change.
Among them, the most exaggerated was the realm of strength, advancing directly from Level 2 Apprentice to close to halfway through Level 3 Apprentice.
The reason for this was...
Ronan had taken drugs!
Drinking a bottle of Concentration Potion worth twenty low-level magic stones, his spiritual cultivation increased by more than one level.
The reason for drug-taking was simple, Rune Engraving!
After reaching proficiency level in the [Clean] Rune, Ronan was not satisfied with the meager profits of Zero Rank Low-level General Rune and began dreaming of the substantial earnings from Intermediate and even Advanced runes.
For Intermediate Zero Rank Rune and above, the difficulty of engraving is one thing, the main requirement is the level of spiritual power of the Rune Master.
For instance, Intermediate Zero Rank Rune requires the spiritual cultivation of an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice.
Apprentice Level 9, ranks one to three count as Beginner.
Four to six rank as Intermediate, and Advanced corresponds to seven to nine, with Level 9 Apprentice moving upwards to Official Wizard.
Intermediate Wizard Apprentice signifies at least the standard of a Level 4 Apprentice.
Ronan had calculated that with his talents, even with a high proficiency in Meditation Skill, reaching Level 4 Apprentice would still take at least one to two years.
He couldn't wait.
Thus, he chose to take drugs.
"It's all necessary investment in the early stages... Besides, the strength gained from the potion I drank is still my own... it's all profitable!"
And indeed, this proved to be the case; Ronan had already begun to see substantial returns at this stage.
Although he had not yet reached Level 4, the Level 3 spiritual power made him increasingly adept at engraving the [Clean] rune, and with the increased proficiency, the success rate of engraving [Clean] rune had approached one in two.
It also enabled Ronan to unlock a new rune—[Shining].
Like [Clean], [Shining] is a Zero Rank Low-level Rune, albeit with a slightly higher difficulty in engraving and a higher price, with Weiling Workshop offering two magic stones per rune.
However, Ronan felt that the effect of [Shining] Rune wasn't as significant as [Clean] Rune.
[Shining] Rune merely adds aesthetic appeal to magic tools, purely enchanting a light effect.