Level 4 Wizard Apprentice.
Still boosted by drugs.
But regardless, Ronan is now a bona fide Intermediate Wizard Apprentice and also a Rune Master.
Thinking back to a few months ago when he first arrived, it felt like a pitiful dream.
"The drugs must not stop..."
Having experienced the sensation of the experience bar skyrocketing in an instant, it became hard to level up step by step honestly.
After all, it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to revert.
The key is, Ronan feels that he can continue taking drugs without any issues.
"The biggest downside of using spiritual power-enhancing potions is that the boosted spiritual power is impure and contains many impurities.
Generally speaking, after the second use of the Concentration Potion, the spiritual power enters a 'plateau phase' where it temporarily stops growing."
"During this stage, ordinary meditation no longer has obvious effects, and meditation won't increase spiritual power, and there might even be cases where spiritual power decreases after meditating..."
"This is a process of self-purification of spiritual power after taking drugs, removing the impurities."
This was what the sales lady at the Pharmacy told him when he bought the Concentration Potion.
But...
"Why haven't I encountered this problem?"
Ronan was a bit puzzled.
After taking the Concentration Potion twice, his spiritual power still grew during meditation.
"Is it because of my exceptional talent? Or because the Basic Meditation Technique has broken through to the Expert Level?"
Ronan thinks it's most likely the latter.
Perhaps it's also related to his practice of Ascetic Body Refinement.
Practicing Ascetic Body Refinement was indeed very painful, and amidst the pain... his mental will was unconsciously tempered.
A reasonable explanation.
It's also thanks to the rapid growth of his spiritual power that Ronan's progress in Ascetic Body Refinement has been swift, and he has already reached the Proficiency level, now starting to try the second posture action written in the manual.
"Although the plateau period is gone, there's still drug resistance.
The effect was significantly less the second time, not even half a level up.
The third time, fourth time... the effects will continue to diminish.
It's said that for many, after the fifth time, it completely stops working."
"Well, no matter, just keep taking it for now, and when it no longer works, switch to a higher level potion."
Ronan is quite indifferent about this; if it was his original talent, he probably wouldn't be able to break through to become an Official Wizard even if he trained to death.
He was born with poor talent, and without relying on some external aids, the gap with others would only widen.
Energy Missile has been intensely practiced by him for over a month, brutally pushing the proficiency up nearly three hundred.
Those are three hundred points at the Expert level where each point requires casting two or three times, and even more later on.
To reach three hundred proficiency in a month, on average, Ronan had to cast Energy Missile over thirty times a day!
Considering Ronan's commitment to Rune engraving, Body Forging, and meditation, it shows how determined he is about this spell.
"Just another month of intense practice, or at most two months, and the proficiency level of Energy Missile can be improved again..."
Ronan is looking forward to this immensely.
An Expert Level Energy Missile can break a Double Rune's Protection Magic Tool; if it gets further upgraded, wouldn't its power be comparable to an Advanced Zero Rank Spell?
Being proficient in one is better than knowing a hundred.
Now Ronan isn't even planning to learn higher level offensive magic; instead, he'd rather get Energy Missile to Level up.
Unknowingly, he reached the entrance to the forest.
Ronan was about to step into the shaded area down the forest trail when suddenly, a breeze blew.
Leaves of grass and trees rustled.
A yellowed oak leaf drifted past Ronan's eyes with the wind.
Watching the leaf slowly touch the ground, Ronan suddenly realized...
Hoddam... had already entered autumn.
...
Dwarf Market.
Ronan, wearing a brand new grey Magic Robe, walked out of a shop specializing in Wizard Robes, his face still lit with novelty and joy.
He bought a new robe.
An official Wizard Robe, which cost him fifteen low-level magic stones, enchanted with Low Zero Rank Level Rune of[Clean]and[Constant Temperature], and he even got a finely made pointed Wizard Hat.
Following the principle of not flaunting wealth, Ronan deliberately chose a robe that looked similar in color and style to the one he had worn before, so ordinary people wouldn't notice the difference, assuming he had just changed into a new regular long robe.
"No need to wash my clothes myself anymore.
The effect of [Constant Temperature]will be just right for the upcoming winter..."
Ronan thought, looking up, only to see that the leaves of the Charming Trees lining the central street of the Dwarf Market had already begun to turn slightly yellow.
The temperature was no longer as hot as before, and Ronan, practicing Body Forging Technique, was particularly sensitive to this slight change in temperature.
Shaking the hem of his long robe, Ronan headed out of the market.
As usual, he came to sell engraved Rune Stones and bought some engraving materials and daily necessities.
On his way to the market exit, Ronan kept seeing well-dressed Wizards, whose demeanor and conversation clearly set them apart from the typical Wandering Wizards, coming and going, entering various shops.
"There seem to be a lot more Academic Wizards shopping at the Dwarf Market lately..."
Ronan even saw several high-level wizards with cold expressions and imposing auras, as if they were surrounded by an invisible halo, hurriedly passing through the streets.
Those who gave off such an impression were generally Level 9 Wizard Apprentices with almost one foot in the door of becoming Official Wizards.
Such characters were rarely seen in the market on normal days.
Though puzzled, Ronan didn't dwell on it too much, guessing that there might be some kind of collective activity at Hoddam Wizard College recently.
It's said that Academic Wizards hold internal competitions every once in a while, partly to examine their cultivation but also to hone their combat abilities, ensuring they don't become rusty.
After all, many Academic Wizards, due to their privileged conditions, don't need to fight tooth and nail for resources, and some even forget spells they had mastered long ago due to their deep immersion in research.
"Could it be that the college is about to hold some major competition?"
Ronan speculated wildly.
This matter, naturally, had nothing to do with him, a small Level 4 Wandering Wizard Apprentice who had just barely escaped the poverty line; he was merely curious.
After exiting the Dwarf Market's gate, Ronan considered his next destination.
"It's still early, maybe I'll stroll around the Wizard Market, then find a restaurant for a meal?
The thin pies and herbal pudding from that restaurant last time were quite good; I might go there again..."
Just as he thought this, Ronan suddenly noticed that there seemed to be quite a few people gathered at the town's entrance, and more were continuously heading in that direction.
Everything had been normal when he arrived in the morning.
Ronan's eyes twinkled, and he followed the crowd to where they were gathering.
Along the way, he overheard conversations around him containing words like "Black Robe", "conflict", "Official Wizard", "Academic Genius", continuously flowing into his ears.
Finally squeezing into the densest part of the crowd, Ronan saw everyone looking up in one direction.
He looked up as well, and his pupils quickly constricted.
At the entrance of the town, an imposing wooden stake had been erected at some point.
At the top of the stake, a body clad in a Black Robe, gruesome and blood-drenched, was nailed there.
In the crowd, someone sighed deeply, speaking in a heavy tone.
"Black Witch Land's Wizards have launched an invasion... Hoddam is about to descend into chaos!"