Chapter 13 - News
One day, Raynor was walking to the trade area to buy some new Rank 0 spells, as he had just broken through to Rank 2 Acolyte level. For now he had only learned 5 Rank 0 spells as the spells that he could buy in the trade area were quite expensive. This time he was here to buy 3 new spells, because he had saved up quite a few magic crystals by selling the potions he was able to sell, without drawing too much attention to himself. He wanted to buy one spell more than others and it was the Rank 0 spell - Flight. It was a dream for every human to be able to fly without the use of technology in his previous life.
He made his way to the stall to buy his spells when he heard the stall owner speak to him, "Hey, Raynor you are finally here. I have been waiting for you to come by to sell your new potions. You have no idea how many people are looking for potions to protect themselves in the upcoming event." On hearing this, I was confused and asked,"What event are you talking about, Daniel? I haven't heard anything interesting happening recently." I had been selling all my potions to Daniel, he was a Rank 3 acolyte and he always gave me good prices. Over the last 3 months, I had refined many potions that my mentor taught me. Although I did not sell all of them, I did sell a portion. When Daniel heard my confusion, he looked at me with surprise. He said, "You seriously do not know about the secret realm that is going to be opened soon?" Seeing my ignorant look, he continued,"The three academies are opening the joint secret realm in 6 months. All the acolytes will be competing against each other in the secret realm in order to determine the quota for the academies for the trip to the twilight zone. You may not know that the three academies, Lighthouse of the Night, Nox Academy of Magic and the Ronan Academy have a joint teleportation portal to the twilight zone but they cannot transport too many acolytes as it would be too expensive. So, they decided to open the secret realm to select 15 acolytes that they would take with them when they go to the twilight zone. The selected acolytes would have a chance to join an organisation there. You know, you should really pay more attention to the latest news. The other acolytes have already started buying potions and spells for the upcoming competition."
When I heard his words, I was dumbfounded as this was the first I was hearing about a secret realm and the academies having a joint teleportation portal. I wondered if I had truly been living under a rock. In the past few months, my main focus had been on my potioneering as I wanted to gain better proficiency at refining. I had even brewed some potions described in the inheritance. Though the potions I could currently brew were only useable for protecting myself from Rank 3 acolytes for now. But, I was certain that in 6 months, I should be able to produce some potions that can even protect me from Rank 1 magi. Thinking of all this, I understood why I did not know any of the latest news as I had been holding myself up in my personal laboratory trying to better myself in potioneering. I really need to pay more attention to my surroundings, I thought.
"Daniel, Thank you for telling me the news. I really appreciate it. For now, I am here for our exchange. As promised, here are the potions you requested. I hope you have the spells I had wanted." I said, handing him the box filled with potions. He took them from the table and started analysing them. After a while, he agreed to the trade and I had the 3 spells I had been hoping to get in hand. I bid him goodbye, and made my way to my room. Once I got there I had the A.I. Chip scan them and send them to my brain. Although I could not practise them here, I made up my mind to go to the spell testing area sometime this week to test them.
In the last few months, I had been too busy with potioneering and had neglected my knight training. I had been stuck at the peak of Grand Knight level still. It seemed like my previous estimate was wrong when I thought I could become an Elemental Knight by the time I become a Rank 2 acolyte. At the rate I am cultivating, it will still take me about 4-5 months till I can become an Elemental Knight. I also want to reach peak Rank 2 by the time the secret realm opens. In the secret realm, I am sure there will be many killings. Although I should be able to protect myself if I can breakthrough to en elemental knight in time, but I do not want to reveal my knight training above the Grand Knight level. So I need to become a peak Rank 2 acolyte in order not to draw attention to myself in case I end up killing a Rank 3 acolyte. I can just say that I had better potions and I had trapped the other party. I am sure I can be selected to be sent to the twilight zone. As for whether or not I will return, it depends on the cultivating conditions in the current twilight zone.
I made up my mind to become an elemental knight as soon as possible. I also would need a good artefact. It is not easy getting your hands on a good artefact as they are quite expensive. So, I figured I would have to ask my mentor if he knows a way to get one. Although my inheritance has a few easier to make artefacts, I had not really tried my hands on refining artefacts. So, it would be better to get my hands on one made by someone professional. Thinking of all this, I made my way to my mentors laboratory to ask for his advise.