Second World

ʼInteresting. Well, I have some extra coin, I guess I will start investing in this shop,ʼ Jack said. ʼThere is nothing you want me to buy at this moment, right?ʼ

”There are many things I can suggest you for spending your coins on. But yes, it is still better if you use it to invest in this shop first. This shop doesnʼt look too shabby despite its location at the outskirt of the business district.”

With Penielʼs blessing, Jack approached Amy at the counter.

”Good morning, Mister Storm Wind!” She greeted sweetly. ”Do you want to get any bread for breakfast?”

”Not at the moment,” Jack replied. ”I would like to invest in this shop.”

Hearing Jackʼs intention, Amyʼs expression beamed with a charming smile. ”We will be glad if itʼs you, mister Storm Wind!”

”Please stop calling me Mister, it sounds so distant.”

Amy thought for a while, before saying, ”very well, then. I will call you brother Wind from now on.”

She then opened up the shop interface for investing. Jack proceeded with the instruction given by the system. He then handed 50 gold coins to Amy. His wallet was immediately reduced to 16 gold coins left.

Once the investment process was completed, a notification sounded in the area surrounding the shop, ”Amyʼs bakery will be undergoing renovation. Please complete your pending transactions within five minutes. The shop will be closed for one day for the renovation process.”

”Renovation?” Jack was surprised by the notification.

”Of course, do you think the shop will stay the same after getting investment funds?” Peniel commented. ”After renovation, the shop will likely increase in size, and its merchandise quality and quantity will also likely to increase.”

ʼI see… Then thatʼs mean I wonʼt be able to sleep here tonight.ʼ

After five minutes passed, the entire shop was covered by a thin layer of opaque cloth. The cloth looked fragile but when Jack tried to push through, it was surprisingly sturdy. The shop would be non-accessible until the enigmatic cloth was removed.

Jack didnʼt think too much about it. He left the bakery soon after. He wanted to apply for his Mage advance class this morning, but before he did, he made a stop at the Blacksmith Workshop which he had used before. He bought 5 steel ores which were the stock at the shop next door, then he paid 50 silver coins to use the workshop that had the rare tools.

Inside the workshop, he took out the unusable 10 common equipment and 2 uncommon equipment which he had stored in his inventory. He then dismantled them all at the forge. He received 12 iron ores, 2 steel ores, and 1 copper ore from the dismantling.

He used some of the iron ores to make 5 Whetstones. He then used 45 iron ores to upgrade the levels of his equipped helmet, shoulder piece, arm piece, belt, and boots all to level 21. With these upgrades, his total defense had increased further.

Physical Defense = 252

Magical Defense = 233

Itʼs time to go to the Mage Academy for the advanced class, Jack thought. He then left the Blacksmith Workshop and went to the neighborhood where the academies were located. The area around the academies had more players compared to the last time he was here, probably because many players had started to reach level 15 and had also found out about the class change, so they came to try it.

After looking around, he found that the Mage academy was in fact next door to the Healer academy where he had asked for direction three days prior. The inside of the Mage Academy was much more organized compared to the Warrior Academy, but also less occupied. Within the foyer hall, there was only one wizened old man in full traditional magician garment, complete with the pointy hat. He was flipping through the pages of a book beside one of the tall bookshelves which lined up one whole section of the wall.

As there was no one else to ask, Jack approached the old mage.

”Greetings, sir. I am here to apply for Mage advanced class,” Jack said in a respectful tone.

The old mage glanced at Jack for a moment before returning his attention to the book. With his eyes still on the book, he made a gesture with one hand pointing at the large stairs at the opposite end, and said, ”second floor, green door.”

That was helpful, Jack thought sarcastically, but did not let himself show any dissatisfaction. ”Thank you,” he said with the same respectful tone.

He then went up the stairs as instructed. At the floor above, he came to another large hall with most of the walls covered by bookshelves again, and it was also empty. He turned around trying to find the green door mentioned by the old mage below, but couldnʼt find any door, green or other colors. There was an opening that led to a hallway though. Since he could see no other path from this hall, he went into that hallway.

When he walked into the hallway, he was astonished to find the left side of the hallway was a verandah that opened up to spectacular scenery of nature. The scenery showed the building to be on the higher part of a valley overlooking a lush valley filled with greeneries. He could hear the sound of birds and occasionally one or two of them would fly by. There was a mountain not far with a beautiful waterfall, its water fell from the edge of the mountain into a crystal-clear lake below. He could also see some deer drinking the water from the lake.

Was this an illusion? Jack thought while observing the scenery. The building was clearly inside the capital, how was it possible for him to watch such a natural view from here?

He went to the railing of the verandah. He could even feel the breeze. He walked along the railing as he admired the scenery outside. While he kept on walking along the verandah side of the hallway, he realized there were doors along the wall to the right side of the hallway. In fact, he had passed through three such doors. He went back and made sure that none of those doors was green in color.

As he continued along the hallway, he finally found a green color door after passing by five other doors. He wondered if it was the right door, but since there was no other clue, he could just try going in.

He went through the door and saw the same old mage that had given him direction standing at the center of the room. The room was a circular shape with no windows and no other door apart from the one he had entered from. He was confused, did the old mage went past him and entered the room while he was distracted by the scenery outside?

The old mage gestured for him to approach. Beside the mage was a thin rod that stood by itself at the center of the room. The rodʼs height was to his shoulder and there was a large green gem at its end.

When Jack came before the mage and the rod, the mage touched the green gem and a series of runic symbols appeared. The row of runes hovered in the air for a short while before dispersing. Then seven orbs of light came out of the gem and hovered in front of it. Six of them formed a circular formation while one was at the center of the formation.

”Form a spell formation from the runes just now using the mana from these orbs,” the old mage spoke. ”If you want to see the runes again, touch the gem, but all prior progress will be reset. During the trial, your inventory will be locked. You have three hours. If you fail, you can only try again after three days had passed.”

After finishing his sentence, the old mage walked out of the room with indifference, leaving the dumbfounded Jack alone in the room.

”What was that?” Jack finally exclaimed after some time.

”The instruction for Mage class trial,” Peniel said matter-of-factly as he came out from her hidden dimension.

”I know, but why is the trial like this?”

”What? Do you expect to fight wooden puppets again like in the trial for Warrior class?”

”Well… Kinda.”

Peniel rolled her eyes at him. ”Not every trial was about combat. Especially for magic users, your control of mana is more essential. This trial tests your memory and concentration, your brute force way is useless here.”

😉