Chapter 137 - 136: Poisonous Insect Cultivation

Chapter 137: Chapter 136: Poisonous Insect Cultivation

[Magic Combat Trainer]

Serve as a Magic Combat Trainer to improve my Casting Technique.

Payment per session: 2 Gold Coins.

Requirements:

Mage Level must be Third-class Mage Apprentice or above.

Must be proficient in and flexibly use more than five types of Combat Magic.

...

[Fire Lizard Rearing]

Assist in rearing the 1st Ring Earth Vein Creature, the Fire Lizard. Responsibilities include feeding it once a day and accompanying it on outdoor activities.

Reward: Paid monthly, 15 Gold Coins per month.

Requirements: Fire Lizards have boundless Energy and require an immense amount of daily activity. The person accepting this task must have outstanding Physical Strength.

...

[Alchemy Machine Trial]

Test the Alchemy Machine I manufactured, the "Sound Weaving Machine."

I built this Alchemy Machine to capture and weave sounds from Nature and daily life. Your task is to record over a hundred unique sounds for this Alchemy Machine.

Task duration: One week.

Reward: 2 Gold Coins, along with priority acceptance for subsequent optimization tasks for this Alchemy Machine. If relevant suggestions are provided and adopted, there will be additional rewards.

Requirements: None.

...

[Tend to Moonroot Grass]

Help tend to twenty special stalks of "Moonroot Grass"...

Note: These twenty stalks of "Moonroot Grass" are for my graduation project. Do not accept this task if you lack a sense of responsibility. If you fail to complete the task and affect my graduation project, compensation will be required!

...

Compared to the tasks issued by the academy, these tasks posted by instructors and students were undoubtedly much more diverse. Furthermore, the rewards for some tasks were completely disproportionate to their difficulty, making it seem like picking up free money.

Take the [Alchemy Machine Trial] task, for example. Recording a hundred types of sounds in a week posed absolutely no difficulty and wouldn’t consume much Energy. Yet, the reward was 2 Gold Coins. If that wasn’t picking up free money, what was?

However, this was also normal. After all, Cyrus Academy had many students from "Second Generation of Magic" backgrounds. These people were not short of money, so there was certainly no lack of suckers willing to overpay. Besides, Alchemists themselves were inherently wealthy elites.

Of course, corresponding to the "free money" were many massive traps. The first task, [Magic Combat Trainer], looked easy and offered a relatively high reward. However, injuries were entirely possible during Magic combat... yet the task requirements made absolutely no mention of how safety would be guaranteed during the training process, nor did they outline a compensation plan for potential injuries. Moreover, Combat Magic was meant to be the most strictly guarded secret in a Mage’s Magic Library. Exposing one’s entire arsenal for a mere 2 Gold Coins was simply not worth it. Without a doubt, this task was a huge pitfall.

Ultimately, it was up to the students themselves to judge whether a task was "free money" or a "massive trap." If they fell into a pitfall, they usually had no choice but to accept their bad luck.

While Gaode’s thoughts were wandering, the text on the task bulletin board suddenly jumped. The [Alchemy Machine Trial] task vanished from the board. Gaode then saw a senior student retrieve a mechanical device resembling a music box from the receptionist at the counter. Clearly, the trial task had already been accepted by this senior. This left Gaode feeling a bit vexed—he had had his eye on that task too. In the brief moment he had spaced out, the opportunity had fallen into someone else’s lap.

Just as he was regretting his hesitation, Gaode, whose eyes were still subconsciously browsing the board, suddenly spotted another task.

[Poisonous Insect Cultivation]

Care for three types of Poisonous Insect eggs I cultivated. These Poisonous Insects possess unique characteristics and hold potential Magic value.

On the premise of ensuring the successful hatching of the Poisonous Insects, the person accepting this task must promptly handle the "defective products" after hatching according to my requirements, filtering out the qualified Poisonous Insects.

Note: The three types of Poisonous Insect eggs are not ordinary Poisonous Insects. Two are eggs of the 0th Ring Earth Vein Creatures, the "Fire Pattern Ant" and the "Scorpion," while the remaining one is the offspring of a crossbreed between the 1st Ring Earth Vein Creatures, the "Phantom Centipede" and the "Thorny Centipede."

Even newly hatched, these three types of Poisonous Insects possess a certain level of toxicity. Caution must be exercised during the cultivation process to avoid contact with toxins. If you accidentally fall victim to the poison, I will not provide compensation.

Additionally, the person accepting the task must master and proficiently use the Magic [Detect Poison] to regularly monitor the Poisonous Insect eggs for the appearance of toxins to predict their hatching time.

Those afraid of Poisonous Insects should not accept this task to avoid adverse effects on your physical and mental health!

Reward: Upon completing the task, you will receive a Rare 0th Ring Magic Formula—[Insect Swarm Spawn].

...

Upon clearly reading the task description and reward, Gaode’s eyes lit up, and his heart swelled with joy.

Promptly handling the "defective products"...

"The so-called handling actually means execution," he thought.

According to the description, there were three types of these Poisonous Insects. Two were 0th Ring Earth Vein Creatures, and one was a 1st Ring Earth Vein Creature. Since they were Earth Vein Creatures, killing them meant that the "Wind Spirit Moon Shadow" could acquire the corresponding Origin.

A 1st Ring Earth Vein Creature was incredibly powerful, but how strong could newly born larvae be? Even a newborn lion was defenseless. This meant that Gaode could collect two points of 0th Ring Origin and one point of 1st Ring Origin through this task! Yes, a point of 1st Ring Origin—something he wouldn’t even dare dream of under normal circumstances!

As for the task reward, while it wasn’t the most practical currency, a Rare Magic Formula was far superior to a monetary reward for Gaode, whose sights were already set on a Super Specialization. After all, a Rare Magic Formula wasn’t something that could be obtained just by having money. How many times could he stumble upon such a beautiful, two-birds-one-stone situation where he could gain both Origin and a Rare Magic Formula?

Moreover, he coincidentally possessed the [Detect Poison] Magic, fulfilling the requirement for accepting the task. Gaode didn’t dare waste another second. If he missed out on this task too, he would truly die of heartache. He immediately rushed to the task processing counter, handed over his identity nameplate, and formally applied to accept the [Poisonous Insect Cultivation] task.

Hearing that Gaode intended to accept this task, the staff member behind the counter provided him with a detailed explanation of the details not listed on the bulletin board.

"This task was posted by Instructor Mr. Shore from the Magic Potion Department," the staff member explained. "He has been dedicated to researching the integration of Earth Vein Creature toxins and Magic Potions. At the same time, he is an outstanding Insect Master."

"An Insect Master... what an obscure profession," Gaode thought absentmindedly.

"Also, the effect of the [Insect Swarm Spawn] Magic is to temporarily manifest a swarm of bugs, including mites, fleas, and parasites, on the target’s body," the staff member continued. "This method of attack excels in being unpredictable and bizarre, but its actual damage isn’t very outstanding."

"Even if the damage isn’t outstanding, summoning bugs on the target’s body can still inflict mental trauma. If the target is a woman, that mental trauma could even double," Gaode secretly mused.

"Additionally, I must remind you that although the task reward looks very tempting, this task is not easy," the staff member added. "You will need to care for a large number of cultivated Poisonous Insect eggs, and their growth cycle is quite long. Therefore, completing this task might take one to two months."

"It’s precisely the large quantity that makes it good. Otherwise, how would I gather enough Origin?" Gaode thought. For him, this downside was actually an advantage.

"Such a long time commitment yields only a Magic Formula that cannot be immediately converted into profit, which is why this task isn’t very popular."

Generally, those who accepted tasks at the logistics department were commoner Mages from ordinary backgrounds. They needed to earn monetary rewards by completing tasks to pay for their course fees, thereby earning credits through their completed studies. Under these circumstances, a task rewarding a Magic Formula was naturally less popular. It wasn’t that a Rare Magic Formula was bad, but rather that a student’s primary objective within the academy remained earning credits.

A Rare Magic Formula was merely icing on the cake. It was like being truly thirsty—it wasn’t that milk tea was bad, but only pure water could truly quench that thirst. One would only choose milk tea when looking for a treat.

"Are you sure you still want to apply for this task?" the staff member asked, confirming for a second time after explaining the details and precautions.

"Of course, I’m sure!" Gaode replied without hesitation.

Although he could already sense a foreseeable financial crisis, he still had some savings for now and could afford to be slightly "indulgent."

Seeing Gaode so resolute, the staff member was somewhat taken aback but didn’t say anything further. They helped Gaode register and then handed him a voucher signifying his acceptance of the task.

"Just take this voucher and go find Instructor Shore in the Magic Potion Department. He will assign the task to you."

"Understood." Gaode took the voucher, turned to leave the logistics department, and headed to the Larry Building, where the Magic Potion Department was located.

Compared to the desolation of the Rune Department’s Gavin Building, the Larry Building was far more bustling. This was because, although Rune Masters were considered the head of the Three Royal Families, their numbers had always been extremely small due to the staggeringly high barrier to entry. On the other hand, Alchemists had always boasted the largest population among the Three Royal Families.

Upon entering the Larry Building, Gaode quickly located Instructor Shore. After stating his purpose, Instructor Shore wasted no time, immediately leading Gaode to the Cultivation Room he had specially rented to breed the three types of Poisonous Insects.