Chapter 149 - 148: [Insect Swarm Spawn]

Chapter 149: Chapter 148: [Insect Swarm Spawn]

At Cyrus Academy, a complete academic year was calculated from the Frost Gold Moon of the current year to the Frost Gold Moon of the following year.

Credits earned beyond this timeframe were counted toward the next academic year, a schedule that perfectly overlapped with the academy’s recruitment period.

However, there were also members of the "Second Generation of Magic" who were sent to the academy before the recruitment period even arrived. But it was entirely a myth that their academic year would be longer than that of the new students who entered through the assessments. A Magic Academy with thousands of years of legacy would never have such a low-level loophole. For these "new students" who entered early, the academy calculated their first academic year starting from the exact date they joined.

For example, Gaode had entered Cyrus Academy on the second day of the Dark Night Moon. Thus, his first academic year ran from the second day of the Dark Night Moon this year to the second day of the Dark Night Moon next year. Following a one-month gap, his second academic year would adhere to the standard schedule, starting from the Frost Gold Moon and ending at the close of the Frost Gold Moon the following year.

Of course, to this Second Generation of Magic, the measly rewards from the credit rankings were beneath their notice. But "credits" had many uses within the academy. Even they needed to earn as many credits as possible; that was indisputable.

Upon learning about the new student credit rankings and the corresponding massive rewards, Gaode was instantly tempted. One hundred Gold Coins were enough for him to purchase more than a dozen 0th-Ring Magic Formulas. Naturally, he wanted to fight for this reward.

Had it been any other year, Gaode would have had a very good chance. Because he had broken Dean Gavin’s record during the entrance mission, he was rewarded with a full 5 credits. Combined with the Mage Level settlement, even though he had just enrolled and hadn’t yet taken a single course, Gaode already possessed 10 credits. Compared to the other new students, he was starting the race with a massive head start.

The problem was that this year was different.

Among this year’s new students, there was an absolute freak who had advanced to a 1st-Ring Mage at the mere age of fourteen—Yulan.

First was the credit awarded for the Mage Level assessment: a First-Class Mage Apprentice received 1 credit, a Second-Class Mage Apprentice received 2 credits, a Third-Class Mage Apprentice received 3 credits, and an Early Period First-Ring Mage received 5 credits. That alone totaled 11 credits, already surpassing Gaode’s 10 credits.

Furthermore, if a student advanced to a 1st-Ring Mage before the age of twenty, they were rewarded 3 credits, with an additional 1 credit rewarded for every year earlier than that. Since Yulan was fourteen, his bonus credits for reaching the milestone early amounted to a whopping 9 credits.

In other words, just by enrolling, Yulan would obtain 20 credits. Combined with the 2 credits from the entrance mission, he was starting the year with 22 credits!

Gaode, who had always looked down on the masses when it came to grades, felt immense academic pressure for the very first time. He had currently elected to take eight courses. If he completed all of them and passed their assessments, he would earn a total of 13 credits, bringing his total to 23 credits, just barely surpassing Yulan’s 22.

The caveat, of course, was that there was no way Yulan wouldn’t take any courses for an entire year. His credits were definitely going to increase.

Deep in his bones, Gaode possessed a fierce tenacity. Under these circumstances, any normal person would realize that getting first place was highly unlikely and would instead set their sights on second place—after all, the reward for second place was only 20 Gold Coins less than first. Yet it was precisely this unlikeliness that ignited Gaode’s fighting spirit.

There was no "settling for second while aiming for first." The goal he set for himself was strictly first place. To achieve this, he had two approaches: take as many courses as possible, and meet certain standards set by the academy to earn extra bonus credits.

On the 20th of the Frost Gold Moon, his stock of Leakless Water fruit drinks was finally depleted.

On the 27th of the Frost Gold Moon, the usage time for the One-Tier Cultivation Room he had previously purchased was almost running out, leaving Gaode with no choice but to spend 10 Gold Coins to buy another forty hours.

And on this very day, another event occurred. The 269 Poisonous Insect eggs that Mr. Shore had estimated would take a month and a half to fully hatch were left with only 3 unhatched eggs today—the thirty-fourth day since Gaode had accepted the mission.

As an academy instructor, Mr. Shore didn’t fuss over this tiny remnant with a student, directly opting to settle Gaode’s wages early.

"Out of the 269 eggs, 266 have hatched so far," Mr. Shore noted. "After you filtered out the defective ones, there are 79 Fire Pattern Ant larvae, 54 Scorpion larvae, and 29 Illusory Thorn Centipede larvae remaining, making a total of 167 qualified Poisonous Insect larvae.

"The qualification rate is about sixty percent. Here is the extra reward I promised you." After inspecting the Poisonous Insect larvae in the large incubator, Mr. Shore nodded in satisfaction and handed Gaode five Sean Gold Coins. "As for the mission reward, you’ll have to claim it at the Logistics Department yourself. I’ll inform them shortly that you’ve completed the mission."

Gaode accepted the 5 Gold Coins, nodding in gratitude as he retrieved the secret key to the Cultivation Room from his pocket and returned it to Mr. Shore.

Completing the mission eleven days ahead of schedule and receiving an extra 5 Gold Coins in compensation made Gaode feel incredibly refreshed as he left the Cultivation Room. It was hard to say whether the higher-ups in the academy were good or bad, but at least the majority of the instructors were quite decent.

Rushing over to the Logistics Department’s mission hall, Gaode lined up to settle his mission. True to his word, Mr. Shore had already confirmed with the Logistics Department that he had completed his task. After swiping his identity nameplate, the staff member handed the mission reward to Gaode.

Rare 0th-Ring Magic Formula: [Insect Swarm Spawn].

He tucked away the Magic Formula. He wasn’t in a rush to return and construct the Magic Model; instead, he began browsing the mission bulletin board in the hall. Since the [Poisonous Insect Cultivation] mission was complete, Gaode intended to see if there were any other suitable missions for him to take.

He was short on money! Even in the Extraordinary World, one had to engage in a work-study lifestyle.

Since most academy missions either had Mage Level requirements or specific knowledge prerequisites—requiring the completion of certain courses before they could be taken—it truly wasn’t easy for someone like Gaode, who was still in the "starting from scratch" phase, to find a suitable mission.

However, his luck was quite good today. After just a few glances, he noticed the mission bulletin board suddenly flicker. The next second, a new mission appeared at the very top of the board, indicating it was a mission issued directly by the academy.

[Mountain Patrol]: A Magic Array failure in the Magic Pet Department has caused a large number of captive Red-Eyed Sparrows to escape into the academy’s back mountain. Help the academy promptly patrol, expel, and hunt down these Red-Eyed Sparrows to prevent them from affecting the back mountain’s ecological environment.

The mission compensation is settled based on the number of Red-Eyed Sparrows hunted. A reward of 1 Gold Coin will be given for each Red-Eyed Sparrow killed. (The sparrow’s eyeballs will serve as proof for settlement.)

There is no Mage Level requirement to accept this mission. This is a long-term mission with no limit on the number of participants or a time limit.

Note: Aside from hunting the Red-Eyed Sparrows, picking any plants in the back mountain is strictly prohibited. Violators will be severely punished.

Red-Eyed Sparrow: A 0th-Ring Earth Vein Creature. Raised by the Magic Pet Department for high-altitude reconnaissance. Due to specific Nature training, they are highly vigilant, excel at hiding, and are not very aggressive.

The entire Cyrus mountain range, including the back mountain and the attached water area beneath Kuli Cliff, was the academy’s property. Students were not allowed to approach without permission, let alone privately harvest and acquire resources from these areas. For example, the Maiden Clams in the Kuli Cliff waters were equivalent to fish raised in a pond by its owner. Diving into the water to harvest clams without permission was tantamount to embezzling academy assets. Even with permission, like during the entrance mission, the harvested clams had to be handed over; it was merely equivalent to working part-time for credits. Otherwise, Gaode would have made a living out of it long ago, and wouldn’t be agonizing over money right now.

While lost in thought, Gaode had already approached the mission processing counter, submitting his identity nameplate to apply for the [Mountain Patrol] mission.

There was no harm in taking it. For a mission with zero restrictions like this, even if he didn’t necessarily do it, he might as well accept it first since there was no penalty for failing. Besides, Red-Eyed Sparrows were Earth Vein Creatures. Completing this mission would not only earn him a Gold Coin reward but also allow him to obtain Origin.

After the staff member recorded his entry, they handed Gaode a pass to enter the back mountain, a map of the back mountain with marked restricted zones, and a portrait of the Red-Eyed Sparrow so he wouldn’t mistake his target. They also provided some reference materials, including the Red-Eyed Sparrow’s preferred habitat environment and common hiding methods.

"Most of these restricted zones are the Magic Potion Department’s planting areas, and they’re protected by Barriers or Magic Arrays. However, you should still try to avoid getting close to them if possible," the staff member warned, pointing at the restricted zones marked on the map.

Taking the materials, Gaode nodded at the staff member to show he understood, then turned and left.

Upon returning to Building 30 in the First District, Gaode hurriedly took out the Rare Magic Formula he had just acquired and started looking through it.

[Insect Swarm Spawn] (Curse Magic, 0th-Ring):

You cause mites, fleas, mosquitoes, and other insects to temporarily appear on a creature within Casting Distance (30 feet) that you can see. Depending on the target’s physical constitution, they will take a certain amount of toxin damage and suffer from negative statuses such as itching and numbness.

After reading the spell description for [Insect Swarm Spawn], Gaode instantly understood why it was a Rare Magic Formula.

Just as the staff member in the mission hall had introduced, the damage of this spell wasn’t outstanding. Negative statuses like itching and numbness weren’t exactly fatal in combat. The method of attack, while novel, was just that—novel.

However... this spell was actually a Directional Skill!

It had no casting trajectory; as long as the target was within the Casting Distance, the spell would take effect directly on them. This was equivalent to coming with two built-in secondary effects: a 100% hit rate and an Instant Effect.

It truly deserved the title of a Rare Magic Formula. Facts proved one thing: Ordinary Magic wasn’t necessarily weak, but the reason Rare Magic was rare was that it definitely had its outstanding points.