As Saien and Meili were conversing, the chubby Bors—often considered one of the "underachievers" among the magic apprentices—finally finished dealing with a dark creature that had come to shop and walked over to the two of them.
The customers at Bors' shop were increasingly fewer dark magic apprentices, gradually shifting toward the dark creatures and subterranean demi-humans of Mosobura City.
For instance, the dark creature that had just left was a spider the size of a millstone, with eight pairs of legs.
This spider wasn't a magical beast, nor did it possess a magic core.
Though its primary means of communication was an incomprehensible series of hisses, it could still force out a word or two of human speech.
Bors wasn't dealing with it for the first time, so basic transactions and communication were manageable.
Where these spiders came from, Saien didn't know.
He only knew that in Mosobura City, there were quite a few dark creatures like them.
Just like the minotaur tribe, these dark creatures had completely submitted to the rule and authority of the official dark mages.
However, compared to the minotaurs who guarded the city gates year-round, creatures like these spiders were far more low-key and mysterious.
After tossing the black gold he had just earned onto the counter, Bors walked over and clapped Saien on the shoulder, asking, "What kind of mission are you taking on this time?"
"Don't tell me it's another dangerous one. Otherwise, the potions Meili brews won't even be enough for you alone," Bors said bluntly.
"This mission isn't dangerous. It's just a patrol around a few areas outside the city."
"My alchemy experiments and magic studies have been quite demanding lately, so I don't have much extra time to waste," Saien replied simply.
A routine patrol mission was even simpler and safer than his previous task of exterminating the Green-Jawed Featherflocks.
After all, the latter had a clear objective—to kill at least twenty of the creatures.
This time, Saien could probably just wander around for a few days, mark the necessary areas, and call it done.
Moreover, while patrolling, he could easily conceal himself and proceed with caution.
The kind of ambush he had faced last time was almost impossible to happen again.
Saien's answer made Bors nod in approval.
Then, the chubby apprentice brought up the items Saien had given him earlier. "Those three Green-Jawed Featherclaw talons you handed me should sell pretty well. Even that dark spider from earlier was very interested and bought one right away."
"Dark magic apprentices don't use them much, but they're a favorite among the subterranean demi-humans and dark creatures. I never thought you'd actually manage to craft an alchemical item," Bors remarked with admiration.
"It's hardly an alchemical item—just a small trinket with a successful enchantment, the most basic of things."
"Too bad I've run out of Green-Jawed Featherclaw talons. I still have a few beaks left, but they won't last long," Saien said, shaking his head.
"I've got some low-grade magical materials here. The question is, what's your success rate in crafting equipment?"
"If it's too low, I might just go bankrupt," Bors joked.
His words warmed Saien's heart.
Grinning, Saien punched Bors on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'll pay you!"
...
This time, Saien's mandatory academy mission passed without much incident.
After swiftly completing the patrol and marking the designated areas within three days, he promptly returned to Mosobura City.
For a long time afterward, Saien maintained a routine of studying magic, completing academy missions, assisting his mentor with experiments, meditating to strengthen his mental power, and accumulating mana—a life both fulfilling and busy.
In the sunless underground world, few creatures noticed the rapid passage of time.
Even Saien had long grown accustomed to the environment and lifestyle here.
His yearning for the surface world, his memories of the sun and the starry sky, gradually faded into the deepest recesses of his mind.
As time passed, even the image of his mother began to blur in his memory.
This realization left Saien unsettled.
To cope—or perhaps to numb himself—he threw himself even more fervently into his daily studies and training.
...
Three years later.
At twenty years old, Saien had grown taller and more slender than he had been four years ago, his features now sharper and more handsome.
Standing at six feet tall, he was among the taller apprentices.
Not only was he taller than his senior sister Faye, but he had even surpassed his senior brother Zorro and his mentor, Mosido.
Tall dark magic apprentices were rare.
Given the lack of sunlight and certain trace elements in the underground world, it was clear that Saien's height owed much to his genes.
That day, after completing the construction of an elemental converter in his mentor's laboratory, Mosido and Zorro left one after another, leaving only Saien and Faye to tidy up the scattered items on the workbench.
Over the past three years, Saien's growth wasn't limited to his height and appearance—it extended to his mastery of magic and alchemy.
As his mentor had predicted, Saien indeed possessed considerable talent in alchemy.
By now, he had already surpassed Faye in this field, earning repeated praise from both Mosido and Zorro.
The kind of low-tier enchantments he had once carved onto Green-Jawed Featherclaw talons were now beneath him.
Last month, the alchemical item he had handed to Bors was a ring that could barely be classified as a low-grade magical artifact.
It contained a single cantrip—Light—usable once every two hours.
A decent item, it had fetched a high price of 300 black gold.
The cost of crafting that ring, however, had been less than fifty black gold, a testament to the exorbitant profits in alchemy.
Moreover, that ring was the fourth low-grade magical item Saien had successfully crafted in three years.
Initially, luck had played a greater role than skill in his first two successful attempts.
But after countless failures and lessons learned, Saien had developed his own methodology.
Perhaps it wouldn't be long before he could craft equipment imbued with offensive spells.
Even the simplest Minor Fireball or Wind Arrow, once successfully enchanted, would undoubtedly become premium items among low-grade magical artifacts, far surpassing the value of a mere Light ring.
Beyond his progress in alchemy, Saien hadn't neglected his personal cultivation over these three years.
Among intermediate spells, he had added Telekinesis and Flame Whip to his repertoire.
He hadn't recklessly pursued more spells, however, as his mentor had warned him that dabbling in too many at his current level was meaningless.
His mental power and mana reserves weren't sufficient to unleash every spell he knew in battle.
Moreover, spreading himself too thin would only hinder his progress. Instead of wasting time on novelty spells, he was better off dedicating that effort to mental cultivation.
The wisdom of an official dark mage left Saien no room for doubt or argument.
After three years, his mental power had slowly climbed to 38 points.
Though still some distance from the 50-point threshold of a high-tier apprentice, his progress was by no means slow within the Dark Magic Academy.
While he hadn't expanded his repertoire of intermediate spells much, Saien had learned quite a few low-tier spells and cantrips over the years.
Light was just one of them. Among the low-tier spells, the most notable was one he had learned from his girlfriend, Lina—a dark-necromantic hybrid spell: Summon Skeleton.