Netheril’s Glory
Chapter 23: Returning.

Punk, who had just been promoted to trainee level (level 5), began to eagerly learn trainee-level spells on his way back to Konola City.

Soon, Punk found out that trainee level spells were only the upgraded version of apprentice level spells.

So, in theory, as long as you master the basic knowledge of apprentice-level spells, it should be easy to learn trainee-level spells, but Punk, in fact, found out that it was not the case.

The trainee-level spell models were made to hold two times more mana and exert far greater power than the apprentice level spells, so its structure was also far more complicated.

So even with the help of the system, the learning process of the trainee-level spell was still far more difficult than the apprentice-level spell.

There was also something else that was troubling Punk, That was he got very few trainee-level spells from his knowledge inheritance, and from what Punk has seen at the exchange table of the Mage union, the price of a trainee-level spell is outrageously high...

Punk felt grateful toward the original body's parents for the amount of knowledge they left for him, because if they hadn't, then Punk, as a rogue mage, had to spend a large amount of time and effort to buy them from an organization.

The preciousness of such common spells was also one of the important reasons why there were so few rogue official-level mages.

But the Mages with an inheritance don't have to face these problems. (In general, someone can only become a candidate for the inheritance after they accept a teacher/mentor,

but they have to spend money to buy training resources before becoming an inheritor).

These "scholar/ academic" mages also have access to a lot of high-level magic knowledge, which means they can greatly enhance a spells' effects through various experiments, like spell combinations.

For example, the combination of "Astral Oil" and "Fireball" has an effect comparable to the spell "Blaze" but consumes only one-third of the latter's mana.

Also, most academic mages can learn a variety of rare and powerful spells, sometimes even unique secret skills for free; So their methods can be said to be unpredictable.

In contrast, rogue mages generally only learn a few very common spells, they have very few combat methods and limited knowledge, and their skills are also not powerful.

So even with far more combat experience, the rogue mages are usually at a disadvantage when they encounter the same level academic mage, not to mention that they don't have powerful backings(Mentor).

Higher the level of knowledge is, rearer it is; Punk now knew that "his" parents were amongst the lucky rogue mages because there was at least some high-level knowledge in their inheritance.

Now the trainee level knowledge was barely enough for Punk, but it will be a stretch when it comes to the official level. As for the knowledge of the legend level? There was none.

Punk feels that he has to come up with some plans for the future. Although Punk was still a long way from the official level, it might be too late to change anything when he finally reached that level,

so Punk was planning to wait until he returns to Konola City and start searching for an official mage who intends to accept disciples.

"But these things can wait until I settle down."

Punk sighed lightly. After returning to Konola City, His top priority was to exchange the alchemy potion formula and start his own alchemy workshop.

Although high-level professionals don't care about money because secret skills are so precious that no amount of money is enough to buy it.

But at least at the lower-levels, money still has a considerable influence.

For Punk, time always flies quickly when he learns and practices Magic; Now, he can already see the shadow of the Konola city's wall in the distance.

It finally reminded Punk that he has been walking in the wasteland for three days!

In these past three days, Punk was not interrupted a single time when he was studying new spells.

Whenever any wandering beasts felt the pressure brought by the Punk's trainee level soul, they ran as fast as they can, let alone find trouble with him.

So Punk returned to Konola City without any problem!

This time when Punk entered the city from the side door, the old door guard was so shocked that he forgot to ask Punk to register his name.

The memory of professionals was always solid; even the apprentice-level professionals were no exception.

The old guard clearly remembered that this young mage was still an apprentice level mage when he entered the city last time; now, only after going out for a week (9 days in a week in Pheren), this young mage had become a trainee-level powerhouse. The old guard could not help but complain in his mind -

"When? promotion became this easy!"

Punk completely ignored the old apprentice-level warrior guard, who stood on the side and seemed to have suffered a heavy blow to his worldview and outlook on life.

Now Punk's attention was in his surroundings because in this week when he was out of Konola city,

the entire city seems to have changed its style, and there was a strong vibe of nature!

He saw that the side of the houses facing the street was painted with cheap green dyes. Although these commoners were obviously not good at painting, and these were just rough patterns at best, but Punk still could recognize it as a picture of some kind of a seedling.

These were the seedlings of a plant called the

"Qu-Qu Wheat," a staple food often planted on the plane of Pheren. Punk also saw people wearing grass rings made of leaves and long grasses on their heads. Some of the young girls beautifully decorated their grass rings with small flowers. Many people were wearing green clothes, and the environment was very cheerful and filled with laughter. The green paintings and ornaments of various plants gave the whole city a feeling of vitality, and the whole city's atmosphere became very different.

Punk didn't think much about it. He planned to wait until he handover the mission and then ask the hotel owner about it. He didn't ask the pedestrians who passed by about it; because as he was walking on the street dressed as a mage, all the pedestrians moved far away. And if he casually stops people to ask questions on the street, that might scare the shit out of them or even cause panic. Now Punk wants to find a mentor from the lawful camp, so he needed a good reputation for the time being.

Suddenly, Punk stopped when he came across a shop, this is the barbecue shop where he bought barbecue meat last time.

The barbecue here was really delicious, even though Punk is affected by the ancient elves' blood. "He still quite enjoyed the delicious and juicy fluffy steak and

the moderately salty and fragrant sauce of that barbecue.

The Punk walked into the shop and saw the enthusiastic middle-aged shopkeeper. Seeing a guest was coming in, the shopkeeper wanted to say hello, but when he saw that it was a young mage he was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly remembered that this mage bought some barbecue meat last time.

After all, he was just an ordinary barbecue shop owner. He has received only a handful of professionals; although this mage has always been wearing a hood and only showing a smooth white chin, the shopkeeper still remembered Punk.

"Haha, lord mage, thank you for taking care of the shop's business again," The barbecue shop owner said with a very familiar tone.

Punk didn't answer his greetings but simply ordered a barbecue and stopped talking. Seeing this, the shop owner touched the back of his head awkwardly and laughed stiffly.

After the barbecue was placed on the table, Punk used a low voice to ask about the changes in the city.

Hearing the question, the Barbecue shop owner at first showed a somewhat surprised expression, and then suddenly said exaggeratedly to Punk:

"Young master must be a foreigner. It is now harvesting season in the Kingdom of Camos, so we are all celebrating the "Green Festival."