<h4>Chapter 44: Three Years</h4>


    While Sein and Marie chatted, Bousse, the “weak initiate” of the academy, concluded a transaction with a dark creature that had entered his shop.


    As the number of ck magic initiates visiting Bousse’s store dwindled, his clientele had gradually shifted to dark creatures and underground demihumans residing in Mystralora City.


    The dark creature that just departed the shop was a spider the size of a typical stone mill, with eight pairs of menacing legs.


    It was not ssified as a magic beast due to theck of a magic crystal core within its body.


    Despite its primary mode ofmunication involving iprehensible “hissing” sounds, it could manage a few phrases in humannguage.


    The spider had interacted with Bousse on multiple asions, they had no issues with basic transactions andmunication.


    Sein remained ignorant of the origins of these spiders though he was aware of their presence within Mystralora City.


    Just like the minotaurs, these dark creatures were subservient to the full-fledged ck mages’ authority.


    However, they maintained an even lower profilepared to the minotaurs guarding the city gates.


    After depositing the autrum he had received from his recent transaction, Bousse joined Sein and patted his shoulder.


    “So, what kind of quest are you nning to take this time? Hopefully a less dangerous one? Otherwise, all the potions Marie crafted for my shop won’t be enough for you to use,” he teased him.


    “It won’t be dangerous this time. It’s just a simple patrol of areas outside the city. My alchemy experiments and studies have been quite intense recently, so I don’t have much extra time to waste,” Sein replied.


    Patrol quests were typically simpler and less perilous than his previous quest to exterminate the Green Plumes.


    The extermination quest had a defined objective, requiring Sein to eliminate a minimum of twenty Green Plumes.


    On the other hand, the patrol quest seemed simpler and could probably be fulfilled by Sein spending a few days casually exploring the designated area and marking it as needed.


    During these patrols, Sein could conceal his presence and proceed with caution.


    Situations like the previous one, where he was ambushed and caught off guard, were highly unlikely to ur.


    Bousse nodded in understanding and then shifted the conversation to the items Sein had brought him today.


    “Your three Green Plume ws are quite marketable and appealing, even the Dark Spider that just left was interested and bought one. While these ws might not be widely used by ck magic initiates, they hold immense value for underground demihumans and dark creatures. I can’t believe you''ve actually managed to create alchemicalponents,” Bousse praised.


    “Those are hardly alchemyponents, they’re just basic enchanted items. It’s a shame I’ve run out of Green Plumes ws. Although I still have a few beaks, I doubt they’ll have a good shelf life,” Sein said, shaking his head.


    “I do have some basic magic materials here, but I have no idea about your sess rate in crafting equipment. If it’s too low, it might burn a hole in my wallet.” Bousse chuckled.


    Sein would have been touched by Bousse’sment if not for thest sentence.


    He yfully punched Bousse’s shoulder and reassured him, “Don''t worry, I''ll take care of the cost for the raw materials!”


    ***


    Seinpleted his academy’s mandatory quest without encountering significant challenges.


    In just three days, he efficientlypleted the assigned patrols and marked the designated areas as per the academy’s instructions before returning to Mystralora City.


    Over the subsequent years, Sein continued his intensive and demanding routine. He delved deeper into the studies of magic, fulfilled academy quests, actively participated in his mentor’s experiments, diligently meditated to enhance his focus level, and umted his mana.


    In the dark Underworld, time flowed imperceptibly to most of its inhabitants.


    Sein had fully adapted to this environment and way of life.


    His yearnings for the surface, the memories of sunlight, and the starry skies had be distant echoes.


    Even his memories of his mother had started to blur and fade.


    The urrence of this situation left Sein feeling insecure.


    Tobat these feelings of uncertainty, Sein fully immersed himself into his daily training and studies.


    ***


    Three years had passed since then...


    At the age of twenty, Sein had undergone significant changes. His physique had be leaner, his facial features had matured, and his height of 1.8 meters positioned him among the taller ck magic initiates.


    He now surpassed Faye, Zorro, and Morsidor in stature.


    His height was quite rare among ck Magic apprentices.


    Moreover, the underground environmentcked sunlight and specific nutrients. It was clear that Sein’s gicposition significantly contributed to his impressive height.


    On this day, afterpleting an Element Transducer in theboratory, Master Morsidor and Zorro left theb one after another, leaving Sein and Faye behind to clean up the experiment tables.


    Over the course of three years, not only had Sein’s height and appearance undergone a transformation, but his skills in alchemy had also grown significantly.


    Master Morsidor had been right; Sein possessed a natural talent in the field of alchemy.


    He had long outpaced Faye, and even his mentor and Zorro had acknowledged his skills on multiple asions.


    Sein had advanced beyond the level of simply enchanting Green Plume ws with “Sharp” spells.


    The alchemy item he had brought to Boussest month was a ring that could be considered as a piece of basic magic equipment.


    The Lumen Ring was reinforced with a magic spell—the “Brilliance” spell, which could be used once every two hours.


    It was a good item that fetched a high price of three hundred autrum.


    The cost for Sein to make that ring was only less than fifty autrum. This showed how profitable alchemy was.


    The ring was the fourth basic magic item Sein had sessfully crafted in three years.


    While his first two sesses might have relied on some luck, countless failures and critical reflection had honed his craft.


    Perhaps it would not be long before Sein could craft equipment with an offensive magic spell stored in it.


    Incorporating even the simplest spells, like Minor Fireball or Aero Arrow spells, would elevate the crafted item to highly valuable basic magical equipment, surpassing the worth of a Lumen Ring by a significant margin.


    In addition to Sein’s considerable growth in the field of alchemy, his personal training had not fallen behind during these three years either.


    He had mastered yet another two intermediate magic spells—“Animate” and “Pyro Chain de”.


    Sein did not crave to learn more magic spells, as his mentor had warned him about the limited practicality of delving too deeply into magic at his level.


    Hecked both the necessary focus and mana to effectively deploy the full array of magic spells he had mastered in a single battle.


    Rather than greedily pursuing new and strange magic unnecessarily, it was wiser for him to spend all that time on meditating to improve his focus level.


    The wisdom imparted by a full-fledged ck mage left Sein with no room for objections or doubts.


    During this period, Sein’s focus had slowly climbed to 38 points.


    Although it was still short of the 50-point focus required of a senior initiate, the speed of his progress was more than eptable within the ck Magic Academy.


    Although Sein did not continue to dabble in too many intermediate magic spells, he had learned various basic magic spells over the years.


    “Brilliance” was just one of them, and among those basic magic spells, the most notable one was an umbra necromancy spell he had learned from his girlfriend Leena—Skeleton Summoning.