Chapter 31: Mavis

[You browsed back and forth in the library, from sunset to midnight.]

[Finally, you settled on a few battle techniques worth choosing.]

[Shatter (Blue): Your next attack has a medium chance to shatter the opponent’s armor, reducing damage to 50% of its original.]

“This battle technique is very effective against armored enemies. It might work wonders.”

[You turned your gaze to the other two blue battle technique scrolls; the rest were green quality.]

[Some green battle techniques had decent potential, but their outrageous proficiency requirements made you decide to prioritize the blue ones.]

[Poison Cut (Blue): The Serpent God blesses your sword. Your next attack will poison the opponent.]

[Cripple (Blue): Attacks the opponent’s mobility weakness, causing slowness.]

“If Lightning can attack multiple times… this Shatter can completely destroy the opponent’s armor.”

“What about poisoning…”

[Host, poison effects cannot stack.]

“In that case, I won’t consider Poison Cut. Cripple should be stackable like Shatter.”

“If both battle techniques are used together, the opponent will completely lose the ability to move, but the prerequisite is that the opponent’s armor has already been broken.”

“Better to choose Shatter. If the opponent is a creature with thick carapace or a heavily armored knight, I really would have trouble dealing damage right now.”

[You remembered the scene from your previous life when you fought the Goblin King. If the opponent had worn chainmail gloves, Cold-blooded Pursuit probably wouldn’t have worked.]

[After making your choice, you used the battle technique scroll.]

[After you infused mana into it, the scroll emitted a pale blue light and then merged into your body.]

[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully learned the battle technique: Shatter (Blue)]

…

[After your conversation with Mo En, you began to focus on improving your battle techniques and combat skills.]

[As a duke, Mo En naturally didn’t have much time to train with you, so he suggested that you train with the knights in the territory.]

[Soon, none of these knights were a match for you.]

[Every battle and training session increased your experience.]

[Your level had reached 15, the first time you had risen to such a high level without relying on combat.]

[At the same time, your understanding of swordsmanship also grew.]

[You began to adapt to fighting with a sword.]

[However, this growth stopped once you couldn’t find stronger opponents.]

[You couldn’t participate in real battles.]

[If noble children wanted to travel around or join the army, they had to be at least twenty-five years old and have rendered meritorious service to the family.]

[For someone like you, who might become a Sword Saint, Mo En would definitely keep you in the territory to shine and contribute.]

[The path of leveling up by defeating monsters was blocked, so you began to look forward to learning magic.]

[Before that, you finally found several ingredients for making antidotes at the territory’s herbalist shop.]

[When the herbalist shop owner heard the herbs you needed, a subtle expression appeared on his face.]

“These herbs all have extremely high resistance to poison. Young Master, do you need to make an antidote?”

[Knowing you had no time to learn skills like alchemy or potion-making, you simply took out the recipe and showed it to the shop owner.]

“Th-this is the legendary Forest Witch’s recipe!”

[The shop owner carefully examined it several times with a magnifying glass, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and looked up at you cautiously.]

“Young Master, this recipe is very valuable. You just showed it to me like this…”

“It’s fine. See if you can help me make it.”

“I can! I can make it!”

[A fervent gleam appeared in the shop owner’s eyes.]

“How about this: the ingredient cost would normally be about 300 gold coins, but I’ll waive it entirely for you, Young Master. Then I’d like to… sell this potion in the shop.”

[The shop owner smelled a business opportunity from this recipe. This potion could cure deadly poison and was very rare.]

[Even in the kingdom’s capital, such a potion would probably be hard to find.]

[Ordinary antidotes were nothing compared to this recipe.]

[You hadn’t expected a mere blue-quality recipe to have such value, and you felt a bit of regret for simply handing it over.]

[Fortunately, this shop owner was a good person.]

“You can sell it, but I’ll need a commission from you.”

“Thirty-seventy! Seventy for you, thirty for me!”

[You had intended to suggest a fifty-fifty split, but didn’t expect the shop owner to be so generous.]

[Then you immediately realized that you were a noble of Grayheart Castle, and one of the core members at that.]

[The shop owner was eager to do business with you.]

[Seeing your hesitation, the shop owner also realized he had been a bit too forward, so he rubbed his hands sheepishly.]

“Young Master Dali’ang, you don’t need to worry. Since I am under the patronage of Lord Moen to run a small business in the territory, there is definitely some connection behind the scenes with your family.”

[In the end, you trusted this enthusiastic shop owner and reached an agreement with him.]

[Soon the antidote was produced, and its sales far exceeded your expectations.]

[Every month, you received 500 gold coins in income. Additionally, you obtained the antidote and stored it in the safe.]

[Naturally, Mo En also asked about the recipe’s source. You told him you found it in the nearby forest, and he didn’t press further.]

[After all, the antidote benefited the people of the territory, so Mo En had no reason to pry.]

[Time galloped by.]

[Soon, a year had passed.]

[Your magic mentor finally arrived in the territory.]

[One day, after you finished your training, drenched in sweat, a figure silently appeared behind you.]

“Are you Dali’ang?”

[The crisp voice rang like silver bells, extremely pleasant. You turned around and found a tall girl dressed in a mage’s outfit.]

[She held a staff taller than herself, made of amethyst, clearly not an ordinary item.]

“I’ve been observing you for a long time. Your swordsmanship is superb. Why bother learning magic?”

[You wiped the sweat from your forehead and invited her back to your room.]

[On the way, you learned that her name was Mei Wei Si.]

[After taking a bath and getting dressed, you found her sitting at the table, reading a book and drinking black tea.]

[She wasn’t as cute as the blind girl Dai Ya; there was a sharpness in her brow, making her seem somewhat difficult to get along with.]

[However, her features were flawless. Probably any man would want to stare at her all day, as long as he wasn’t afraid of being turned to ashes by her magic.]

[Seeing you enter, she looked up, her neat long hair swaying slightly.]

“I’ve wanted to ask for a long time. Where did you get that ring on your hand?”

[She had noticed the gold-quality magic ring on your hand long ago.]

“If someone from the Mage Association knew you had that ring, the entire Grayheart Castle would be in turmoil.”

“No need to look at me like that. I know the difference between a single meal and a lifetime of meals.”

[Knowing that explaining was pointless, you simply gave up, and she didn’t press further.]

[Half an hour later, Mei Wei Si looked incredulous.]

“You really want to learn magic!”

[Mei Wei Si explained that she had accepted such commissions before, but the other party either wanted to marry her or confess their feelings.]

[You were the first one who actually wanted to learn magic from her.]

[You silently criticized your father Mo En, but fortunately, this Mei Wei Si seemed quite strong.]

[She had strong mana, and according to her, she used Destruction Magic.]

[After a brief conversation, Mei Wei Si settled in.]