6 Fraudulent Trial Gate

Chapter 6 - Fraudulent Trial Gate

When Zwei opened his eyes again, what entered his sight was a familiar stone wall and a blond girl earnestly meditating with her eyes shut.

Realizing that he was back in his cramped mage tower, Zwei could not help but feel that his adventure in the dark forest before had been a dream.

If it weren't for the simple bronze ring on his index finger, as well as the red gemstone and construction blueprint inside his pocket, he would've most likely assumed that he had truly been dreaming just now.

Regardless, although he didn't win the equipment or potion he wanted from the roulette wheel, he was still satisfied since he had obtained the Proof of the Strong. After all, life wasn't a bed of roses.

Not to mention, compared to the pitiful amount of resources offered, the construction blueprint was a pretty good prize.

…

[Dean's Mage Tower Construction Blueprint (Level 1)]

Generates a Dean's Mage Tower at the designated location upon use.

Resources required: Stone (100), Metal (120), Wood (100), Alchemy Material (70), Gem (5)

…

Although he didn't know what exactly a "Dean's Mage Tower" was, he knew that it would certainly be many times better than his current bare-bones mage tower.

I have enough of the other resources, but I'm still missing 15 Metal. After opening the Resource panel and inspecting what he had, Zwei discovered that his resources were insufficient to construct the Dean's Mage Tower.

Should I enter the dungeon again?

In any case, Alyssa won't wake up anytime soon.

Now that he had familiarized himself with the dungeon's environment, so long as he was prepared for the goblin spellcaster, his victory would be certain. Not to mention, he also had the Lesser Fireball spell now. He should be able to progress through the dungeon much more quickly than before.

Besides, he had earned only a B-rank evaluation previously. If he could clear the dungeon with an A-rank evaluation, the rewards would definitely be more generous.

Thinking up to this point, Zwei switched to the Trial Gate panel.

As a result, he discovered that two yellow dots had appeared beside the "Night Forest · Outskirts."

When he selected these two yellow dots, the following information appeared:

…

[Noisy Beach]

Activation condition: [Night Forest · Outskirts] cleared at evaluation B or above; Dean's Mage Tower constructed.

[Yellow Sand Dunes]

Activation Condition: [Night Forest · Outskirts] cleared at evaluation B or above; Dormitory constructed.

…

It seemed that if he wished to proceed to higher-level dungeons, he first had to construct buildings for his Magic Academy. However, he currently lacked resources. Even if he had the necessary construction designs, they would be useless.

Hence, Zwei had no choice but to select "Night Forest · Outskirts." He planned to go bully goblins once more.

However, no option to enter the dungeon appeared. Instead, a red notice appeared in his mind, like before, though the content this time was different.

[You have spent your trial opportunities for the day. If you wish to enter the Trial Gate again, please pay the corresponding Achievement Points.]

What the? I can enter the dungeon only once a day? Isn't this fatigue value a little too low?!

Zwei was dumbfounded.

As for the Achievement Points mentioned, even after rummaging through the several panels, he couldn't find anything relevant.

"In the end, I still wound up getting cheated. Sure enough, this system is unreliable," Zwei mumbled in dissatisfaction.

Consequently, he could only reluctantly meditate with Alyssa.

Meditation could increase and refine one's mental power. As a magician, this was homework he could not skip. Its importance was akin to that of elemental perception for magicians.

It was mentioned that meditation could even increase one's elemental affinity. However, Zwei's predecessor treated this saying as merely a rumor. His reasoning was that despite having meditated for many years, his elemental affinity remained terrible.

However, the moment Zwei entered a meditative state, he discovered something amiss.

As Zwei's predecessor had a poor affinity for magic—otherwise, he wouldn't have dabbled in multiple elemental magic—he needed to smear a special perception potion, which increased his perception ability, on his temples when meditating. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to interact with the elements even in a meditative state.

Today, after entering his meditative state, Zwei recalled that he had forgotten to smear this perception potion on himself. However, just as he was about to exit his meditative state, he suddenly discovered countless red spots of light in his mindscape. The light spots were like fireflies hovering in the originally empty void.

Are these fire elementals? Did activating the Minor Fire Mastery skill allow me to perceive fire elementals?

Zwei immediately associated this development with the mysterious system.

Moreover, compared to the fire elementals he perceived when relying on the perception potion, the ones he was perceiving now looked completely different. It was obvious that these fire elementals now had a greater affinity with him.

Meanwhile, thanks to the assistance of these superior fire elementals, his pitiful mental power was increasing rapidly.

I was wondering why those magicians specialized in a single element cultivated so quickly. So, it turns out that there's such a benefit! Zwei exclaimed inwardly after discovering that his mana pool was growing at triple the usual rate.

Due to the sense of fulfillment brought about by his increasing mana, Zwei remained in a daze for a long time before coming to his senses and emerging from meditation. In the end, he had gained more mana through this single session than he had from meditating for the past month.

When Zwei opened his eyes again, the sky outside the window was already dark. He didn't think that he had meditated that long. The feeling of his strength improving was so wonderful that he had failed to notice the passage of time.

His eyes then fell on something resembling a globe, but instead of a sphere on the stand, there were the two connected bulbs of an hourglass.

This item was an alchemy product called the Millennium Hourglass and was the equivalent of a modern clock. It had a simple structure and consumed little energy. Supposedly, it could operate for a thousand years if powered by a standard unit of magic crystal—hence its name.

Judging by the hourglass's state, it should be roughly eight o'clock in the evening right now.

Alyssa should've gone home after her meditation ended at five o'clock. However, the cold yet sumptuous meal on the table indicated that the girl had made another trip to his tower to deliver his dinner.

Even though Zwei didn't say it out loud, he still enjoyed the feeling of being cared for.

Alyssa was incredibly talented. In just one month, she was already at the threshold of perceiving mana. Moreover, the person teaching her was even someone incapable of helping her perceive mana. With her talent, she was undoubtedly qualified to be labeled a genius.

Later on, if the girl further revealed herself to have a good affinity with a specific element, barring accidents, she would almost certainly become an Advanced Magician.

Not long ago, Zwei had been worried about running out of material to teach the little girl in the near future. However, after learning the Lesser Fireball spell, he discovered that his mind contained plenty of related information.

Apparently, obtaining a skill through the system didn't just mean learning how to activate it. He would also gain an extremely high understanding of the skill's underlying principles. With this, he wouldn't have to fear running out of knowledge to teach Alyssa and making a fool of himself.

While eating the meal the blond loli had brought him, Zwei revealed a longing smirk as he imagined his beautiful future.