CH43

Helag smiled wryly, "About the same as you guys, not much of a haul."

"That's normal. It's your first time, so you're lacking experience. You'll get better," Macken said, feeling slightly better as he comforted the others, even though he only found three mushrooms himself.

Helag looked at the fifty-five Sleeping Mushrooms in his ring and realized another problem.

Submitting that many mushrooms would draw too much attention. No one usually finds that many.

"I'll have to exchange them in batches and avoid these guys," Helag thought.

He decided to split the fifty-five mushrooms into five exchanges. While it would still attract attention, it wouldn't be as conspicuous.

He couldn't avoid exchanging them altogether, as he urgently needed magic stones.

Helag's plan was to earn magic stones and learn more Level 0 spells.

Typically, first-class apprentices mastered one or two Level 0 spells, with second and third-class apprentices knowing a few more.

With Deep Blue, Helag could quickly master Level 0 spells, giving him an advantage.

The more Level 0 spells he knew, the more solutions he'd have for various situations.

For example, he planned to learn both Ice Shield and Mana Shield for better defense.

After waiting a while at the station, the Hellfoot arrived and took them to the Northern Forest District station.

"Are you going to the administration hall to submit your Sleeping Mushrooms?" Macken asked.

Sunny shook his head, "I'm waiting to gather ten for a magic stone. Gold coins aren't worth much."

"That's the best approach. We can continue tomorrow," Macken nodded.

The three of them planned to go again tomorrow, but Helag said he had other plans and went home alone.

He didn't want to get too close to them, as his mushroom-gathering efficiency was high. Familiarity would make solo actions harder.

Macken and the others didn't mind. Many wizards preferred working alone.

***

The next morning, Helag went to the administration hall.

Moonlight Woodland's official tasks had a dedicated window, where Sleeping Mushrooms were submitted.

Helag decided to exchange fifty mushrooms at once. Splitting them into five exchanges would take too long and still attract attention if done frequently.

Submitting fifty at once would make it seem like he had been hoarding them, as long as Macken and the others didn't see him.

"If someone still notices, I'll deal with it as it comes," Helag thought, preparing for any consequences.

"I'm here to submit Sleeping Mushrooms," Helag said when it was his turn.

"Alright, how many?" asked the young man at the window, named Andrew, who seemed to be a working apprentice.

Moonlight Woodland often had job postings for apprentices, offering good benefits.

"These, fifty," Helag said, taking out a basket filled with mushrooms from his space ring.

Andrew was surprised but counted them, confirming there were fifty.

Though it was a lot, it wasn't unheard of. Some people hoarded mushrooms for a big exchange.

After verifying the number, Andrew filled out some forms and retrieved five magic stones from the storeroom, filling out another form for record-keeping.

"Here you go," Andrew said, handing Helag the magic stones.

Helag left the administration hall and headed straight to Larry's house, having communicated with him via rune stone.

He still owed Larry a magic stone.

Helag knocked on the door, and Gami, the house elf, opened it.

"Mr. Helag, give me the magic stone. The master is busy and can't see you," Gami said.

"Alright, but don't pocket it. I've informed Mr. Larry," Helag said, handing over the stone, feeling a bit uneasy.

Gami gave Helag a disdainful look, "No house elf would steal from their master."

After that, Helag returned to Moonlight Forest to gather more Sleeping Mushrooms, aiming to stockpile magic stones.

At the Northern Forest District station, he saw two unfamiliar faces, a man and a woman, both silent.

The Hellfoot arrived shortly, and the three rode in silence.

Helag and the male wizard got off at Moonlight Forest, while the female continued on.

In the forest, Helag chose a different direction from the previous day and began searching. He saw some tracks but didn't encounter Macken and the others.

By sunset, Helag had found forty-two mushrooms, fewer than the previous day.

At the station, Macken, the others, and the man who got off with Helag also arrived.

Macken looked frustrated, indicating a poor haul. He nodded at Helag but didn't speak.

Helag thought about the areas he had searched, realizing Macken and the others might have struggled because he had already cleared those areas.

Seeing their expressions, it seemed they hadn't found any mushrooms, possibly searching the areas Helag had already covered.

Helag kept quiet, waiting for the carriage.

"We had such bad luck today, not finding a single mushroom," Macken complained.

Sunny sighed, "It's strange. The three of us didn't find any. Our luck is terrible."

The stranger joined in, "You didn't find any either? Same here, nothing all day."

Soon, the Hellfoot arrived, taking the frustrated group back to Moonlight Woodland.

On the ride back, Luca, the weakest of Macken's group, sighed, "I'm not coming tomorrow. Mushroom gathering is too inefficient. I can't waste time digging."

Macken and Sunny stayed silent, seemingly wanting to continue.

***

Three days later, Helag returned to the administration hall and exchanged four magic stones.

He hadn't gone to Moonlight Forest in the past few days to avoid Macken and the others and to prevent drawing attention.

During this time, he followed his usual routine of meditating and studying spell models.

Larry's notes were particularly valuable, offering many learning opportunities.