87: Chapter 87 Taking Stock of the Gains and Setting Off Again

After canceling the mission, Byron didn't waste any more time on it.

Because the contract mark wouldn't affect him now; after all, he had no intention of becoming a renegade wizard, and he still wanted to continue his studies at the academy.

His thoughts turned, and Byron stroked his chin, pondering his next steps.

According to Mentor Isolde, he certainly couldn't return to the academy in the short term, not just because of the chaos where Elena and the others were.

It was also because he didn't know the specific direction of the academy and didn't know where to go.

As for the method mentioned by his mentor, that was truly a last resort.

Byron wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary.

Consequently, he had to prepare for a long stay in the Kingdom of Cold Ash.

Therefore, continuing to wear this eye-catching Dark Eclipse Wizard Academy robe was no longer appropriate.

If even a village head could recognize it, what about the nobles at higher levels?

Even without thinking too hard, he knew this outfit would definitely bring him considerable trouble.

Moreover, he needed to acquire some currency of the Kingdom of Cold Ash.

After all, living in the kingdom for a long time would inevitably require purchasing some items.

At that point, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to pay with magic stones.

If he ran into someone who recognized them, it might be fine, but if not, he could even be kicked out.

As time passed, the subsequent plans and various necessary preparations began to take shape in Byron's mind.

...

After exiting his Mental Sea, Byron, not wanting to cause trouble and under White's earnest request, didn't decline and stayed at White's house.

At night, after checking the room and finding nothing unusual, Byron sat down on the bed with a smile on his face.

Now, he finally had time to count the harvest from this plane trial.

Byron tapped his spatial pouch at his waist a few times, and items flew out, almost covering the entire bed.

The most important and precious items were, of course, the seven bottles of mental power qualitative change potion.

Aside from the three bottles he needed to reserve to make up a complete set of potions for his own mental power qualitative change, and one bottle to be kept as experimental material, Byron hadn't decided how to use the other three.

However, for Byron, these three bottles could be used to trade with other Limit Wizard Apprentices for the items he needed to advance to an Official Wizard, or to exchange for other goods.

But if possible, Byron still wanted to use them to trade for advancement items.

After all, becoming an Official Wizard was his top priority.

His gaze swept past the wooden box containing the seven bottles of potions, and Byron looked at a small cloth bag beside it and picked it up.

Untying the cloth bag, Byron poured some crystal-clear powder into his palm.

These powders were none other than what had been obtained from the origin crystal essence.

However, this wasn't Byron lining his own pockets; these powders were leftovers from when he was Potion Making.

After all, a single piece of origin crystal essence couldn't perfectly yield exactly ten sets of Materials; each piece would have more or less missing or extra.

These powders were what remained after proportioning, not enough to make a full dose of the potion.

So, Byron kept them for himself.

This was one of the unspoken rules between a Potion Master and a client.

As for why he kept these things, he naturally wanted to see if he could research anything useful from them.

But the result was disappointing; other than the amount decreasing, there were no other changes.

And now that it had been brought out of the Ghost Marrow Crystal Nest Plane, it was destined not to last long.

Coupled with the current situation where he couldn't return to the academy in the short term, no matter how unwilling Byron was, he had to accept it.

After looking at the crystal powder in his palm again, Byron sighed softly and poured them back into the cloth bag.

Although he couldn't research anything from this origin crystal essence now, Byron still had one chance.

That was to study why the origin crystal essence became ineffective after leaving the Ghost Marrow Crystal Nest Plane.

Perhaps he could start from there and find a Breakthrough.

This was also one of the reasons why Byron hadn't discarded it.

After putting it away again, Byron looked at the other items on the bed.

For example, the Crystal Armor fragments of the Crystal Core Guardian, half a test tube of Crystal Nest stock solution—the main ingredient for the marrow-cleansing potion—the main trunk of the Phantom Crystal Worm Shadow, its skin capable of concealing one's figure, and the Ghost Marrow Crystals that could help the Worm Race evolve or recover magic power...

Looking at the harvest filling the space before him, a satisfied smile appeared on Byron's face.

And this was only what remained after Byron had picked and chosen.

If his spatial pouch hadn't been full, Byron really would have wanted to bring everything back, regardless of whether it was useful or not.

This also reminded Byron that he must carry a large-capacity spatial pouch when going out.

Otherwise, it would be truly painful when it came time to declutter.

This time, it was okay, as he only discarded things that weren't very useful.

As for bringing those things back?

Byron had considered this method, but after weighing the pros and cons, he ultimately gave up.

There was no other reason; those things were mostly tasteless, not worth the effort, and too shameful.

Besides these physical items, Byron's harvest also included several hundred points in addition to the points for completing the mission, as well as the Flame Condensation Explosion Spell, which he had finished deducing and only needed to engrave into his Mental Sea.

It could truly be said that the harvest was abundant.

After counting them, Byron put those things back into his spatial pouch.

Lying on the bed, Byron looked at the wooden ceiling, pondering his future arrangements.

As time passed, just when Byron was ready to relax and get some sleep, a faint knocking sound suddenly came from outside the door.

Hearing the sound, Byron suddenly woke up and looked outside through his Mental Energy.

When he saw the figure outside the door, he couldn't help but be speechless.

He recognized the person standing outside; it was White's granddaughter, whom he had seen once during dinner earlier.

At this moment, she was standing outside the door, draped in thin gauze and looking timid.

Seeing this scene, Byron knew exactly what was going on without needing to think twice.

If it were any other time—bah, even if it were any other time, Byron wouldn't agree.

He was only fifteen years old!

So, Byron simply ignored her. Anyway, the door was already locked, and she couldn't push it open to enter.

The young woman, seeing that no one answered after knocking for a long time, stamped her foot in shyness and turned to leave.

...

A few days later, on the road outside Grey Stone Village, Byron, dressed in coarse cloth clothes and carrying a bundle, walked towards the direction White had pointed out, facing the rising sun.

Byron's destination was the city of the Kingdom of Cold Ash, which White had mentioned was over a hundred kilometers away from Grey Stone Village.

Although staying in Grey Stone Village was more peaceful and wouldn't lead to any major surprises.

But at the same time, there was a problem: Grey Stone Village was just a village and couldn't satisfy Byron's needs.

Moreover, if he didn't want to waste time using Mentor Isolde's clumsy method, he would have to find a way himself.

And heading to a prosperous city was a very good idea.

After all, although the Wizard Council had imposed various restrictions on wizards, there was one thing they hadn't forbidden.

That was wizards traveling to Mortal kingdoms.

As such, let alone rogue wizards, even academy wizards had a high chance of appearing in Mortal cities.

Even if he couldn't find a wizard, he should be able to find out the direction of the academy through those who had been in contact with wizards.

Perhaps he could even obtain a standard map.

In that case, the problem of returning to the academy would no longer be a problem.