Mission Completed

" Etha was a strong man. He was at the peak of gold level. At present, the principal of the academy is also at the gold level, but one is at the top while the other is at the beginning. At the top of the Mage Tower, there is only a third-tier mage. From what I've said, can you guess his strength?"

"Yes, but isn't there another gold-ranked warrior besides the academy principal?"

"This is where things get complicated, and yes, there is absolutely no one stronger than the academy principal!"

"Why is that?" said William in surprise. Actually, he had just received the answer to this question from Teacher Yura this morning.

"Before I answer that question, let me tell you about the illusions in Etha's first book." He took a sip from his beer.

" The empires that Etha suspects in his book are unfortunately not on our continent."

"What do you mean, not on our continent?"

"Yes, I know it may be shocking, but we actually live on an island!"

"Is...island?" William felt that things were getting out of hand. Was this region, which could contain three kingdoms, just an island?

"Yes, an island. Do you know who named this place Argos?" Without waiting for William to answer, Baldur continued.

" Etha, Etha, who named this place Argos. Because Etha is not really a native of our island. Theoretically, neither are we, but he is considered a complete stranger."

"Why is that?"

" According to what Etha said, he came here with a teleportation array. He was also a traveler in his original birthplace. He came here one day while exploring the ruins of an ancient empire and running away from someone."

He took another sip from his beer. He continued calmly.

"When he teleported, he saw Platinum Rank creatures. He barely escaped the creatures with serious wounds, but the teleportation array was completely destroyed, according to him. Although he did not lose any of his strength, the severe injuries he received were enough to shorten his life. During that time, he traveled around the island we are on. He left us these books."

"How so? Isn't there a way to leave this island now?"

Baldur smiled. "As with everything, there is a way out."

"What?"

"Be strong! If you can reach the platinum level, you can definitely leave this island! I think..."

William was depressed. He looked at Baldur strangely. 'Damn it! Of course, I know you have to be strong,' he cursed inwardly.

Then he asked in surprise. "But we have an academy principal who has only been gold level for a few centuries. Could it be someone who can reach the Platinum level?"

"Of course not! At least under these conditions, it is difficult! What do you think I'm doing this research for?"

"Anyway, I'm not finished yet. I can say that Etha is leaving the next book, especially for us. He was hopeful for us. He thought that one day we would become stronger and finally leave the island, but for centuries we haven't been able to return his hope."

He took a sip of his beer after a small sigh.

" Do you know what Argos was called in Etha's hometown?"

"How would I know? Like I read the book" William began to think that a few glasses of beer was too much for Baldur.

Baldur continued.

" Argos means 'exile, prison' in their language. Of course, the language of magic is universal. Don't mix the two. According to Etha, this is a prison, and the creatures in the Black Forest are the guards. The Black Forest surrounds Argos, there is no escape wherever you go. So maybe we're here because our ancestors, who were sent here thousands of years ago, committed a crime. We are all sinners, their descendants."

"I see, then we should pay more attention to your work," William said.

"Yes, but no one hopes for me. Even this success I have achieved is only a small increase in power in their eyes. It's not enough for a qualitative development."

"Why do you care about them?"

"Not that I care, but... well. Let me tell you a little more about the outside." Baldur passed the word.

"The most important thing Etha said about the outside world, and the biggest factor in my immersion in this work, is that some great and powerful families have the power of some creature bloodlines. For example, if I can get blood as pure as the blood of a platinum-rank creature, there's a chance that the creature's bloodline will awaken in my body. In addition to increasing my ability, it can also give me incredible strength and endurance. Of course, it depends on which creature the blood belongs to. To take the example of the earthworm, I can be long-lived and robust like it. I don't know if I could explain that well?"

"Yes, of course, I understand." William had little interest in the matter after that. He kept talking about the same bloodline power. Turning into a phoenix might give a nice talent and strength, but he was sure that there were no phoenixes on this island.

He had to think realistically. Most likely, the highest-level creatures he could find on the island were platinum-rank, and a platinum-rank talent was not important to him.

Baldur continued.

"The gold-rank talent is the highest talent ever found on Argos. Perhaps the human race is limited to that. We don't have enough muscle or blood. In fact, we have nothing but our intelligence. Besides, any creature that opens the intelligence meridian is as intelligent as a human."

"It is really painful to rely on creatures to fill this gap again, but we have no other choice. After all, the human body is not enough. That's why I want you to help me on this path. The academy principal was able to reach the gold level thanks to a lot of resources. But what was the benefit? He might be the strongest person in Argos right now, but even he can't escape from here."

He drank the rest of his beer in one go.

"Help me, William. We can make it." He said. He stood up and held out his hand.

William stood up too. He looked at his tall head.

"I would like to help you. But I'm only the son of an ordinary baron. I have neither money nor a rich family behind me. Therefore, you must pay me for my work." William said.

Baldur was surprised by William's honesty. "What family are you from?" she asked.

"Aureus," William replied briefly.

Baldur smiled when he heard the name. "Heh, just a regular baron, my ass!"

William felt he knew a little about his family, but he did not question it.

He shook his hand and smiled. "It doesn't change the fact that I'm poor." He said.

"No problem. Do you think I look like the kind of person who worries about money? And remember, this research is funded by the Academy and the Principal himself." He said, grinning like a sly fox.

" Heheh! Now you speak my language."

William returned his fox grin with the same face.

The two drank a few more beers and talked for a long time. William suggested that he should rest for a few days, and they agreed to meet a week later.

William also accepted the award. As a token of future cooperation, Baldur awarded him the three-star mission. Now William had fifty contribution points for the seal in his pocket.

He could have taken it as a soul stone if he wanted, but he knew that he lacked the technique, so he chose the contribution points. With so many contribution points, he was sure he could get one or two useful techniques.

The sun had not yet set. Therefore, there was no harm in going to the Technique Building. All the important buildings in the academy were open and closed with the sun.

When he arrived at the Technique Building, he saw that it was almost empty. This meant that the newly joined students had not yet been able to perform tasks that would give them enough contribution points for a technique. There were a few teenagers who he guessed had iron levels. Most of them looked mature and over the age of twenty.

Unlike other buildings, this one had protection. There were two guards at the entrance of each floor, depending on the level of the floor. Even the guard who let you in with your contribution points was a silver-level teacher!

William walked up to the black-haired teacher, who looked to be in his fifties, and meditating in silence.

"Sir, I want to get a technique." He said. His tone was very respectful.

The teacher opened his eyes and looked at him. Then he extended his hand, "Seal."

William gave him the seal.

The Teacher examined it for a moment and then looked at William again.

"The price of the techniques is written on it." Said.

He gave him the seal and a small badge.

"Thank you."

William was not interested in the techniques on the first floor. He went directly to the second floor. He showed the badge to the guards at the entrance and went inside. Inside was another silver-level teacher. He bowed to him respectfully and handed him the badge.

The teacher told him not to rush and to choose carefully. William quickly went to the Fire Element section.

There were a few other people inside at that time, but he didn't know any of them.

When he got to the section reserved for fire techniques, he could not help but be surprised. There were hundreds of Fire Element techniques!

It would definitely take a whole day to examine them all. But it would be best if he could choose one or two today.

He knew his own weakness right now.

He wasn't bad at speed. As long as he didn't meet a creature that specialized in speed, he could escape.

He wasn't too lacking in attack power, but it still wasn't enough. He had chosen the wolf at the top of the iron level as his target. He wanted a fire technique that could break through its defenses.

He realized that most of the techniques looked cool, but their names didn't reflect the weight of their true strengths.

For example, there was a technique called Hell Fist, but all it did was create a fireball in his fist and punch. Its strength was definitely several times less than a mage's fireball. This technique could only work if one's strength was at a very high level.

After half an hour of searching through the huge shelves of fire techniques, he could only find one technique that caught his attention. The name of the technique was written as [Execution Sword]. The description of the technique said that it was inspired by the Sword of Judgment, a technique that belongs to the element of light when it was created. The reason it was called "Execution" was because the high firepower could burn a person to ashes when used on them.

After looking at the price of the technique, he thought it was really cheap. He even thought it was free. It was only ten points. In the explanation part, all it said was "Very difficult!" Of all the techniques he'd ever seen, there's really only one with a warning: 'Very Difficult!" There was only one level in that technique.

He chose Execution Sword as his attack technique. Since he still had forty points, he went to the Metal Element section.

He also wanted a defensive technique that belonged to the Fire Element, but it certainly could not match the defensive power of the Metal Element. Fire element defense techniques usually provided either immunity to fire or a certain amount of defense and reflecting power. The way the reflecting power worked was very simple. The body is covered with flames that do not harm the user, and if the attacker makes contact, his hand or the area of contact will burn.

The world of warriors consisted mostly of cold weapons. It was completely unnecessary unless your fist could prevent the sharpness of a sword. That's why William was cold to Fire Element's defensive techniques.

In the Metal Element section, there was less technique as usual.

The sharpness he used all the time did not help him anymore. He certainly wouldn't miss the opportunity if he found a cheap alternative.

The Metal Element had some really nice defensive techniques. Some were even interesting enough to pull thorns out of his body. William gave up immediately, not wanting to look like a hedgehog. What he wanted most right now was a technique that provided pure defense, like the Iron Body.

In half an hour, he had completed all the techniques of the metal element. He could not find a technique that would give him sharpness.

In terms of defense, the only technique he was optimistic about was a technique called Metal Skin. However, this technique had a weakness. The skin would really harden when he used it. So it would definitely slow down his movement speed. He just bought it because it was cheap. Techniques with side effects were especially cheap. While the other one was cheap because it was too difficult, this one was cheap because it had a disadvantage.

The combined price of the two was twenty contribution points. He had thirty more contribution points. While looking at the various techniques, he saw an unnamed shelf. This shelf was not assigned to any element. Out of curiosity, he turned around and asked the teacher at the entrance.

"What are the techniques in the unnamed section? Elementless?"

The teacher looked at him as if he were an idiot. He rolled his eyes and spoke.

"Elementless, of course. These techniques generally do not use elements, but some are especially powerful when used with elements. The techniques in this section generally focus on basic skills such as sword, spear, and punch. You can take a look if you want, it is cheap compared to the others." Said.

William came to the unnamed section because he was very curious. When he opened the first technique and looked at it, he was really surprised.

It was similar to the martial arts in his previous world. Compared to other techniques, there were no scripts or meridians to circulate qi. In addition to circulating qi, there was a man who wielded a sword that was drawn in several positions.

He read the description a little bit because he was curious. He was really surprised. He didn't expect that some small details would make such a difference when using a sword. For example, his technique was speed-oriented. The sword was designed to kill quickly and accurately, avoiding unnecessary movements as much as possible. It would definitely be faster and sharper if used by someone with the Wind Element. The name of the technique was called [Spring Breeze Technique].

William put it aside for now. Because it required a thinner and lighter sword.

He began to search for a technique that would be suitable for his own sword. A technique for a heavy sword would be perfect if possible.

There were dozens of techniques. Spears, swords, even daggers. William could only find three techniques that fit him. He had to give up one of them because it was recommended to be used with the earth element.

One of the techniques was called "Flame Hound" and the other was called "Heaviness of the Mountain". Both were scary-sounding names.

The Flame Hound Technique used the stabbing power of the sword, allowing the fire element used to "penetrate" the enemy's body after stabbing. When the sword was stabbed into the body of a creature or a human being who did not use the fire element, the fire element accumulated in the sword would be thrown out of the tip of the sword, in other words, it would explode. It was a truly ingenious technique. As he swung the Execution Sword, he thrust the sword into the creature's body and shouted, "Explode!" He dreamed of shouting.

The other technique was definitely the best elementless technique for those who used the metal element. Just like the weight strengthening on his current sword, this technique also had a weight advantage. It was clear from the name of the technique. William certainly felt that these two techniques would work together and create a beautiful synergy. The weight would give the sword increased stabbing and cutting power, while the explosion would provide devastating power. Unless the creature had super regenerative abilities, he was sure that it would leave an incurable wound. Then all he had to do was use the metal skin and wait for it to bleed to death.

William still felt that he was not good at using multiple techniques at once.

But he was really optimistic. He didn't realize that even people at his level, even superior people, couldn't use it more than once.

William's mind was layering qi as he had learned from computer programs in his previous world. For example, a human could only circulate qi in his body once and practice the technique, and only then could he circulate qi again and use another technique.

William, on the other hand, could use all three techniques at the same time by spreading his qi layer by layer.

This was just one of the few advantages he had over the others. The simplest explanation for this was a difference in thinking. In this world, people thought a little 'simple'.

For William, who was born in the information age, such thinking was very simple.

He paid thirty contribution points for a total of four techniques. He still had twenty contribution points left, but for now, there was no other technique he wanted to get. He thought about coming back when he reached the bronze level, but he knew that the contribution points would not be enough for that place. So he had to master these techniques quickly and start the missions again. They had already arranged to meet a week later. William was confident that he would master the techniques by then. But he wouldn't use much of it unless necessary, so as not to attract Baldur's attention.

Although Baldur was a strong man, he didn't know much about fighting, since he usually stayed in his laboratory. That's why he had offered William to go hunting with him. There was hardly anyone who accepted the mission. It was certain that it would be difficult for William alone. That's why he wanted to hunt together as much as possible.

Baldur was indeed a very kind-hearted man.