“Whew! That’s two hundred academy points for a reward, alright!” With the 330 AP he currently possessed, this addition would total 530. At this rate, he could try to draw for the Nexus Temporal lootbox soon!
But that would be pointless, considering what might come from it could be unusable for the current him. What mattered most was to secure his way to become a bona fide Elemental Adept Magus and truly tread the Magus path. Nevertheless, the reward for the new side mission was a surprising change of pace because this was the first time that, other than building facilities in the academy, it awarded progression value.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Lizbeth chimed in as she floated near him with her hands on her hips. “Do you even know where to find the lair of the Lesser Hiveborne Arachnid in this forest? Without a clever trick up your sleeve, you might as well grow old before you find their trace.”
“You have a point.” Victor nodded in agreement.
The mission might sound deceptively simple, yet the Thornwood Forest was an expansive forest untouched by human hands. Locating a hidden nest within its labyrinthine confines would be akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. To make matters worse, it was the polar opposite of the word “safe” — unknown dangers were lurking within.
Clearly, Victor knew better about the dangers that were hidden beneath; his past experience traversing the depths with his enemies had ingrained a profound understanding of the forest’s formidable capabilities. Going blindly without caution would be akin to digging his own grave.
To anticipate this, it became imperative to explore the available alternatives, like purchasing new spells at the System store. All this time, he had primarily relied on the spell models obtained through the mission rewards and the unpredictable randomness of the gacha, leaving him with little to no freedom in spell selection. However, venturing into the heart of the forest demanded a more tailored approach and a more comprehensive arsenal of spells at his disposal.
This was why, in most cases, acolytes seldom ventured to dangerous places alone and instead formed teams to cater to each other’s weaknesses. Regrettably, within the confines of the academy, Victor found no capable acolytes upon whom he could truly depend. Such was the solitary path he had chosen.
Given the circumstances, spells geared towards scouting will be of utmost importance. Opening the store revealed tons of spells available for purchase. But although the variety was numerous, there weren’t too many for each of them in total. Most of them were predominantly rudimentary — the basics of the basics.
“That one seems promising, don’t you think?” suggested Lizbeth from beside his left, pointing to a particular spell. Victor, unaware of her movement, realized she had taken her special seat — being on his shoulders.
“You mean this one?” Victor touched the spell “{Demonic Eye}” on the holographic screen. Just as the name implied, it was an unconventional magic spell not typically found within an esteemed institution like the Arcane Radiance College.
Reading the spell description caused Victor’s body to perk up.
{Demonic Eye}
A versatile spell that summons a spectral puppet in the form of a menacing, crimson-flecked eye. This airborne sentinel is adept at infiltrating even the most treacherous terrains and grants the caster a comprehensive, real-time view of the surroundings with unparalleled precision.
Spell Tier: Aleph
Elemental Type: Umbra
Cost: 20 AP
“This… This is pretty good…!”
Despite his limited affinity for the Umbra element, he could cast other types of spells just fine, albeit with twice the mana consumption and half the efficacy. However, this summoning spell demanded a small amount of infused mana and almost nothing to maintain. The only drawback of this spell would be that it was extremely feeble and fragile, making it an easy target for hostile creatures.
But then again, what spell didn’t have some kind of weakness?
If one puppet wasn’t enough, he could summon two. If two were still somehow destroyed, he could summon one hundred!
With a resolute decision, Victor purchased the spell with a single touch. Of course, unlike the previous reward of insight, this spell would manifest in the form of a spell book; he had to go back to the basement to get it. The mere thought of it brought a tinge of annoyance, but he did just that anyway.
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The spell book for {Demonic Eye} lay open on Victor’s desk; its contents had been recorded into the Shadowlink Mark, transforming it into an e-book form. Once he had mastered this spell, he planned to sell it in the virtual shop for players to purchase.
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With little else to occupy his time, and realizing it was the dead of night, Victor indulged in a brief internet browsing session before deciding to check the official website forum of the game because of this one thing that Lizbeth mentioned:
“Oh yeah, the players are making a fuss about you prioritizing some people over others despite the raffle system, and they seem to be complaining about something, too.”
“Seriously? Well, every feedback is acceptable, I suppose.” Victor clicked his tongue.
Within the forum, tons of threads were created, and a lot more posts were exchanged between the forum members — be they players or other people who hadn’t gotten the qualification. Most of their discussions were about the game and the recent “Arachnid Invasion” event that was finally coming to an end.
The players were boasting about the number of merit points they had amassed during the event, which ranged from a modest four hundred to an impressive one thousand or more. This tally included the merit points gained from the shared pool of the trap. Victor had meticulously calculated the total number of spider monsters eliminated by the fire trap and subsequently allocated the promised merit points accordingly.
In total, the fire trap annihilated 427 Lesser Hiveborne Arachnids, with approximately a hundred players participating in the event. This translated to a minimum of four hundred merit points per player from the trap alone, without even considering the additional points for individual arachnid eliminations. That was at least equal to four days of chopping trees and tilling farmland!
Gigglebelly Grumblefart: “Shuck… I should have joined the fight… I could've racked up those merit points if my boss hadn’t called that urgent meeting. ☹ Should I resign?”
Princess_Tomato: “Same here. A whole school suddenly ordered catering from me that day, so I had to prepare it all day and night. Q^Q”
Surprisingly, one of the two complaining players was someone Victor knew quite well, while the other was someone that he had seen somewhere before. Moreover, the thread provoked a mixed reaction among the other netizens, each offering their own take on the situation.
Victor opened another thread titled “What Do You Think About the Raffle System and the Resurrection Prioritization?” and read the whole discussion. Despite the generic name of the thread, the content was far from a friendly question and more like a personal attack. This appeared to be the one that Lizbeth had referenced earlier.
The one who created this thread, to Victor’s surprise, operated under the username “I_Am_Not_A_Godzilla,” which was awfully too similar to that notorious troll Noobzilla. The user vehemently argued that the raffle system was a breeding ground for deceit, drawing attention from those who hadn’t qualified for the game.
One particular passage seized Victor’s attention:
“I believe the new raffle system is merely a facade. The fact that some individuals are receiving preferential treatment suggests under-the-table dealings between these privileged players and the game developers. We can’t overlook the possibility that this fraudulent gaming company is employing deceptive tactics and is going to start something even bigger. Exercise caution, and if you possess any wit, join me in reporting this website for an immediate ban.”
Nonsense. This thread is absolutely ridiculous!
At the very least, any player who had played the game would instantly know that this guy was trying to disseminate false information and smear mud on the company’s reputation. Not that Victor had made an official name for the gaming company behind this game yet. Right… I should probably come up with a name for it.
Victor did not participate in the topic but silently marked the accounts participating in the thread. Depending on their responses, he planned to blacklist those extremist individuals who could potentially incite further chaos. Why should he give these online Karens access? So that they could leave bad reviews?
It had to be noted that the official website forum was predominantly filled with users who hadn’t yet experienced the game — this became an environment where opinions could be swayed without firsthand knowledge. Regardless of the validity of any evidence presented, those who hadn’t tried the game for themselves would remain skeptical of others’ claims.
“Banning the website, huh,” he muttered under his breath.
In truth, Victor had long been curious why the any country’s firewall hadn’t yet blocked the website. Apart from the concerningly sensitive information circulating on the Magus Academy Online forum daily, the website remained unlisted in any nation. Moreover, it had been operational for nearly a month, with daily visitor numbers steadily approaching the twenty-thousand mark. An impressive figure, to say the least.
That troll I_Am_Not_A_Godzilla must be the alt account of Noobzilla. Undoubtedly, this guy must have filed numerous reports with the relevant censorship authorities. However, nothing seemed to have happened.
“Interesting.”
Other than this, the ability to discreetly deliver the gaming capsule directly to the player’s doorstep without anyone knowing it indicated the involvement of powerful magic. It was a level of skill and secrecy that even Victor, with his current expertise, could only dream of achieving. This meant that the magic puppet left there was way stronger than Victor.
Naturally, he refrained from asking the beautiful fairy perched leisurely on his shoulder. He knew all too well that her response wouldn’t venture too far from “This is all because of the former headmaster” or something along those lines.
After browsing through the entirety of the official forum, Victor opened the Discord app and went straight for the “Gamer’s Empire” Discord server. Given the midday hour on Earth, the server was noisy, and a lot of people were active.
Prominence (Administrator): “Other magical beasts sighted! We encountered a Shadow Panther while cleaning the battlefield today. What’s more, the headmaster’s magical mount came to our rescue when we were in a pinch.”
“A Shadow Panther? The headmaster’s mount?! What do they look like?”
“Noice! Looks like the forest area is about to be opened again. This means the open beta shouldn’t be too far off!”
“God damn it, I really want to play! But the resurrection CD hasn’t even started…”
A series of messages exploded on the server, and even someone who was allegedly busy editing the game’s official premiere video joined in on the fun.
Storm Bringer (Administrator): “Any chance you have footage of the encounter? This could lead to something significant.”
Prominence (Administrator): “Unfortunately, I forgot to activate the recording feature.”
Squadzell: “Urgently requesting an increase in the daily revival quota so I can get a chance to play the game.”
Storm Bringer (Administrator): “I don’t foresee the quota increasing soon; it will likely remain the same until all deceased players have been revived. On the flip side, however, this may hint at an upcoming update.”
Squadzell: “Noooo…!! Please let me in! ╥﹏╥”