Chương 101: The Fastest Silver-Rank Adventurer

"Whew... finally got rid of them." Grey leaned on his longsword and watched the fleeing snakes disappear into the distance, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Should we chase them?" Gark asked, shaking the blood off his broadaxe. Judging by his expression, he was still eager for more.

"No need." Marcus shook his head.

"Our main objective is already complete. Besides, who knows how many more snakes are hiding in this swamp? We can't possibly wipe them all out. If we walk into an ambush, things will get troublesome." Zelier agreed with him. The snake swarm had already collapsed. Without the Black Scale Python as their breeding core, they wouldn't pose a large-scale threat to nearby villages anytime soon. The commission was successfully completed.

Once the battle ended, Zelier let out a deep breath, feeling the weakness spreading through his body. During the fight against the snake swarm, he had fired multiple Arcane Missiles and spent a massive amount of mana maintaining the form of Severing Water. Although his Spirit had increased by 20 points after becoming a Junior Mage, it still wasn't enough for a battle that required constant spellcasting. Furthermore, the high-intensity use of Severing Water had pushed his White Ash Wand to its limits.

Upon closer inspection, faint cracks had already appeared along the wooden surface. Looks like this wand was nearing the end of its life. [Level 9 (237/300) → Level 10 (70/325), Level Up!] Previously, in order to break through to become a Junior Mage as quickly as possible, Zelier had poured every available attribute point into Intelligence. Now, it was time to fix that imbalance. Zelier allocated all four attribute points into Spirit.

Strength: 88 → 89 Agility: 84 → 85 Constitution: 91 → 92 Spirit: 91 → 95 Intelligence: 114 Perception: 32 Charisma: 54 Luck: 51 Talents: Talent: Spell Genesis Talent: Mana Bond As expected, after increasing his Spirit, his Strength, Agility, and Constitution each increased by one point due to the 25% Spirit-based bonus. The available attribute points section also gained two more points, but they could only be assigned to Strength, Agility, or Constitution. After some thought, Zelier placed them into Agility.

He still hadn't decided on the direction of his melee training. But since Agility was currently his weakest physical attribute, he might as well patch it up first. Body coordination was not something he could ignore. Agility: 85 → 87 Inside his Sea of Consciousness, the Source Seed radiated even warmer mana, and the circulation speed increased slightly. Through the conversion of Mana Bond, that mana seeped into his body once again. Zelier didn't notice much improvement in Strength or Constitution.

After all, it was only a single point. But a three-point increase in Agility was different. He could vaguely feel his muscles becoming more compact and his control over every movement of his body becoming smoother. This was the effect of Agility. Looking at his increasingly solid status panel, Zelier felt extremely satisfied. Now this finally looked like a proper mage. The entire pool had been dyed a dark crimson.

Dozens of snake corpses were piled and intertwined together, while chunks of broken flesh floated across the surface. The thick, nauseating stench of blood filled the air. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"This thing was really that tough?" Grey wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared at the Black Scale Python's corpse, which had been chopped into several pieces.

"It feels much harder to kill than the Earth Lizard."

"According to the Adventurer Association's records, they actually struggled for quite some time when rating the Black Scale Python." Marcus explained.

"Its pure physical combat ability already exceeded the standard of a [Difficult] ranked monster."

"But in the end, they decided it lacked effective ranged attacks, so it was still classified as [Difficult]."

"If it had even one large-scale poison-spitting ability, it would definitely qualify as a [Challenge]-ranked monster."

"That's insane..." Vaelis muttered, still shaken. Very few monsters could withstand several Thunderclap Arrows from him head-on.

"Alright, let's start collecting the spoils. There are still plenty of valuable materials on this pile of rotten meat." Grey rolled up his sleeves. Gark took charge of retrieving the bodies. He dragged the useful parts of the Water Pythons onto the shore before beginning the dissection. Normal Water Pythons were not monsters, so they did not possess monster cores. However, their gallbladders were still valuable. They could be used to create antidotes or serve as ingredients in certain alchemical potions.

Grey cut into the snake's abdomen with a sharp dagger. After carefully working inside, he precisely removed a fist-sized, dark green, oval-shaped organ. After rinsing away the blood and mucus in a nearby puddle, Grey held it up toward the sunlight. The snake gall reflected a deep, jade-like glow beneath the dim light. Zelier watched curiously from the side and suddenly felt like trying it himself. He also plunged his dagger into the abdomen.

Unfortunately, he misjudged his strength and accidentally punctured the gallbladder. A bitter, fishy stench instantly spread through the air.

"Ugh, that's disgusting!" The dark green bile spilled onto his hand, and Zelier instinctively shook his hand wildly.

"You got it on my face." Grey turned his head and looked at him.

"Oh... sorry." Meanwhile, Marcus began cutting out the valuable parts from the Black Scale Python. The Black Scale Python possessed both a monster core and a gallbladder. Beyond that, its scales were also extremely valuable. Most of the scales would rapidly decay after death, but a small patch of connected reverse scales near the back of its neck could still be harvested. They were premium materials used to craft advanced scale armor or protective linings.

The battle had already demonstrated their incredible defensive properties. Their value was almost comparable to the monster core itself. After a long period of work, the final snake gall was removed, cleaned, and placed into a bag. Once all the spoils were collected, the exhausted team began their journey back to Blackstone Town. By now, even the soldiers guarding the town gate recognized Marcus' team. Normally, Blackstone Town saw countless people entering and leaving every day.

Farmers, merchants, hunters, and all kinds of travelers passed through constantly. The guards rarely remembered anyone specifically. But Marcus' team was different. Their activity rate was simply too high. Over the past month, the guards would see Marcus gathering the team at the gate every few days. They would leave in the morning full of confidence, then return in the evening covered in dust, carrying backpacks filled with monster materials. It was impossible not to remember them.

At the Adventurer Association, Marcus stepped forward to submit the commission. This time, they had killed thirteen Water Pythons and one Black Scale Python. According to the reward listed on the commission: Thirteen Water Pythons: 10 silver coins each, totaling 1 gold 30 silver. Twelve Water Python galls: 5 silver coins each, totaling 60 silver. One Black Scale Python: 12 gold coins reward. Black Scale Python gall: 3 gold coins recovery price. Black Scale Python scales: 8 gold coins recovery price.

Black Scale Python monster core: 8 gold coins recovery price. The team earned a total of 32 gold coins and 90 silver coins. Marcus distributed the rewards according to the 4/2/2/1/1 ratio. Zelier received the largest share. His payment amounted to 13 gold coins and 16 silver coins.

"It's starting to feel more and more like we're Zelier's bodyguards..." Grey sighed.

"Honestly, kind of feels that way." Zelier didn't deny it. After receiving his reward, his personal savings had reached 95 gold coins. Although the distribution ratio seemed ridiculous, with Zelier taking almost half of the total reward, there was nothing unreasonable about it. His contribution was simply too great. Without Zelier's Severing Water breaking through the Black Scale Python's defenses, they had no idea how much more effort it would have taken to defeat it. The others had no objections either.

Everyone had personally witnessed how much Zelier contributed. Zelier stored his share of the reward away. The heavy weight of the coin pouch filled him with happiness. And today was the final day of the Month of Harvest. Which meant tomorrow, he could once again go to the Mage Guild to collect his allowance! A full twenty gold coins! Zelier genuinely felt like he could work himself to death for the Mage Guild. Once he received the payment, his savings would reach 115 gold coins.

Finally, he would be able to visit a magic wand shop and choose a proper finished wand. No more using a cheap White Ash Wand. Just thinking about it made Zelier excited. His thoughts drifted away as he began imagining his bright future. What kind of wand should he choose...

"What are you smiling about?" Vaelis' voice pulled Zelier back to reality.

"Everyone's looking at you." Behind the counter, Ella was staring at Zelier curiously. Zelier hurriedly restrained his expression, feeling slightly embarrassed. Ella immediately lowered her head and pretended to organize documents. But the corners of her mouth still curved upward. Why did Mr. Zelier suddenly make that expression... It was such a contrast from his usual appearance. So cute. Grey glanced at Ella's lovestruck expression and silently sighed.

Am I really about to lose even in terms of appearance to Zelier?

"Oh, right! There's one more thing I need to tell you, Mr. Zelier!" Ella flipped through the records in her hand.

"After completing this Black Scale Python extermination commission, your accumulated number of lower-tier commissions has reached ten!"

"So..." She smiled brightly.

"Congratulations! From this moment onward, you are officially promoted to a Silver-Rank Adventurer!"

"The youngest Silver-Rank Adventurer in Blackstone Town's history!"

"Not bad." Zelier wasn't surprised. After all, he had already completed eight commissions before this. Adding his solo Goblin extermination mission and this Black Scale Python commission, the total had reached ten.