Chapter 6

Full of anticipation for the treasure chest, Xi Wei rubbed his hands and opened the lid of the bamboo box.

The box wasn't very large, at least not compared to the supply crates.

There weren't many things inside.

A rather inconspicuous ring, a palm-sized piece of paper, and a red crystal similar to the Return Crystal—these were all the contents.

The ring, like the red gem taken from the goblin caster, showed no attributes even when held in hand.

The red crystal, however, revealed its attributes as soon as it was picked up.

【Secondary Identification Crystal (Consumable)】

【Item】

【Using it can identify items, with a certain chance of failure for items of Fine quality or higher.】

In short, it was something like an identification scroll.

Based on his years of gaming experience, Xi Wei immediately defined the red crystal.

"So, this means..." He suddenly realized and took out the red gem and the ring. "These aren't without attributes; they just haven't been identified yet?"

After thinking for a while and still not deciding which to identify, Xi Wei decided to put them aside and first look at the third reward, the piece of paper that seemed the least important.

However, as soon as he picked up the ancient-looking piece of paper, he couldn't help but be overjoyed.

【Proof of Strength (Night Forest · Outer)】

【Please choose one of the following effects】

【1. Restore one Life Mark】

【2. Fully master one skill that meets the activation conditions】

From Xi Wei's understanding, the so-called Life Mark must be the tattoo on his hand! This means that restoring one mark would allow him to live an additional month!

Indeed, this academy system hadn't completely abandoned him. If he knew about this, he could just leave and re-enter to infinitely farm! Then, what difference would it make if it was the world's top academy or a great mage?

However, he quickly calmed down.

Given the system's tendency to be tricky, this Proof of Strength was probably not so easy to obtain.

"The name after the title is the name of this instance. Does this mean that each instance only drops one Proof of Strength?"

This possibility wasn't small. After all, if defeating those three goblins was enough to get such a reward, it would be too easy.

Xi Wei looked at the eleven Life Marks he still had and decided to use the Proof of Strength to master a skill.

After all, with eleven months left, there was no rush. But for future instances, he would need a more powerful skill.

If Xi Wei had the strength of his predecessor today, he could have easily defeated those three goblins with a single Fireball and claimed the reward without getting injured.

After choosing the second option, the previously blank Proof of Strength revealed a pattern. Xi Wei immediately recognized it as a miniature version of the first page of the spellbook he had seen earlier.

Only the Magic Missile was activated, and from it extended five magic skills: Water, Fire, Wind, Earth elemental basics, and Mage Hand.

According to the memories of his unfortunate predecessor, Water magic was inclined towards healing and control, Fire magic had strong destructive power, Wind magic was fast and had good buff effects, and Earth elements focused on defense.

As for Mage Hand, while it was often very useful, it didn't currently help much in terms of power, so he ignored it for now.

After some consideration, Xi Wei added the skill point to Fire Elemental Basics.

After all, with emergency potions for healing and buffs not being very effective in his current state, the best defense was a good offense.

He decided to focus on Fire magic first, prioritizing defeating enemies. This was the path Xi Wei intended to take.

The grayish Fire Elemental Basics suddenly gained color, and the words "Fire Elemental Basics" changed to "Secondary Fireball."

Instantly, countless pieces of information about the Secondary Fireball flashed through Xi Wei's mind, giving him a sense of having mastered it.

Of course, he would still need to practice in real combat.

"Ah, just as I remembered, adding elemental properties to Magic Missile turns it into elemental magic," Xi Wei was overjoyed and relieved that he had made the right choice.

If it was just the ability to sense fire elements, it wouldn't be as useful as Mage Hand...

But despite the "Secondary" prefix, the Secondary Fireball, when used against an opponent without fire resistance, had three times the power of a Magic Missile and also had a chance to cause burns!

In terms of power, among first-level spells, only the Slow-moving Electric Eel was less powerful than the Secondary Fireball.

Moreover, for some reason, whether due to the system's favor or something else, Xi Wei's Secondary Fireball was almost instant and silent, making it a powerful tool for killing and arson!

After using the Proof of Strength, it shattered like broken glass, turning into points of light and disappearing.

Relieved, Xi Wei noticed that the fire in the center of the clearing had long since gone out, and the sky, which had been dark and starless, now looked like morning, as blue as a sapphire and as vast as the sea.

Sunlight filtered through the treetops, casting patches of light into the forest. The forest path, which had seemed like a den of demons, now looked like a peaceful path in a park.

"Since it's like this, it must mean the instance is cleared," Xi Wei picked up the gem, ring, and crystal from the ground.

After some thought, he used the Identification Crystal to identify the ring.

The red crystal flashed and disappeared, and the bronze ring, which had previously looked ordinary, finally revealed its attributes.

【Restless Bronze Ring (Elegant)】

【Accessory】

【Defense: 1~3】

【Restless Trait (LV1): Slightly increased magic power, but with a -1 penalty to concentration】

In Xi Wei's impression, concentration was a vague concept, seemingly related to casting success rates.

However, with his current magic being only Magic Missile and Secondary Fireball, both of which were almost impossible to fail, he could confidently wear the ring.

As for how much the magic power increased... who knew...

Anyway, when Xi Wei tried the Magic Missile, it felt about the same as before.

Confirming that there was no path forward and nothing left in the box, Xi Wei used the green Return Crystal to teleport back to the initial camp.

The campfire had also gone out, but the red and blue boxes were still there.

After some consideration, Xi Wei placed the five rusty blade fragments into the red box, and the metal count on the box's label changed from 0 to 5.

"Exchanging collected items for various resources, that's how it works."

Since he was determined to follow the path of a mage, the blade fragments, even if they could be combined into a good weapon, were of no use to him, so he exchanged them for metal resources... even if it was only 5 points.

After doing this, Xi Wei probed his mental energy into the tattoo on his hand, intending to leave, but he noticed that there were additional options above the "Log Out" option.

【"Night Forest · Outer" Cleared】【Rating B】【Claim Reward】

What's this? Was the treasure chest not the reward for clearing the instance, but this is?

Overjoyed, Xi Wei didn't hesitate—there was nothing to hesitate about—and chose to claim the reward.

In front of him, a Russian roulette wheel similar to the tattoo on his hand appeared, slowly spinning. The wheel had six slots, each corresponding to a reward. Three of them were +10 rewards for money, wood, and metal resources, one was a building blueprint, one was a black mage robe, and one was a green potion.

He ignored the resources and the building blueprint, which seemed currently useless. In Xi Wei's view, the most valuable items in this lottery were the last two!

The mage robe was definitely an equipment piece, and if he got it, it would definitely boost his strength!

The green potion looked similar to the emergency potion, and if it had the same miraculous effect, it would definitely be a life-saving charm!

As he watched with anticipation, the wheel slowed down and finally stopped at...