Chapter 8

Outside the window, the starry sky was brilliant, the moon was bright, and the world was silent except for the occasional chirping of insects, which sounded particularly loud in the deep night.

At a time when most people were already asleep, Xiwei was still wide awake.

The restorative effects of a mage's meditation often surpassed sleep. If it weren't for the potential mental damage from prolonged meditation, all mages would probably replace sleep with meditation.

Moreover, Xiwei, who had recently experienced the benefits of the magic academy system, was eager to try it out. The excitement kept him wide awake.

He wrapped himself in a blanket, his eyes fixed on the hourglass. He watched until the last grain of sand fell into the lower container, and then the hourglass was flipped over by the globe-like stand. Under the influence of gravity, the fine, crystalline sand began to fall again, grain by grain, into the lower container.

This indicated that a new day had begun.

Seeing this, Xiwei immediately channeled his mental energy into the tattoo on his wrist and opened the Trial Gate.

As expected, the message this time was not "Today's trial opportunity has been used," but rather [Enter/Cancel].

Without hesitation, he tapped "Enter" and found himself once again in the camp on the outskirts of the Night Forest.

Since he had previous experience, Xiwei took some supplies and set off into the forest.

The benefits of the Lesser Fireball Spell soon became apparent. Goblins that originally required three hits to kill could now be taken down with one hit, although their heads would catch fire and they would run around for a while...

At first, Xiwei was a bit worried that if he missed a goblin and hit a tree, it might start a forest fire. However, he soon discovered that, due to either the limitations of the instance or some other reason, even if the fireball hit a tree, the flames would only rise for a few seconds before extinguishing.

Although he couldn't figure out the exact reason, Xiwei's progress became noticeably faster with the freedom to use the spell. This time, he planned to try for an A-grade evaluation, so he didn't even bother with gathering to save time.

Soon, Xiwei advanced to the second half of the forest, where the regular goblins were gradually replaced by stronger goblins.

The stronger goblins had much better fire resistance than the regular ones, but they could still be taken down with two Lesser Fireball Spells. Since the spell's mana cost was similar to that of a Magic Missile, Xiwei only consumed one portable food item even after walking non-stop.

Moreover, due to constant practice, the initially somewhat awkward Lesser Fireball Spell had now fully integrated with the knowledge in his mind.

Gradually, the light of the campfire could be seen ahead.

Although he felt confident in his victory, Xiwei still ate a portable food item to restore his stamina and mana to their best state.

Then he charged in from the front, casting a Lesser Fireball Spell at the goblin caster right away.

The two stronger goblins, who had been startled by Xiwei's sudden appearance, now recovered and lunged at him, but Xiwei easily dodged them.

Just as Xiwei was about to kite the two stronger goblins as he did last time, a fireball suddenly appeared in his path!

Almost instinctively, he rolled to avoid the fireball by a hair's breadth.

Without stopping, he immediately ran to avoid the two stronger goblins from catching up, and he also looked in the direction the fireball had come from. He saw the goblin caster, whom he had thought was almost dead, waving a magic array and shouting loudly, and another fireball appeared with the shout.

Xiwei was shocked. From the previous battle, the caster's health should have been similar to that of a regular goblin, and it should have been a sure death after taking one Lesser Fireball. But from its current state, although not unscathed, it was still very much alive and kicking. Wait, it used a fireball? That means there's only one possibility...

"Damn! Could it have a fire resistance trait?!"

Xiwei cursed under his breath.

If I had known you were a fire-type, I would have chosen water element and used Ice Bolt!

But now complaining was useless; he had to deal with the two stronger goblins first and then take care of the goblin caster.

With this in mind, Xiwei dodged a fireball and cast a Lesser Fireball Spell directly at the face of the stronger goblin that was chasing him.

The stronger goblin, caught off guard, immediately clutched its face and screamed in pain. Xiwei wanted to press his advantage, but the goblin caster's fireball interrupted him.

Although not as fast as Xiwei's silent casting, the goblin caster could cast a Lesser Fireball Spell with just a "wa" or "gua" sound, making its casting efficiency quite high.

With the caster's cover, the two not-so-strong stronger goblins became a significant challenge for Xiwei.

Fortunately, Xiwei finally found an opening and killed the heavily wounded stronger goblin. The remaining stronger goblin was now much less of a threat.

Soon, the second stronger goblin also fell at Xiwei's feet, but by then, Xiwei's sleeve was half burned off, and he looked quite disheveled.

Estimating that he wouldn't get an A-grade evaluation this time, he vented his frustration on the goblin caster.

What should have taken three Magic Missiles, Xiwei actually used over ten Lesser Fireball Spells to finish it off.

What a waste, he thought. I should have just used Magic Missiles to save mana.

This time, the bamboo box under the goblin caster contained nothing particularly good.

As expected, the Proof of Strength did not appear.

Well, although he had guessed it wouldn't be that easy to get the Proof of Strength, it was still a bit disappointing to have his guess confirmed...

The bamboo box contained three items.

First was a blue mental potion, which seemed to replenish mana and in a significant amount, according to the description.

The second was a white feather, but unfortunately, without an identification crystal, it couldn't be identified.

The third was a card the size of a bank card, with "Resource Exchange Voucher" written on it.

[Resource Exchange Voucher (Temporary)]

[Resource / Temporary Item]

[Can be used to exchange for 10 points of metal resources at the collection box.]

The collection box was probably the red box. Xiwei, now understanding, collected all three rewards.

He also confirmed that the Proof of Strength only appeared the first time he completed the trial.

Then, Xiwei tried to gather from the goblin caster's corpse, but unfortunately, it failed, and what he gathered was the last thing he wanted: a goblin's rag, which was essentially their underwear...

"…At least be a bit more useful after you die," Xiwei sighed and used the Return Crystal to return to the camp.

Now, he could only look forward to the completion reward...