BXBX NOVEL Chapter 41: Pedro
This also meant that Pedro, who was an Intermediate Apprentice, had to face the risks brought by the upcoming mandatory missions.
"I heard you have a Giant Lizard egg in your possession?" Upon meeting Leon, Pedro didn’t hide his purpose for being there. With the ticking of the clock, all beginner and intermediate Apprentices were gripped by a sense of urgency, seizing every second they had to strengthen themselves.
As a result, items very useful for small-scale battles between Apprentices, like potions and scrolls, had skyrocketed in price. They were so expensive that even the wealthiest Apprentices felt a pang in their hearts when buying them.
If it weren’t for this, Leon wouldn’t have nearly gone broke just for purchasing a few single-use spider webs.
But this wasn’t all bad either.
From the ’black market’ list provided by Danny, Leon saw many rare materials that he could hardly find under normal circumstances. These items were definitely the treasures of other Apprentices, many of which were set aside to be used when they advanced to the next level in the future.
But what a pity… Due to this mandatory mission, which was a life-or-death matter, they were forced to give up on their future, selling these treasures in exchange for items that would instantly boost their combat abilities.
Leon politely invited Pedro into his room.
As Pedro stepped into the room, the strong smell of blood and the pungent scent of formalin filled his nose. Glass jars of all sizes could be seen placed on a shelf in the corner of the room. They were filled with light green liquid, and all kinds of demon organs floated inside these jars. Hearts, stomach pouches, brains, eyeballs… Many of them still had blood within and on them.
Clearly, they were freshly harvested.
A lively croak resounded in the air from Pedro’s companion beast, the Poison Dart Frog, as it suddenly appeared on his shoulder, croaking restlessly at these materials. After Pedro finally calmed it down, it crawled next to his ear and began whispering something.
"Looks like you’ve got some new materials. Why don’t you sell them to me?" Pedro quickly made a demand.
"All these materials were harvested from the Giant Alligator King. I think there are people out there eager enough to improve their ability that they wouldn’t mind implanting the Giant Alligator King’s heart into their bodies. If you really want to buy it, you’d better give me a good price!" Leon remained calm and reminded Pedro.
In this unique period, anything that could enhance one’s battle ability could no longer be traded at a reasonably normal price. As for the price hike, it was actually proportional to the quality of the item and also depended on the urgency of the individual who wanted to buy it. Therefore, faced with a desperately needed item, anyone would have to be prepared to go broke.
"The Giant Alligator King? That’s even better!" What Leon said made Pedro feel his heart burn with desire, but then he paused, puzzled. He looked at Leon, asking, "Were you able to kill the Giant Alligator King?"
Leon shook his head briefly and pointed to the wall between his room and Bleia’s.
Pedro quickly realized what that meant and nodded, obviously believing that it was Bleia who had killed it.
When a Beginner Apprentice tried to challenge the Giant Alligator King, it was no different from courting death. But if it was an Advanced Apprentice, who was also a Vampire, attempting it, it was a totally different story. Although it still seemed uncertain, it wasn’t hard to accept.
In the minutes that followed, the two Apprentices haggled intensely with each other. Although one was eager to buy and the other was impatiently trying to sell his items, neither was willing to give up their profit so easily.
Finally, after two hours of intense negotiations, Leon sold all his organic materials in exchange for seventeen Knowledge Points, three Magic Crystals, a ’Screaming Tree Gramal,’ and a Weak Invisibility Potion.
As for the scales, fangs, and claws of the Giant Alligator King, Pedro showed no interest in them. However, Leon considered selling them to some of the Apprentices who were preparing to follow the Body Refinement Adept path.
If it weren’t for the difficult times, Leon had actually planned to extract the Giant Alligator King’s spine and tendons, as both were in high demand among Body Refinement Apprentices. But if he really ran back to the scene, the Giant Alligator King’s corpse might already have been devoured by the other Giant Alligators.
Pedro took a few trips to move all the materials, and as soon as he was done, Leon immediately rushed to the library with his newly obtained Knowledge Points.
He was searching for a good Fire Element defensive spell.
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Infernal Force Field, a basic fire magic defensive spell capable of forming a high-temperature field around the body, scorching any enemy that entered the region and causing them to suffer rapid bodily dehydration. Effective Range: 10 meters. (Note: This is a prerequisite magic spell for Fire Ring, an advanced Fire Element defensive spell.)
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Fire Burst, a basic fire elemental defensive magic spell capable of placing Elementium orbs rotating around the body. Any enemy that touches the Elementium orbs will suffer a Fire Burst, dealing 3-5 Fire damage. Effective Range: 8 meters. Number of Elementium orbs: 17.
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Infernal Body, a fire elemental defensive magic spell capable of temporarily transforming part of the body into Elementium to avoid a lethal offensive attack. Significantly enhances Fire Elemental resistance for the caster. Effective Range: 0 meters. (Note: This is a prerequisite magic spell for Fire Elementium Body Modification.)
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Fire Shield, a basic Fire Element defensive magic spell capable of forming a small fire shield in front of the caster’s body. It can block most long-range magical spells and melee attacks. Any enemy that attacks the shield will receive 1-2 points of fire damage. Effective Range: 3 meters. Defensive Strength: 35 points. (Note: This is a prerequisite magic spell for Infernal Shield.)
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Infernal Shield, an intermediate fire element defensive magic spell capable of forming three rotating fire shields around the caster’s body. Before the shields are broken, they can block all long-range and melee attacks. Deals 3-5 Fire damage to melee attackers. Effective Range: 5 meters. Defensive Strength: 80 points. (Note: Requires Fire Shield as a prerequisite magic spell.)
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Fire Ring, an intermediate fire element defensive magic spell capable of using a large amount of Elementium to form a ring of fire around the caster’s body. It inflicts 5-7 points of fire damage per second on any enemy that enters the ring. Effective Range: 15 meters. (Note: Requires Infernal Force Field as a prerequisite magic spell.)
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This dazzling array of Fire Element defensive spells presented a tough choice for Leon. Each of these magic spells had its own pros and cons, so to choose a suitable spell, he needed to carefully identify their differences and weigh them against each other.
Furthermore, since most defensive magic spells came in sets, some intermediate and advanced defensive spells required a caster to master certain basic prerequisite spells. So, if he chose the wrong spell and later wished to learn other advanced spells, it would take more time and energy.
Infernal Force Field and Fire Ring were part of sets, both being field control spells. They didn’t provide substantial individual defense, so they couldn’t block any long-range attacks. However, when faced with melee attacks, their field control was quite effective.
Especially the intermediate spell, Fire Ring, which could deal 5 to 7 Fire damage every second—against enemies who only possessed melee abilities, it was almost impossible to endure. Take Leon, for instance: he currently had only 14 Health Points. If he entered the Fire Ring, he might be burned to ash within three seconds.
And what could he do in three seconds? If he hadn’t solidified any magic spells, he might be killed by the fire damage before he even cast a spell.
Imagine this: within a group of Beginner and Intermediate Apprentices, a Pseudo-Adept who had mastered Fire Ring suddenly appeared and cast the spell on these novices, subjecting them to intense pain. Not only that, he might not even need to attack personally, as the Fire damage alone would be enough to kill any novice without Fire elemental resistance.
Whenever Leon pictured this breathtaking scene, he couldn’t help but shiver with excitement. But when he remembered that Fire Ring couldn’t prevent an enemy from attacking, his excitement quickly turned to dislike.
On the other hand, Fire Shield and Infernal Shield were more discreet.
Forming a dense shield of Fire Elementium and having it hover around the caster’s body to block any potential direct spells and melee attacks—and if an enemy dared to get close before the shield was fully broken, it could also inflict some Fire damage.
In general, it didn’t have any obvious offensive abilities, but it possessed excellent defensive qualities.
So, as expected, Leon borrowed two spell books: Fire Shield and Infernal Shield.
In this place, it cost fifteen Knowledge Points to purchase the Fire Shield spell book, but only three Knowledge Points to borrow it once. Thus, most Apprentices preferred to borrow it a few times and take their time copying it rather than spending so many of their precious Knowledge Points on buying a book.
It was time for the Chip to shine.
Leon only needed to borrow the book once, and the Chip would be able to scan all its contents and store them in his mind. Then, he could take his time studying them, saving a huge amount of Knowledge Points that he could use to borrow more books.
Moreover, he couldn’t master a defensive magic spell just by reading. He still needed to do a lot of preliminary studies. Clenching his jaw and strengthening his resolve, Leon borrowed all the necessary books at once.
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’The Influences of Fire Element Density on the Effectiveness of a Magic Spell’
’Elementary Fire Control Techniques’
’Analysis on the Usage of Fire Shield’
’Characteristics of Fire Element Distribution’
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Carrying a tall stack of borrowed books, Leon once again dashed back to his room. As he reached his door, he heard the neighboring door open and saw Bleia’s cold, elegant face appear behind it.
"Where’s my gift?"
"Uh…"
Suddenly, Leon was at a loss for words, feeling like he was glued to the spot.
Since he’d been so focused on his summoning core, he had completely forgotten about Bleia!
Seeing Bleia’s darkening expression and realizing she was about to lose her temper, Leon quickly let out a loud plea.
"One hour… Just give me one more hour. The gift will be ready soon!"
With that, he rushed into his room.
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1879 Words