After mastering the skills from the magic scrolls, Saelran looked at his attribute panel:
[Ability Table]
Innate Ability: [Player]
Overall Level: Lv 6
Experience Bar: 830/400
Classes:
Basic Class: Genius Lv 1 (Warrior, Priest, Apothecary, Alchemist, Magic Caster, Thief)
Intermediate Class: Sword Saint Lv 4
Skill Points: 3
Passive Skills: Inventory Box, Slash Damage (4%)
Active Skills:
Warrior: Instant Reflex, Light Consecutive Slash, Rapid Slash
Magic Caster: Paper Creation (Tier 0), Heating (Tier 0), Minor Heal (Tier 1), Magic Arrow (Tier 1), Odorless (Tier 0)
Class Skills: Potion Crafting, Alchemy
...
After killing two members of The Gilded Fangs, Saelran gained a large amount of experience.
With a thought, he used the experience to level up and increased the level of Sword Saint.
Genius Lv 1 + Sword Saint Lv 5 = Overall Level Lv 6.
Among his skills, Saelran acquired the thief's skill Stealth and also unlocked the basic thief class.
Skill: Stealth
Cost: None (Cooldown 1 minute)
Description: Reduces presence in dark environments or shadows and increases agility by 10 percent for 30 seconds.
...
Skill: Paper Creation (Tier 0)↑
Cost: 1 MP
Description: Creates 1000 sheets of low-quality paper. Each additional point of mana produces 500 sheets, with no upper limit.
...
Skill: Heating (Tier 0)↑
Cost: 1 MP
Description: Heats any touched object up to 100°C within 1 minute.
...
Saelran looked at the information about the newly acquired skills and magic. He was not surprised that Zero-tier magic only required one mana point.
Zero-tier life magic could not help in combat.
It was no wonder that few magic casters in this world were willing to learn Zero-tier magic.
Even in the game Oblivion Gate, skill points were limited.
For people in this world, learning magic required effort, and it seemed each magic caster had a limit to how much magic they could learn at each stage.
In this situation, no one wanted to waste time learning Zero-tier magic.
Suddenly.
Saelran noticed the "↑" symbol after the two Zero-tier magic.
"This...!"
Saelran's eyes widened, his body trembling. "My earlier guess was correct."
While browsing the magic scroll in the Magic Caster Guild, Saelran had noticed that the scrolls related to Paper Creation included both Zero-tier and First-tier scrolls.
This unique situation caught his attention.
The tiered magic system in the game Oblivion Gate had very clear classifications.
However, the life magic created by the magic casters of this world could apparently be upgraded to different tiers.
This made Saelran realize that the magic created by the magic casters of this world might be different from the tiered magic in the game.
That was why he bought two Zero-tier magic scrolls to confirm it.
"Upgrade!"
Saelran focused on the two Zero-tier magic.
Each spell consumed one skill point, and both spells changed.
Skill: Paper Creation (Tier 1)
Cost: 5 MP
Description: Creates 800 sheets of high-quality paper. Each additional point of magic power produces 400 sheets, with no upper limit.
...
Skill: Heating (Tier 1)
Cost: 5 MP
Description: Heats the touched object up to 150°C within 1 minute.
...
Saelran stared at the newly updated information, surprised yet slightly frowning.
How should he put it...?
Based on his guess, the unique life magic of this world could indeed be upgraded, but so far, the changes were not too significant.
Furthermore, the "↑" sign after both spells had disappeared.
"According to the tiered spell learning system, levels 1 to 7 can learn First-tier magic, and levels 8 to 14 can learn Second-tier magic," Saelran thought. "Maybe my level is still too low, so I cannot upgrade them further for now."
He wondered whether he could continue upgrading them, perhaps raising the two spells to the level of Tenth-tier magic.
However…
If they really reached Tenth-tier, would these Zero-tier support magic created by the people of this world possess the same power as ordinary Tenth-tier magic?
Whether that would be useful was one thing.
On the other hand, skill points were limited, and whether they were worth spending on such upgrades was another question.
After all, this life magic was meant for support, and these things needed to be considered.
Saelran took a deep breath, his eyes still filled with excitement and surprise.
Regardless!
This was a path to obtain Tenth-tier magic that he had never expected. After all, almost no native of this world could use Tenth-tier magic.
No one used it.
Saelran certainly could not afford to waste skill points just to obtain Tenth-tier magic.
More importantly, there was no information stating that such magic existed in Nine Gate of Helldusk.
Clearing his thoughts, Saelran rubbed his temples to ease his fatigue and lay down on the bed.
Most of his ideas could be tested later.
For now, the most important thing was to level up. He could not put the cart before the horse.
"Sleep." Saelran suppressed his excitement.
The next day.
At dawn, Saelran was already awake, leaving the small inn and beginning to buy food and daily necessities.
With his large number of supplies and storage space, he did not have to worry too much about storage or food spoiling.
With two gold coins, Saelran bought nearly a month's worth of food. To avoid drawing attention by purchasing so much at once, he visited several shops to buy in bulk, spending the entire morning just to collect the food.
After a quick lunch, Saelran began buying weapons. His short sword had already cracked and chipped, making it unusable.
He bought ten ordinary iron swords at the price of one silver coin each and also purchased light armor for protection, totaling one gold coin.
Next, Saelran went to the Magic Caster Guild again. Since they had no intention of selling Second-tier scrolls, Saelran had to reveal his identity as a faith-based magic caster.
He spent three gold coins to buy the magic scroll Item Appraisal.
Although it was a First-tier magic, since Item Appraisal was neither a support magic nor an offensive magic, its price was almost the same as that of a First-tier offensive spell.
After obtaining this basic equipment, Saelran went to the Adventurers' Guild and purchased some information about the Arkenwald Forest from them.
He spent another two gold coins.
In one day of preparation, Saelran spent eight gold coins, leaving him with only six gold coins and seven silver coins.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
June 1.
Wearing a black cloak, with an iron sword at his left waist and a water pouch at his right, Saelran left Between, where he had rested for two days, and headed north.
Arkenwald Forest was a vast ancient forest that surrounded the Valenca Mountains, which lay north of Between.
This forest was home to many dangerous magical creatures and demi-human races, making it one of the forbidden zones for humans. Even top adventurers only dared to operate near its outer edges.