"If you need Mana Crystals, I suggest you go hunt Magical Beasts in the Eternal Night Forest. Although the Mana Crystal cores from Magical Beasts contain more impurities, their mana is abundant enough for your use."
Gareth understood Logan's predicament and offered suitable advice.
At the initial stage of studying magic, there's always a time when mana consumption is too high and insufficient.
This is when the importance of Mana Crystals becomes clear.
What Gareth didn't know was that as an all-discipline mage, Logan's mana needs were several times greater than an ordinary person's.
"I understand. Thank you, Lord Gareth."
Logan said this and was about to leave, but Gareth called out to him.
"The people from the Church of the Radiant God have arrived. They seem particularly interested in your sister. This matter is somewhat troublesome."
Hearing Gareth's words, Logan froze for a moment.
He hadn't expected the Church of the Radiant God to chase him all the way to the Arcane Spire.
Clearly, this was no longer a matter of mere worshippers or believers.
"Perhaps your sister's soul is very special. The Church of the Radiant God is fond of people like that. They communicate with the divine through ceremonies to gain power, and a special soul allows the deity's bestowed power to be much stronger."
This was Gareth's own speculation.
Such things had happened more than once before, but this time the church was so persistent, it must mean Logan's sister's soul was extraordinarily rare and precious.
"Lord Gareth, is there any way? I will never hand my sister over!"
Logan frowned tightly.
He hadn't expected things to get so complicated.
After entering the Arcane Spire, he thought the church would give up on its own, since no one likes trouble.
"There is. In half a month, people from the Mage Association will come to Silvermoon City. If you can become a first-level Mage within half a month, there might still be hope."
Gareth said seriously, looking at Logan.
"Is… it really that simple?"
Logan blinked in surprise and asked.
Gareth was caught off guard by the question. Simple? It had taken him five years to progress from a Mage apprentice to a true Mage.
Even the most gifted prodigy would need at least a year to advance from Mage apprentice to first-level Mage.
And Logan had only half a month.
"If you think it's simple, then so be it. I hope you can stay optimistic."
Gareth didn't know if Logan was arrogant or confident, but it was none of his concern.
He was willing to protect Logan but only to a certain limit.
If Logan exceeded that limit, he would choose to give up on him.
Seeing this, Logan didn't say more.
He turned and left the room to prepare for his journey to the Eternal Night Forest.
Logan didn't have enough mana reserves.
To study first-level magic, he needed Mana Crystal cores.
To get Mana Crystal cores, he had to go to the Eternal Night Forest.
Carrying enough food and water, Logan left the Arcane Spire.
Less than ten minutes after Logan left, someone went to report to the Church of the Radiant God.
Marcus would not put all his hopes on Gareth compromising.
Since the trouble came with Logan, then solving the Logan problem was the solution.
He didn't expect Logan to choose to leave the Arcane Spire at such a time.
This was simply walking straight into death!
"Go deal with this trouble. If you handle it well, I will mention your merits before Lord Elias."
Marcus whispered to two Paladin recruits, believing that dealing with a lowly commoner like Logan didn't require his own involvement.
"We will complete the mission, praise be to the God of Light!"
The two Paladin recruits spoke excitedly, unaware of the kind of enemy they were about to face.
The Eternal Night Forest was dense with trees. Logan weaved along a winding uphill path left by mercenaries who had previously ventured here.
Not long after setting off, Logan spotted signs of a Magical Beast ahead.
A Black-Iron Quillhog, with massive tusks, was rolling in a muddy pit. Its huge body slammed and rolled so forcefully that Logan felt the ground tremble beneath him.
The Black-Iron Quillhog was a first-level Magical Beast, tough-skinned and hard to handle. Even Gareth found it difficult to deal with here.
But Logan showed no hesitation. He pulled out his bow and arrows from behind, casually enchanting the arrowheads with four zero-level magics: Spark Ignite, Razor Metal, Corrupting Breath, and Spatial Calibration.
These four zero-level spells transformed the originally blunt arrowheads into glowing, razor-sharp tips imbued with a faint corrupting aura and self-guidance.
If Gareth were here, he'd surely marvel at Logan's creativity—what sane person enchants an arrow with this combination of zero-level magics?
It was basically a poison-tipped blade with built-in precision targeting.
Logan drew his bow, took aim at the Black-Iron Quillhog, and released the arrow.
The arrow pierced through the thick grass with deadly accuracy and struck the Black-Iron Quillhog in the eye.
A piercing howl echoed through the forest. The Black-Iron Quillhog wailed in pain and began searching for its attacker. Logan, however, was already hidden deep within the grass and made sure not to be found.
After several sneak attacks and backstabs, the Black-Iron Quillhog collapsed in the muddy pit, writhing in agony.
After a moment, Logan approached to examine his prize.
The Black-Iron Quillhog was an earth-element Magical Beast. After a hard search, Logan finally obtained his first first-level Earth Mana Crystal core—much larger than the Mana Crystal shard Gareth had sponsored him with.
Satisfied, Logan packed away the Mana Crystal core and set out to find his next prey.
Not long after Logan's departure, the two men tasked with cleaning up the trouble arrived and tracked the beast here.
"This… this is a Black-Iron Quillhog? Even Lord Marcus would have a hard time handling this. It was actually killed by someone!"
One of them said in astonishment as he looked at the beast's corpse.
"Probably some big shot passing through. Don't worry about it. Our job is just to complete the mission."
The other frowned and said. Chasing after Logan to this place, they suddenly felt the task was not as simple as they had imagined.
After a brief pause, the two continued deeper into the forest in pursuit.
The Eternal Night Forest was teeming with Magical Beasts. Since most in the outer areas were either below first-level or first-level, Logan took whatever came his way and managed to hunt five Magical Beasts within half a day.
His haul now included a Fire Mana Crystal core, a Water Mana Crystal core, and two Earth Mana Crystal cores.
These Mana Crystals were enough for Logan to practice first-level magic.
Just as Logan decided to return to Silvermoon City, a Wind Wolf locked eyes on him.
Wolves have keen senses, and as a first-level Magical Beast, the Wind Wolf's sense of smell is a hundred times sharper than that of an ordinary wolf.
Likewise, this Wind Wolf detected a dangerous aura on Logan, so it did not attack proactively. Instead, it crouched low in the forest and let out a low growl.
Logan paid no mind to this. He bent his bow, nocked an arrow, aimed at the Wind Wolf, and was about to shoot.
At that moment, a rustling sound came from the grass beside Logan. The two men tracking him had finally caught up.
However, their timing was far from ideal.
"F-Finally caught up!"
One of them gasped as he saw Logan, breathing heavily.
The other noticed something was wrong. He saw the Wind Wolf not far off and noticed Logan aiming his bow and arrow.
At that moment, realization dawned on him, and his face turned pale.
"T-Those Magical Beasts… he killed them!"
Before he could finish shouting, Logan's arrow flew—but it changed direction and shot toward the two men. One of them didn't even have time to react before the arrow pierced his throat.
The other immediately turned and ran.
This was no mere pursuit of Logan; they had run straight into death!
They tracked Logan through the forest without armor or horses. In such conditions, facing someone like Logan who had already hunted several Magical Beasts, their only option was to flee.
But Logan had no intention of letting him go. The moment the two men appeared, he knew they were sent by the Church of the Radiant God.
After the first arrow pierced one man's throat, Logan didn't hesitate. He quickly nocked a second arrow and fired it at the fleeing man. Thanks to zero-level Spatial Calibration magic, the arrow also pierced the second man's heart without fail.
Logan's shots were extraordinarily precise, but the intrusion of the two men gave the Wind Wolf an opening.
While Logan was dispatching the two men, the Wind Wolf lunged at him. It seized the moment when Logan was distracted, slashing its sharp claws toward his throat.
Just as the claws were about to tear into Logan's throat, a burst of earth spikes suddenly shot up from the ground, piercing the Wind Wolf's soft belly with precision.
First-level Earth magic—Earth Spikes.
This was Logan's prepared backup. When he acquired the Earth Mana Crystal core from the Black-Iron Quillhog, he had gained the ability to cast this spell.
He had been saving it for just such a moment.
There was no denying it: first-level magic was powerful. With a single strike, the earth spike pierced the Wind Wolf's belly, killing it instantly.
Now came the time for gathering the spoils.