Chapter 379: Dazzling

"Okay, thank you." Gao De took the parchment and the thick military merit exchange list.

It is said to be one book, but it is actually two, just sealed together.

"You're welcome." The staff member left in a hurry after handing the things to Gao De.

Gao De stood at the door and couldn't wait to open the parchment, which was the notification letter, to check it.

The content is very simple and clear:

"Second-class apprentice mage Gao De, in the Makoko District water beast expulsion mission, discovered the truth behind the water beast incident, obtained one second-class merit;

Thereafter, as a first-circle mage, bravely captured the second-circle mage Aldrich, who was closely related to the water beast incident, and obtained another second-class merit;

Given that this is your first mission execution and you performed so outstandingly, after comprehensive consideration, you are additionally awarded a second-class merit for encouragement."

Just as Lieutenant Lei Sen said, it was three second-class merits.

Waited for five days, finally waited!

Gao De was slightly happy in his heart, and turned his gaze to the thick military merit exchange list.

The military merit exchange list is produced by the Sea Hai Shao Bing official, detailing the treasures that can be exchanged for military merit and the military merit required for exchange.

It is divided into three books, which are the first-class merit exchange list, the second-class merit exchange list, and the third-class merit exchange list.

As the name suggests, the items listed on the first-class merit exchange list can only be exchanged with first-class merit, and so on.

And these three military merit exchange lists are not given to you all at once; they are "unlocked" only after you obtain the corresponding military merit.

And these three military merit exchange lists are updated once a year.

Some popular treasures may "increase in price" for exchange next year, and those unpopular treasures that no one exchanges may "decrease in price."

Gao De obtained three second-class merits and two third-class merits in this mission, so he unlocked the two exchange lists of second and third-class merits in one breath.

He didn't care about going to the Old Harin Grocery Store, and immediately returned to the living room of the room, closed the door, sat down, and first opened the third-class merit exchange list with interest.

The first page is the catalog and classification, and the categories are very detailed: magic plants, magic potions, spell formulas, supernatural materials, supernatural equipment, books, miscellaneous...

Everything that should be there is there.

However, most of them are relatively low-end.

Because Gao De first flipped to the spell formula page he was most interested in, and after a glance, he found that they were all ordinary spell formulas, not a single rare spell formula.

From this, one can see what level the treasures listed on the third-class merit exchange list are.

However, although they are all ordinary spell formulas, they happen to have the first-circle attack spells Gao De needs most.

—The official will never take out combat spell formulas for sale, so Gao De has mastered 27 first-circle spells so far, even counting 【Mage Armor】 and 【Shield Spell】, there are only five combat-related spells in total.

Among them, there is only one attack spell, 【Ice-Sealing Blade】, and 【Hunter's Mark】 belongs to damage-increasing spells and doesn't possess the ability to directly create damage.

This can be considered extremely "partial."

The most powerful place for a mage is "being able to do anything," not combat and destruction.

But as a Sea Hai Shao Bing mage, combat power is definitely the top priority, so he must quickly make up for the weak "subjects."

So Gao De focused his attention on first-circle attack spells:

【Heavy Pressure Arrow】 (Transmutation, first-circle):

Within the duration of this spell (1 minute), it will increase the weight and density of the arrow fired by your bow or crossbow before hitting the target, and restore it to normal later.

When you are affected by this spell, the damage caused by your bow or crossbow is considered as damage from a more powerful weapon, as if it fired an arrow one size larger than its actual volume.

Only you can benefit from this spell; if others take your bow to continue attacking, the arrow will only cause damage consistent with its normal volume.

【Military Merit Required for Exchange: Third-class Merit * 2】

Gao De only glanced at the spell effect of 【Heavy Pressure Arrow】 and skipped it.

Apparently, this spell is suitable for mages who are good at archery.

And he, let alone archery, doesn't even have a bow.

Of course, a bow is not hard to buy, the point is that archery requires hard practice and time accumulation, and also requires a certain talent, the threshold is too high.

Spending a lot of time learning archery that might not be practiced well for a first-circle spell?

Can only say there is no such need.

Look further down.

【Heavy Pressure Blade】 (Transmutation, first-circle):

When you use melee weapons to attack enemies, Heavy Pressure Blade will enhance their momentum and density.

When you cast this spell, all melee weapons you carry cause damage as if they were one size larger than their actual size. For example, a medium-sized longsword, due to the effect of Heavy Pressure Blade, will cause the damage of a greatsword.

Only you can benefit from this spell.

Others using your weapons will cause damage of the weapon's normal size when attacking.

【Military Merit Required for Exchange: Third-class Merit * 3】

A spell belonging to the same "Heavy Pressure" series as 【Heavy Pressure Arrow】.

But Gao De didn't skip it like 【Heavy Pressure Arrow】.

He indeed doesn't know sword techniques either.

But the problem is, he has 【North Wind】.

With the seventh-circle Enduring Enduring Zhenbing magic weapon placed there, Gao De couldn't possibly not use it.

He wouldn't learn archery for a first-circle spell, but learning sword techniques for 【North Wind】 is no problem.

Besides, even if he doesn't know sword techniques, taking 【North Wind】 and using it as an electric baton is a bit rough, but it counts as a usage, and at this time, he can stack the spell effect of 【Heavy Pressure Blade】.

This spell, must learn!

It's just that the military merit exchange requirement Gao De scanned below made him speechless for a while.

Belonging to the same Heavy Pressure series, it's just the difference between an arrow and a blade, but the military merit required for the latter is one third-class merit more than the former.

Although one can understand it after thinking about it—obviously, the applicability of 【Heavy Pressure Blade】 is far greater than 【Heavy Pressure Arrow】; melee weapons are easier to get started with than bows and arrows, and the range is also much larger than bows and arrows.

And even if you haven't learned anything, if you pick up a melee weapon, you will at least know how to hack people, how to hammer people, but if you haven't learned archery, you are afraid that you don't even know how to shoot an arrow, let alone accuracy.

Look again, look again.

The reward for the Makoko District water beast expulsion mission is only two third-class merits, which is exactly one third-class merit short of exchanging for 【Heavy Pressure Blade】.

Although he has three second-class merits, equivalent to thirty third-class merits.

But the second-class merit exchange list hasn't been looked at yet, and there is a high probability that there are rare spells on it.

It must be rare spells first.

Besides, maybe there are better choices among ordinary first-circle attack spells?

Gao De folded the page recording 【Heavy Pressure Blade】 into a small fold as a mark, temporarily listed it in the backup list, and if there is still merit left, then go back to exchange it.

【Stone Fist Spell】 (Transmutation 【Earth】, first-circle):

This spell turns your hands into living stones for the duration of the spell.

When you are affected by the spell effect, your unarmed attacks will cause lethal bludgeoning damage; in addition, your unarmed strikes can ignore the hardness of the object itself to a certain extent when damaging objects.

【Military Merit Required for Exchange: Third-class Merit * 2】

Gao De had a deep impression of this spell; it was the spell used by Metis during the assessment.

This is just an ordinary spell, but in the other party's hands, it exerted an extremely powerful effect.

There is a difference in the strength of the spell itself, but for the same spell, in the hands of different mages, the strength will also present a difference of heaven and earth.

Still skip... A mage using a sword is already Gao De's bottom line; going into battle shirtless, that's not called a mage, that's called a martial artist!

How can spells be such inconvenient things.

【Magic Missile】 (Evocation, first-circle):

You create three flashing darts formed by magic power and let each dart hit a designated creature you can see within the casting distance.

Each dart causes force damage to the target. All darts will hit the target at the same time, and you can also specify them to hit the same target or hit several targets separately.

【Military Merit Required for Exchange: Third-class Merit * 4】

Gao De took a deep

Other spells were up for negotiation, but 【Magic Missile】 was non-negotiable; it was a must-learn.

This spell was simply too classic.

【Magic Missile】 is to first-circle spells what 【Fireball】 is to third-circle spells.

No magic user of any combat school would miss out on these two spells.

They could be called "national-level" spells.

Just like how even the pickiest eater wouldn't refuse a bowl of tomato and scrambled eggs.

It's just that the military merit required for this exchange is truly a case of price gouging.

Gao De knew that 【Magic Missile】 had extreme versatility and a wide audience, so many people must be exchanging for it.

According to the rules of the Sea Hai Shao Bing exchange list, it was an unspoken rule that popular treasures would increase in price the following year.

But the problem was, while it's reasonable for consumable items like magical plants and potions to increase in price based on demand, spell formulas are costless—you can copy a hundred of them in one go, so why do they do this too?

Complaining aside, he still had to make the exchange.

Looking further down, 【Shocking Grasp】, 【Water Jet】, 【Flare】, 【Ear-Piercing Scream】, 【Burning Hands】...

Several pages in a row were all evocation-based attack spells.

In terms of dealing damage, evocation spells were still second to none.

Besides these, there were some scattered attack spells belonging to the necromancy and illusion schools, such as 【Ray of Enfeeblement】 and 【Color Spray】.

After scanning through the attack spells, Gao De finally looked at the other spells.

Even if he didn't necessarily exchange for them now, it was good to learn about them first.

Spell formulas had one advantage: they didn't run out of stock.

As long as a spell formula appeared on the military merit exchange list, it would remain there unless special circumstances occurred, unlike supernatural materials or equipment, which were often limited in time and quantity.

Come to think of it, after a quick flip through, there were indeed some ordinary first-circle spells that interested him.

【Expeditious Retreat】 (Transmutation, 1st Circle):

You strengthen your body's ability to travel long distances. The stamina consumed during rapid travel and forced marches is reduced by half.

Additionally, for the duration of the spell, you can ignore any fatigue caused by travel.

After the spell ends, you will become fatigued. If already fatigued, you will become exhausted.

【Military Merit Required: 3rd Class Merit * 2】

After temporarily marking all the first-circle spell formulas he was interested in, Gao De didn't look at the high-circle spells anymore, but instead opened the page for magical plants.

Within this magical plant category, the sub-items were much more complex and diverse.

But generally speaking, they were mainly divided into two categories: first, magical plants needed for refining potions, which are the cornerstone of potions; and second, magical plants that can be eaten directly or used externally.

The second category of magical plants is actually somewhat similar to potions, as they can bring various potion-like effects to the user.

To Gao De, the difference between them and potions was actually somewhat like the difference between traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine.

Magical plants are like traditional Chinese medicine; the effects are often not as powerful, violent, or immediate as Western medicine, and the production cycle is long and the price relatively expensive, but the medicinal properties are milder and there is no medicinal toxicity.

Potions are like Western medicine, focusing on violent medicinal effects, and are easy to mass-produce, making them relatively much cheaper; the downside is that the medicinal properties are fierce and can lead to the accumulation of medicinal toxicity.

However, compared to potions, magical plants have a unique and incomparable advantage.

That is, some top-tier magical plants that can truly be called "heavenly treasures" often contain mysterious and unique power, possessing special effects that potions cannot replicate.

For example, the fourth-rank snow-region magical plant, Mandora's Tears, which Gao De discovered on Mount Dandong, allowed him to awaken the Mandora Magic Eye.

For example, the Wolf Blood Ginseng allowed him to condense a dozen drops of liquid mana in one go.

These are things potions cannot do.

Needless to say, most of the magical plants appearing on the 3rd Class Merit exchange list were primarily of the first category, and the second category of magical plants were all varieties with mediocre effects and nothing to write home about:

【Mermaid's Comb】 (1st-rank magical plant):

A type of magical seaweed found in the sea, exuding vigorous vitality. A person who consumes a portion of Mermaid's Comb can temporarily gain the ability to breathe underwater like a mermaid, as if in the air, for a duration of 8 hours.

【Military Merit Required: 3rd Class Merit * 2】

【Observation Slime】 (1st-rank magical plant):

A purple clay fungus that grows in the lightless depths of the underground. Applying its mucus to the eyes will grant darkvision for a duration of 24 hours. If darkvision is already possessed, the range of darkvision will increase by 30 feet.

Note: Frequent application of this magical plant will cause permanent purple spots to form on the skin around the user's eyes.

【Military Merit Required: 3rd Class Merit * 1】

The military merit required for 1st-rank magical plants generally ranges from 3rd Class Merit * 1 to 3rd Class Merit * 5. Flipping further, there were higher-rank 2nd-rank, 3rd-rank, and 4th-rank magical plants, and even 5th-rank magical plants.

The military merit required for those reached a staggering 3rd Class Merit * 500, which was quite exaggerated.

The quantity of potions was even greater, including those for assisting cultivation, treating injuries, curing illnesses, detoxifying, recovering mana, buffing states, and even those for virility...

Supernatural materials were the same, with a dazzling variety, ranging from materials taken from subterranean creatures such as eyeballs and bones to naturally occurring minerals, everything one could expect.

Supernatural equipment was somewhat fewer, and even for the lowest-level 1st-rank supernatural equipment, the military merit required started at 5 3rd Class Merits.

The books and miscellaneous items section was somewhat more exotic, such as ancient relics and ancient books of unknown use; they weren't very practical, but one might strike gold, making them more suitable for magic users with abundant military merit and the leisure to explore.

There were also high-rank blood-food for beast pet growth, unique secret manuals for beast pet cultivation, analyses of subterranean creatures, and other miscellaneous books and items.

It is worth mentioning that it is estimated that only the Jin Jin Quehua Dynasty could provide so many ancient items for Sea Hai Shao Bing magic users to exchange for.

Because the Jin Jin Quehua Dynasty is the oldest dynasty in the world.

The entire history of the human race uses the appearance of the first human 8th-circle magic user as the dividing point between ancient and medieval times.

And it uses the appearance of the first human dynasty, the Jin Jin Quehua Dynasty, to distinguish between medieval and modern times.

Over the long years, the Jin Jin Quehua Dynasty has accumulated countless treasures and ancient artifacts; in terms of ancient artifacts, it naturally possesses the most and the most complete collection.

After a rough browse through the 3rd Class Merit exchange list, Gao De wasted no time in opening the 2nd Class Merit exchange list.

He wanted to see what kind of good things were in there!

(End of chapter)