Grinding EXP From Fireball Skill-Chapter 69: Harvest

BOOM!

A mushroom cloud bloomed at the top of the mountain slope.

Several large boulders were blasted to bits, and the few Beastmen hiding behind them were all killed.

The Shadow Attendant’s body was also destroyed.

Only after all the commotion had died down did Li Wei, still invisible, walk onto the battlefield.

’Hmm? There was another Extraordinary Being. Good thing I was cautious enough not to get close to the outpost.’

’The intel from the Shadow Attendant’s scouting isn’t very reliable! It missed such a crucial piece of information.’

"Shadow Attendant, come out."

Li Wei channeled some of his Spiritual Power to nourish the Nightmare Core within him, allowing it to reform.

The pale blue Shadow Attendant materialized.

"Gather the loot."

While the Shadow Attendant cleared the battlefield, Li Wei took out a Memory Crystal to record an image of the destroyed outpost.

Before long, all the loot was gathered in front of Li Wei.

"This is the loot?"

Li Wei asked the Shadow Attendant, holding up a piece of animal hide with a large hole in it.

"Stop picking up trash."

Li Wei tossed aside the damaged items, keeping only what was useful.

The Shadow Attendant stood to the side, watching silently.

There were Beastman Soldier Identity Cards: seven for regular soldiers, and one for a Tier One Beastman Squad Leader.

A few metal weapons. Other than that, there was nothing else.

’These Beastman Extraordinary Beings are so poor! The only thing on them worth any money is a single blade.’

Li Wei had the Shadow Attendant carry the items and started back toward Cold Sand City.

CLANG!

The Shadow Attendant picked up two blades, but couldn’t manage the third.

Li Wei stared at the Shadow Attendant, which looked back at him with an innocent expression.

"Even Lin Daiyu has more strength than you."

Li Wei muttered a complaint. He was about to just throw the stuff away; if the Shadow Attendant couldn’t carry it, he couldn’t be bothered to either.

Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration.

’The Shadow Attendant’s Power is too weak because it lacks a host body and can’t unleash the full Power of a Nightmare.’

’If I create a host body for the Shadow Attendant, wouldn’t that solve the problem?’

"Invisible Armor!"

Li Wei cast the Invisibility Armor Spell on the Shadow Attendant.

A Magic Radiance flashed over the Shadow Attendant’s body, enveloping it in a layer of Invisible Armor.

"Pick them up."

The Shadow Attendant picked up the weapons from the ground, and this time, it didn’t drop them.

Li Wei broke into a smile.

’Excellent. This way, even without a living creature to inhabit, the Shadow Attendant can still exhibit some combat prowess.’

’The Power of a Tier One Low Level Nightmare isn’t strong, but wearing a suit of Invisible Armor to act as a meat shield is still pretty good.’

"Shadow Tentacles!"

Li Wei had the Shadow Attendant absorb some Shadow Element to disguise itself.

Master and servant headed toward Cold Sand City.

The Shadow Attendant hid in Li Wei’s shadow, wrapping its body around the pile of items as it followed him.

If you listened closely, you could still hear the clinking of metal scraping against the ground from behind Li Wei as he walked.

「Cold Sand City, Military Barracks Training Hall.」

Li Wei handed over the Memory Crystal and submitted his completed mission.

"Destroyed the small outpost on the eastern slope of Cold Sand City, killed one Beastman Race Squad Leader and seven Beastman Race soldiers. Mission rating: Perfect."

"Awarded 50 Merit, with an additional 17 Merit as a bonus for the kills."

Li Wei received a Magic Paper Card with the number "67" written on it.

Magic Paper Cards are the same type of Magic Item as Magic Text Scrolls.

Magic Paper Cards can only have their content rewritten, whereas Magic Text Scrolls can have their content rewritten and transmitted.

The ratings for outpost destruction missions, from lowest to highest, are: Failure, Pass, Good, Excellent, and Perfect.

Failure yields no reward.

Destroying the outpost but failing to kill the garrisoned Beastman Soldiers is rated as a Pass, earning 40% of the reward.

Destroying the outpost and killing over half the Beastman Soldiers is rated as Good, earning 60% of the reward.

Destroying the outpost, killing over half the Beastman Soldiers, and killing the Tier One Squad Leader is rated as Excellent, earning 80% of the reward.

Destroying the outpost and killing all garrisoned Beastman Soldiers is rated as Perfect, earning 100% of the reward.

After stowing the Magic Paper Card that recorded his Merit, Li Wei led the Shadow Attendant to a general store inside Cold Sand City. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

CLANG!

A pile of weapons was dropped in front of the general store’s owner.

Li Wei asked, "Shopkeeper, are you buying weapons?"

The shopkeeper nodded eagerly. "Buying, of course I’m buying."

He inspected them for a moment and said, "These are all common weapons, with only this one being slightly finer. These must all be weapons captured from Beastmen, right? Only weapons forged by Beastman blacksmiths would be this crude."

The shopkeeper held the Beastman Squad Leader’s blade, sizing it up critically.

Putting the blade down, he said, "The purchase price for common weapons is 1 Silver Coin each, and for a fine weapon, it’s 5 Silver Coins. So, that comes to a total of 12 Silver Coins."

"Selling?"

"Sold."

The shopkeeper took out 12 Silver Coins and handed them to Li Wei.

Li Wei put away the Silver Coins and glanced at the goods in the store.

During the war, the prices of all supplies had gone up.

Calming Incense, which usually sold for ten Silver Coins a stick, was now priced at twenty Silver Coins a stick—it had doubled!

"Shopkeeper, I’d like to buy five sticks of Calming Incense."

Fesia called out as she walked into the general store.

"Huh? Li Wei, you’re here shopping too?"

Fesia said, surprised, as she came in and saw Li Wei.

Li Wei said, "I’m here to sell some things."

"Selling things?" Fesia looked at him quizzically. "What are you selling?"

"Just some useless junk."

Seeing that Li Wei didn’t want to elaborate, Fesia didn’t press the matter.

She took out a Gold Coin, handed it to the shopkeeper, and took the five packaged sticks of Calming Incense.

The two of them left the shop one after the other. Li Wei glanced at Fesia and sighed inwardly.

’So rich!’

Fesia had a piece of a Defense Magic Item on her and a Tier Two Magic Scroll.

Add to that the fine Mage Robe she wore and the Magic Staff in her hand—she was absolutely loaded.

"You’re heading back too? What a coincidence!"

Fesia smiled as she looked at Li Wei, who was walking in the same direction.

Li Wei: "..."

’If I’m not heading back, where else would I go?’

"Yeah."

Fesia hadn’t given up on persuading Li Wei to join the City Lord’s Mansion, talking nonstop the entire way.

Cold Sand City wasn’t that big, and they soon arrived back at the entrance of the inn.

Seeing the inn, Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief. He could finally get some peace and quiet.

Fesia stopped at the foot of the stairs and said, "Li Wei, if you have time, you can come to my room. I’m in 204."

"If you find yourself with nothing to do late at night, we could... discuss the mysteries of Magic."

Fesia gave Li Wei a meaningful look, flashed a knowing smile, and turned to head up to the second floor.

Li Wei watched her back for a moment before turning and heading upstairs himself.

He knew it was a honey trap.

Fesia was quite pretty, with a good figure—a natural beauty.

Unfortunately, Li Wei had no improper thoughts about her.

Back in his room.

Li Wei had just sat down when he felt his Magic Badge vibrate.

He took it out and saw that his Contribution had increased by one point.

"Completed one mission. Contribution +1."

Li Wei smiled and put the Magic Badge away.

’Contribution is money, so of course, the more the better.’

「That afternoon, Li Wei stayed in the city to cultivate, grinding experience by practicing his Magic.」

After gaining the Extraordinary Trait of Mana Control, his Attack Power already far exceeded his current Level.

His defense, however, was held back by his "inability to charge" and hadn’t improved much.

He now had the Attack Power of a Tier Two Mage but the Defense Power of a Tier One Mage.

Li Wei planned to first raise the Level of his Invisibility Armor Spell to boost his Defense Power.

If the potential for future improvement to the Invisible Armor’s Defense Power was too small, he could start looking for a new Defense Magic spell sooner rather than later.

After six hours of meditation and Cultivation, Li Wei opened his eyes to find it was already night.

’There’s just not enough time!’

The Shadow Attendant brought Li Wei his food.

Li Wei thought about how to plan his time while eating dinner.