Chapter 22: Conclusion of the Phase of Training

About a week had passed since returning from the royal magic academy of Fis.

During this time, Lise’s days were quite fulfilling. He continued training with Welf and the others in weapon practice during the day, picking up useful combat techniques along the way. At night, he immersed himself in the laboratory, often working late into the night.

Lise’s relentless effort was not in vain. His weapon training accelerated rapidly; he had nearly raised all the weapons planned for improvement to an intermediate proficiency level and had learned a multitude of related combat arts.

His progress in new arcane arts was also notable. Lise developed two new arcane spells: a first-level arcane spell named Combustible Oil, derived from the first-level spell Greasy Touch, and a third-level arcane spell called Aging Ray, an enhanced version of the second-level spell Weakening Ray.

The first-level arcane spell Combustible Oil was a refinement of Greasy Touch. Lise adjusted it to greatly increase the stickiness and flammability of the generated oil, making it especially effective when combined with his favored fire spells. When paired with his third-level arcane spell Blue Orb, the terrifying blue flames coupled with the viscous fuel became a nightmare for close-combat warriors.

As for the third-level arcane spell Aging Ray, it was an unexpected byproduct during Lise’s spell model adjustments. He originally aimed to enhance Weakening Ray’s effect of reducing resilience and elemental resistance, but the refined arcane spell Aging Ray, upon hitting an enemy, could also diminish their physical strength.

Through several tests, Lise found this effect simultaneously reduced enemies’ agility, strength, and resilience by roughly 30%. Although some resistances could mitigate this—such as Welf, who only experienced about a 5% reduction—for Lise, this was already a powerful means of control.

Because the effect resembled the enemy suddenly aging by over a decade, Lise named it Aging Ray.

Though the effect was temporary, it terrified the test subject, Guard Bill, who believed Lise possessed the power to drain his lifespan. Bill repeatedly kowtowed in desperation, begging for mercy, which left Lise both amused and exasperated.

Despite successfully improving two new arcane spells, Lise did not pause. For a mage, the greatest asset was an inexhaustible spell repertoire—always having an effective countermeasure at hand for any situation.

He still had a long way to go!

Since his arcane subsystem seemed to have transformed into a tool for assisting him in fine-tuning spell models—no longer requiring experience points to gamble on luck as in his past life—he needed to seize the time to work even harder!

As time passed by steadily, Lise’s weapon training plan neared completion.

With ten consecutive hits on a target placed fifty meters away, the system’s notification sounded as expected:

[... 99%... 100%!]

[Your proficiency with bow weapons has reached intermediate level.]

[Intermediate Bow Mastery: You have basically mastered bow usage techniques; your bow attacks now deal moderately increased damage.]

Lise set down his longbow with a sigh of relief—finally done. His sweat and toil had not been wasted.

Only one intermediate weapon proficiency remained for him to achieve Mastery of All Weapons.

Furthermore, through recent battles, Lise had fully integrated the practical combat experience and fighting techniques from his previous life’s game memories with his current self, smoothing out any lingering incongruities.

Indeed, he had achieved mastery!

Lise felt confident he could now decisively defeat Disen even without holding back.

“Young master, you’ve worked hard!” Bill rushed over as soon as Lise put down his bow, handing him a prepared towel while flattering him sycophantically.

“To hit ten consecutive shots at such a distance after only two days of practice—Young Master Lise is truly a prodigy! I believe you will be the kingdom’s next legendary warrior!”

Lise took the warm towel and shot him a glance.

What nonsense! Could anyone flatter like that without exaggerating? It was so over the top he didn’t believe a word, feeling awkward and tempted to knock him out.

“You really are a genius, young master,” Welf said sincerely as he approached.

Over this period of training, Welf was not only astonished by Lise’s astounding learning speed but also impressed by his battle prowess. They had sparred a few times, with Welf holding back his true strength each time. Yet Lise’s spell power far exceeded other mages of his level, and his battle awareness was so seasoned that Welf often felt as if he were facing a battle-hardened mercenary.

Given that Lise had little real combat experience, having spent most of his time studying spells in the academy and laboratory, such calm and composed battle skills and unshakable presence in crises seemed impossible without hundreds of battles—real fights, not mere practice sessions but life-or-death struggles.

Welf could not fathom why Lise was so adept in combat and could only attribute it to his extraordinary talent.

Lise handed his bow and arrows to Welf, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“That’s enough training for now. Let’s take a few days off. I have other matters to attend to.”

“Yes, young master,” Welf replied, casually tossing the bow to Bill beside him. “Shall we return to the mansion now?”

Lise glanced at the sky, estimating it was around three in the afternoon, then said:

“You both go back first. I’m heading somewhere else.”

“Don’t you want me to accompany you?” Welf was surprised since he had been guarding Lise whenever he went out these past few days.

“No need. You go back and tell Joyce not to prepare dinner for me tonight.”

Lise wasn’t worried about his safety. Though he had been probed a few days earlier, Welf had recently observed his outings and found no signs of anyone tailing him.

As long as the enemy did not deploy high-level operatives, no one could trail him unnoticed in front of a seasoned warrior like Welf.

This meant no one was planning to make a move against him soon, allowing him to focus calmly on his own schemes.

After the previous experience on Langai Street, Lise now made sure to change into ordinary clothes before any training session. He appeared as just a handsome commoner, subtle enough to avoid drawing attention.

As a mage, if he didn’t wear mage gear, there was little about his appearance to attract notice. But Welf was different: his muscular frame and the imposing aura of a warrior made him stand out even in a crowd.

If Lise wanted to conceal his identity and do something discreet, having Welf recognized immediately upon stepping outside would defeat the purpose.

The other guards didn’t make much difference; going out alone was simply more comfortable.

After placing some weapons into his personal storage ring, Lise pushed open the courtyard gate and stepped outside.

His warehouse was tucked away in a quiet alley on Balei Street, surrounded by ordinary residences.

Lise confirmed his direction. His previous life’s base was in Radiant City, so he was very familiar with the area. He set off toward his destination.

Target: Mercenary Guild!