Iz burst out laughing.
"Haha! Then I'll be looking forward to the day you become a Level 6 Enchanter."
"If you reach Level 6, you'll probably be the only Level 6 Enchanter on the entire Rhylen Continent, won't you?"
Aiden's face filled with pride.
"That's right. And it's thanks to you for bringing such good business to my shop."
"In the future, whenever you or your disciple come here to maintain your magic staffs, it'll be free for life."
Iz smiled in response.
"Then I'll be sure to visit whenever I have the time."
"Haha! You're always welcome."
After a few more polite exchanges, the two prepared to leave.
Without even realizing it, they had obtained the privilege of lifetime free maintenance.
Before leaving, Kanzaki Rei selected two enchanted items.
Iz had told him not to be polite, so Rei simply chose freely—picking the two most expensive items available.
The first one was worth 80,000 gold coins.
Absolute Barrier Guard.
Once activated, it would grant defense equivalent to a Level 5 Guardian fighting at full power for one full minute.
However, it was a single-use item.
The second item was worth 150,000 gold coins.
Ring of Instant Purification.
Once per day, it could instantly remove all poisons, curses, and mental disturbances of Tier 5 or lower.
For effects above Tier 5, it still provided a delaying suppression effect, buying time before the effect fully took hold.
However, it could only cleanse once per activation.
He really had picked two incredibly expensive items.
The combined price of the two magical tools was more than all the money Rei currently possessed.
After informing the shop owner, Rei could clearly see the pained expression on Aiden's face.
But compared to the materials Iz had provided…
The value of these items suddenly felt insignificant.
Those materials from Tier 7 magical beasts were not something that money alone could obtain.
After all, on this continent, there were only a handful of adventurers capable of killing Tier 7 monsters.
Before leaving, Rei casually handed over several slime specimens he had personally prepared.
Surprisingly, Aiden seemed to like them quite a bit.
The strongest staff on this continent…
Just thinking about it made Rei feel genuinely excited.
When it came to becoming the strongest, he had always carried a certain obsession.
If he had transmigrated into this world only to live an ordinary life without anything special, that would have been one thing.
But as a transmigrator, possessing such overwhelming talents…
If he didn't at least harbor the ambition to become the strongest, that would truly be a waste.
As the two of them walked down the street, Iz suddenly spoke.
"Rei, I'm going to visit a friend."
"You remember the way back to the hotel, right?"
Rei nodded.
"Yeah, I remember."
His extremely high Spirit attribute granted him powerful memory abilities.
Anything he had seen before, he could basically remember fairly well.
It wasn't quite perfect photographic memory, but remembering the streets was trivial.
"Then I'll head off for a bit. You can wander around on your own."
"As long as I'm inside this city, nothing dangerous will happen to you."
"And if you really run into trouble, just call for me."
Iz trusted Rei quite a lot.
After all, the entire city was within his perception range.
Even if danger appeared, he could arrive instantly to provide support.
Flash!
In the blink of an eye, Iz vanished from Rei's side as if he had blinked out of existence.
The streets were crowded with flowing streams of people.
A large city truly was far more prosperous than Rain Town.
For a moment, Rei wasn't even sure where he should go.
"Hey there, kid! Interested in competitive combat?"
"The genius mage Monshire is currently attempting to comprehend Origin Magic through battle! Why not bring your parents and take a look?"
Rei accepted the flyer being handed to him.
[17-Year-Old Genius Mage — Monshire]
[Comprehending the Origin Through Combat]
Comprehending one's Origin through battle?
What a rather unconventional method.
During these past ten days, Rei had already gained considerable understanding about Origins.
From what he had gathered, it felt a bit like something he had read in novels from his previous life.
Almost like cultivators seeking their Dao.
You had to discover a path that you believed could work—and then walk that path yourself.
Whether it was right or wrong didn't matter.
What mattered was…
Whether that path truly belonged to you.
But…
Wasn't discovering one's Dao supposed to be something cultivators only attempted in the final stages of their journey?
Why was he, a mere Level 2 mage, already searching for it?
Rei glanced again at the flyer in his hand.
It seemed that he wasn't the only Level 2 mage trying to comprehend an Origin.
Well…
Watching wouldn't hurt.
Rei looked toward a massive circular building nearby.
The two most famous landmarks in the City of the Circle were:
[Tower of the War God]
and
[Battle Arena]
The flyer had called Monshire "the strongest Level 2 mage in the City of the Circle."
Aside from Iz Palruth, Rei had never encountered another genius of the same level before.
Now that he had arrived in a large city…
It was time to broaden his horizons.
[Battle Arena]
A Wonder left behind by the War God.
Iz had once explained that there were many types of Wonders in this world.
There was an Astral Observatory Platform capable of gazing into the Astral Realm.
There was the Infinite Wall, which possessed absolute length with no discernible end.
There was even the Stairway to Heaven, said to lead directly into the Celestial Realm.
Many of these wonders had been constructed by a Level 9 Architect known as Di Fu.
The gods granted the blueprints for the wonders, and he was responsible for bringing their monumental construction into reality.
However, another rumor circulated.
That he had used architecture as a means to steal the authority of the gods themselves.
The legends were far too widespread and contradictory.
At this point, the truth could no longer be determined.
After all, Level 9 professionals and the gods themselves were far too distant from ordinary people.
These stories had become little more than bardic legends, something to talk about casually over tea.
The massive outer walls of the arena were covered with enormous posters.
On the exterior walls, ranking lists were even scrolling continuously.
The rankings were divided into five brackets, based on level:
Level 1 – Level 5
Under each bracket were names and records of wins and losses.
It almost looked like a competitive ladder ranking system.
[City of the Circle Arena Rankings]
[Strongest Level 3 Warrior: Tendi]Current Record: 60 Consecutive Undefeated WinsMatch Record: 1406 Wins — 55 Losses
[Strongest Level 4 Archer: Luluvie]Current Record: 5000 Consecutive Undefeated WinsMatch Record: 5000 Wins — 0 Losses
Five thousand consecutive victories?
Wasn't that a bit ridiculous?
Compared to the previous record of 1406 wins and 55 losses, this 5000–0 record felt almost absurdly unbeatable.
As for how this ranking system was created…
Since the arena itself was said to be a divine Wonder, Rei decided not to try analyzing it with normal logic.
Besides, professions like Architects and Engineers probably had ways to create similar mechanisms anyway.
"The strongest Level 2 in Loren… first place."
"Not Monshire?"
The strongest Level 2 wasn't the genius mage from the flyer.
Instead, it was a warrior named Atrlendo.
Record:
4245 Wins — 16 Losses
Over four thousand matches?
That was a lot of fighting.
Did he never get tired of it?
But when Rei thought about how, in his previous life, he would casually play ranked matches in mobile games like Honor of Kings and had accumulated over ten thousand matches during university…
Suddenly, those four thousand matches didn't seem so strange anymore.
After searching the list, he finally found Monshire's name.
Ranked 10th.
Among the nine people ranked above him…
Not a single one was a mage.
Even though he was ranked that low, he was still trying to comprehend Origin Magic?
Then again, perhaps Rei shouldn't jump to conclusions.
After all, maybe he was simply inexperienced.
Rain Town hadn't even had a single so-called genius.
Perhaps the top ten of the City of the Circle possessed power far beyond what he could currently imagine.
It would be best to maintain a humble mindset.
..
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