Half an hour later, we were already on the train back to Huzhou. The next day, I went to the old man for training again, and from that moment on, the ordinary, slightly, or a lot, painful life began. Three days of training with the old man to exhaustion, cultivating, and one day Xu Zhou Tin and I go hunting. After he broke through to the intermediate level, our efficiency increased. Moreover, I also started using the lightning seal, of course, slightly delaying its cast, but not much, only up to three to five seconds, so as not to arouse too much suspicion about my strength.
Xu Zhou Tin's cultivation progressed at a rather good pace. After two and a half weeks, he released wind magic. Of course, it takes about ten seconds for the full star path to form, but it's still very fast. That's what normal stars mean for a mage, and he's actively working with them, unlike some. Of course, you can't use such magic in combat, but it's definitely not for long.
As for me and my cultivation, thanks to the training with the old man and his miraculous medicines, my cultivation grew by leaps and bounds! In three weeks, by the beginning of November, I managed to subdue forty-one stars of lightning and six stars of space! Almost all the stars are under my control; another week or two, and that's it! Regarding nightmares, they have become fewer, but they have not disappeared completely, unfortunately. Only nightmares related to hunting remain, so it doesn't bother me much; it's more like Asura or my pseudo-self reminding me, probably. But I'm very happy about that too.
Yesterday was the last time we went hunting. The total number of monsters killed yesterday exceeded twenty alligators, thirty spiders, and the same number of red foxes. Since Xu Zhou Tin's breakthrough to the intermediate level, we have gradually increased the number of beasts killed per hunting day. Soon, we agreed that we were becoming stronger, and our skills in fighting monsters had significantly improved compared to recently.
Such a number of killed monsters also means huge earnings! Of course, I earned a little less than when I went hunting myself, and yes, I also give the old man fifteen thousand daily, but our earnings are still very large. In these three weeks, we have earned about four million in total per person, considering all expenses. This is a huge sum! Especially for two intermediate-level hunters! By the way, although we are not completing league quests, we will be able to rise in rank quite a bit as soon as we complete the survival quest. This will happen because when selling monster parts, hunters can receive a special token confirming that they killed such-and-such a monster and earned so-and-so many points. So, after that, we should easily reach the highest rank from the initial hunter rank.
Great progress has also been made in my artifact mastery. We didn't sell all the monster parts; I kept a small portion for myself, and I took soul shards from the killed monsters, catching them in reusable vessels. Speaking of souls, during this time, only two out of five vessels were filled; everything in this matter depends on luck. So, although I was a beginner, on the third attempt, I managed to make an alligator shield, which, as the name suggests, is made from alligator skin and bones.
True, due to my low skill, it turned out weaker than simple alligator skin; it can only protect against low and medium servants. It can withstand a high-level one, but only once. In total, by this point, I had made about four shields. I took them to the market and sold them; I think I could have earned a million from each, but that's the maximum. I didn't bother with this nonsense and gave them to Xu Zhou Tin for testing, so now he has four identical shields that he can take out alternately. Moreover, such a decision on my part will help me develop my artifact repair skills, so it's a win-win situation.
Today, I have another training session with the old man, only this time he asked me to come at eight o'clock for some reason, instead of noon. Such a request immediately made me feel a little uneasy. Nothing good can come of it, especially not from this old man. When I arrived at his dojo, he was sitting and reading something on the steps at the entrance.
"Teacher, you asked me to come much earlier than usual today. May I ask what this is related to?" I asked him calmly, bowing slightly. As for his training, with each passing day, I felt increasing fatigue and muscle stiffness; during combat, they often hurt, but I successfully overcame it all. But after three weeks, the effect of all my torments became visible; I became noticeably faster and stronger. Now, without much effort, using only the wind step, I can kill an alligator. Of course, there were no particular problems before, but now I can easily dodge its tail and jaws, and pierce its skull with a dagger, strengthening the blow with a stream of wind.
"From today, your training will undergo slight changes," the old man said, looking up from his book. "You should have already noticed that you have become stronger than you were at the beginning, and quite significantly. However, you are still not capable of fighting low-level servants with pure strength. But you can fight for some time using only your body's strength, can't you?"
"The teacher is absolutely right," I said, as I felt it myself. Once, during a hunt, I fought off Xu Zhou Tin and found a small group of giant newts and tried to fight them. It was on the last hunt, not the one yesterday. As a result, I could fight one, but I didn't have enough speed to kill it; it simply didn't let me get close enough, wielding its tail, and then its friends ran up, so I quickly scattered them with magic and left. I checked what I wanted to check, and there was no point in bothering.
"This indicates that you now need sparring to continue increasing your power level just as effectively," the old man said, standing up from the steps.
"We can go on hunts more often than now," I suggested where I could find an opponent. "Or you can spar with me yourself."
"No, that's not it. Going on hunts will take too much extra time," he said, shaking his head. "And sparring with me, of course, would be beneficial for you, but you will have to fight not with a martial arts master, but with other mages. But don't worry, I know how to solve this problem. From today, you will come at eight o'clock and have a standard training session, after which you will rest until six in the evening and engage in your cultivation. At six o'clock, we will go to a special place where underground mage fights are held, in which you will participate instead of sparring."
"Underground mage fights?" I repeated, slightly surprised. No, of course, I suspected their existence, but I didn't know the old man knew where they would take place.
"Yes. The rules of participation will be explained to you later, but knowing that it is undesirable for you to show your face and name, I have prepared a mask for you. You can choose your pseudonym yourself," the old man said, handing me a completely white and smooth mask that perfectly replicated the shape of my face, with eye cutouts. Also, on the mask, a devilish smile was painted in red paint, similar to blood. I had seen a similar one on Asura, or my other pseudo-self. The sight of it sent shivers down my spine.
"Thank you, teacher, for your care," I said, bowing slightly and accepting the mask, which I couldn't refuse no matter what. As soon as the mask was in my hand, it went into the spatial bracelet, where most of my belongings are now stored, except for those that are being washed or have spoiled, probably.
"Excellent, now let's move on to training. Five-kilogram weights, fifteen kilometers distance, one hour time, run." the old man said, turning and returning to the dojo.
Yes, the training became more difficult from the first time. Every time I managed to run twenty kilometers in an hour, he added another kilogram to the weights. The same applied to practicing movements; every time I started doing well with the previous weight, he added more. Currently, I am already working with eleven-kilogram weights; it's simply inhumane!
After training and cultivation, during which I subdued the forty-second star of lightning, I popped into a shop and bought a voice modulator, after which I installed it in my mask. It was needed for me to change my voice so that no one could recognize me, logically, right? It's not that I absolutely needed it, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious. I also bought myself a black martial arts suit, similar to the one the old man had. I think I'll look quite respectable and cool in it.
At six o'clock, as agreed, we went to the place where the mage fights were held. It turned out to be in a rather solid building slightly north of the city center. Only the entrance was at the back of the building, and we were only allowed in after the old man said something to the guards. Descending the stairs, we entered a rather large hall filled with people. Most of them were looking at the scoreboard above the registration desks. As I learned, this was the ranking of the strongest in their league. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out much, as the old man dragged me to the registration desk. By the way, I was already dressed in my uniform.
"Hello, how can I help you?" asked a young, beautiful consultant with black hair down to her waist.
"I would like my student to be registered and participate in the fights," said the old man. By the way, I never learned his name.
"May I know your name?" the girl asked, opening something on the computer.
"Wu Shiyun Mofa," the old man replied briefly. I thought it was a rather long name, but it suited him.
"One moment. Do you want to register him as your student?" the girl asked.
"Yes," the old man replied briefly.
"Teacher, what does it mean to register as a student?" I asked him in a whisper.
"It means that fifty percent of your winnings will go to me," the old man replied dryly. "But don't worry, it will go towards paying off the debt for the herbs," he finished. I didn't know whether to laugh or be indignant, but on the other hand, what difference does it make to me? Of course, I need money, but not so much that I would argue with him.
"May I know under what name to register your student?" the girl asked, shifting her gaze from the old man back to him. He looked at me with a questioning expression.
"Asura," I replied briefly, not even knowing why. For some reason, this name came to my mind first and seemed the most logical of all.
"Alright, an unusual name. I hope you won't disappoint us," the girl said with a smile. "Do you possess magic? What level?" she asked a few seconds later. Her question seemed a bit strange to me, but then, remembering that the old man doesn't use magic and doesn't possess it at all, everything fell into place.
"Wind and lightning, both at the first stage of the intermediate level. I can't release lightning yet," I replied after thinking a little. Hiding my powers too much is foolish; it will only restrict me in battle, and besides, they are unlikely to recognize my true identity, so I don't need to hide too much. However, I decided not to mention space, first, it will attract attention, second, I need to keep a trump card unknown to anyone in any case, and third, space is too weak to be used in combat; I can't even release magic properly!
"Okay, please confirm your magic level using this stone," the girl said, handing me a rectangular stone, just like in the hunter league.
"Is that all? Anything else?" I asked, after directing lightning energy, and then wind, into the stone.
"Yes, I need to clarify, do you use any equipment not related to artifacts?" the girl asked, typing something on the computer.
"Yes, daggers made from the fangs of a three-eyed wolf, of my own making," I replied. Of course, turning them into artifacts is not a problem for me, but for a slight loss in power when creating them into artifacts, fangs of a three-eyed wolf are specifically required. Why such strict requirements? Because these fangs conduct magic very poorly, hence the loss of quality. "Are we allowed to use them during battle?" I clarified.
"Yes, absolutely, all registered weapons can be used. May I take a look at them?" the girl asked, extending her hand.