"What are you smirking about?" Archmage Arlen chuckled. "Well, it's normal to feel prideful after finally becoming a mage.
I'll let you know beforehand, every mage is arrogant, every single one of them.
If you see a mage who is kind, then they were once arrogant.
I was once arrogant.
That's actually the biggest weakness they have, that demons often take advantage of."
Max nodded. He engraved his warning deep in his mind. Even if he hated humans, demons might be able to use that hatred to control him—he must not prevent that at all cost.
Seeing him taking his warning seriously, Archmage Arlen was satisfied.
He said, "Alright. For the next few days, increase all the active spells I've given to you to Basic proficiency level.
Afterwards, help me investigate the unusual mana disturbances around the village."
Max smiled and nodded.
"Roger that, Teacher."
At the same time, a wall of texts manifested in front of him.
[You have met all the conditions to trigger the first stage of a Village Main Quest.
Stage 1: Unstable Mana
Quest Giver: Archmage Arlen Mireth
Description: Unusual mana disturbances have been detected around Greyfen Village. Minor spellcasting occasionally behaves unpredictably. The Archmage suspects environmental interference but lacks proof.
Objectives: Scan 3 village locations for mana disturbances: Chapel of Sustenance, Ranger Watchtower, and Village Bell Tower.
Rewards: 500 Level Exp, Runed Detection Charm.]
As though Archmage Arlen was seeing the wall of texts, he uttered what Max read.
Afterwards, Archmage Arlen dismissed Max, without forgetting to congratulate him again for becoming a mage.
Of course, Max didn't leave yet. He recalled a very important promise Archmage Arlen made to him.
After reminding Archmage Arlen about it, the latter rolled his eyes and gave him ten silver coins.
Last time, Max spent 3 silver coins buying his current outfit, so this time, he now has a total of twelve silver coins.
He planned to buy Common rank equipment without holding back.
…
While Max was planning to buy equipment in another area in the Arcane Cottage, he didn't hesitate to select the "learn" option in his every active skills in the inventory, causing them to disappear.
[You have learned Arcane Bolt.
Arcane Bolt (Beginner) – a single-target type made out of pure compressed mana projectile. At the current level, the projectile is unstable, has low velocity, has mana leakage during its travel, the accuracy is inconsistent, and the damage output is minimal.]
[You have learned Mana Shield.
Mana Shield (Beginner) — a defensive barrier made out of pure mana. At the current level, the barrier level is thin, it has low durability, the mana drains rapidly, and the barrier flickers under impact.]
[You have learned Mana Pulse.
Mana Pulse (Beginner) — an area shockwave type of skill made out of radial mana burst. At the current level, the radial pulse is weak, it has limited radius, the knockback is minimal, and the mana dispersion is inefficient.]
[You have learned Mana Thread.
Mana Thread (Beginner) — a utility or control type of skill made out of fine mana filament manipulation. At the current level, it's only a single thin tread, it has low tensile strength, the control range is short, and it's easily disrupted.]
After reading each of its descriptions, Max could only chuckle.
In fact, it was already a better skill to learn given they were D-Rank skills—the highest rank at the D-Rank level.
A skill's rank wasn't determined by its current strength, but by its potential ceiling.
In other words, a lower rank could be stronger than a higher rank at the current level if the former has way higher proficiency level.
Hence, proficiency mattered in the skills. More often than not, the skill ranks were neglected due to the importance of the proficiency.
Funnily enough, most of the players would even be tempted at C-Rank skill than a B-Rank skill, especially when the latter has a higher difficulty of raising its proficiency.
Of course, just because Max learned D-Rank skills, which was higher at D-Rank, doesn't mean he would rather choose E-Rank skills.
D- Rank skills' proficiency was also easy to increase, as long as Max has the equipment to buff him while trying to increase them.
Along the way, Max felt elated from the constant praises, congratulations, and polite greetings from the mage trainees.
The most satisfying part? The envious gazes of other players.
But the mostest satisfying part? Julian's sharp gaze and Jaden's polite behavior, as though he wanted to gain his good impression of him at all cost.
Max ignored them completely. To prevent other players from establishing connections with him, he had already exuded an invincible—must-off limits—aura in his space.
It was three meters, so in the hallway, all the players felt uncomfortable when they inevitably entered his personal space.
Max was satisfied by their reactions, until he finally arrived in the shop in the Arcane Cottage.
This was also where he bought his current clothes.
The salesman, actually a player, was surprised by Max's appearance.
He was about to greet him, but Max completely ignored him.
He was dumbfounded. If Max was an NPC and saw his relationship status with him, it would definitely be at the Hostile level.
It has been circulating around the village for a while, about a talented mage who seemed to lack any friends.
A talented mage, who was a personal student of an Archmage.
The one they suspected to earn a global achievement title.
Most of them were coming up with various reasons why Max was hostile to other players, even hiding his name to them.
How he responded to Julian has also become popular.
The salesman could only stare at Max's back filled with wonders.
Max, on the other hand, didn't care about what the salesman was thinking.
Not him alone, but to every player he was careless.
At the moment, he was now talking to another salesman, who was a mage trainee.
He asked him to show him all the Common rank equipment to choose.
Max didn't spend a long time choosing the equipment he already knew what he needed.