There was still a little over a week before the day of his duel against Agon Burner.
Hal believed that if he took on one of the easier hunting missions, he might even be able to return to the academy on the same day.
And so, after a great night's sleep, he woke up with a smile, making quick preparations before heading to the Mission Hall once more.
Hal was eager to try his upgraded, permanent-durability spells, specifically, his [Weak Mana Blast] and [Glacial Shards], as he had already tested the [Spirit Sparrow] yesterday.
As for [Illuminate] and [Squirt], let's just say he's not as excited about them, though he would certainly try them out as well.
After almost half an hour of walking, he finally arrived at the Mission Hall.
Hal headed straight for the F-ranked mission boards.
'Hmm…'
Diligently going through each hunting mission, he finally found the perfect target: Blue-hide Boars—the target he took out back at Joker's Tutorial.
It was a fairly common, easy-to-spot, and easy-to-hit F-ranked arcane beast.
Unlike monsters, beasts do not have arcane cores, but their bodies are treasure troves of crafting and brewing materials, and most of them have edible, extremely nutritious meat.
The mission Hal had chosen required him to slay at least five Blue-hide Boars.
He had to harvest ten tusks and turn them over to the Mission Hall as quest items.
The client had also specifically stated that he would purchase undamaged hides for twenty-five copper coins per one-meter roll, and slightly damaged ones for ten copper coins each.
As for the meat, Hal could decide what to do with it, though he did not really have much choice given his current situation.
'Sigh… If only I had the item-box spatial spell or a spatial belt-bag…'
Things would definitely be much easier for him.
Unfortunately, both were out of his reach for now, so he could only bring home whatever his huge sack bag and teenage physique could carry.
It wasn't hard for him to secure the mission this time.
The stern manager was true to his promise.
Almost immediately after he registered the mission under his name, Hal left the Mission Hall, unaware that he had just saved himself the trouble of confronting some ghosts of the past, as Korren and the others from Poporo Village entered the Mission Hall for their first mission just minutes after he left.
Walking past the vast academy plaza, Hal noticed the news on the massive Manatech Television and stopped to tune in.
It was about Ennya and others with similar talents.
The Arcanum Imperium's Imperial Broadcast was showing everyone photos of the next Magna prospects, featuring recordings of their prowess.
There was a young man with short, deep violet hair shooting a void obliteration ray from his staff, topped with a crystal the same color as his hair.
Next was another young man with medium-length, messy quiff hair of icy blue, raising his freezing wand skyward and making it rain glacial shards that destroyed more than ten E-ranked arcane monsters in an instant.
Lastly was the youngest among them, Ennya Kasai, the Flame Magna prospect.
The broadcast made it clear to the public that she had been training for less than three weeks to highlight her overwhelming talent.
Holding a staff with a vermillion core at the tip, she aimed it at more than ten training dummies, obliterating them with a horrifying fireball that was ten diameters in size.
Hal was stupefied and he couldn't help but swallow.
His fireball wasn't even half the size of Ennya's!
A total of eighty percent mana-affinity plus a 500% boost in fire elemental magic sure was a horrifying combination…
'Oh well, it's great that she's doing well…' he sincerely mused before continuing on his way to complete his hunting mission.
He had long conquered his envy, thanks to the Joker System.
His talent might not be on par with them on the surface, but Hal was confident that, given time, he, too, would shine.
He just had to be a bit patient and do what he could with what he currently had and his moment would inevitably come.
For now, testing his upgraded spells took priority.
Exiting the city through the west gate and walking for a while, Hal didn't need to go far, as mountains, where Blue-hide Boars resided, were plentiful near Aeloria City.
They were just as dangerous as forests, though, so Hal had to be cautious.
Luckily, his upgraded Spirit Sparrow was among the spell cards he needed to test.
It now had the number "4" in the upper right corner of the card after merging it with four other duplicates.
Hal decided to call the numbers something simple: levels.
His Spirit Sparrow was now level four.
'Hmmm…the nearest mountain is probably way too crowded…' Hal mused, deciding to go a little farther.
Arriving at the foot of a mountain where flora was abundant an hour later, he looked for a decent hiding spot, sitting inside the hidden confines of a thick bush before summoning the tiny avian.
Its appearance was now considerably different from before.
It was a bit smaller than it originally was and now had hints of green on its brownish feathers, allowing it to blend more easily with the trees.
Pleased with the visible changes, Hal smiled slightly and controlled the sparrow, further delighted to discover that it was now faster and its vision clearer.
He could perch it at a higher location and still enjoy the same sharp view.
To his surprise, he heard chewing sounds just a few meters to his side. Reacting quickly, he had his summon fly a bit farther, missing the creature.
Hal's heart raced.
He quickly made the Spirit Sparrow return and checked what the creature was.
Upon discovering that it was the very creature he needed to hunt, Hal's brows raised.
'Oh? Lucky!'
He exited the thick bush he was hiding in as carefully and silently as possible, performing a slow Palm Thrust motion as he aimed at the unsuspecting Blue-hide Boar.
A silvery-blue magic circle then appeared in front of his palms, from which a thin, long shard of ice shot forth, tearing through the air at great speed.
It landed cleanly at the arcane beast's temple, efficiently killing it without damaging its hide.
'D-Damn… this is the power of a level four [Glacial Shard], huh?'
But then, he remembered the Ice Magna Prospect's display and his excitement subsided.
He still had a long way to go…