After three hours of arduous breaking through, Rio laid down on the cold ceramic floor since Rio was breaking through in the mana room instead of his manor as it would be easier and shorten the time it would take to break through. After constant training and farming, he managed to get to this stage in just one year. He checked his stats after consolidating his breakthrough
'system'
[Ding!]
EXP-5,000
Class: 1st Class Mage Master
Subclass: 1st Class Kudan Martial Artist
Strength: 130.0
Agility: 136.3
Endurance: 133.5
Mana: 800.0
Rio nodded in satisfaction, it was only a matter of time before he reached the next level of Kudan, Rio walked out of the mana room, and due to the sponsor, he'd gotten from Elise, he had enough funds provided to buy the resources he needed for his cultivation so there was no limit to his growth, 'before the Tournament happens
'I should at least be at the last stage of mage master, usually, it would take someone at least 20 years to jump from 1st rank mage master to 4th rank, even for the exceptional talent it would take ten years but with the system and sleepless nights I should be able to get to the 4th Rank in just four years.'
After exiting the mana room that he had been in for around a month, he realized a strange difference in the atmosphere, as if everyone was rushing for something, so he decided to ask a nearby disciple about what happened, at first he was confused about what Rio was talking but realized Rio probably just came out of seclusion
"Ahh, y-you probably don't know but a-about 2 weeks ago, a regional a-auction was announced to be held in the next 6-6 months and I hear the items being auctioned are no ordinary things, so everyone is going on missions and trying to find ways to raise as much money before the auction starts to get their hands on something good" he explained with a slight stutter
Normally Core disciples were proud but it seems this one had a good temperament, after thanking him for the info and left Rio went back to his manor
Little did Rio know "Phew, he's gone, I'm only a 4th Rank Mage but just because of information he exudes his pressure" he mumbled under his breath and left
Unknowingly, Rio was exuding the pressure from the 1st rank mage master and he didn't even realize, Rio just saw some core students looking hesitantly and some with confused expressions. However, he didn't mind them and entered his manor
'Hmm, I might as well check out the auction, I may find something I could use there, but the spirit stones I have on me probably aren't enough, Rio opened his pouch and saw a little over 20 Medium Spirit Stones with the majority coming from him hunting beasts
Rio had around 200 Medium Spirit Stone saved up from a year of hunting but decided to buy a bigger ring as the ring he was carrying couldn't hold more than 5 carcasses, luckily, he was hunting high-level beasts or the effort wouldn't be worth it
Now he has a ring that was the size of a large room which was about 30m2 which made hunting much better
Luckily, he got two free skill books when he went to the library, one that apparently comes free for every new core student and one from Elise, which took off some financial burden at the time
Since Rio knew several fire and dark magic spells thanks to Tiamat, he just got some high-level martial arts for speed and defense, which is what he was in need of at the time
however, he doubts he could get anything with 200 spirit stones' he pondered on how to make some spirit stones before the auction
'Am I an idiot? I have the knowledge of a dragon that lived for millenniums that also includes ALCHEMY' Rio slapped his forehead whilst smiling
'I always did like alchemy, I've been too concentrated on farming I forgot to try to explore other fields, of course, I have the knowledge, but putting it into practice is a whole different ball game' Rio said whilst leaving the manor he just entered about 2 minutes ago with a grin on his face and due to his emotional fluctuations, the pressure being exuded was even stronger without Rio noticing.
Rio walked to the marketplace to get some ingredients he would need for a high-priced potion, he had a couple in mind so he bought multiple batches of different ingredients just in case he failed the first few times
After getting the ingredients he came for, and eagerly waiting to return home to start the refining, Rio saw Luke, as soon as he did, he immediately turned away and tried to find an alternative route, however, just before he could do that, Luke suddenly turned his head and looked directly at Rio with a confusing face
'What the hell, does he have a sensor or something, how do you notice me without you looking at me Rio thought
After Luke saw it was Rio, his confused expression was replaced with a friendly smile, and he walked toward Rio
"Junior Brother Rio, is that you? I haven't seen you for like a year, I see you probably just broke through the 1st Rank Mage Master" he said letting out a few laughs
"Ahh, yes I just did, your sense is very sharp" letting out a few awkward laughs
"It's not that my senses are sharp, a lot of pressure is coming out of you, that was how I immediately knew it was you, it was like the atmosphere got heavier," he said
'Pressure?'
"You need to tune down that pressure, you've probably been getting strange glares recently"
"Now that I think of it…" Rio thought back to the stuttering guy he asked for information and the glances he got when walking home
"Thank you seniors' brother for the advice" he smiled and bowed
"Are you getting into refining?"
Rio attempted to leave; however, he struck up another conversation topic
"I see you have so many ingredients, and from what I can tell the majority of the ingredients are for refining"
"Ah, yes senior brother Luke, I was just in a rush to start refining when I bumped into you" slightly emphasizing on 'rush' to throw a hint
Luckily, he seemed to have caught what Rio threw "Ah, then excuse me for delaying you Junior bother, hope your refining goes well, I'll see you later" he waved and started walking away
Rio smiled and waved, before resuming his way to the manor, 'hopefully, nothing delays me again' Rio thought as he tried to see if he could reduce the leak coming from him however, he couldn't feel the pressure Luke was talking about
After a couple of minutes, Rio reached home went to the basement, and got everything prepped up.
'First of all, let's see what pressure Luke was talking about' Rio thought as he sat down, closed his eyes, and concentrated, it was about ten minutes before a slight feeling of something being exuded from his skin, he tried recollecting it, however, it didn't work so he decided to try if he close or block it and he saw the slight gas like feeling stop coming out
'Seems settled then' Rio thought before focusing back on the ingredients