Herag smiled wryly and said, "Not much different from you all, nothing gained."
"That’s normal, it’s your first time here and lacking experience. You’ll get better with familiarity." Macken seemed to feel slightly better and started comforting the others, although he himself only found three.
Herag looked at the fifty-five Sleeping Mushrooms in his ring and realized another problem.
If he submitted this many Sleeping Mushrooms, it would be a bit too noticeable; there’s no way a normal person could find so many.
"Looks like I need to exchange them in batches and avoid these few people," Herag thought to himself.
Dividing fifty-five into five exchanges for Magic Stones would still draw attention, but at least it wouldn’t be so conspicuous.
He couldn’t avoid exchanging them, as he was now in urgent need of Magic Stones.
Herag’s current plan was to earn Magic Stones and then learn more Level 0 Spells.
Generally, a First-Class Wizard Apprentice only masters one or two Level 0 Spells, Second- and Third-Class Wizard Apprentices know a few more, but not many.
Herag had Shenlan, allowing him to quickly master Level 0 Spells, which was his advantage.
The more Level 0 Spells he knew, the more solutions would be available in various situations.
For example, Defensive Level 0 Spells, Herag was planning to learn the Ice Shield and Mana Shield together later on; having more means would enhance his survival ability.
They waited for a while at the station, and Hellfoot arrived, taking them to the Northern Forest Region’s station.
"Are you going to the affairs hall to submit Sleeping Mushrooms?" Macken asked.
Sunny shook his head, "I’m planning to gather ten and exchange them for Magic Stones; Gold Coins are insignificant."
"Mm, that’s the most reasonable approach; we can continue tomorrow..." Macken nodded.
Macken and the other two arranged to set off together the following day, but Herag expressed that he couldn’t join due to other commitments and went home alone.
He didn’t want too much interaction with these people, as his efficiency in finding Sleeping Mushrooms was very high, and getting too familiar with them would make it difficult to act independently.
Macken and the others didn’t mind, as many in the wizard community liked to keep to themselves, which was normal.
Early the next morning, Herag arrived at the affairs hall.
The official Moonlight Forest-specific tasks had a dedicated window, where Sleeping Mushrooms were to be submitted.
After consideration, Herag decided to exchange fifty Sleeping Mushrooms at once. If he divided it into five exchanges, it would only be meaningful with long time intervals, which would slow down acquiring Magic Stones.
If the intervals weren’t enough, frequent submissions would still draw attention.
Submitting fifty at once would make others think he’d been storing them for a long time, as long as Macken and the others didn’t see him.
"If it’s still noticed by someone with intentions, there’s nothing that can be done; I’ll just deal with it as it comes," Herag had already prepared himself mentally.
"I’d like to submit Sleeping Mushrooms." After waiting in line for a while, it was Herag’s turn.
"Okay, hand them over. How many?" Behind the window was a young man named Andrew, who seemed like a wizard apprentice working here.
The Moonlight Forest frequently released this type of task post, and wizard apprentices could take the job once they passed the assessments. These posts usually had good benefits.
"These, fifty." Herag took out a small basket from his Space Ring filled with Sleeping Mushrooms.
Andrew was somewhat surprised, counted the mushrooms in the basket, confirmed it was indeed fifty.
Although the quantity was large, it wasn’t unheard of; some people would stockpile a lot and exchange them all at once.
He confirmed the count, started filling out some forms, then took five Magic Stones from the storehouse and filled out another form.
Both the number of Sleeping Mushrooms and Magic Stones need to be strictly recorded to prevent anyone from lining their pockets.
"Here you go." After completing the paperwork, Andrew handed Herag the five Magic Stones.
After leaving the affairs hall, Herag went straight to Larry’s house, having communicated earlier through the Talisman Stone.
He still owed Larry one Magic Stone.
Herag knocked on the door, and after a moment, the house elf Gami opened it. He looked up at Herag and said, "Mr. Herag, please hand me the Magic Stone. The master is busy and doesn’t have time to see you."
"Okay, don’t get greedy; I’ve already discussed with Mr. Larry," Herag handed the Magic Stone over, a bit uneasy, and reminded him.
Gami glanced at Herag with disdain, as he closed the door, said, "No house elf dares to steal from the master."
After settling the matter, Herag continued to rush toward the Moonlight Forest, planning to continue gathering Sleeping Mushrooms to accumulate Magic Stones as much as possible.
When he arrived at the Northern Forest Region station, there were two unfamiliar faces waiting there, a man and a woman, both maintaining silence without talking to each other.
Hellfoot soon arrived, and the three of them sat in the vehicle without speaking.
Herag and the male witch got off at the Moonlight Forest, while the female witch continued to ride presumably to some other destination.
Entering the Moonlight Forest, Herag chose a direction different from yesterday and began a carpet-search, seeing some footprints along the way but never encountering Macken and his group.
By sunset, Herag had found a total of forty-two Sleeping Mushrooms, fewer than yesterday.
While waiting for the vehicle at the station, Macken’s group, along with the man who had gotten off with Herag, also emerged.
Macken’s expression was somewhat disheartened; it seemed today’s yield wasn’t great, he only nodded silently upon seeing Herag.
Herag pondered that the areas he’d searched over the past two days had probably been exhaustive. Conversely, the difficulty for Macken and the others in finding Sleeping Mushrooms had greatly increased.
Their expressions suggested possibly having spent the day searching in areas Herag had already covered.
Of course, Herag would remain silent about this and stood quietly to the side waiting for the vehicle.
"Why was our luck so bad today; we didn’t find a single one all day?" Macken complained.
Sunny also sighed, "It does seem odd; the three of us didn’t dig up even one. Our luck really is quite poor."
The unknown man joined the conversation, saying, "You didn’t find any either? Same here, worked all day and got nothing."
Soon Hellfoot roared over, carrying a car full of gloomy people back to the Moonlight Forest.
In the vehicle, Luca, the weakest looking of Macken’s group, sighed, "I won’t be coming tomorrow; mushroom digging efficiency is too low. I can’t waste my time digging in the dirt."
Macken and Sunny stayed silent, appearing still intent on continuing.
Three days later, Herag returned to the affairs hall to exchange for four Magic Stones.
Over the past few days, he hadn’t returned to the Moonlight Forest to avoid any trouble with Macken’s group.
It was also to avoid drawing others’ attention, deliberately waiting a few days before going to the affairs hall to complete the Sleeping Mushroom task. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ɴo(v)elFɪre.ɴet
In the meantime, as usual, he meditated routinely, studying and learning various Level 0 Spells’ spell models.
Especially Larry’s notes, filled with valuable learning materials.