After the embarrassing display of my first time slinging, I kept practicing under Grava's careful instructions. It was apparent that I had a lucky stroke, as I missed every shot I made since even almost hitting some of the kids and guards. Luckily nobody was hit.

Regardless, despite my repeated failures, I persisted until it paid off.

 

Around two hours later --

Whir* Whoosh* Thump*

A stone hit the large wooden target fifty feet away at the edges.

"I hit it!" - I shouted in glee, sore hands raised in the air along with a sling.

Grava patted my shoulder from the side.

"Well done, Mog. You have finally touched upon the basics of slinging. Remember this feeling, and work hard to hone it."

"Yes, sir!" - I took a few steps back and saluted to him with a broad smile.

Dang* Dang* Dang*

The sound of a bell rang, and I smelled the enticing smell of food in the air.

"Breakfast is ready! Men and kids, come get it while it's hot!" - A middle-aged man wearing an apron announced as he rang a bell stand.

All the men and children paused what they were doing and glanced at their respective drill instructors. The young kids and I also glanced at Grava expectantly.

Although the food is ready, we needed permission to go and eat.

Grava glanced at all of us and smiled, "Go ahead. Remember to come back within half an hour, or you're in for a spanking."

"Yes, sir!" - We all shouted in unison and scrambled to the food area.

The food area consisted of a flat piece of land with wooden bench tables and camp kitchens nearby that prepared meals for the entire camp.

The breakfast today is five wheat pancakes served with dates and honey. It is a surprisingly tasty meal, considering it is a soldiers' camp.¹Authentic roman soldier breakfast.

After I took my breakfast, I found Livia and Cispia sitting on one of the benches together with four other girls, eating and laughing. By the looks of it, the table was already full, so I didn't butt in and decided to go to Tertius's table, who sat with three other kids from the mansion.

I walked to them and unceremoniously sat next to Tertius, "Hey guys."

"Hey Mog." - They greeted back and continued eating and chatting.

In response, I just silently listened to them chat.

"Have you guys seen that owlbear charging at us? That was scary as hell." - One of the kids said while eating.

"Yeah, and there were those goblins and hobgoblin, too. How do people survive in the countryside with those things running around the place?" - Another said.

"Hey, Tertius, isn't your family from the countryside? How do they survive?" - The third kid asked Tertius.

"Oh, that? Well, the countryside isn't nearly as dangerous as near the capital. The capital is situated near a magic forest, while the countryside is usually just plains and regular forests. It is very rare for strong monsters like an owlbear to pop up out of nowhere like that. A village would usually only need to deal with some regular animals and weak monsters. A D-rank monster popping up is a disaster with some villagers dying." - Tertius said while eating.

"Also, we have special monster repellent runes carved around the village, so monsters are more likely to avoid our villages out of instinct. Strong monsters like owlbears are also very territorial, and rarely leave their turf, so unless some natural disaster happens, they seldom leave it. The Goblintide is one of them." - He added.

"Hah... What about merchants that come to the capital? How do they survive the journey to the capital, then?" - I asked.

"Well, there are patrolling soldiers that regularly clean up the roads from monsters. Also, merchant caravans hire E and D-rank adventurers and mercenaries to guard them as they travel by day. Although they won't necessarily beat an owlbear, they can drive it away, and they can hold their grounds against a goblin raid party. Also, there are guarded rest stations every few miles, so they don't need to travel during the night, although there are some daredevils out there." - Tertius answered.²In response to a question in the comment section. Ask questions, and I might answer them.

"Hah... But why is the capital near the magic forest, then?" - I asked doubtfully.

"Resources and training grounds for stronger troops. Magic forests are natural treasure troves for magical resources, and they produce strong monsters for the stronger experts, so strong empires and nations are all situated near such locations. It also helps to keep those areas in check so they won't overflow. I'm surprised you don't know this." - Tertius said with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm a city boy from a very poor background. Although I know some things, I do lack some common knowledge, but I am not ashamed of admitting it or asking things." - I shrugged and responded.

"Well, at least you don't speak nonsense you don't know jackshit about." - The second boy said.

"True." - The other boys agreed.

The boys then exchanged knowing smiles and leaned in close to me.

"So, we saw that first throw of yours. Bullseye, hah?" - One of the boys snickered.

"Yeah, tell us your secret. How did you manage that legendary first throw." - Another said with oozing sarcasm with an evil grin sprouting on his face.

"Ugh... Please don't rub it in..." 

"Hahaha!" - Tertius and the kids laughed at my expense.

We then continued eating our breakfast. Although they laughed at me, I did feel that we got a little closer as friends, so I was okay with it.

We soon finished our meals and went back to training until lunch.

After repeated throws for a few hours, I managed to feel like I improved a bit more, although my arms were killing me now.

 

At lunch --

"Do you think an owlbear has bear meat or owl meat?" - I asked Tertius while waiting in line for lunch.

"No idea. Some say there are two types of owlbears. One type lays eggs like birds, so owl meat, while some give birth like mammals, so bear meat."

"Hah... I wonder how that works..." - One of the kids, named Shurn, said.

"I hear that high-level monster meat is tougher than iron, though. How are we supposed to eat it?" - Another one of the kids, named Targ, commented.

"From what I know, specialized butchers and chefs can use aura or mana to tenderize the meat so that you can regularly eat it. It requires a high level of skill to do it, or you would destroy the meat. The better the chef, the more he can perfectly tenderize it, and making it more nutritious for the body." - The last kid, Jmantius, said.

"Anyways, it should be a real treat." - I said, almost drooling at the thought of eating owlbear meat.

"Yeah." - The others nodded, some of them already drooling.

In the end, the meat this time was pheasant meat. We each got a steak served with bread and salted herb sauce. It was tender and tasty.

After parting ways, we went back to Cnaeus, who gathered all of us, and then marched back to the mansion. This time, unimpeded.

 

 

 

Third-person POV³Well, you voted for it, so...

Meanwhile, in one of the mansions hidden rooms --

Crunch* Crunch* Crunch*

A beautiful golden-haired woman was grinding something in a black mortar with a pestle. The mortar and pestle, upon closer inspection, were both made of extremely tough materials and were covered in dense white dimly shining runes.

A dim white light covered the pestle as it crushed the thing inside the mortar.

After a while, she finished her grinding and carefully placed the rainbow-colored ground bits into a rune-covered test tube, and carefully sealed it.

Only then did she finally heave a sigh of relief as she wiped her forehead.

"Phew, finally finished grinding the minor twelve-elemental stone. If I wasn't careful, this thing would blow up the entire room and kill me! As expected of the Paragon potion. The danger and difficulty of refining this is so high-level! I'm starting to feel that I gave a losing deal to little Mog. I should have demanded 200 years instead. Oh, well. We signed the contract already, so I can't regret it now." - The golden-haired woman, mistress Consentia, commented.

"I don't have time to rest, however. I need to start refining the potion before the medicinal efficacy will drop too much from the materials." - She said as she went to a rune-covered chest by the side.

This chest is her safebox, containing all the handled ingredients. Not only does it help preserve them, but it also protects them in case of an accident or robbery.

After making a gesture, the runes on the safebox shined before it safely opened. Inside it was multiple test tubes filled with various materials.

Some of them were fluid substances, such as blood or transparent liquids. Some of them were crushed herbs with the liquid oozing out. Some were sandlike substances or even sparkling gases. And some were various rocks and minerals.

Consentia carefully took out several items from inside.

"Refined Adult Frost Dragon heart blood, Banshees refined tears, Refined demonic blood, minor twelve-elemental stone dust, Holy Unicorn blessed water, High-fairy's dust, Epiphany fruit seed oil, a whole Stardust petal, and finally... The god's spark!"

As Consentia stared at the numerous materials on her table, each worth a fortune on their own, she felt emotional. She then looked at the thumb-sized black god's spark, no luster coming from its pitch-black body.

A zealous and mad glint flashed in her eyes.

"Mog, thanks to you, I will make history today. I will be the first mortal to succeed in making the Paragon potion! Ximjun, Veona, bless me!"

After her excitement calmed down, she started concocting the potion.

"First, use the Frost Dragon heart blood and Holy Unicorn blessed water as the base. The elemental frost and holy properties will inhibit the violent nature of the other materials. Next, add the fairy dust to stabilize the two, and allow them to perfectly mix, and normalize the base. Mix them with mana for thirteen seconds..."

Consentia kept brewing the potion, using the multiple materials on hand. After ten minutes of mixing the potion, Inside a half-liter runic flask, a sparkling bright red potion was inside, streaks of color flashing inside it, but it appeared bubbling and unsafe to drink.

"Finally, the basic potion is complete. The process was easier than I thought. Now, however, I will need to add the final ingredient... The god's spark. If I remember correctly, I just need to insert the spark inside the concoction, and it will melt by itself, stabilizing it. Ximjun, Veona, bless me!" - She thought for a split second.

After taking a deep breath, she decisively inserted the black stone inside the concoction. Immediately, the nigh-indestructible black rock melted into the potion, like salt into the water.

The originally bright red liquid turned a few shades darker, becoming dark-red, but the bubbling subsided and gradually stopped. The flashing lights inside it mellowed down, and it looked overall more stable than before.

Consentia then carefully corked the potion, put it inside the safe box, sealed it, and then heaved a sigh of relief. Then, an uncontrollable smile rose on her face, full of glee!

"I did it. I managed to make it! Ximjun, Veona, have you seen me? I, Consentia Fidelis, succeeded! I have not let you down! Hahahaha!" - Consentia let out peels of laughter, true joy, and zeal in it.

While she was laughing, her body suddenly shined. She felt energy coursing through her, and a gentle and ethereal male voice sounded in her head.

"𝒞𝑜𝓃𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈, 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒. 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒸𝑒𝑒𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒶𝓈𝓀. 𝑅𝑒𝒸𝑒𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝓎 𝓇𝑒𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹. 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊 𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉!"

"Ximjun! My lord! My God! I, Your humble servant, Consentia Fidelis, thank you for your blessing!" - Consentia immediately knelt and clasped her hands in prayer as the light shining on her strengthened her body, mind, soul, talent, and alchemical skills in a holy baptism of divine blessing.

After ten minutes, the light subsided, and Consentia rose to her feet. Her already tall figure rose by another two centimeters. Her hair had more luster in it. Her skin turned even fairer. Her face became more defined. Her eyes shined like stars. 

If before she was only a very beautiful woman, she was now jaw-droppingly beautiful, almost touching the unnatural.

Consentia felt it as she clenched her fist, "My physical body's attributes increased by half a grade, reaching D-rank. My mana reached C-rank, and I will only need to train to become a full-fledged fourth circle mage like my brother! And finally, I feel that my alchemical skills are about to reach the A-rank! Ximjun has truly blessed me! Hahaha! Thank you! Thank you!" - She again knelt in prayer.

While she was praying, little did she notice that inside the safebox, inside the Paragon potion flask, dark streaks were churning inside, forming weird writhing shapes before dissipating again, as if they didn't exist...