Claude sighed deeply as he looked at the bright silver moon in the sky.
He had been thinking about it for the past few days, but he still couldn't make up his mind on what path he should take.
Being a battlemage was good, but he didn't have a place to learn combat spells.
As a rune magus specializing in alchemy and magic runes, while his fighting prowess would be lacking and it would be hard for him to gather materials for alchemy experiments and magic runes, Claude would be able to smoothly become a four-ring rune magus with Landes's diary and the pointers in it.
Actually, becoming a rune magus wasn't as bad as Claude thought it would be. At the very least, the materials for the basic alchemy experiments recorded in the diary and the diary could be bought as long as he had the money.
For example, the formulas for a few low-grade magic potions, as well as the creation of gun barrels and the construction of accessories. Those were easily obtainable from apothecaries and blacksmiths. The required materials were nothing more than medicinal herbs and metal ores.
With Claude's current net worth, it wasn't a problem for him to buy those materials. The only problem was that he would have to spend a lot of effort and money to set up the alchemy formation.
Firecrystals, for example, were one of the basic materials for alchemy formations. They were now used as precious raw materials for jewelry and were rarely seen on the market.
Claude had once thought that if he could get his hands on an alchemy formation, he might be able to do some experiments to see if he could make a flintlock or a revolver out of it.
He knew the structure of those two guns very well. Theoretically, making them by hand wouldn't be a problem. All he needed was an alchemy formation and a secret place to set it up.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't buy the materials needed to set up the formation, nor did he have a secret place to set it up.
All he could do was think about it. After all, he was only a seventeen-year-old middle school student.
Regardless of what choice he would make in his future, all he could do was continue practicing Hexagram Meditation and slowly absorb the fire elemental photons and convert them into his own mana.
There were still a few more months before he could become a first-rank rune magus.
As the days passed, the weather started to get colder and he had to wear the sweater his mother knitted him when he went out in the morning.
The sprain on his left leg had long since healed and he was able to jump around as he pleased. However, the sprain made him realize that his body still needed more training. So, he would wake up a little earlier every morning and run a lap around the eastern and southern sectors of the town, covering a distance of around five to six kilometers.
When November arrived, the students were a little restless.
Firstly, it was almost time for the annual vacation, which was more than two and a half months in a row.
The students who had been in school for nearly ten months were eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the holidays.
Secondly, the grade exam was about to begin. This was the most important exam to test the students' overall results for the semester. It didn't matter to the top students, but to the rest of the students, it was a torment.
The teachers of the school also let the students be restless and no longer required them to strictly follow the school's rules.
To the teachers, the approach of the holidays meant that the third-year students were about to graduate. They had a lot of things to do, such as organizing the graduation ceremony and recommending outstanding graduates to find jobs.
Since the teachers relaxed their control over the students, the second-year students, led by Borkal and Eriksson, would often use the 20-minute break to visit the girls in the opposite class, looking for opportunities to chat and joke around with them.
Often, there would be students who would be distracted during the rest of the class after talking to the girl they liked. They would have a silly smile on their face, and their minds would be somewhere else …
"These two idiots are hopeless …" Claude could only shake his head when he saw the silly grins on Borkal and Eriksson's faces.
During the break, the two of them had gone to the girls' class to chat with the big-eyed bespectacled girl, Betty, and the naturally seductive Bilia, and now they were in this state.
Judging from the looks of it, they should be fantasizing about them marrying the two girls and having a bunch of kids.
"I'm sorry, Claude," Welikro said apologetically.
Claude didn't understand. "What's wrong with you? Why are you apologizing out of the blue?"
"Umm … Last night, I told my father that I wanted to invite you to Egret to hunt with us after the holidays.
But my father rejected my suggestion. He said that the winters in Egret are more dangerous than usual because the hungry mountain leopards will attack any prey that enters their territory. He can't guarantee the safety of his entourage. "
Welikro lowered his head and said in a deep voice, "My father also said that he believes you have the courage to face these dangers. That python and the niros crocodile have already proved that you have the qualifications.
But because your father is Mister Morssen, he can't risk offending the governor by inviting you to Egret with us. "
Claude nodded in understanding. "It's fine, Wero. I understand your father's concerns.
Even if my father agrees to let me go with you and your father to Egret, he still has to worry about whether I'll run into danger or something unexpected. That will only delay your plans.
So, bringing me along isn't worth it. He just made the wisest choice. There's nothing strange about that. You don't have to apologize. "
Seeing Welikro's head lowered in silence, Claude smiled. "Why don't you take a nap and rest up? The physical sciences exam is in the afternoon. I'm already prepared to fight you for first place."
Claude was in the limelight for the exam. He rose to 17th place in the humanities.
Thanks to him, Borkal's, Eriksson's, and Welikro's grades in the humanities improved tremendously. They were now in the thirties and forties of the 63 students in the class.
Even though most of the students knew what was going on, they didn't say anything about it due to the prestige the four of them had built up in the class.
Claude took first place in the physical sciences exam with a slight advantage over Welikro.
If he hadn't won first place in the two-handed sword and rapier events, as well as fifth place in the short sword event, the honor of first place in the physical sciences exam would've been snatched away by Welikro.
Being tall and strong, Welikro had an absolute advantage in physical events such as wrestling and boxing. That was something Claude couldn't do anything about.
Once the school officially started its annual break, Claude and his three friends had to split up.
Eriksson had to go out to sea with his father, Captain Altroni, to hunt whales in the stormy seas.
It would be the first time Eriksson boarded his family's fishing boat, the Redsea Shark. He couldn't wait to set sail in the stormy seas during winter.
Welikro also had to follow his father to Egret to hunt and gather herbs. It would take around seven to eight days.
However, the two of them might have to go there twice during the break. His father promised to get his daughter, Welikro's sister, a piece of stone fox fur.
Egret was huge and the two of them wouldn't be able to find the stone fox's nest in seven to eight days.
Borkal left Whitestag as well. He had to follow his father to inspect the various branches in the three southwestern prefectures. He wanted to check the accounts for the year and hand out bonuses and bonuses to the managers and employees of each branch.
He left in a hurry. On the afternoon of the break, he boarded his father's carriage and set off without even saying goodbye.
For Claude, he had nothing better to do after the school gave him a break.
His friends had all left Whitestag and he didn't have any friends to go out to play with. All he could do was stay at home to accompany his siblings and play with the snowhound that had grown up quite a bit.
After that, he stayed in his small attic and cultivated the Hexagram Meditation Technique.
Since he had some free time, he spent the next three days visiting all the bookstores and shops in town. He didn't even let the stalls in the open-air market slip by.
However, he didn't find any more magical items. He didn't even find any books related to the Dark Age, which filled him with disappointment.
Angelina and Bloweyk, on the other hand, were quite happy to go shopping with Claude. Every time they went out, Claude would buy them clothes, toys, and snacks.
In the end, Morssen felt that Claude was spending too much money. Even though he did get a crown from selling the niros crocodiles, he would spend it all in no time. So, he forbade Angelina and Bloweyk from going shopping with Claude.
More than a week later, Welikro paid Claude a visit with the hind leg of a mountain muntjac. He had hunted it the night before he returned from Egret, so he brought it over for Claude to try.
Mountain muntjac was a wild herbivore commonly seen in the three southwestern prefectures. It was about the size of an antelope, but it didn't have horns or the ability of an antelope to climb mountains. Coupled with its delicious meat, it became a favorite prey of hunters.
In recent years, it had become rare to see any traces of it in the three southwestern prefectures. Only in the depths of the mountains or in places where people rarely went, such as Egret, would one be able to find traces of it.
Welikro said that the main reason he followed his father to Egret was to gather medicinal herbs and hunt stone foxes. They managed to gather quite a lot of medicinal herbs and it was enough for the apothecary's commission. However, they didn't find any traces of the stone foxes.
So, his father decided to make another trip to Egret in December. He might stay a little longer this time around and return before the new year.
Welikro had always felt that it was a pity that Claude couldn't follow them to Egret to hunt.
He believed that Claude was the most talented hunter he had ever met. With some training, he would definitely become the best hunter in the three southwestern prefectures.
However, Claude's father definitely wouldn't let his second son become a hunter, even though it was the best profession in Welikro's eyes.
Borkal did send a letter two days ago and Claude showed it to Welikro.
Borkal said that he wouldn't be returning to Whitestag for the new year. His father intended to bring the whole family to his aunt's house in Simirok for the new year. He estimated that he would only be back in town in the second half of the month and would be able to reunite with his friends then.
The two of them then talked about Eriksson. Welikro believed that he would only be back before the new year. Going out to sea meant that there would be no news of him since letters couldn't be sent out on the sea. All they could do was pray that Eriksson and his father could return safely.
Regarding Claude's idleness, Welikro suggested that he bring his gun to the forest in the southern outskirts of town.
Even though they had set up a chain of traps there a few months ago and caught a lot of pheasants and hares, it should have recovered by now.
Welikro believed that Claude shouldn't set up any more traps there and should instead practice shooting so that he wouldn't get rusty.
Claude happily accepted Welikro's suggestion. As long as the weather was fine and there wasn't any snow, he would head to the hills and forests in the southern outskirts of town to hunt hares and pheasants. If he was lucky, he would lead his prey home, but most of the time, he would return empty-handed.