Wallace laughed in delight after he confirmed the completion of his mission.

The blood of a Magician truly possesses unique energy in this world as it is constantly being refined by Mana within the practitioner's body. Although he wasn't well versed in how it is being used, Headmaster Percival's advice to treat the blood as an extension of his Mana solidification bore fruit and has completed his mission that was stuck for several weeks without any progress.

He then checked the reward options for this mission.

[ You have studied the secrets of the Celestial Fragment and learned the method of integrating with one. ]

[ Mission Progress: 100/100 ]

[ You may choose your reward. ]

[ Reward A: 1 Grade A - Holy Elixir, Low-Grade Arcane Technology, Low-Grade Arcana, Mystery Box x2. ]

[ Reward B: Aeon Guardian, 5 Grade C Holy Elixir, Mystery Box x2. ]

When he received this mission, he has already selected the option he would like to choose but he just kept it in his mind. However, now that he really has the chance to select one of the rewards today, he became a bit hesitant whether it is really the correct decision to make.

The Grade A Holy Elixir was sure to be very impressive. During the auction at the capital, a set of 6 vials of Grade A Holy Elixir was sold for 349 million credits. It was an impressive amount for a small bottle of liquid with a powerful healing effect. It was said that possessing one of these elixirs can be called having another life so it can be very advantageous to acquire this.

The Grade C elixir has weaker effects but it is very convenient to use if the injury isn't life-threatening.

After all, it would be too much to use a Grade A Elixir to a simple stab wound.

Sigh~

Wallace took a deep breath before selecting the second reward option.

Although he was very curious about Arcane Technology and Arcana, he wanted something that could probably increase his power in a short time.

It must be remembered that Wallace still has an unused Arcane Technology with him. Although he has plans where to use it, it was a bit complicated at this time since he had to prioritize some things. As for the Arcana, he wasn't even a certified Arcane Artificer yet. It was still a question if he will be able to use an Arcana that supposedly belongs to an Arcanist or a Grand Arcanist.

Although he had a hunch that he can use it, it was better to select the Aeon Guardian which had appeared to him as a reward from a mission long ago. He believed that it was the right time to get this guardian thing.

[ You have received the following: Aeon Guardian, Grade C Holy Elixir x5, Mystery Box x2 ]

Though he was excited to get the rewards from the mission, he made sure that everything in his workshop was kept in a safe place and the now red Celestial Fragment was put in his Spatial Bag.

He didn't bother to check the five elixirs since those were just five small vials of an elixir he had seen before in the auction and the mystery box no longer excite Wallace. The reason was that it was a random reward thing. He even had a berserk potion recipe reward from that box which wasn't that useful for his path.

He understood very clearly that the mystery box may gift him a very useful item he can immediately use or a useful item but that would be for his future self.

Right now, a mysterious connection to an unknown being suddenly caught Wallace's attention.

"Aeon Guardian!"

Wallace called out the being connected in his mind as half of his mana reserves were suddenly consumed in a couple of seconds.

It was a horrifying amount of mana considering all the boosts that he had before.

Shortly after this, a huge magic formation appeared in front of him. As it reached almost 5 meters wide, the formation slowly turned to mechanical gear or cogs of different sizes turning like a clockwork.

At the center of this, a giant metallic snake emerged as it coiled around Wallace before disappearing into particles of light.

"This..."

Wallace was stunned as information came into his mind and understood what had just happened. He immediately tried to use his Magic Spells, pulled out his Silver Orb, activated his Divine Sense, used his Void Phase to go somewhere, and other activities that could consume his mana.

This only lasted for three minutes as he satisfyingly returned to his workshop.

Apparently, after the metallic snake or the Aeon Guardian coiled around him, the details about what it could do had appeared in his mind.

The Aeon Guardian has a rather unique and special ability that allows him to freeze his current state for three minutes the moment it was summoned.

The three-minute-state-freeze was a bit difficult to explain but he immediately compiled its data for Avalon's consideration in his future calculations. He was providing this information to Avalon to make the A.I. help him in the future combat decisions he will be making. He believed that it would benefit him in the long run.

Simply put, during the summoning of the guardian, the user's current condition would remain unchanged no matter what happened in the next three minutes.

In other words, his health or life wouldn't be threatened no matter how many attacks hit him and his mana wouldn't drop no matter how many spells he cast, making him effectively invincible.

Unfortunately, he couldn't use it repeatedly. Aside from the long cooldown of 2 days, his mana pool that consumed half of his reserves during the summoning would remain that way for 12 hours unless he consumed a Grade A Elixir that could also heal the abnormal status of a magician.

Now that it was settled, he decided to open the two mystery boxes and see what he could get.

[ You have received 1 Spectacle. ]

[ You have received 1 Bottle of Mana Rejuvenation. ]

Wallace checked its description and got satisfied with its effects. He then found that it was already late and decided to make it a day and rested in his room.

***

The next day, another good news came in.

[ The Gordon and Iron Steel Group had completed our order of supplies today. The Traceless Hand's Factory at the Cove City can now continue to mass-produce the VR Pods. ] The Avalon reported to Wallace.

"Great! Make sure to tell me if there's any problem with the operation in the city. I can't visit there frequently."

[ Affirmative. Here are the reports about the feedback you received from the Beta Testers. Some meaningful suggestions were highlighted for your consideration. ]

"A-alright. I'll read them later today..."

Wallace said before leaving his house for school. He had initially read those feedbacks before but he later found out that their ideas were either terrible or probably already one of his plans in his later updates of the Alien Invasion game.

Other than that, he was satisfied that the beta testers hadn't found any issues about practicing the mana inside the virtual world. After all, that feature was extremely necessary for the future and he had to make sure that he was able to replicate the essence of mana within the game.

As he went to the academy, a familiar commotion occurred as Miya Linus had again appeared together with Diana Humeray.

The same thing happened as she decided to use her Soul Magic which seems to be capable of affecting their almost uncontrollable desires.

Wallace took a deep breath as he repeatedly told his mind to avoid using his Divine Sense if not in an emergency.

'Haah... I'll just think of it as a form of training...'

Though it was difficult for him since he already made it as his habit, he had to control himself so it won't cause him any more problems.

The class went smoothly as he learned many things about the real usage of practical mana spells. Instructor Elaine's thought-provoking method of teaching was highly popular in the class as the lady's method was out of the norm. It seems that she really wanted to tell to her students everything she knows about mana and magic spells just to help them achieve higher heights.

Every question was answered as clearly as possible and she was very pleasant to speak with.

Suddenly, Wallace heard another notification from the Pathfinder or the Cube altogether.

[ The Cube Upgrade has been completed. ]

[ Your Knight-Level access has been promoted to Knight Commander-Level access. ]

[ Knight Commander Access:

- It allows the user to utilize one stored ability of the Cube based on the Path the user had chosen. ( Used )

- It allows the user to use 10 cubic meters of spatial space of the Cube for storing inanimate objects.

- It allows the user to have more rewards in every mission.

- It allows the user to select one weapon within the Weapon Armory of the Cube.

- Removes protection granted by the Cube of Paradox. The Cube will no longer interfere with the user's fate. ( Effective )

- 1 Life Guarantee ( Used ) ]