Wolf spent sixteen weeks in Demon Forest. He slew eight Demonic Converters and returned to the Mage Academy five days before his deadline.

Wolf ignored the gut-wrenching feeling of teleportation and headed straight to Headmaster Smith’s office. After a short, brisk walk, Wolf knocked.

“Enter,” a sharp voice called from the office.

Why is he always free? And why doesn’t he transmit his voice using the Spell Formation? Wolf entered and half-bowed, following etiquette.

“Good day, Headmaster.” This time, Wolf arrived in the early afternoon.

Headmaster nodded. “Come, sit. How was your excursion? Did you clear out Demon Forest?”

The Headmaster kept a straight face and a cheerful smile, while Richard left his chair and moved to stand behind his boss, like a diligent assistant that he wasn’t.

Wolf took Richard’s seat and sighed. “Based on my effort so far, I’d need between five and a half and six years for the outer ring, Sir. Unless you teach me how to move faster or how to hide from Demonic Beasts.”

Lord of Steel slowly nodded. “Moving around using Merge With Wind is dangerous around enemies. Unless you know the True Name of Wind. You could combine it with Undetectable, but the spell lasts only thirty minutes for a Tenth Order Mage, an hour for you. Besides, it’s useless against Demonic Beasts.”

Headmaster Smith surprised Wolf. He gave useful advice for once. The old man believed it was proper, considering Wolf had done his job and read the reports.

“If you don’t mind, I have a question.” Headmaster Smith paused. He only continued after Wolf nodded, giving him tacit permission to ask his question. “Based on your words, you can kill Demonic Converters in a day. And you can pull it off multiple times. Your method obviously isn’t a single-use item. How do you do it?”

He shouldn’t be greedy for Book. He can only control steel. Wolf hesitated for a moment, then his sword materialized.

Wolf sensed Soul Force surge as Lord of Steel awakened his senses and focused on Book for a split second.

“Magnificent weapon. Dwarven craft.” Lord of Steel nodded in appreciation, thinking Wolf bought it from the Church of Fairness. “Will you sell it for one thousand platinum coins?”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Wolf replaced Book into his Ring of Holding.

“I do.” Headmaster Smith nodded, stunning Wolf. “How much Internal Energy do you waste to chop down a Demonic Converter?”

“None.” Wolf snorted, making Headmaster Smith sigh and mutter about fucking Body Refiners.

However, Headmaster Smith appreciated Wolf’s hard work. He was a teen, but he willingly disappeared from civilization for four months to kill Demonic Beasts and harvest Monster Cores. Most True-Namers didn’t have such discipline. Lord of Steel sure didn’t back when he was Wolf’s age.

No, I didn’t have that sort of mental fortitude when I turned thirty. No wonder he advances quickly. I wonder what kind of obsession drives him?

“So, you have six Monster Cores for me?” Simple mental arithmetic led Smith to reach the wrong number of Monster Cores Wolf harvested.

“Five. Sir offered a two for one rate, and Sir only has ten Monster Cores I require.” Wolf placed five emerald-colored Monster Cores on the desk while saying those words with what he believed was a shrewd smile.

But Wolf wanted to trade the remaining Monster Cores, if possible. To him, the origin of a Monster Core was irrelevant. He only cared about its Order. But he didn’t need Monster Cores alone.

“Sir, Demon Forest is tricky. Sword-Saints can destroy Demonic Converters if Mages clear out the surrounding Demonic Beasts. However, Demonic Converters can charm Sword-Saints and force them to eat black apples. They’d become the plant’s guardians, like Demonic Beasts.” Wolf explained a hypothetical scenario to showcase his unique skill set and increase his value. “True-Namers can shrug off the Demonic Converter’s hatred aura, but overcoming its other abilities is difficult. They—”

“Please stop acting like a merchant. You’re too academic, and you’re not showcasing your product.” Headmaster Smith rolled his eyes and handed over ten Monster Cores, as agreed. “What do you want?”

Wolf nodded, then placed a sheet of paper on the desk.

The Headmaster glanced at it and laughed. “Those cost over two million gold. Besides, I’ve never heard of Empyrean and Immortal Hearts. Are they gems, herbs?”

Smith wasn’t the only ignoramus. Wolf couldn’t identify half the ingredients on the list. However, he knew Smith was interested in Demonic Converter Monster Cores. “And how many exotic Tenth Order Monster Cores should I bring in exchange for the items from my list, Sir?”

“One hundred.” Lord of Steel raised his hand to stop Wolf from complaining. “You’re talking about large quantities. Your goods aren’t even rare, let alone exotic. Normal Tenth Order Monster Core has a nominal market price of ten to thirty thousand gold. You’re selling them by the dozen, making them a common commodity. If you have a hundred of any kind of Monster Core, nobody would call them rare, or will you argue against that logic?”

Wolf intended to haggle, but Smith’s argument convinced him.

Two years, three with the return trip. Wolf found the thought depressing.

Lord of Steel noticed the long look. “Do you have any idea how much money two million gold is? Do you know what you can buy with it?”

Wolf knew. He could buy ingredients for Star Body’s fourth stage elixir. As for ingredients for the fifth and sixth stage, Mage Academy’s Headmaster never heard of them. That realization terrified and excited Wolf.

He slowly nodded. “Alright. One hundred Monster Cores for the items on this list, save for the twenty still beating Empyrean hearts and two Immortal ones.”

Wolf then had an idea. It was so shameless; he dropped his gaze. He couldn’t look the Headmaster in the eye when asking it. “Could I get those items now? Sir?”

Richard’s eyes bulged. Wolf asked for a two million gold loan from the biggest cheapskate he knew.

“Sure.” Richard choked on his spit when Headmaster Smith uttered that word.

“Sir, regarding my unpaid wages—” the secretary started, but his boss waved him to be quiet.

“I’ll have your goods ready in several months, half a year at the most. Is that fine?”

Wolf nodded. He didn’t mind waiting. He planned to stay in Silver City for half a year until the semester ended.

“I have a small down payment.” Three more Demonic Converter Monster Cores clicked against the desk and Headmaster Smith raised his eyebrow, intentionally showing his surprise.

“Based on your results, you should be able to clear out the outer ring a year or two faster?” Headmaster Smith pointed out the discrepancy, but Wolf shook his head.

“I’m just twice as fast when returning through explored and cleared areas. I don’t have that advantage when going full-circle. Would that be all, Sir?” Wolf asked.

Headmaster Smith was silent for a moment.

“You may leave.” Hearing those words, Wolf stood up.

“And Wolf,” Headmaster Smith called out. “I’ll see what I can do about your list. I hope I’ll gather everything in a month or two.”

Richard’s jaw went slack.

“What the hells, Sir?” he asked as soon as the door clicked close.

“I suspect he uses Monster Cores to advance his Mage Order,” Smith said after a moment of silence.

“That’s preposterous,” Richard said, flabbergasted by the ridiculous idea. “Wouldn’t he die from it?”

“I’m not so sure.” Lord of Steel rubbed his chin. “That boy has greater willpower than us. Did you notice anything odd?”

Richard thought for a moment, replaying the meeting from start to finish, then shook his head. “No?”

“Exactly.” Lord of Steel smiled. “Wolf is fifteen years old. He didn’t have contact with a single sentient creature for four months. He lived like a savage with nobody to talk to, nobody to share his burdens with, but he behaved like he had left yesterday. I was fifty when I learned to act like that. And it’s obvious he put serious thought into clearing out all the Demonic Converters. Meaning he can seriously consider living alone for half a decade in an age when he needs socializing the most. Do you know what’s five years for a teen?”

Lord of Steel raised his voice as he spoke. Then he cleared his throat and returned to his hypothesis, unaware that Wolf had Silver to groom and talk to.

“In theory, he could refine remnant wills from Monster Cores into Soul Force. That explains how he has a powerful soul despite his age. Maybe someone has done it for him ever since he was a child. I don’t know, we can find out later, when he trusts us—”

“But that doesn’t explain why you gave him the loan?” Richard interrupted.

“The same reason I sold him Tenth Order Monster Cores cheaply. He needs ingredients to brew a potion to grow stronger. Rifts will open in six years. It’s in our best interest for him to be as powerful as possible when the demon incursion starts. I wonder how do I con him into becoming the Headmaster?”

Headmaster Smith kept quiet about things he divined about Wolf. For instance, in ten out of thirteen divinations, this boy was involved in the Yellow River incident, or that in seven out of nine attempts, Wolf shared some relation with his old friend Archie.