Chapter 9: Worthless Magic

The elemental force Lin Yuan felt was completely different from the four elements of water, fire, wind, and earth he had previously experienced. It couldn't be the Light or Dark Magic that Hawk had introduced to him, nor could it be Necromancy.

If he had to describe it, this elemental force was likely a mixture of water and fire. When it shattered the ground, it had the ferocity of fire and the permeating nature of water. When it protected him, it had the dominance of fire and the tightness of water. In every aspect, it was far more effective than either water or fire magic alone.

"Perhaps this is the mixed magic that Old Man Hawk has always hoped for?" Lin Yuan still couldn't believe it. The thing that Old Man Hawk had valued so much, he had only experimented with a few times and had somehow figured it out under these circumstances. It was just too incredible.

Lin Yuan thought for a moment, then selected a distant tree, refocused, and threw a fire-and-ice ball. However, the result this time was far from what he expected. The fire-and-ice ball merely blasted a hole in the tree, and the small flickers of fire on the trunk made the fire-and-ice ball seem more like a simple fireball spell.

"What's going on?" Lin Yuan, not willing to give up, threw a few more, but the results were the same. They all had the power of a fireball spell, and some even just produced a puff of smoke, not even as strong as a fireball spell.

Lin Yuan looked at the other half of the Gale Slaughter's corpse on the ground and pressed the fire-and-ice ball onto it.

"Bang——"

Just like before, a large crater appeared in the ground.

Lin Yuan was a bit stunned. Could it be that this fire-and-ice ball could only unleash its power when he pressed it directly onto the target? If so, its practicality in combat would be extremely low. How could a mage engage in close combat with an opponent?

After continuing the experiment for a while, leaving more than ten large craters on the ground and countless holes in the forest's tree trunks, Lin Yuan finally had to accept this conclusion. This damn fire-and-ice ball could only trigger its powerful force when he directly pressed it onto the target. Otherwise, it had no remarkable qualities.

"Does that mean in the future, when facing an enemy, I should hold a fire-and-ice ball in my hand, then summon water and fire balls at the same time, and calculate the opponent's speed and distance, so that I might have a chance to win?" Lin Yuan couldn't help but knock on his head. Not to mention the immense concentration required to maintain the fire-and-ice ball while summoning fire and water balls for precise attacks, just calculating the opponent's speed and distance so that the water and fire balls could hit at the same time was already very difficult. "I might as well turn my brain into a computer..."

Because of the experiment, the Gale Slaughter's corpse had been reduced to pieces by Lin Yuan, with only the two horns on its head remaining intact. Lin Yuan collected them and returned to the Mercenary Guild.

"Teacher Lin, you're back," as soon as Lin Yuan entered the door of the Mercenary Guild, several students surrounded him. Seeing his somewhat disheveled appearance, they couldn't help but be surprised.

"It's nothing, just ran into a Gale Slaughter," Lin Yuan waved his hand to reassure the students.

After witnessing his duel with Carter, the students naturally didn't think a mere Level 4 Magic Beast could pose any trouble to Lin Yuan, so they were relieved upon hearing his words.

"Teacher Lin, today I completed four F-class tasks and two E-class tasks, earning a total of 39 silver coins. After deducting the cost of lunch and the carriage ride, I made a net profit of 25 silver coins," as soon as Lin Yuan finished speaking, Vince rushed over excitedly to report. Although he came from a prominent noble family and had lived a luxurious life since childhood, with a single piece of clothing worth dozens of gold coins, the 25 silver coins meant nothing to him. However, these 25 silver coins were the first he had ever earned on his own, which made his report particularly enthusiastic.

"Hmm, not bad. How about the rest of you?" Lin Yuan nodded in approval and asked the other students.

"I completed two F-class tasks and seven E-class tasks. I didn't even eat lunch and made 78 silver coins!"

"I... I only managed to complete three F-class tasks, earning just 13 silver coins..."

"I..."

Lin Yuan listened with a smile as the students reported their earnings. The frustration from the limited use of the mixed magic dissipated. These students, despite their differences, were overall very promising. The fact that they could diligently complete their tasks showed that they had already begun to accept him as their teacher.

"Teacher Lin, here, these are the 62 silver coins I earned today," after the students finished reporting, one of them placed his money pouch in front of Lin Yuan. Immediately, the other students also placed the money they had earned that day in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Lin Yuan asked in surprise.

"Teacher Lin, we just discussed it," Vince replied. "We would just waste this money if we kept it ourselves. It's better to give it to you for safekeeping. Didn't you say we need 100 gold coins as a guarantee to establish a mercenary group? Once we save up 100 gold coins, we can apply to form one."

"Oh?" Lin Yuan scanned the students' expectant faces with a smile and shook his head. "This money was earned by your own efforts, and I can't accept it."

"Why not?" the students exclaimed. "This money is just for registering the mercenary group. We trust you with it, not giving it to you."

"But what if I'm so poor that I can't resist spending it?" Lin Yuan joked. "Alright, no more jokes. My point is that this money was earned by you, and it's best for you to decide what to do with it. As a teacher, my main responsibility is to guide you, and it's better for you to handle most things yourselves."

"What should we do then?" the students looked at each other in confusion.

"I have a suggestion," Lin Yuan continued. "Since you all agree to use this money for the mercenary group's preparation, let's act like a mercenary group now. We'll designate one person to keep the money, and of course, it can't be me. I recommend Vince. Vince comes from a prominent noble family, so you shouldn't worry about him embezzling a few gold coins. Moreover..." Lin Yuan turned to Vince. "Vince, I've heard that the Kuro family is a well-known merchant family on the Farinos Continent. Is that true?"

Although merchants on the Farinos Continent were not considered lowly, their status was not particularly high, especially when compared to the nobility. Generally speaking, even if a noble was involved in business, they would not admit it openly, as it was considered beneath their dignity.

The Kuro family was an exception.

This largest family of the Kuse Empire not only never denied their merchant status but also openly boasted about it and took pride in their commercial success. This was truly unusual among the nobility.

Sure enough, Vince puffed out his chest and replied loudly, "Of course it's true. Our Kuro family is not only the largest merchant family in the Kuse Empire but also one of the top merchants on the entire Farinos Continent."

Lin Yuan smiled slightly. "Since that's the case, as the second son of the Kuro family, you must have some business acumen, right?"

As soon as the conversation turned to commerce, Vince's usually chubby and somewhat comical face immediately filled with confidence.

"Ever since I learned to read at the age of four, my father assigned a special tutor to teach me how to conduct business. When I was six, I managed one of the family's shops. At eight, my father was planning to send me to oversee the family's business in the Tushas Empire, but I was more interested in magic at the time, so I declined." As he spoke, Vince's confident expression immediately vanished. "But I'm still not even a Level 1 Mage, and my father gets very angry whenever he sees me."

Lin Yuan patted his shoulder and comforted him, "Don't lose heart. Geniuses like Zona and Fasno are rare. Magic learning and research can't be rushed. As long as you persist, you will definitely achieve something."

Vince nodded and fell silent.

Lin Yuan turned to the other students and said, "The reason I asked Vince about this is to let everyone know that entrusting this money to Vince is far better than giving it to me. When it comes to financial management, he is a much better expert than I am."

The remaining students glanced at each other, nodded, and handed the money over to Vince.

"Vince, you understand what I mean, right? Do your best. If the mercenary group is established in the future, you will still be in charge of these matters."

Vince stared blankly at the various-sized money pouches in his hands and asked, "But Teacher Lin, I still need to study magic. I don't have time, and we are still students. Are we really going to become mercenaries after establishing a mercenary group?"

The students had excitedly talked about forming a mercenary group on a whim. Now, hearing Vince's question, they all remembered their status as students and felt a bit bewildered.

"Alright, since Vince brought it up, let me explain," Lin Yuan said. "Actually, I've already answered this question to Teacher Katusha. The main reason I brought you all out to be mercenaries is to give you more practical experience. When you complete mercenary tasks, you'll gain a better understanding of how to use magic, what kind of magic to learn, and how to study it more effectively. Today is just the first day, so you might not fully grasp it yet. But after a while, you'll understand."

"What about the mercenary group? Do we have to keep taking tasks forever?"

"Of course not. But while you're still studying at Finor Academy, I hope you can keep this up. It will be very beneficial for your future. Once you graduate from Finor Academy, I won't have the right to restrict you anymore. At that point, you can decide for yourselves what you want to do."

The students thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.