Chapter 360 Debt and Regression

Since he was in Noren 13 Academy, Jemin was in no hurry to return to his remote Noren 147 plane.

On the one hand, he needed to wait for the expeditionary force command to follow up on the intelligence and for a possible summons; on the other hand, the opportunity to study under his mentor Clark again was extremely rare.

In the days that followed, he kept a close eye on any news that might come from the command center, while staying in his mentor Clark's huge and complex laboratory as a senior assistant, handling various precise experimental data and material pretreatment work.

Of course, the terrifying memory of being instantly erased lingered in his mind.

It is no exaggeration to say that, as one of the few people who have truly experienced death, Jemin found that his fear of death had not diminished but rather increased.

Furthermore, regarding the substitute doll he used earlier, Jemin still doesn't know its exact value.

After all, he hadn't paid Professor Clark for this scapegoat yet.

This is the norm in the wizarding world.

Wizards who believe in equivalent exchange will keep a clear account even when dealing with such precious resources, even among the closest of family members, such as masters and disciples.

Mentors can provide shelter, knowledge, and opportunities, and even, like Clark, provide a lifeline.

However, students must bear the corresponding costs.

Discounts may be offered, but the costs can never be waived.

Previously, it was because Jemin hadn't actually used this thing; it was essentially just an unused insurance policy, so these issues didn't need to be considered.

But now, he can no longer pretend he doesn't know.

During a break in experiments, he casually inquired of his mentor, Clark, who was debugging a complex energy focusing array:

"Mentor, do you still have any... substitute dolls in stock? Or do you know where I can get similar life-saving items?"

Clark didn't even look up, focusing on the rune inscription in his hands, and replied in a flat tone, "I've already used the last one I had on you. If you want to buy it, I can contact my mentor for you; he occasionally takes on these kinds of orders."

Jemin was delighted, but before he could speak, Clark added, "However, let me tell you in advance, this thing is very expensive."

"How expensive?" Jemin subconsciously touched his terminal.

Inside were his savings accumulated over the years, which, thanks to the "self-stabilizing field adjustment protocol" technology, Jemin felt was still quite substantial.

Clark finally stopped what he was doing, glanced at him, and instead of giving a direct answer, said, "The advanced military merit exchange area on the Magic Network has publicly listed prices. Go check it out yourself. You should have the necessary permissions."

Jemin's heart skipped a beat.

A high-ranking military merit zone?

Everything inside is genuine hard currency.

He immediately connected to the magic network through his mind, and after authorization, entered the area he rarely ventured into.

After some searching, he indeed found the entry for "Substitute Doll (Standard Alchemy/Fate Science Composite)".

Just one glance at the long string of zeros that followed made Jemin's heart skip a beat.

One hundred billion high-level military merits!

He quickly calculated that, according to the unofficial floating exchange rate, this was roughly equivalent to 100 billion ordinary military merits!

Moreover, high-level military merits represent more than just numbers; they are also a ticket to adjust rest and recuperation time and access to rare resources!

This price...

Even if Jemin used all his wealth, he probably couldn't afford one.

What's even more disheartening is that the entry clearly states: Reserves: Extremely low (requires pre-ordering, production cycle is in the hundreds of years).

Jemin gasped, looking at his mentor Clark with a mournful face: "Mentor... this... even if I sold myself, I still couldn't afford it..."

Mentor Clark remained unfazed, picking up his tools again to begin carving, his tone flat: "It's nothing, just some debt. With your potential, you can pay it off slowly; a wizard's life is long."

Jemin's lips twitched. This debt was more than just "some"; it was an astronomical figure!

He could have laughed at Viola for taking on debt and becoming a slave, but now he's become one of them...

Undeterred, Jemin began searching for other strange objects or magical scrolls with similar effects of substitution or resurrection.

The result only made him more desperate.

Any props or services involving "reversal of cause and effect," "soul anchoring," or "instant death avoidance" are ridiculously expensive and often come with extremely strict usage restrictions or side effects.

In comparison, surrogate dolls are arguably the most cost-effective option with the fewest side effects.

"Forget it..." Jemin completely gave up on the idea of ​​creating another life-saving artifact in the short term. "With this resource, it's more practical to focus on improving my own strength."

Even if he really had that money, it would undoubtedly be more worthwhile to convert it into knowledge and resources and spend it on himself.

At the same time, he was secretly alarmed by the terrifying "money-making" ability of high-level alchemy, especially alchemists involved in the realm of fate.

A level seven alchemist who can reliably create substitute dolls may accumulate wealth at a speed and through channels that are even more terrifying than many level eight combat wizards who are not good at managing their wealth.

“Wait a minute…” Jemin suddenly paused, looking at his mentor Clark. “Peak mastery of alchemy, with knowledge of destiny as a secondary pursuit… Mentor, isn’t this the path you’re on?”

Once Instructor Clark advances to level seven, wouldn't that mean...?

His eyes lit up, and he said, half-jokingly and half-expectantly, "Mentor! You'd better hurry up and advance! Whether I can use the cheap 'internal price' substitute dolls in the future depends entirely on you!"

Upon hearing this, Clark finally raised his head.

He sneered and pointed with his rune-engraving pen at the mountain of experimental data recording crystals beside him: "Want to suck up to me? Sure. First, pay back some interest on what you owe me—immediately, right now, go and process and analyze all seventeen sets of energy dissipation fluctuation data generated today on the third workbench! If you don't finish, don't even think about leaving the lab tonight."

"Yes, mentor! I guarantee I'll complete the task!" Jemin immediately dropped his joking attitude and rushed to the third workbench to begin the first hard labor task in his "debt-paying" career.

Two months passed in this fulfilling life as a research assistant.

Just as Jemin was almost getting used to this routine life and even began to work on redesigning his rune artifacts and the black giant, information about that dimension arrived.

However, the latest developments regarding that strange dimension did not come from an official announcement from the Expeditionary Force Command.

Rather, it's because...

Viola is back.

(End of this chapter)