Chapter 122: Points Secured

The night gradually faded, and a faint, pale light began to emerge on the distant horizon. The stars slowly dimmed in the encroaching glow, becoming increasingly indistinct.

Shadow Forest War Camp.
Task Distribution Center.

Saniel was buried in stacks of files, writing feverishly as he processed various documents.

With the war just beginning, the Segawi Lake war camp had been established only recently, and there were countless matters to attend to. As the personal student of Kibur, the supreme commander of the Segawi Lake camp, Saniel naturally had to handle menial tasks for his teacher, while also using the position to secure certain conveniences for himself.

Saniel was quite satisfied with Kibur’s appointment. Holding the power to distribute tasks meant controlling the source of others' merit points. As long as the applicant was not a Level 3 wizard apprentice, they would often be forced to transfer merit points to Saniel to avoid his obstruction. Saniel could reap the rewards without ever having to face the tests of blood and fire.

Suddenly, Saniel stopped what he was doing.

"Saniel!"

Three figures appeared in the room in an instant. It was Lin Wei and his companions.

Ingmor set Sheris, whom he had been carrying on his back, down. Sheris had recovered significantly; on the way back, she had consumed the mental injury healing potion she carried with her, and her complexion now looked much better.

However, to Saniel, Sheris clearly looked injured. He glanced at Ingmor, then at Lin Wei, and asked suspiciously, "Did your mission fail?"

It was no wonder Saniel felt this way. The three appeared disheveled, especially with Sheris injured. More importantly, less than a day and a night had passed since they had accepted the mission.

"Nonsense!" Ingmor snorted coldly. "How could we possibly fail?!"

Although the difficulty of the mission and the merit points were determined by Kibur, Ingmor had nearly lost his life for those few dozen points, so he was naturally irritable. He could not vent his frustration on Kibur, so he directed his resentment toward Saniel instead.

"You succeeded?! In such a short time!?"

Although Saniel knew Ingmor was powerful, completing the mission so quickly still exceeded his expectations. He instinctively looked at Lin Wei, sensing vaguely that the key to this mission lay with him.

"Yes, Senior Saniel," Sheris said, her smile somewhat strained.

Lin Wei did not speak, only nodding slightly.

"Give me the core fragment of the communication crystal," Saniel demanded.

Although Saniel had stipulated that mission reporting time was after noon, he naturally would not impose such requirements on Lin Wei and Ingmor.

Lin Wei pulled a green crystal shard from his waist and handed it to Saniel. He had snatched it from the debris when he shattered the temporary communication crystal.

Saniel examined it, nodded, and then took out the mission roster, marking "Completed" next to the entry for the three.

"Give me your merit cards," Saniel said.

Ingmor was the first to hand his card over. Saniel took it and retrieved a silver box from his drawer. The box had a card slot on top and several symbols representing numbers on the right side. He inserted Ingmor’s card into the slot.

*Beep, beep, beep!*

The silver box emitted a short, urgent sound.

"Huh?" Saniel looked at Ingmor, surprised. "Not bad. Even without adding the points from this mission, you already have fifteen points?"

Ingmor remained expressionless. "I killed a few small fry along the way and farmed some points."

Saniel clicked his tongue and asked, "How are you splitting the mission points this time?"

Ingmor and Sheris exchanged a glance.

"Same as before," Sheris spoke up first. "Transfer sixty points to Mr. Lin Wei and my brother, and thirty to me."

"Oh?" Lin Wei turned his gaze toward Sheris.

Previously, Lin Wei had made a verbal agreement with Sheris that he would transfer fifteen points to her as payment for the Dream Halo wizard model.

"Mr. Lin Wei, don't be confused," Sheris explained. "I am giving you the Dream Halo memory crystal free of charge as a gesture of gratitude for saving my brother's life and mine."

If one looked only at the debt of gratitude, a Dream Halo memory crystal was a very cheap price. But in that situation, the three had completed the mission together, and mutual assistance was expected. Rather than calling the gift of the Dream Halo a payment, it was more of an expression of gratitude.

"Then I thank you," Lin Wei bowed his head slightly in appreciation.

Ingmor had no objections to Sheris's proposal.

"In that case, I will begin transferring the points."

Saniel curled his lip and tapped the numerical symbols on the side of the silver box. The box was manufactured by the Shadow Forest headquarters; modifying merit cards with it required a designated mission examiner. Only with Saniel’s wizard power fluctuations could the box function.

"Done!"

Saniel pulled Ingmor's card from the slot. "Your points are accumulating too quickly."

Ingmor took the card without acknowledging him. Saniel did not mind and took Sheris’s card, repeating the process.

"Mr. Lin Wei, it’s your turn." Saniel’s attitude toward Lin Wei was very friendly.

"Sorry for the trouble." Lin Wei handed over his card.

Saniel shook his head with a smile and inserted the card.

"This is... fifty points?!" Saniel was shocked. He had never seen anyone in the camp accumulate so many points before even turning in a mission. Even Ingmor, who ranked in the top three among Level 3 wizard apprentices in the camp, had only earned twenty-six points at most in a single go. Yet Lin Wei had fifty?!

"I just happened to kill a Level 3 wizard apprentice with the help of Ingmor and Sheris," Lin Wei said without false modesty.

The initial five scouts, the guards at the three checkpoints, and the head of the Level 3 wizard apprentice had totaled exactly fifty points.

Saniel sucked in a breath and bit his lip. A Level 3 wizard apprentice was the highest tier of combat power at Segawi Lake.

"That makes me almost want to go to the front lines myself..." Saniel muttered.

Hearing this, Ingmor’s tone carried a hint of mockery. "Isn't it more comfortable to hold the power of task distribution?"

Saniel gave a sheepish laugh and stopped talking, instead recording the sixty points belonging to Lin Wei onto his merit card.