There were only ten levels of magic.Above that realm existed the domain of super-tier magic—a domain disconnected from ordinary magic no matter how high a caster's level rose.
—
Minori returned to his senses.
He glanced at the upgraded "Papermaking" spell but chose not to invest skill points into promoting it further.
Not yet.
Until he thoroughly understood the properties of the paper created—especially whether it possessed "alchemical material" traits—it was too soon to proceed.
Turning to another concern—
The mana consumption of fourth-tier magic.
Minori's brows furrowed slightly.
With his current reserves of mana, casting such spells was nearly impossible.
In YGGDRASIL, he had always intended to build himself primarily as a warrior, supported by magic capabilities.
The situation here hadn't disrupted his plans fundamentally,but it had given him new insights—new possibilities that had never occurred to him before.
"Regardless, obtaining a 'special class' is the top priority,"Minori muttered under his breath."Everything else can wait."
He carefully reorganized the information displayed on his [Ability Table].
In doing so, Minori made another discovery:
Life magic—at least in this world—could level up.
Yet it behaved differently from true ranked magic.
Take "Heating," for example—a zero-level life spell he had now advanced up to the fourth level.
He could freely scale its mana consumption down to perform it at a first-tier level if needed.
True ranked magic, however, offered no such flexibility.
"Given the characteristics of life magic...the cost-effectiveness seems extremely high," Minori mused.
He shifted his gaze to his stats:
"Experience Points: 5893 / 9500."
He still needed roughly 4000 more experience points to elevate his Genius class to Level 10.
But there was no need to rush.
Originally, Minori had estimated it would take two months to reach Level 20 overall, and thus had prepared one month's worth of food.
His plan had been simple:Consume supplies, return to Kahn Village for replenishment, then venture back into the Great Tob Forest.
However—
Thanks to the leadership of Blin Muguo, the elder goblin,the leveling process had accelerated far beyond Minori's expectations.
Thus, on today's scheduled rest day,Minori allowed himself to take stock of the situation and refocus on another key area:
Alchemy and Pharmaceuticals.
Two vital production fields,both of which finally began to show meaningful results as Minori's level increased.
—
Minori retrieved a plant from his magic item box.
It was a dark-green herb with small, thumb-sized, wood-yellow flowers—outwardly indistinguishable from ordinary weeds.
Its name:
"Hot Leaf."
A herb known for its anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties.
Minori, admittedly, had little real knowledge of herbs.
Although he had learned some basics from Nfirea Bareare,he was far from being able to distinguish the myriad plants of the forest without help.
It was Muguo, the elder goblin, who had taught him about this plant's effects.
In human society, such herbs would be rare treasures—but deep within the Great Tob Forest, they were far more common.
Humans dared not venture deep enough to gather them.
The goblins, however, moved freely.
Minori tightened his grip on the herb.
"Pharmacy," he invoked.
A faint green light enveloped the hot leaf.
Almost immediately, the herb dissolved into a fine, wood-yellow powder in his palm.
Without hesitation,Minori drew his iron sword across the back of his hand, opening a shallow four-centimeter wound.
Blood welled up.
He sprinkled the powder directly onto the wound.
A cool sensation spread through the injury.
Within mere breaths—
The bleeding stopped.
Minori carefully observed the result.
"Using 'Pharmacy' isn't just a crude processing method...The medicinal properties are actually enhanced through the skill," he thought aloud.
Compared to the goblin tribe's primitive method—chewing the leaves or crushing them—this powdered form showed markedly superior effectiveness.
Still curious—
Minori decided to test alchemy.
He followed the method he had once observed from Nfirea:
He took another hot leaf,
Used "Pharmacy" to powder it,
Poured the powder into a water bag filled with clear water,
And finally invoked "Alchemy."
The water turned faintly green.
Minori cut a second wound on his hand and poured the alchemical solution onto it.
To his disappointment—
The healing effect was noticeably weaker than simply using the powder.
Minori frowned.
"Logically, an alchemical potion should outperform raw powder..."
After all, that had been the case with Nfirea's potions.
But—
He shook his head.
It wasn't a matter of skill levels.
Although Minori wasn't sure of Nfirea's exact level at this point in time,he was certain that his own "Pharmacy" and "Alchemy" skills—boosted through Genius and player-like growth rates—far exceeded those of the native alchemist.
After all—
Players could instantly maximize skills through experience points.In contrast, the natives of this world needed years—even lifetimes—to master even one skill.
Talent or not, the gulf was immense.
Minori recalled:
Even after four years,when Nfirea finally developed the revolutionary "Panacea of the Gods" potion,his "Alchemist" and "Pharmacist" levels were only around 4.
And even then,his innate Genius talent allowed him to produce results far beyond what his levels alone would allow.
Moreover—
The Slaine Theocracy had long possessed similar technology,but their versions were too costly to mass-produce.
—
Thus—
If Minori's skill level wasn't the issue,the problem must lie elsewhere.
He glanced at the slightly translucent alchemical solution.
"Perhaps… the dosage or composition was incorrect."
Because his mana reserves were nearly depleted,Minori decided to rest and allow his magic power to recover before conducting further experiments.