While Rezen was not able to defeat the doll with his magic spell he still managed to render its arms useless and the only mode of attack it could do was kick

Once again, Rezen puts more distance between him and the doll thinking that the doll cannot attack him from afar anymore

However, while the doll cannot attack Rezen with the muzzles on its palm anymore it does not only possess those muzzles on its palm

The alchemy doll suddenly opened its mouth revealing another muzzle and Rezen's eyes constricted he didn't expect this at all

He can sense mana gathering at the mouth of the doll as it prepared another energy beam attack

Rezen's left arm was broken and he could only use his right arm. If he were to move in a fast manner it would affect his broken arm and bring him even more pain

While his pain tolerance was enhanced by his experience pain is still pain. Even the current state of his arm is affecting his casting speed what more if it became even more painful

As such, Rezen decided that instead of dodging he should block. He pointed his magic wand at the floor and from it blocks of rectangular earthen walls rose. He could only hope that it was enough to block the doll's attack

It didn't take that long for the doll's preparation to be finished and it fired a blue beam from the muzzle on its mouth

The beam drew a blue line in the air and it collided with the first wall. With no effort, the wall was breached and it broke down into smaller pieces

The second, third, upto the fifth wall, were also breached and destroyed before it could hit Rezen

While Rezen was unable to completely block the energy beam he still did manage to lessen its power

"[Borg!]"

Rezen waved his magic wand at himself and a translucent barrier formed that further weakened the energy beam. However, even then the beams also broke through the Borg's defense and hit Rezen

For the nth time, Rezen's body was thrown in the air but before his back could even hit the wall again he sensed another mana fluctuation

The doll was once again gathering mana at its muzzles. While ignoring the pain in his body, Rezen twisted his body in the air and saw multiple energy beams being fired by the doll

Instead of fighting power against power in which Rezen is confident that he would lose he decided to use his wits

While still in the air, Rezen waved his wand toward the energy beams, and on three of those beams winds gathered causing them to deviate from their original path

Those beams collided with the other beams causing explosions to occur. However, Rezen was not able to completely render the beams useless. The doll continues to fire its beams and right now there were at least five beams coming in his way

As Rezen's back hit the wall once more, a purplish black magic circle formed below him and he seemingly let the beams land on his body

However, instead of bleeding, the part where the beam hits Rezen actually turned into crows. It's not just that, Rezen's body started to break down into more crows!

The doll looked around in search of its target but before it could find whom it was looking for, Rezen is already falling down from above

"[Crow Illusion Substitution!]"

This is a spell that Rezen already learned back on the earth realm and he also studied its Junior Rank equivalent. This spell of his was an improved version and was better than when he was still an apprentice mage

Overall, Rezen learned three magic spells. One for attacking which is the [Sun Arrow], one for a sort of defense which was this [Crow Illusion Substitution], and the last one is a movement spell in case he has to flee

While falling, the skin on Rezen's right foot turned into metal and with the help of gravity he attacked the doll using that very same foot

Bang!

A loud sound echoed inside the training room and Rezen could be heard making a 'tsk' sound. His foot failed to hit the target and he just struck the ground

The doll didn't let Rezen's actions unpunished as it once again assaulted him

In the end, Rezen was miserably beaten by the doll and he loses which was what he already expected from the start

A being in the 5th cycle is still out of his reach. His enemy is just an alchemy doll that has simple attack moves which are just punches, kicks, and energy beams yet he was still unable to defeat it what more if he were to face a human or magic beast that could use magic and attacks in a more complex way?

Rezen has grown stronger but he was still weak and far from reaching his goal

——

Dormitory

"Master! Master! It's been two days already, I want to eat those grapes again!"

Inside the dormitory room that Rezen almost basically claimed as his own the little snake Belazark climbed on his shoulder to demand the Suppla Grapes

The Suppla Grapes which have seeds that were soaked with the potion take three days to grow while the ones Rezen gives to Belazark that have a lower quality only take two days

Every two days, Rezen fed this greedy snake with grapes while on normal days he would feed other Spirit Plants

"Get off me, I don't have grapes for you" Rezen grumbled before grabbing the snake and throwing it out of his shoulder

"Master, you are grumpier than usual. Is this because of the test? Knowing Master I believed that you will receive a recommendation letter to a great academy!"

The snake was unaffected by Rezen's attitude. With the two months it spent with its Master, Belazark is already used to his attitude

Instead of being angered Belazark decided to lick the boots of its master. Aside from being grumpy and having a bad attitude this master of his is not too bad

It fed it many useful Spirit Plants and right now its cultivation rank rose from the 3rd cycle to the 4th cycle all thanks to the resources it received from Rezen

Not to mention, there was actually no danger that he originally expected. Receiving precious meals for free and all it has to do was be on standby and guard Rezen when he is making potions or when he is farming. This life is not bad at all

"Tsk, the only thing you learned from me these two months was to suck up. I'm telling you now you should train it if you don't want me to roast you" Rezen grumbled before throwing a bunch of grapes to the snake that it happily caught by jumping and wrapping its scaly body on it

After receiving what it wanted, the snake decided to ignore its Master as it happily munched on its grapes

Rezen wished that he could be as carefree as this snake. It has been two days since the test and these test days were given to the tribesmen to rest before they walk on different paths

Philome and Wermon needed time to judge all the tribesmen and see if they are fit for better academies

As such, Rezen spent these two days anxiously waiting for the result

"Argh, I feel like a student waiting to see if I passed the college entrance test" Rezen mumbled and deciding that he should cool off his mind, he had his soul enter his farm again

The farm didn't grow much but it was a bit bigger than it was before thanks to Rezen's effort and the farm itself

"Even if I receive a recommendation letter I still need to pass the admission test. What should I do to increase my success rate?" Rezen thought to himself as he stared at the shelves containing his belongings that are mostly seeds and Spirit Plants but some were potions

"Should I buy a better magic wand or maybe spell models?"

Since a mage could not always improve their personal power they would have to rely on external items if they want to have a stronger power. The common choices were magic wands the more expensive wands even have built-in spells that could be activated by the user at will even if they personally don't know how to cast that spell

As for the spell models, one's power could increase by learning a variety of spells for flexibility or a single powerful and lethal spell that could be treated as a killing move

"Or maybe I should find a potion in the market that could help me improve? Since I don't want to ruin my potential I should buy the potions that have to be consumed multiple times to show significant effects. Potions that could help me improve quickly have severe side effects unlike the potions that must be consumed for a long period of time"