As of this moment, Simon was undoubtedly astonished.

‘Crap, the guys behind this team are only the underlings of the real bosses? What kind of world is this?!’ he thought with an inward frown.

Up until now, he had maintained his composure in the face of the Veracity Team. After all, though they were impressive, when compared to major organizations in his past life they were nothing worth mentioning. Perhaps, only the potential of their members could be considered as truly valuable.

But now, with this sudden revelation, Simon knew that his previous assumptions were inaccurate.

From what he had seen, members of the Research Team who focused on magic were already fairly strong. At worst, they possessed the strength of an Advanced Mage. And when considering the lack of resources available and the relative recentness of the launch of Island Ascension Online, they were not bad.

Naturally, the underlings of the true bosses should be considerably stronger. Perhaps, they all had the minimum strength of a Master Mage.

As for the figures who were in deep slumber - the bosses… He did not want to imagine how strong they could be.

However, despite his slight trepidation, he was not truly afraid.

After all, he was a reincarnator from another world! So what if one was currently stronger than him?

In any case, he possessed the information and means to progress further than they could ever reach; strength was of secondary importance - while the ability to improve was what truly mattered. Thus, one’s innate advantages had far more meaning than one’s current power.

However, the biggest problem with this situation was that their skills and knowledge would interfere with his plans. But this was not the worst case situation - at the end of the day, other than shocking him and muddying the waters to an extent, it didn’t change much.

Simon chuckled resignedly. “Luxuria, I do have to say… With that added bit of information, I am tempted.”

But then he shook his head once again. “Unfortunately, I am still not ready to make such a decision so soon. Please allow me to think about it further.”

Luxuria nodded, not too perturbed. After all, from Simon’s previous statement, he could tell that convincing him would not be easy; he had said what he needed to say, and would not force the matter.

At this moment, Veturia suddenly spoke up. “Very well. You can indeed think about it later. Courses will be on the 12th floor every Friday, and your authority will be raised to C-. As a result, you are free to access up to the sixth shelf within the Divinity Study. Any questions before we go our separate ways?”

After a moment of silent contemplation, Simon shook his head. “I have no questions.”

And just like that, he found himself back on the first floor of the Divinity Hall, all alone.

…

A few hours later…

Nightfall had long since overtaken the skies of Veracity Virtual World, blanketing the world in a shroud of darkness, with only the occasional specks of light in the heavens to break the inky blackness. Even though this was a simulated world, there was an actual sea of stars in the sky; as a result, such a scene was as awe-inspiring as the one in reality.

Meanwhile, a tranquil man was currently sitting within the quiet Divinity Hall, finishing up his pile of books.

‘Interesting. So it seems the magic in this world isn’t entirely useless, but it certainly is primitive.’ Simon thought as he returned the pile of books and manuals that he had picked up into their respective shelves.

By now, he had finished memorizing everything there was to memorize about the books that he had access to.

As he had suspected, the magic contained within a vast majority of these manuals were incomplete and crude. At best, they could be considered to be average in profundity.

However, hidden within many of these manuals were actually hints of profound and mysterious insights which were capable of helping even a mage like Simon.

He had a sneaking suspicion that these sparks of profound information were most likely ones which originated from the figures in slumber. He couldn’t be sure but it did not particularly matter to him.

After returning the books, Simon decided that it was about time to leave the Veracity Virtual World and return to Island Ascension Online.

-----

Whilst Simon was gone from the island, the investigations into the Blood Jungle had long since been completed, and teams were now being sent in to harvest its resources.

From within the blood jungle section of the island, there was a discovered total of 67 species of wild beasts and bugs, over two hundred species of plants, trees, and fungi, and 17 types of rare ores that would respawn.

Overall, it was calculated that gaining an income of several thousands of golds a day from the biome was not impossible! Unfortunately, with their current capabilities, at most a hundred gold worth of materials a day could be gained.

Still, this was not exactly shabby - as the previous income for his island was merely 30 golds a day. And though most of the manpower would have to be reallocated in order to make use of the new biome, the net profit per day would still end up being about 115 golds.

The change in revenue was monumental! This was especially the case, since some of the materials that spawned within the jungle were considerably rare.

It has to be known that it was much easier to obtain rare items when one was willing to trade other rare items for them! Thus, Simon knew that he was going to have an easier time obtaining the items needed in order to upgrade his island core.

But still… It would not be easy. That much could be seen when viewing the description of his Island Core.

-----

[Island Core](Lv. 4)

Age: ???

It has mysterious properties and an infinite potential to grow.

Upgrade Conditions:

Technological Path: 150/150 Gold Coins, 1,932/2,500 Cubic Meters of Wood Planks, 2,424/25,000 Cubic Meters of Stone, 195/1,000 Cubic Meters of Glass, 57/100 Cubic Meters of Copper, 78/200 Cubic Meters of Iron, 84/200 Cubic Meters of Aluminum, 500/500 Essence Crystals, 1000/1000 Ancient Shards.

Magical Path: 150/150 Gold Coins, 1,932/10,000 Cubic Meters of Wood Planks, 20,000/20,000 Cubic Meters of Stone, 2500/2500 Essence Crystals, 232/1000 Runes, 1000/1000 Ancient Shards.

-----

It did not look too bad, right?

Wrong, it was bad, very bad... Although he could technically just use the cheapest materials available to upgrade his island core, to actually do so would be idiotic.

After all, how could one expect to achieve the same results with inexpensive materials as with comparatively extravagant materials?

Thus, the system would upgrade the Island Core according to the quality of the materials used. The system was not fraudulent, after all…

The benefits from using materials of higher quality includes improved mana density - both on the island, and in the island core, a measure of suppression to outside forces, increased physical durability, and much more.

As time went on, the benefits to be gained from using higher quality materials would also grow increasingly apparent.

Apparent, to the point of transcending levels!

As a result, how could Simon not want to ensure that his foundations were stable? Of course he insisted on only using materials of high quality, treading the path of an elite. Since that was the case, it was only natural that gathering enough resources was a pain.

After all, though having materials of high quality for the previous few island cores was not all that important, the fifth level of the island core represents the true start of the path of an island owner. It’s importance could not be understated.

…

Simon sighed as he stood inside the massive storage room of the castle, staring at the vast collection of resources that laid within. No matter how large it currently was, he knew that it was nowhere enough for what he needed.

“It will be a slow process but… until I unlock more magic, I can’t really do much but raid ruins and expand my island.” he muttered to himself.

His specialty in his previous life - agriculture, requires at the very least, three stars in nature magic in order to practice. As a result, he really felt stifled… it was like functioning without a limb.

‘No need to worry.’ he reassured himself. ‘Strength comes with time. And time, I have.’