On the morning of the next day, Zack left his mother's house to return to the academy.

It had been a nice visit for her, but he still had things to do. She had told him about the Yanan desert, a place that he probably needed to visit, so he wanted to search for information about it and learn if there was any kind of effort by the academy to explore it.

If there was some kind of project to explore the desert, he would ask if he could participate and even join the academy if needed.

To check this information, he went to the quest hall of the academy. The quest hall was a place where people would leave quests or tasks for the members of the academy to solve. These quests could be something that can be done quickly, like obtaining some kind of material in particular, or something that would take months to complete, like participating in some kind of study.

After finishing these quests, the members of the academy would receive rewards in the form of materials, money, or access to new information about cultivation, magic, or martial arts.

When Zack got to the quest hall, he found himself in a spacious room. On each side of it, there was a four-notice board surrounded by some pupils that were looking at the posters on it, and at the end of the room, there was a counter with a woman that looked like a witch.

Zack neared the woman, who stopped reading the book that she was holding in her hands when she noticed him.

"Hello, I'm here to look at the available quest and see if there is anyone related to the Yanan desert," Zack said when he was in front of the counter.

"The Yanan desert, uh? Let me check if there are any," she said as she took a book from her side.

The elderly woman moved the book in front of her with difficulty because of the thickness of it, before opening it and beginning to search across all its pages. A few minutes later, she pointed with her finger to a paragraph in the book.

"Here's something," she said happily. "An expedition to the Yanan desert: a group of scholars from the Ventar Academy is preparing an expedition to search for new resources in that region. As they are specialized in the investigation, they need escorts to keep them safe from the local magical beast while they are crossing the desert. The expedition will begin a week from the day the group is full, and they will give anyone that decides to participate the materials and equipment necessary for the expedition for free. This quest awards a hundred energy coins or the equivalent in contribution points in the academy."

"What are those contribution coins?"Zack asked curiously.

"They are a form of currency used by the members of the academy. It can be used to exchange it for knowledge or materials within the academy." The woman explained.

"I see. And do I need to join the academy to accept this quest? "

"No, it is not necessary."

What Zack learned was interesting. The rewards weren't bad at all, as that much money would allow him to live for at least a year without worrying about much. Apart from that, he didn't need to join the academy, so he wouldn't lose freedom, and the people that posted the quest would provide him with the equipment necessary for the journey.

As far as Zack saw it, it was a win-win situation.

"I want to participate in this quest then." He said.

"Ok, fill out this form with your information and we will send you more information to your room as soon as the group all the members of the group are known." The woman said as she gave Zack a paper.

Zack filled in his information and soon left the quest hall and returned to his room. He still had at least a week until the quest began, so he wanted to cultivate and prepare for it the most that he could.

During the next few days, Zack spent most of his time polishing his skills with his new sword and practicing a few spells that he managed to modify to make them work with lightning energy. Apart from that, he also continued working on his cultivation, and thanks to his new cultivation speed, he began to approach the breakthrough towards the sixth stage of his dantian. This feeling of progress made Zack feel happy, and when he was notified that the expedition would start in a week, he felt ready for anything that could happen.