Two wizard apprentices, who had recently moved from out of town without proper residency docuntation, lay dead in their temporary dwelling. No one mourned their loss, and no one seed to care—except for the landlord.
“This is thirty magic stones for the house repairs,” Lynn said, handing the landlord the magic stones.
“Thank you, friend. Next ti you plan to burn down a house, give a heads-up,” the landlord said, accepting the magic stones with a cheerful grin.
Returning to the house, Lynn inquired of Lauren, “Did you manage to get any information?”
“Yes, using the thod you taught , master. He didn’t last through the first round before spilling everything,” Lauren replied.
“He confessed that your head has a bounty placed on it by so faction. He and another apprentice took the bounty and ca looking for you. They had been lurking around for days, but since you stayed in the laboratory, they decided to attack the goblin to draw you out,” Lauren explained.
A bounty on his head? Lynn was intrigued. “How much is my head worth?”
“It can be exchanged for a spot as an official wizard student,” Lauren answered.
“That’s quite low,” Lynn mused, touching his neck. Such a low price for his life felt like an insult. Not even magic stones were offered, just a promise of a student quota. Whoever set the bounty was stingy, expecting apprentices to risk their lives for a re promise.
“Who placed the bounty?” Lynn asked.
“A wizard nad Biff, currently a ntor at the Dawn Wizard Academy. It’s said he has been an official wizard for over fifty years,” Lauren inford him.
Lynn nodded thoughtfully, committing the na to mory.
“The wizard apprentice also said that if they died, others would take up the task, so he hoped we would let him go,” Lauren added.
Lynn chuckled at this and waved his hand dismissively.
Understanding the gesture, Lauren departed. There was never a limit to the number of people who could take on such tasks.
Lynn made his way to the service hall, intending to thank Toby. Although it had been a minor favor for Toby, it ant a great deal to Lynn.
To him, this favor still held great significance.
Lynn understood well that true friendships required reciprocity, not just one-sided requests.
He decided to show his gratitude by gifting an Abyss Mother Crab. This crab, with a diater exceeding one ter, thrived on the edges of the Abyss Mother River. It was known for its exquisite taste but also for its tendency to retreat into the river when threatened, making it extrely rare. In Demon City, obtaining one was nearly impossible, and Lynn had paid 76 magic stones to acquire this crab, comparable to a second-level extraordinary creature.
After leaving the service hall, Lynn glanced at the mission board. For wizard apprentices not affiliated with the Abyss Wizard Academy, this was the only place to accept missions. However, apprentices like Lynn could access a special handbook containing all historical unaccepted missions from the board.
This system indirectly filtered out simpler tasks since they were quickly snatched up upon posting. The remaining missions were of higher difficulty, but they also offered more substantial rewards.
One mission caught Lynn’s eye: “Recruitnt of Laboratory Assistant” with a reward of selecting one out of five source materials of choice. The mission had been posted for two months with no takers, which seed odd given the generous reward.
Upon inquiring with the staff, Lynn learned the reason. Many wizard apprentices had expressed interest in the mission due to the generous reward, but its requirents were stringent. The first condition was a hard requirent: a ntal strength greater than 100. The second condition involved a qualification test, details of which could only be understood upon visiting the laboratory.
While so apprentices t the first criterion, none had yet passed the second. Therefore, the mission remained unfulfilled.
Lynn believed he could et the second criterion and was curious about his own current level of qualifications.
He accepted the mission. The staff inford him that due to the repeated failures of previous applicants, the issuing wizard had decided to wait until five applicants had accepted the mission before conducting the test. Including Lynn, there were now four apprentices who had taken up the challenge. They needed just one more to proceed.
Lynn wasn’t in a hurry and told them to notify him once the group was complete.
Returning to his residence, Lynn dove into a new round of research. He began to delve deeper into runology. He realized that with his current level of runology—level 2 at 15%—constructing a wizard tower would be a bit challenging.
So wizard apprentices would enlist help, either by calling on others to assist in building the tower or by paying an official wizard to help design certain aspects. However, Lynn believed that such a crucial structure should be entirely his own creation.
This ant that his skill level needed to be exceptionally high. A lack of proficiency would render the wizard tower construction inadequate.
Yet, Lynn relished this learning environnt. He thoroughly enjoyed acquiring new knowledge, especially with the progress bar system that added a sense of anticipation to each learning session.
After a week of intensive study, Lynn attended classes related to his fields of mastery. Soon, he received a notification from the staff informing him that the required number of applicants had been t.
Lynn headed to the service hall to et the others. Among the five, he recognized three apprentices from his runology classes. Though he wasn’t familiar with their abilities, he knew they had all surpassed the 100 points of ntal strength threshold.
Upon seeing Lynn, the three of them greeted him with polite nods.
In stark contrast to the familiar camaraderie among the four of them, the last apprentice, who stood alone at the edge, appeared sowhat aloof. He carried two short swords—one red, one blue—on his back. His features were strikingly androgynous, with an air of haughty detachnt.
As he observed the interaction between the four, a trace of disdain flickered across his face. To him, the notion of camaraderie seed absurd. Only the weak sought solace in groups, while the strong stood solitary. This was a selection process for aptitude, and grouping together was of no use.
A staff mber produced an invitation that Lynn recognized imdiately. As the invitation was torn, the very fabric of space seed to rend, revealing a door that appeared in the center of the room.
One by one, the group entered through the door. Lynn glanced around, noting that this was not the sa entry point he had seen before.
It was an unfamiliar one.
Soon, a figure arrived to guide them—a being floating just above the ground, shrouded in a black cloak that made it resemble a specter.
The specter-like figure circled around the group and then, with a languid turn, began to drift away. A rasping voice echoed directly into their minds, “Follow .”
Lynn and the others followed behind. The other wizard apprentices curiously examined their surroundings, occasionally exclaid in amazent.
——
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