"I certainly agree."
Richard took the Crystal Ball and respectfully bowed slightly to Jolod.
"Since that's the case, let us establish the contract."
Jolod pulled out a sheepskin scroll filled with Wizard Language from a drawer.
"This is the Soul Contract. Once signed, you will beco my official Apprentice. I will impart to you my knowledge, and you will inherit this knowledge and pass it down."
The transmission of knowledge is fundantal to the Wizard Apprentice system. In the distant Dark Age, Wizards began to take on Apprentices, passing down the knowledge they had explored throughout their lives.
This relationship is even more important than Bloodline for Wizards.
Richard took the sheepskin scroll, which contained many writings, but the vast majority was prohibitions against Wizard Apprentices selling the knowledge they inherited without permission.
Knowledge is too precious, and Apprentices are too poor.
Without restrictions, it would be too easy to tempt an Apprentice into selling their knowledge for a little incentive.
After signing the contract, a fla instantly ignited from the place Richard had signed, and then burned the entire contract to ashes.
"Following ancient tradition, Apprentice Richard, I shall enlighten you."
Jolod placed a hand on Richard's forehead, then started chanting the ancient odes of Wizards.
Though Richard didn't understand these odes, he felt his spiritual power faintly growing in the haze of the incantation.
After a passage of odes, Richard felt his spiritual power had grown by about 0.1 during that ti.
This efficiency was much higher than that of ditation.
"Alright, the enlightennt is complete." Jolod clapped his hands, cheerfully using a Spell to summon several thick tos from the bookshelf.
"These books are your basic course. Go back and rember these things, understand them thoroughly, and then co to buy the next part from ."
"Buy?"
Richard was stunned. Hadn't he already beco an official Apprentice? Reading books seed just like the library.
"Yep, buy." Chax walked over to Richard, patting him on the shoulder, "Don't be so surprised. It was the sa for and Sister Anna; we both had to spend Magic Stones to buy knowledge from the teacher."
"This is... Why?" Richard asked, perplexed.
"It's simple. Knowledge is precious and should not be passed on lightly. Knowledge that's too easily obtained is often undervalued," Jolod explained, stroking his beard with a profound look, "Moreover, the craft of Alchemy requires practice, and just book knowledge is far from enough."
"If your skills are sufficient, then you can earn enough Magic Stones by selling Magic Equipnt and Magic Potions in the comrcial district to exchange for more knowledge."
Anna also spoke up:
"The teacher's knowledge isn't priced high, and as long as your skills are proficient, earning enough Magic Stones in the comrcial district isn't difficult. With your current skills, Richard, it probably won't take two years to exchange for new knowledge."
Since such were the rules, Richard didn't say anything further.
Taking the books that Jolod had brought over, Richard left the laboratory with Anna and Chax.
"Nice one, junior brother. You really keep your cards close to your chest."
Once outside, Chax walked arm in arm with Richard, acting like a supportive big brother.
"You really astonished both and Sister with that trick of yours."
Anna felt sowhat complex emotions on the side. Before Richard, she was Jolod's most talented Apprentice in a thousand years.
But now, it was clear this title was going to change hands.
However, Anna wasn't the type to harbor petty thoughts. After feeling frustrated for a while, she put the matter aside.
"Alright, Chax, let go of Richard. As a senior apprentice, aren't you going to give him a welcoming gift?"
Saying this, Anna took out a dal from her pocket and handed it to Richard.
"This is a badge that is inscribed with a Deflection Force Field, capable of deflecting long-range physical spells like the Ice Cone Skill."
"Thank you, senior sister!"
Seeing what Anna did, Chax couldn't help frowning.
He didn't have any Magic Equipnt to give to Richard.
"Junior brother, it's not that I don't want to give you sothing, it's just that my focus isn't in Magic Equipnt. How about you wait a few days, and I'll craft a small Synthetic Beast for you?" Chax said to Richard with a pained expression.
"Synthetic Beast? Senior brother, are you researching Synthetic Beasts?"
Richard suddenly rembered the Synthetic Beast Core he had obtained during the entrance exam, which he had thrown into the corner and forgotten to refine the information from.
"Yeah, like my ntor, I also research Synthetic Beasts," Chax nodded.
"So the Magic Beast in the entrance exam was sothing senior brother..."
Chax scratched his head and said with a smile:
"That thing was originally ntor's task, but he ended up tossing it to . How about it, the Synthetic Beast I crafted wasn't bad, right?"
Indeed it wasn't.
Thinking back, if the Magic Beast hadn't been gravely injured, and he hadn't had his Magic Equipnt at hand, Richard might not have been able to survive the exam.
"Indeed impressive. However, I managed to remove sothing that looks like a heart from a Magic Beast; I wonder if that would be of any use to you, senior brother."
Chax was taken aback, then seed to understand sothing.
"A heart? You're probably talking about the core. If you have a core, senior brother will customize a Synthetic Beast for you as a welcoming gift," Chax patted his chest. "There's not much else I'm good at, but I do have so skill when it cos to Synthetic Beasts."
The most tedious part of crafting a Synthetic Beast was cultivating the core; with a core available, Chax was confident that he could piece together a low-level Synthetic Beast within three days using the materials at hand.
"Then thank you very much, senior brother."
After leaving the Black Tower, Richard headed straight to his dormitory to find the Synthetic Beast Core he had acquired before.
This core was still faintly pulsing, despite several months without an external energy source, which was quite an exaggeration to its Life Energy.
Holding the core in his hand, Richard expended fifteen points of spiritual power to refine the information from it.
Although he could have exchanged for this information from Jolod, saving when possible was preferable.
After the refinent was complete, Richard felt as though his head had been struck by a heavy hamr, and he felt groggy. Fortunately, thanks to the Rebound Effect, Richard's spiritual power had reached twenty points, so he still had the energy to hand over the core to Chax after refining the information.
"Junior brother, what kind of Synthetic Beast would you like?" Chax examined the core's Life Energy and, after confirming it was still recoverable, waved his hand grandly, presenting Richard with a long list. The list was filled with the nas of hundreds of low-level Synthetic Beasts with varying abilities.
Richard looked over the list, which included powerful Magic Beasts like the seven-headed magic sheep, but after so thought, he eventually chose a low-level Synthetic Beast called Death Crow.
This Synthetic Beast did not possess formidable combat abilities but had the skills of Dark Vision and seeing through illusions. Like regular Magic Pets, Synthetic Beasts could be connected through the planting of a Soul Seed, allowing for shared senses. If Richard were to link senses with the Death Crow, he would essentially acquire the Death Crow's abilities.
Seeing Richard's choice, Chax waved his hand magnanimously.
"The Death Crow is an easy job; co to senior brother to pick it up in three days."
After everything was settled, Richard returned to his room and collapsed on his bed, not wanting to move at all.
The exhaustion from refining the spiritual power made him extrely tired. Normally, he should ditate to recover, but today, Richard particularly wanted to sleep.
Having beco Jolod's official Apprentice, he had finally secured a foothold at the Academy, bringing him a step closer to becoming a Wizard.
Richard closed his eyes, and the magnificent view he saw when he first linked to the Sea of Souls appeared before him, his lips unconsciously curling into a smile of longing.
"The Star Realm... I really want to see it."
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