Wizard: I can refine all things.

Chapter 4 The Three Essential Elements of a Wizard Apprentice

Murder, entrance exam.

The combination of these two seemingly unrelated words made Richard feel that the world was truly wondrous.

"An entrance exam that requires murder? Which page were you looking at?"

Richard was somewhat suspicious that this was a prank; what kind of college would need a group of murderers as students?

Ellie, sobbing, handed the school rules to Richard. Just then, the magic lamp in the room turned on, and Richard, who had already learned wizarding language, took advantage of the light to open the folded pages of Ellie's book.

The page reads:

Before entering the academy, prospective wizarding apprentices must take an entrance exam called the "Race to the Death," the contents of which are as follows:

At the start of the exam, prospective wizarding apprentices will receive a crystal ball and seven bottles of nutritional potions that can replace a day's food. They must reach the academy's designated location within fourteen days, carrying at least two crystal balls.

Those who do not have enough crystal balls or fail to arrive on time within fourteen days will lose their admission.

Note: The college does not provide repatriation services. If an apprentice loses their admission, they must return to their place of origin on their own.

After reviewing the admission rules, Li threw them to Ellie, then climbed onto his bed, took out his own admission rules, and flipped to the same page.

The content above is exactly the same.

This is no joke.

"This is going to be a bit difficult."

Richard closed the rules. He didn't know why the academy did this, going to so much trouble to bring them, these apprentices, to the academy, only to use an entrance exam to filter out half of them.

But he knew one thing for sure: the question was pointless now, as he was already on the airship.

Therefore, he must find a way to pass the entrance exam as soon as possible.

Among these aspiring wizard apprentices were both lower-class peasants and upper-class nobles. Most of the commoners, like Richard, were malnourished and thin. The nobles, on the other hand, possessed strong bodies and had learned martial arts since childhood.

The saying "Every nobleman is a knight" is widely circulated in the Kingdom of Plantagenet and is regarded as the foundation of noble rule.

In the Kingdom of Plantagenet, knighthood is not merely a title, but a symbol of personal strength.

Every knight is a fierce man who can move swiftly and fast, clad in plate armor and wielding a two-handed greatsword in each hand.

Furthermore, in the Kingdom of Plantagenet, a noble's title must be inherited by a knight.

So these noble children may have questionable character and poor intelligence, but their bodies, trained from a young age, are far superior to those of commoners, even when they are lazy.

Competing against such a large group of people, Richard and his fellow civilians had virtually no hope of survival.

"Impossible. Since the academy admits ordinary students, it would never deny them any chance to resist."

Richard acted swiftly and immediately took out the three books that the college had given him.

Wizarding academies would never waste their energy designing an exam that commoners couldn't pass; they must have left something to bridge the gap between students.

Richard spread three books out on the bed: a wizarding dictionary, admission rules, and the last one had a rather straightforward title: —

How to Become a Wizard Apprentice

[Material: "How to Become a Wizard Apprentice"]

[Extractable Information: Basic Meditation Techniques, Magic Flow Construction, Four Basic Tricks]

[Refinement Cost: 7 Spirit Points]

[Whether to extract]

"refining."

……

At one end of the airship, there is a rest cabin exclusively for wizards.

"Irelie, how many of these apprentices do you think will survive this time?"

Taylor looked out at the sea of ​​clouds. The airship was flying at an altitude of about two thousand meters. From this altitude, the sea of ​​clouds seemed to be the land.

"More than four thousand, I guess. This year, the exchange of crystal balls for magic stones has been canceled, so no one should be intentionally hunting them."

Beside Taylor, the muscular woman who had previously held the door panel sword leaned against the bulkhead and casually replied.

"I heard the Dean suffered a great loss in the interdimensional war and needs to replenish the number of wizards as much as possible. These recent classes of students are truly fortunate!"

Taylor's tone was filled with感慨 (a sense of感慨, a feeling of mixed emotions, often including regret or nostalgia). Once upon a time, he too was a ruthless figure who had fought his way up from among a group of apprentices.

As a result, he failed to advance his career and was forever barred from becoming a wizard.

Now I can only make a living by working for the college.

Looking at these prospective apprentices, Taylor, now over a hundred years old, often thinks of his younger self.

"By the way, why didn't we see that guy, Malcolm?" Taylor asked.

"There are a few bright kids in this cohort, so a few of them pooled together some magic stones and invited him over to explain meditation techniques."

"Oh?" Taylor asked, somewhat surprised. "Isn't that against the rules?"

Eriel shrugged: "If you don't tell me and I don't tell you, how will those big shots in the academy know?"

Besides, those kids spent magic stones, which is in accordance with the principle of equivalent exchange. Even if the academy knew, they would only praise those kids for being clever.

But Taylor shook his head.

"The teaching materials written by the dean are simple enough. If they can't learn from this level of teaching materials, then even if they come in, they'll just be waiting to die."

Ultimately, the path to truth must be walked by oneself. While shortcuts may bring temporary success, can they really rely on them forever?

……

Room 225.

Richard sat cross-legged on the bed, trying to calm himself down.

After distilling the essence of "How to Become a Wizard Apprentice," Richard had fully mastered the theoretical knowledge of meditation.

The so-called meditation method is the practice of shamans.

Its main function is to help wizards increase and restore their mental power.

"The three essential elements to becoming a wizard apprentice are: connecting to the Sea of ​​Souls, establishing a magical flow, and inscribing a spell mark. Among these, connecting to the Sea of ​​Souls is the most difficult."

Richard tried his best to adjust his state of mind based on the information in the book.

According to the book, the stronger a person's spiritual power, the easier it is for them to connect with the sea of ​​the soul.

Once he connects to the sea of ​​souls, his meditation is half successful.

As Richard's mind calmed down, he began to inscribe runes in his spiritual world.

There are three runes in the basic meditation method. When Richard finished inscribing the runes, his spirit seemed to leave his body and fall into a bottomless abyss.

The abyss was utterly silent; time and space seemed to cease to exist.

Richard's spirit had been in this abyss for an unknown amount of time; boredom, loneliness, and fear surged into Richard's heart like a tide.

But he endured it all.

Because this is the necessary path to connect with the sea of ​​souls.

Finally, after an unknown period of time, Richard's spirit touched the sea of ​​souls.

In that instant, Li saw the endless starry sky.

"The Sea of ​​Souls reflects the material world, and each plane of the material world is a star in the Sea of ​​Souls. This spectacular sight has influenced every wizard who has seen it, so wizards later also called the material world—the Astral Plane."

Richard's mind flashed through the records in the book, and at that moment, his thoughts seemed to overlap with those of countless wizards throughout the millennia.

"This is absolutely beautiful."

Richard sighed, and then began to leave his mark on the sea of ​​souls.

With this mark, he can more easily connect to the Sea of ​​Souls.

"What kind of mark should I leave?" Looking at the endless starry sky, a sudden wave of loneliness washed over him.

Alone in a foreign land, I feel like a stranger; every time I gaze at the starry sky, my longing for home grows stronger.

Richard used his spiritual power to create a pen, and then drew a five-pointed star in the sea of ​​souls.

After doing all this, Richard began to feel somewhat disoriented.

Basic meditation methods can only allow him to stay in the sea of ​​souls for this long. If he wants to stay longer, he needs to find more advanced meditation methods.

Within seconds, his mind returned to the material world.

He has now completed the most difficult and important step in becoming a wizard apprentice.

(End of this chapter)