Wizard: I can refine all things.

Chapter 51 The Exam Begins

Time flies, and the day of the exam has arrived in the blink of an eye.

It was still the same open space where the entrance exam was held. Richard, wearing the Hermit's Cloak, stood in a corner, feeding Wuni a handful of iron beans.

"Richard, you still prefer to hide."

A voice suddenly came from beside Richard. He turned his head and saw a witch apprentice with a pointed wizard's hat on her head, a long staff in her hand, and two dark circles under her eyes standing next to him.

"Ellie, long time no see," Richard greeted her, handing over the dummy.

Over the years, their relationship has gradually evolved from the initial sweet and affectionate romance to a more detached and distant acquaintance. This is partly due to the lack of novelty over time, and partly due to the wizard's teachings.

Under the wizard's guidance, both of them clearly realized one thing.

Without becoming a wizard, everything is in vain.

Even so, things went beyond friendship between the two. For example…

Exchange research findings with each other.

He and Ellie reached a very good cooperation model, in which he would provide magic stones to purchase spell models and library materials, which Ellie would then modify, and the two would share the final results.

Simply put, he provides the money, Ellie provides the labor, and they share the final result.

Of course, this sharing is only superficial; Ellie certainly wouldn't, and couldn't, share with Richard what she learned from Susanna.

However, this still brought Richard considerable gains.

In addition, Ellie also commissions Richard to make some magical costumes and alchemical gadgets, which Richard only charges at cost price.

Ellie stroked Wuni's feathers, and Wuni affectionately rubbed against Ellie's hand.

"I guess we'll be randomly teleported again this time. Shall we discuss a meeting place?"

Richard took out the map that the academy had distributed beforehand. The examination area was quite large, a circle with a radius of fifty kilometers. Within this area, all apprentices would survive for a month and obtain at least one apprentice mark.

The Apprentice Mark is a cursed mark placed on an apprentice's body before the academy's exams begin; it disappears automatically after the exams.

This curse mark has two effects. First, it prevents apprentices from leaving the examination hall; the curse mark will automatically activate as a fatal curse after the apprentice leaves. Second, it facilitates the counting of apprentice kills; the curse mark will automatically transfer to the killer of the apprentice upon their death.

Unlike the entrance exam, this time the academy has opened up a system where apprentice marks can be exchanged for magic stones. Each apprentice mark can be exchanged for one hundred magic stones at the academy, with no limit on the number of times.

In other words, if you are good enough, you can definitely make a fortune from this exam.

In addition, the academy has set up a leaderboard. Each time an apprentice's mark is earned, one point is added to the leaderboard. At the end of the exam, the top ten on the leaderboard will receive rewards distributed by the academy, and the top three will receive a special reward from the dean.

Of course, in addition to fighting with the apprentices, the academy also placed ten magical creatures with the strength of advanced apprentices in the examination hall. These creatures will indiscriminately kill the apprentices in the examination hall. Although killing these creatures will not earn you an apprentice mark, you will receive a high-quality magical equipment and a reward of fifty points.

In other words, in terms of points, one magical creature is equivalent to fifty apprentices. Defeating these magical creatures is essential if you want to compete for a place in the top ten of the leaderboard.

"Let's meet at the center point," Ellie said, tapping on the map.

"Random teleportation means you never know where you'll end up. At least the center point has the academy's marker."

Richard nodded. "Okay, see you at the center then. Don't get tricked."

Ellie rolled her eyes at Richard. "Do you think I'm still the same Ellie I was ten years ago?"

The exam time arrived quickly, and Vice Dean Alex was once again the examiner.

Alex flew into the air, and an immense pressure instantly silenced the wizard apprentices.

"Apprentices of the 432nd class of Black Tower Wizarding Academy, I am Alex, your examiner for this examination. There are a total of 4,121 candidates, and all 4,121 are present. The examination rules have already been distributed, so I will not repeat them here."

I now declare the exam open.

The opening was brief as usual. Alex waved his hand, and white light shone beneath the feet of many apprentices. At the same time, illusory black chains extended from beneath the apprentices' feet, leaving a black pentagram on their hands.

As the scenery before him transformed into countless abstract blocks of color, Richard's figure vanished instantly within the teleportation array.

When the scenery before him returned to normal, a hill covered with shrubs appeared in front of him.

"Still a bit nauseous." Richard frowned. Although his physical constitution had mitigated much of the nausea from the teleportation array, the discomfort still made him feel nauseous.

Looking around, Richard noticed that there seemed to be an apprentice not far away, and the apprentice also saw Richard.

"Good luck," the apprentice laughed at Richard.

Then a fireball came hurtling over.

"You were really lucky."

Richard remained expressionless, and a magical barrier instantly appeared in front of him.

boom!

The fireball exploded, but not a single ripple appeared on the magic shield.

"Too weak. The Lesser Fireball spell is still the original version sold by the academy, without any improvements."

Richard shook his head, took a step forward, and instantly appeared in front of the apprentice, the greatsword on his back now in his hand.

"goodbye."

With a single swing of the sword, a head the size of a bucket flew into the air.

This apprentice wasn't even at the intermediate level, and he didn't even have a chance to resist Richard.

After killing the person, Li checked the mark on his hand. The original black pentagram seemed to have become a little darker.

He also sensed a faint magical fluctuation emanating from the mark.

"Interesting. This magical fluctuation should be the signal from the wizarding world," Richard pondered for a moment, guessing to himself.

He glanced at the sky and saw a beam of light reaching the heavens directly in front of him. That was the center point of the entire examination hall, a landmark for the apprentices to orient themselves.

Richard was about to walk towards the beam of light when he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

The Guardian's Pendant was activated, and a magical shield instantly appeared behind Richard, blocking an invisible wind blade. At the same time, Richard also used breathing techniques to fully unleash his bloodline.

In an instant, the apprentice who launched the sneak attack saw Richard suddenly grow from a tall, ordinary apprentice into a two-meter-tall, black-scaled humanoid monster.

"Bloodline alchemy! And it's been done at least twice." The apprentice's eyes widened, and without thinking, he erected a magical barrier.

The next instant, a greatsword engulfed in black flames slammed into the barrier.

Black flames spread rapidly across the barrier, and the apprentice immediately realized that his magic was rapidly draining away.

The flames were burning with his magic.

"escape!"

The apprentice had only one thought: he could never defeat this apprentice of the alchemy school.

He propped himself up against the barrier and took out a scroll from his pocket, then unrolled it.

With a loud bang, the body of the one who attacked the apprentice exploded into a cloud of smoke and disappeared instantly.

"Short-distance spatial warp." Richard recognized the spell's effect, but a cold smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Hey, check where that guy teleported to."

The crow cawed merrily and immediately flapped its wings and flew into the sky.

"Trying to run? Not so easy."

Meanwhile, similar incidents were occurring in every corner of the examination hall.

Apprentices of the Evocation School waved their staffs, and a single fire raven reduced their enemies to ashes; apprentices of the Necromancy School pointed casually, and an apprentice collapsed, his flesh withering away until he became a skeletal, lifeless corpse; apprentices of the Soul School roared, and their mental shockwaves stunned those around them. While apprentices of the Cursed School were not adept at direct combat, in unseen corners, swarms of cursed worms were spreading relentlessly.

In this exam, all the apprentices presented the fruits of their ten years of study, vowing to pave their own path to becoming wizards with the bones of others.

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(End of this chapter)