Wizard: I can refine all things.

Chapter 60 Academy Awards

The magic stones flowed more and more, and soon piled up into a small heap.

The fire giant stopped in its tracks, and a mental wave was transmitted to Richard.

"The penalty for breach of contract is 10,000 magic stones, the contract is established at 5,000 magic stones, and the contract is paid at 100 magic stones per month for a minimum of 20 years. During the contract period, you will be responsible for all my magic power consumption and you are not obligated to carry out any death orders."

Ten thousand magic stones?

Richard's face stiffened; this number was somewhat beyond his acceptable range.

But then he came up with another idea.

"I won't pay you the penalty for breach of contract, but I can hire you to go easy on me in the next battle for a thousand magic stones, and then hire you again on that condition."

The fire giant pondered for a few seconds, during which time Holder repeatedly used his mind to command it to attack, which angered it.

Its contract with Holder was not a slave contract, but an employment contract.

It is a subject of Firelord Field, not a servant of wizards.

"Human, I want you to sign a contract."

"good!"

Without saying a word, Richard pulled a contract template out of his pocket and quickly wrote out the contract terms.

In this contract, Richard will pay the Flame Giant one thousand magic stones after Holder's death, and will hire the Flame Giant for a contract of five thousand magic stones at a rate of one hundred magic stones per month for a period of twenty years.

The contract did not specify that the fire giant should hold back, but both sides knew what would be in their own best interest.

"First, I command you to attack!"

Holder gave the order again, and this time the fire giant obeyed. However… his movements were extremely slow.

Holder's face turned ashen at the sight. He didn't know what Richard had done to First, but the fire giant's actions were undoubtedly disadvantageous to him.

Richard gave him a bright smile.

This is the consequence of trying to take shortcuts.

Generally, the contracts between wizards and elemental creatures are slave contracts. The elemental creatures are required to completely obey the wizard's orders. If they disobey the orders, the wizard can kill the elemental creature with a single thought.

However, the prerequisite for signing a slave contract is that the wizard is stronger than the elemental creature and can make the elemental creature die immediately without signing the contract.

However, the current Holder is only a mid-level apprentice, and his strength is insufficient to accomplish this. Moreover, if Holder has signed a slave contract with the help of a wizard, then this fire giant would not be able to be brought into the examination hall.

The items that can be brought to the exam must be crafted by the wizard apprentice himself or purchased through legitimate means using magic stones.

Without this rule, Richard could have simply asked Jorrod for a wizard-level war beast to bring into the examination hall.

But this defeats the purpose of the exam.

Therefore, the only contracts that Holder can sign are employment contracts.

As everyone knows, most mercenaries are the kind of people who will do anything for money.

If Richard asks for a higher price, the fire giant has no reason to disagree.

Ellie was a little confused about the situation, but she could still tell that the fire giant was holding back.

Without the fire giant's interference, she and Richard would have been able to kill Holder.

"Richard, the old way."

Richard understood immediately and stepped forward to engage Holder. Meanwhile, the fire giant pursued Richard with "extreme speed."

Seeing that things were going beyond his expectations, Holder immediately took out a scroll from his pocket and decided... to run away.

Where there is life, there is hope.

But before he could even turn on the reel, a loud bang startled his arm.

Richard's black sword nearly cleaved through his magic barrier, and dark flames spread rapidly along it, causing his magic power to plummet.

He glanced at Ellie out of the corner of his eye and noticed that she was also preparing a spell.

As for the fire giant, he was still 'rapidly chasing' Richard.

Holder gritted his teeth and immediately tore open the scroll in his hand. The next moment, he vanished in a flash of light.

"You chickened out so quickly."

Richard sneered and then switched his view to Wuni.

"Let's go 500 meters east, Ellie!"

……

Five days later, Holder watched in despair as a terrifying fireball hurtled towards him. Without the fire giant, he was just a slightly stronger intermediate apprentice, no different from Richard Ellie.

With Holder burned to ashes, his contract with the fire giant came to an end.

Richard paid the magic stone to the fire giant according to the contract and signed a twenty-year employment contract with him.

Because of the deaths of Holder and the blind apprentice, Richard's and Ellie's scores also rose sharply. Richard, having killed the blind apprentice and Koguk, firmly held the top spot on the leaderboard, while Ellie, having killed Holder, rose to seventh place.

The mosquito monster from back then was caught off guard by some apprentice while the two were chasing Holder. If Ellie could kill that mosquito monster as well, her score would also be in the top three.

However, Ellie didn't complain about it.

Making it into the top ten would already be enough to achieve her goal.

The five-day chase left both of them exhausted, both physically and mentally. There are no mediocre formal apprentices of wizards, and wizards' methods are ever-changing. If they can't win in a head-on fight, they always have the ability to escape.

"Take a couple of days off, it'll be over in a few more days," Richard suggested.

Ellie, exhausted, agreed:

"it is good."

Nine days later, the exam ended.

As the magic airship landed in the center of the examination hall, the surviving apprentices wept.

It's over. They're still alive.

Upon returning to school, the college immediately conducted a record-keeping survey.

More than 4,000 apprentices participated in this exam, but only a little over 1,000 survived.

More than half of the wizarding apprentices became the cornerstones for the wizarding paths of other apprentices.

Richard has sixty-two marks, which translates to six thousand two hundred magic stones. Including the magic stones, materials, and magic equipment Richard obtained from killing people, Richard's earnings from this exam are approximately ten thousand magic stones.

But Richard remained completely calm about it.

The rewards for the leaderboard were quickly announced to the top ten apprentices. As mentioned before, the reward was access to the Dean's secret realm for exploration.

However, due to an unforeseen event involving the dean, the entry into the secret realm was postponed by two years, which left Richard somewhat disappointed.

……

The central black tower has ninety-nine floors.

"The Dean's Secret Realm is a wonderful place." Jord handed Richard the magic stone reward distributed by the academy. "Although the Dean's Secret Realm cannot compare to the great secret realms of the old academy deans, it is still a secret realm that has sprung up in our wizarding world, and it is definitely a blessed place for you."

Chuck, who had also finished his exam, looked at Richard with envy.

His score was just a little short of the top ten, so he missed the chance to explore the secret realm.

"Teacher, what exactly is this secret realm?" Richard asked, puzzled.

He consulted many books in the library, but the explanations about the secret realm were only fragmentary, leaving him completely confused.

Jord cleared his throat and explained:

"Richard, the planes we usually talk about will split into some spatial fragments at certain times. Most of these fragments will disappear soon after they split, but a small portion will exist for a long time after the split."

These fragments are what we call the secret realm.

These fragments often exist in different eras and environments than the current era of the plane. For example, we are currently in the pioneering period, but within the spatial fragments that split off from the wizarding world, there might be the wizarding world in the Enlightenment period, or even the period of ignorance.

As he spoke, a glint of fanaticism flashed in George R.R.'s eyes.

"Can you imagine that in the secret realm of a great wizard, some creatures that are extinct in the current wizarding world still exist? Those things went extinct before we were born, but we can still find them in the secret realm and learn about their habits, structure, and even their effects."

This is an experience you can't buy no matter how many magic stones you spend.

(End of this chapter)