Ten o'clock.
The silver moon in the sky cast down a faint layer of silver frost, cold and mysterious.
Ian walked along the road and returned to his stone house.
"What a bountiful harvest!"
Ian lowered his head and looked at what he held in his arms. Besides Halman's Lionheart Knight Method, there was also a sheet of white paper densely covered in writing.
The white paper recorded two Wizard tricks, provided by several members of the Mutual Aid Society.
Of course, he had also answered some of their questions.
A fair trade.
There was nothing much to say about tricks. Naturally, he had to learn them; after all, reaching Master Level would increase his talent.
He just did not know how many points it would take to advance to Third-grade Talent.
He also quickly flipped through the Knight Method and soon decided to cultivate it.
Though the environment he was in now seemed relatively safe, that safety was only superficial.
From the people in the Mutual Aid Society, he had learned that the Academy recruited new apprentices almost every year, yet the Residential Area had never been full.
So where had those people gone?
Without a doubt, they had all died outside the Academy.
"Veridian Forest!"
Ian looked out the window. His gaze passed over the Academy, and the distant forest was a color like thick ink.
To fight for resources, to gain a foothold here, no one knew how many people from Horton Wizard School had died within it.
Not to mention outside—even within the Academy, nowhere was completely safe.
With bad luck, one might die for no reason one day and become a corpse by the roadside.
Ian had witnessed this with his own eyes over the past month.
Learning the Knight Method might still leave him incomparably weak before certain Wizards, but at least it could improve his ability to protect himself.
If he encountered danger, he would also have a little more chance of escaping.
What was more, it could increase his talent.
Thinking of this, Ian lowered his head and studied it carefully. Before long, all kinds of information about Knights entered his mind.
This was a profession that strengthened the body through vitality and blood. It was divided into two levels: Knight and Great Knight.
Once one advanced to Knight, one could greatly improve control over the body, reaching two to three times the limits of an ordinary human.
A Great Knight, meanwhile, broke through the limits of the flesh, and could even reach five times the limits of ordinary people.
That was already quite astonishing.
This book contained only the Knight Chapter. Halman had not given him the later portions.
"Lionheart Knight Method—being one of the kingdom's finest Knight Methods, its difficulty is also second to none. The first step, sensing vitality and blood, is exceptionally difficult."
Ian followed the Knight Method's instructions and assumed the posture, already prepared for a protracted battle.
Yet in the next instant, he froze.
Because only a few minutes after assuming the posture, he sensed a marvelous aura coming from within his body.
"Vitality and blood?"
Feeling the fluctuations described exactly in the Knight Method, Ian blinked.
It did not seem difficult?
Could it be that he was a Knight genius?
Time flew by.
Three days later.
Inside the stone house, Ian stood on the ground with his eyes closed and his legs bent.
At this moment, he was circulating his vitality and blood with all his might. Like a thin snake, it continuously coursed through his body.
Finally, after his vitality and blood had circled his body once, Ian slowly opened his eyes.
"One complete circulation of vitality and blood means I've begun the Knight Method. It also means I've become a Knight Attendant."
Ian clenched his fist and felt that he had grown a little stronger, perhaps by less than ten percent.
But if he circulated his vitality and blood, his explosive power would become even greater.
And this was only the beginning. As long as he continued circulating the Knight Method every day, his vitality and blood would make his body stronger and stronger.
Until his vitality and blood completed more than a hundred cycles, condensed into a blood seed, and made him a true Knight.
The panel had changed as well.
[Name: Ian Green] [Age: 12] [Strength: Knight Attendant (1/100)] [Talent: 100 (Fourth-grade Star)] [Skills: Basic Meditation Method (Proficient Level 80/200), Ignition Spell (Master Level), Water Condensation (Master Level), Light Spell (Proficient Level 163/300), Lionheart Knight Method (Knight Chapter—Beginner 30/100)]
In the skills column, the beginner-level Lionheart Knight Method had appeared.
At the same time, Light Spell had advanced from Beginner to Proficient Level. This was the result of his efforts over the past three days. He expected it to reach Master Level in another four or five days.
The greatest change was still his strength. He had gone from an ordinary person to a Knight Attendant.
"Cultivating the Knight Method is harder than learning tricks, and Knights ultimately cannot compare to Wizards.
"I still need to focus my energy on the Meditation Method and tricks. In my spare time, I can practice the Knight Method."
Ian pondered.
Though this feeling was quite good.
Becoming a Wizard apprentice was still his greatest goal at present.
He now had to devote all his energy to meditation. After all, as long as he advanced within the required time, the Magic Stone reward would not be an empty promise.
With Magic Stones, he could buy the Compendium of Tricks and learn more tricks.
This was also planning for the future.
As far as he knew, after becoming Wizard apprentices, the school would give them another half year of study.
During that time, they would further learn Wizard knowledge. Afterward, they would be assigned to the school's various departments.
There was no shortage of dangerous departments among them.
Naturally, Ian did not want to enter those dangerous departments.
Though he did not know how selection would be conducted then, he could guess that it would certainly be inseparable from strength.
And there was no doubt that talent played a crucial role in improving one's strength.
"So I must get those five Magic Stones."
Ian narrowed his eyes.
The sense of urgency in his heart grew much stronger.
Eight days later.
Inside the stone house.
Ian sat cross-legged on the blanket, sinking into the world of mental power.
As the Meditation Method operated, one portion of the Mental Power Rune rapidly condensed into form.
He did not stop.
He continued condensing it.
Soon, the second portion of the Mental Power Rune slowly condensed into form as well.
"I finally condensed the second portion. It took eleven days."
Ian opened his eyes.
If he wanted to receive the reward of five Magic Stones, he needed to complete the condensation within a month.
There were still two portions left.
He had nineteen days remaining. On average, he needed to condense one every nine and a half days.
At his previous speed, that was almost impossible.
Yet Ian felt that there was still hope.
He opened the panel.
[Name: Ian Green] [Age: 12] [Strength: Knight Attendant (17/100)] [Talent: 101 (Fourth-grade Star)] [Skills: Basic Meditation Method (Proficient Level 190/200), Light Spell (Master Level), Breeze Spell (Proficient Level 1/300), Dust Spell (Proficient Level 163/300), Lionheart Knight Method (Proficient Level 150/200)...]
Light Spell had long since broken through to Master Level, and his talent had increased to 101 because of it.
Breeze Spell and Dust Spell were newly learned tricks, obtained from the Mutual Aid Society.
The former could summon a light breeze, while the latter condensed a patch of dust before him.
Those were not important.
What mattered was that the Basic Meditation Method was about to break through to Proficient Level.
Once the Meditation Method advanced, his meditation efficiency would increase greatly, and he would be much faster than before.
Of course, raising the two tricks to Master Level could also increase his talent by a small amount.
There was still a great deal of hope.
"After tomorrow's class ends, the Meditation Method should be able to advance to Proficient Level."
Ian narrowed his eyes.
Before you continue