First-class Wizard Apprentice, the Astonished Crowd

"A First-class Wizard Apprentice."

At dusk, Ian slowly let out a long breath.

On the final day of the five-week period, he had successfully advanced to a First-class Wizard Apprentice.

This not only meant he had successfully escaped the three-month deadline penalty and become a member of the School.

He would also receive a reward of five Magic Stones.

"But compared to all that, the changes to my body are the greatest."

Ian looked around.

His eyesight had always been fairly good, but compared to before, it was now like two entirely different worlds.

Even the dust in the distant corner of the wall was crystal clear to him.

Moreover, everything around him gave him a feeling of unbridled ease, as though he had broken free from some kind of shackle.

And that was not all.

Ian clenched his fist and felt his body.

He felt that his control over his body had improved by another level as well.

He quickly went to an open space and began practicing the Lionheart Knight Method.

Movements that had once been difficult to perform now came far more naturally with the help of his mental power.

After one round, his Knight Attendant experience had increased by a full five points.

Before, it had only been two or three points.

"At this rate, I'll probably advance to a formal knight in just a few days."

Ian pondered.

Advancing to a formal knight would raise his physical fitness to one and a half times that of an ordinary person, greatly improving his ability to survive.

The only pity was that, after the Meditation Method entered the proficient stage, the growth of his proficiency had slowed.

On average, it was only six or seven points a day now, a slight decrease.

The next day.

Ian got up as usual. After meditating once, the sun slowly rose.

He stepped outside.

Logan happened to be passing by.

"Ian, let's go together." Logan greeted him.

Ian nodded.

As the two drew closer, Logan's brows suddenly rose.

Looking at the familiar Ian before him, he somehow felt that the person before him had undergone some sort of change.

He could not tell what it was, but the feeling was undeniably there.

"What is it?"

Ian seemed to notice something strange about him.

"It's nothing, nothing. Hurry up, let's go. Don't be late."

Logan waved his hand, thinking only that he must have gone to bed too late last night.

Before long, the two arrived at the Teaching Area.

Before they even entered the classroom, they heard a burst of commotion.

Upon entering, they saw a circle of people gathered around Rune and Merlin.

Both held their heads high, their faces brimming with pride.

From the noisy chatter around them, the two quickly grasped what had happened.

"There are still five weeks left, and they've already condensed Mental Power Runes. Is this what Third-grade Talent is like?"

Emily from the Mutual Aid Society walked over, her face full of envy.

"Yeah."

Beside her, the generously endowed Shirley nodded as well.

"Ah."

William, among them, wore a defeated expression, looking deeply disheartened.

"Third-grade Talent."

Logan pressed his lips together but said nothing.

And this complicated mood came to an end with Victor's arrival.

Victor entered the classroom as usual, carrying a wizard book.

It was still a routine lesson.

The people below were distracted, their minds clearly not on the lesson today. Even Rune and Merlin were no exception.

Ian continued listening attentively, taking notes on what Victor taught.

Seeing this, Victor nodded.

His gaze swept past them, but for an instant, his pupils widened slightly, as though he had seen something surprising.

"Interesting."

Victor's eyes flickered.

Soon, the lesson ended.

It was the usual segment.

"Raise your hand if you've successfully condensed the first part."

This time, most of them raised their hands. Only a few had pale faces and trembling bodies.

Clearly, they still had not succeeded in the first part, and were destined to become slaves of the School.

"Raise your hand if you've succeeded in the second part."

This time, nearly half of them raised their hands as well. After all, only a little over a month had passed.

This time, Ian did not raise his hand.

Quite a few members of the Mutual Aid Society noticed this.

"Looks like he's successfully condensed the third part." Logan was delighted.

The others were happy for him as well.

"Luck." Halman was still disdainful, because he had successfully condensed the third part last week.

So what if Ian was better at meditation?

Talent was the deciding factor.

"The third part."

Hearing Victor's voice, Halman quickly raised his hand and looked at Ian smugly.

Only to find that Ian still had not raised his hand.

"???"

Logan, who had raised his hand beside him, looked at Ian in confusion as well.

"Ian."

Coro, Ian's deskmate, nudged his shoulder to remind him. By now, he had become one of Ian's devoted admirers.

Yet Ian remained unmoved.

"Could it be?"

Disbelief flickered in Coro's eyes as a thought flashed through his mind.

That couldn't be possible, could it?

"The fourth part."

Watching Harvey raise his hand high in the distance, Rowan of the Third-grade Star lowered her head beside him.

"So fast."

Seeing Harvey raise his hand, Logan was somewhat stunned, because he was still a little short.

But...

Turning to look at Ian, who still had not moved, he was filled with disbelief.

Even now, he had never considered the possibility that Ian had directly succeeded in condensing the Mental Power Rune.

After all, Ian had only condensed two parts before.

There was another reason as well: although he thought highly of Ian, the gap in their talent still made him instinctively feel that he was stronger than Ian.

It was not disdain.

Merely a habit.

"Raise your hand if you've successfully condensed the Mental Power Rune," Victor said.

Swish, swish, swish!

Three hands shot up.

Rune.

Merlin.

Ian.

It was as if an alchemical bomb had exploded in the classroom, leaving everyone stunned.

They were not shocked by the first two, but by the last.

"As expected, it successfully condensed. You can't fake this kind of mental power fluctuation."

Victor looked at Ian with growing interest.

This kid had given him quite a few surprises.

"How is that possible?"

Those who had been watching Ian stared blankly at the hand he had raised, as if they instinctively believed it.

No one would dare make a fool of Victor at a time like this.

In other words, unless Ian had lost his mind, he had truly succeeded in condensing a Mental Power Rune.

"You've got to be kidding."

Logan's face was equally blank with confusion.

"Hisss, this is even more outrageous than we guessed." The admiration in Coro's eyes was practically overflowing.

In the distance, Emily and Shirley pressed their lips together, their eyes burning as they watched Ian.

"It has to be fake."

Halman sat in his chair, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He had thought he had surpassed Ian, only to discover that Ian had merely been deliberately hiding his strength.

"Why? A serf."

His lips trembled, and threads of resentment flashed through his eyes.

"Him?"

Rune and Merlin exchanged a glance, seeing each other's surprise.

Ian, the one they had rejected, had actually advanced successfully in the same period as them.

It was simply absurd.

Feeling everyone's gazes, Ian remained calm.

From the beginning, he had never intended to hide it.

It was not just for the Magic Stone reward.

There was also the enormous difference before and after successfully condensing a Mental Power Rune—Victor would definitely be able to sense it.

Actually, there was another reason.

His cheat required a massive amount of resources, especially knowledge-based resources.

But those might be even harder to obtain than Magic Stones.

But if he were a genius, it would be different.

He hoped to disguise himself as a knowledge-type genius, starting little by little from now on.

That way, it would not seem too abrupt.

"Ian, you three, come with me. I'll take you to register."

Victor said as he headed out of the classroom.

Merlin and Rune followed, though their gazes kept drifting toward Ian.

Ian rose and followed as well.

As he walked through the classroom, everyone's eyes followed him. He was utterly different from the unnoticed nobody he had been before.