Changes, Compendium of Tricks

Following Victor.

They said nothing along the way.

The three left the Teaching Area and headed deeper into the School, finally stopping before a Castle-shaped building.

The Castle was entirely blue-black, with stone sculptures of giant wolves standing before its gates. Perched atop one of them was an enormous owl.

Its feathers gleamed with a bluish sheen like steel. It stood nearly half a meter tall, its eyes closed.

Suddenly, its eyes snapped open.

In an instant, a powerful aura burst forth. Not only the three of them, but even Victor nearly lost his footing.

"Little Victor, long time no see!"

Only after recognizing Victor did the owl relax.

"Lord Mickey, I've brought some new apprentices to register."

Victor placed a hand over his chest, as though looking at it one moment longer would cost him his soul.

Though Ian and the other two were astonished that the owl could speak, they still gave proper bows.

"Only three?"

The owl glanced at them, its eyes flickering.

"This is the first batch."

"Fine, fine. But, Little Victor, you haven't come to see me since then. I..."

The owl raised a wing and wiped away tears that did not exist.

Victor seemed somewhat helpless. He sent several Magic Stones flying over to the owl.

"Go in!"

With the Magic Stones in hand, Mickey's eyes lit up, and he became positively radiant.

The three entered.

"Instructor, that owl just now was...?"

The moment they entered, Rune asked curiously.

"That was Lord Mickey, Lord Horton's contracted Magic Beast. He is responsible for guarding the Castle, though he is somewhat greedy. You'll understand in the future," Victor said as he walked.

Lord Horton?

The founder of the School?

Their eyes widened in surprise. They had never expected an owl to have such a background.

As for being greedy?

That did seem true.

As they walked, Victor also introduced the Academy's three major departments.

They were the Secret Source Department, the Logistics Department, and the Combat Department.

The Secret Source Department handled the Academy's various core affairs, personnel assignments, and the inheritance of knowledge.

The Logistics Department consisted of the various botanical gardens, the Alchemy Department, the Potions Department, and the like, and was responsible for the Academy's logistical support.

As its name implied, the Combat Department carried out combat duties. Guard patrols and the like were handled by them.

And this Castle was the core of the Secret Source Department.

Sure enough, as they followed Victor through the place, they began to see Wizards coming and going around them.

Before long, they turned into a room on the first floor.

The room was enormous, spanning several hundred square meters. Runes were carved across the surrounding walls, extending into one candleholder after another.

White flames burned atop the candleholders, like spirit fire.

Even Ian felt tremendous pressure at that moment.

At the far end of the room sat a Gray Robe Wizard. His eyes were hollow, replaced by ghostly white flames.

"These are the three apprentices from the new batch."

Victor stepped forward.

The Gray Robe Wizard nodded. The next instant, a white blur flashed past, startling all three of them.

The next instant, Ian felt a sharp pain at his fingertip.

A drop of blood slowly rose into the air and flew toward the wall, igniting a ghostly white flame.

The white blur had already returned to the Gray Robe Wizard's side. It was a small white snake.

"Let's go."

Leading the three unsettled youths away, they went next door and received the Black Iron Badges exclusive to First-class Wizard Apprentices, along with a standard-issue Witch Robe.

And, most importantly, five Magic Stones in total—each roughly half the size of an egg, like black crystals yet containing pure magic power.

Aside from these five, they would be able to collect one more every month from now on, while also gaining permission to enter certain parts of the Academy.

The latter was the truly precious thing.

This was also the most fundamental difference between Academy apprentices and probationary apprentices.

Victor led them out of the ancient castle.

Before the castle gates, he said to them:

"Registration is complete. In one month, you will begin half a year of study, after which you will be assessed and assigned to various departments.

"I can only remind you of one thing: the gap between departments is enormous, especially between core departments and peripheral ones. The difference in resources may even be severalfold, so you'd best not slack off from here on out."

Victor was fairly responsible, and the others hurriedly nodded.

Ian did the same. In truth, after hearing Victor's earlier introduction, the department he wanted to join most was probably the Logistics Department.

It was safe and rich in resources.

And that also meant the competition would be fierce, so he absolutely could not let up.

After leaving the ancient castle, Victor led the three of them back to the Teaching Area.

Merlin and Rune left, but Ian was called back.

"Come with me."

Victor said nothing more, merely gesturing for Ian to follow.

Before long, the two arrived outside a room. Victor went in and came back out with a book in hand.

"Instructor, what is this?"

Ian asked in confusion.

"Compendium of Tricks. I bought it before, and don't you need it? I can sell it to you."

Ian's eyes lit up.

Then Victor suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question:

"Ian, how proficient are you with your Meditation Method? How long can you meditate in one sitting?"

"Four hourglasses."

Ian replied.

That was only his previous progress. Now that he had broken through, he estimated he could meditate for five or six hourglasses.

"As expected."

Victor gave Ian a complicated look.

He had guessed as much.

Otherwise, there was no way Ian could have succeeded in the same batch as Rune and the others.

That Spellcasting Talent...

It was just a pity his talent for meditation was a little lacking.

"How about this? I used this Compendium of Tricks for a while as well. Just give me four Magic Stones." Victor handed over the book.

Such a bargain?

Ian quickly took out four Magic Stones.

After receiving the book, he casually flipped through it and found that it contained some notes as well.

"Thank you, Instructor."

Ian knew he had struck it rich and hurriedly thanked him.

"You should thank yourself. Also, the Academy isn't as safe as you think. Be careful."

Victor waved a hand and left directly.

If Ian's talent had been better, he would not have minded investing more in him, but unfortunately, it was truly ordinary.

"Be careful?"

Ian fell into thought.

Before long, Ian returned to his room.

Inside, Ian began reading through the Compendium of Tricks.

There were a hundred tricks in total.

Setting aside the ones he already knew, there were still ninety-five he had never seen before.

For an ordinary Wizard, learning so many would be meaningless.

But for him, they were practically a hundred talent points.

"If I learn them all, my talent might reach two hundred points."

Ian pressed his lips together.

Those few extra points from before had already made him feel the gap.

With one hundred points, he probably wouldn't even need a month to condense his first Mental Power Rune.

Perhaps not even that long.

"I won't be lacking cantrips anytime soon. Next, I just need to study steadily and continue meditating."

Ian drew a deep breath, a glimmer flashing through his eyes.

The cultivation of a First-class Wizard came through condensing Mental Power Runes.

Although they had not yet been provided with the subsequent Mental Power Runes, the mental power gained through meditation would not vanish.

It would come into play when condensing runes later on.

Night fell.

The Mutual Aid Society's gathering.

Ian did not miss it.

Resources were one factor. On the other hand, Ian had gradually discovered that exchanging experiences also benefited the growth of his own experience.

It seemed that, through such exchanges, his skill proficiency rose a little faster as well.

In any case, it only happened once a week, so it did not take up much time.

And this time, he could clearly feel the change brought by his status.

As he walked into the room, the gazes on both sides were complicated, filled with envy and a trace of awe.

"Boss Ian, you're incredible." His underling Coro looked at Ian.

Logan looked at him as well, his expression complicated.

At that moment, everyone's eyes were fixed on Ian.

There was no doubt that although the Mutual Aid Society had been founded by him, its core had now changed completely.

He was powerless to change it.

Everything had happened as naturally as water flowing downhill.