Intermediate Apprentice

Roy left the residential area, and daylight had already fully broken outside.

Most of the Low-level Apprentices living on the lower floors hurried along, and with Tower Clearing Day approaching, the atmosphere had visibly grown tense.

Along the way, he happened to run into several acquaintances.

They were the Low-level Apprentices who had once been assigned Steward Apprentice duties alongside him.

"Roy, are you heading to the shopping street to buy something?"

"Hehe, I get it now. You've been keeping quiet, but you were actually planning the same thing!"

"What do you mean?"

Roy froze for a moment and frowned as he asked.

"Tsk tsk, at a time like this, you're still playing dumb."

"Weren't you planning to smuggle things out of the Witch Tower like us?"

Several Low-level Apprentices said.

Only then did Roy recall that the perfumes he had previously made would have been luxuries reserved for high society in the Old Continent.

But the Witch Tower seemed intent on creating a vast divide between the Mortal World and the Wizarding World. It had no desire to develop productive forces and instead deliberately kept them suppressed.

All profit flowed from a single source, forcing people to become wizards and allowing the winners to take all.

He gave those Low-level Apprentices, who could not see the situation clearly, a few glances. He said nothing more and left directly.

"Hey, why is that guy ignoring us?"

"Never mind, leave him alone. We have our own business to handle."

The Low-level Apprentices were somewhat puzzled, but they quickly put him out of their minds.

Tower Clearing Day was drawing near. Perhaps before long, they would no longer have a chance to see each other again.

Shortly After, Roy saw several familiar faces again.

They were the Old Apprentices responsible for managing the residential area and the main people in charge of the Tower Clearance.

They were leading several minions as they posted Tower Clearance notices along the streets, informing everyone of the various Precautions.

"Today is already July 3rd. The day after tomorrow, July 5th, will be the Tower Clearance inspection day.

By Then, everyone who has not obtained Intermediate Apprentice status will be sent to the concentration camp outside the tower to await their fate.

On July 6th, they will be loaded onto ships and transported back to the Mortal World!"

Roy stopped to look for a few seconds, then turned and left before the other party Noticed him.

This matter no longer had anything to do with him. He had successfully avoided such a fate.

"Place your hand on the Crystal Ball and meditate on the Will Rune."

"Hm? You really do have eight now."

Shortly After.

The registration office on the second floor of the Witch Tower.

The Steward Apprentice's gaze fell upon Roy's somewhat Pale Face, and he immediately understood.

Every year in early July, when Tower Clearing Day arrived, there would be a batch of people making a last-minute sprint.

Some succeeded, while others failed.

That was Not Surprising.

The turning point involved could hardly be called earth-shattering.

Yet for those involved, it was still a feat that changed their fate.

"Congratulations, young man.

From this moment onward, you are an Intermediate Apprentice and qualified to remain."

The person in charge began handling Roy's Procedures while mechanically fulfilling his duty to inform him.

The key points were the Intermediate Apprentice curriculum and the various rules and regulations he needed to follow.

Roy listened attentively.

This concerned his path as an Intermediate Apprentice for the next several years.

The original owner had actually already understood the general situation.

In short, he needed to continue manifesting more Will Runes until he had more than sixteen, then begin learning Spell Models.

Then came all twenty-four...

That was the requirement for advancing to the high level.

"Lord Roy, here are your badge and uniform, as well as the things from your previous residence..."

"Understood. You may leave first."

Two days later.

The second floor of the Witch Tower.

The Intermediate Apprentice residential area.

Roy dismissed the servant assigned by the administration and took a bath in his new residence.

The living conditions for Intermediate Apprentices were naturally incomparable to those of Low-level Apprentices.

The suite had its own bathroom, a small Alchemy Platform, a bookshelf, a desk, and everything else one could need. Even the bed was somewhat larger.

After changing clothes and fastening on his badge, his entire appearance was instantly renewed.

In the mirror stood the reflection of a young apprentice dressed in a blue-gray robe, with a Pale Face.

"I've been tense for an entire month. Now I can finally relax a little and catch my breath.

At least for today, I'll rest first."

Shortly After, Roy left his room, intending to look around.

Besides easing the tension that had gripped him ever since his transmigration, he also wanted to familiarize himself with the environment where he would spend the next few years.

But the moment he stepped outside, he saw several young men and women around his age approaching.

"Friend, are you also a newly promoted Intermediate Apprentice?"

A sunny, handsome man with blond hair and blue eyes walked over and greeted him.

"Also..."

Roy glanced at the group and understood at once.

"That's right."

"So are we. We were assigned here together. What a coincidence!"

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Renion. This is Nia, and this is Andov..."

The blond Renion greeted him warmly and introduced the others.

Roy nodded. "My name is Roy."

After exchanging pleasantries and probing each other, they confirmed that all of them were six-year apprentices who had only succeeded in their last-minute push over the past few days. They could not help smiling knowingly.

The blond Renion seemed to intend to recruit Roy into their small circle and form his own faction, so he deliberately tried to draw him in.

Before long, they were already acting familiar with one another.

Renion suggested, "Before we advanced, there were many places we didn't dare go and weren't allowed to go. We spent so many years living here for nothing.

Why not take this chance to have a good look around and familiarize ourselves with the place?"

Everyone agreed, including Roy, who had already been thinking the same thing.

Their lives as Low-level Apprentices had ended, but their lives as Intermediate Apprentices were only just beginning.

Without realizing it, the group arrived at the commercial district.

Like other Witch Towers, Oakmi Witch Tower had its lower three floors respectively assigned to Low-level, Intermediate, and high-level Apprentices.

Each floor had its own shopping street, library, and teaching area for living and studying.

This place was visibly more prosperous than the Low-level Apprentice area. There were countless shops and vendors, and it was as noisy as a market in the Mortal World.

Palm-sized fairies, furry children with animal ears, long-eared elves wearing collars...

Gems that emitted dangerous fluorescent light, the minions of unknown creatures, potions of every color...

There were even wandering souls in Crystal Balls, prepared corpses, bloody eyeballs, and glistening white brains...

All of them were openly displayed for sale!

Roy understood. "No wonder those fellows all wanted to make a fortune before returning home.

Taking advantage of the difference between the Witch Tower and the Mortal World, making money would be easy!

Of course, that was assuming they didn't get picked clean by bandits, refugees, magical beasts, local nobles, tax officials, law enforcement officers, and the like."

Besides that, he also Noticed that nearly all the knowledge and resources he saw along the way had come from other worlds.

That was because the Wizarding World where the Seven Towers Alliance was located was, in terms of scale, merely an ordinary medium-sized world.

If it weren't for venturing into the sea of stars and conquering other worlds, it would have long since fallen into endless internal strife.

However, none of that had much to do with him for the time being.

Another matter was far more pressing.

"How can I earn more magic stones?"