Advanced Apprentice

Roy had indeed heard a few things about Chalk Country before.

But meditation and study occupied most of his time and energy, so he had not paid it much attention.

He had not expected things to have progressed to the point where they were searching for an entrance and sneaking inside to explore.

"Would you like to go take a look together?" Olinda proposed. "We could form a team and explore it together."

Roy asked, "Why ask me? Don't you have companions of your own?"

Olinda said, "Of course. I just think your strength is pretty good, so I wanted to see whether we could work together.

"My original teammates are gradually falling behind. They're still far from reaching the level required to learn spellcasting."

Roy was speechless after hearing that.

Why did this situation sound so familiar?

Olinda said, "I know you may not trust me, but we can sign a contract and use it to guarantee that our cooperation goes smoothly."

"A contract?"

Roy fell into thought.

The Seven Towers Alliance was a plunderer civilization that had risen through planar colonization. Wizards plundered and colonized plane after plane and world after world, while internally following something similar to a pirate code.

It clearly defined all kinds of division of labor, cooperation, and arrangements for splitting the spoils.

It could be said that the order and spirit of law throughout the Wizarding World had been built upon two major matters: "doing the work" and "dividing the spoils."

Even rules such as forbidding fights inside the tower and requiring people to go out and fight after advancing originated from this.

This had even been engraved into the World Will, becoming the "Sacred Law" jointly safeguarded by the Power of Destiny and the Power of Contract.

But he still said, "Sorry, I have no plans to investigate that place for now."

"Why?" Olinda asked, slightly surprised.

"Because I have something more important to do," Roy replied.

"All right, then." Olinda straightened up and shrugged.

She was quite tactful and did not ask further.

Not long afterward, Olinda left.

Roy, meanwhile, began to busy himself with preparing another batch of diluted Meditation Potion.

He was not merely brushing Olinda off. He really did have something important to do.

That was advancing to the Advanced level!

"Before becoming an Advanced Apprentice, I won't leave the Witch Tower again."

The Witch Tower's requirements for advancing to Advanced Apprentice were to reveal all twenty-four Will Runes and master at least one witchcraft inheritance.

Only from this stage onward would one no longer be casually treated as cannon fodder and expended.

Roy had seen the situation clearly. The Seven Towers Alliance promoted elite education. Only a few Formal Wizards emerged from among countless apprentices, so cultivating them was no easy matter.

They could truly cast off the status of ants and beasts of burden and hold their heads high as people. It was practically like a slave changing his fate and becoming a lofty noble in an instant.

Becoming an Advanced Apprentice and an Elite Apprentice was the essential prerequisite for advancing to Formal Wizard.

If he had the ability to step onto a higher level, it was better to do so as soon as possible.

"According to the usual pattern, I should have been assigned a mentor and given guidance by now.

"That mentor would be like a boss, a leader, a king...

"But things have already turned out like this. I can only rely on my own efforts for now!"

As Roy prepared the necessary materials, he silently made up his mind.

Night soon arrived.

While eating, Roy met up with Renion and the others and briefly mentioned the place.

"Great Wind Land Hills?

"The old apprentices have indeed been discussing it. I didn't expect such strange things to be hidden there!"

"But that place is full of difficult mission points. If we go there, I'm afraid we'll have a hard time taking even a single step."

The second-year Intermediate Apprentices and those experienced old apprentices were indeed on entirely different levels.

The matter that Olinda had spread far and wide and that everyone knew about was clearly not yet well understood by Renion and the others.

However, because of Roy, they now knew about it too.

"It's nothing. We can look around the surrounding area and take more high-paying missions. That'll improve our strength.

"Isn't the Witch Tower releasing quite a few primary materials for enhancement and modification now, encouraging everyone to improve?

"You were preparing resources for Mage Body Modification before.

"Even if you lack the strength now, perhaps you'll have it after two or three months, or Half a Year."

To encourage them, Roy showered them with kind words as though they cost him nothing.

Renion and Andov were tempted after hearing this, and at the same time, they fell into thought.

They were neither blind nor stupid. Ever since Roy had displayed Animation in front of them, they had been speculating and discussing the matter, vaguely arriving at their own answer.

Roy might already have gone far ahead of the other Intermediate Apprentices of the same batch!

That casual confidence in "improving" was something ordinary apprentices like them could never possess.

After making his announcement, Roy did not concern himself with their reactions. Instead, he shut himself away and devoted himself to meditation, striving to reveal the final Will Rune.

Before the previous mission, he had already reached the stage where he was only one step away from success.

He would succeed soon.

Time flew, and more than half a month passed.

Roy did not leave the Witch Tower even once during that entire time. He had barely even stepped out of his residence.

He summoned all his drive for the final push and gave his all toward this goal.

His self-made Meditation Potion, the Dark Orchard, Shriek Potion, and other items were used in rotation and in combination.

December 23, at his residence.

"The twenty-fourth, Othala()...

"Finally revealed!"

Within the void of his mind, silver radiance blazed. The outline of the final Will Rune was drawn out.

The rune immediately began to shine brightly, as if coated in the metallic sheen of polished silver.

Roy also sensed that his Spiritual Power had undergone some kind of qualitative change.

At this moment, Spiritual Power was no longer an ethereal internal sensation. Instead, it had become a strange force like the Power of Thought, capable of directly acting upon matter.

Immediately afterward, all twenty-four runes ignited one after another like torches, forming a ring-shaped mystic seal.

It was like a silver moon disk, suspended high in the pitch-black sky and slowly turning like a clock face.

A satisfied smile appeared on Roy's face. He immediately rose and went to the administration office to register and apply for the status and treatment of an Advanced Apprentice.

"Roy, how did you become an Advanced Apprentice in the blink of an eye?"

When they met again, not only Renion and the others but even the other Intermediate Apprentices were astonished to discover that the color of the apprentice robe Roy wore had changed.

Low-level Apprentices wore gray, while Intermediate Apprentices wore dark gray...

They were all plain and simply styled.

Only Advanced Apprentices could wear blue robes, with a certain amount of decorative patterns and designs.

The blue robe Roy had chosen was just such a garment.

"Indeed, as you can see."

Roy smiled faintly.

"I just happened to advance!"

Since transmigrating, he had kept a low profile, endured patiently, and proceeded with caution for a year and a half...

He had finally begun to cast off his predecessor's image and could reveal his true self!

This time, becoming an Advanced Apprentice marked an even more natural transformation and rebirth!

Expressions of astonishment and envy immediately appeared on everyone's faces, along with a faint trace of excitement.