Level-5 Mandrake Vine

A week later.

On Dwarf Street in the port city of Lilith's Cottage, Locke and Lorne rented two rooms.

This was mainly because the owner of Dwarf Street, the Hearthstone Dwarf Blacksmith, provided plenty of free housing for Wizard Seedlings from overseas, as well as poorer local Wizard Apprentices.

At the entrance to Dwarf Street stood a huge three-legged black iron furnace statue, with quite a bit of burning charcoal inside it.

Living here was indeed much more convenient for Locke and Lorne. The street offered free services from the Dwarves, including food, lodging, daily necessities, and more.

As Wizard Apprentices, Locke, Lorne, and the others were merely inconspicuous junior students at Lilith's Cottage.

But in the eyes of ordinary people living in the other cities dependent on the wizard organization Lilith's Cottage, they were remarkable figures.

Entertaining these Wizard Apprentices brought many hidden economic benefits to the Dwarves.

This seemed to involve certain unspoken rules and secret dealings, but Locke, who was wholly focused on his studies, could not be bothered to figure them out.

Locke heard a knock at the door. He opened the wooden door of his room and saw a male Dwarf standing outside, only half his height.

The Dwarf wore blue overalls and held a large bag of milk, some eggs, and two slices of Queen's white bread with honey and milk.

The Dwarf attendant respectfully bowed to Locke. "Lord Augustine, this is breakfast from Master Hearthstone Blacksmith."

"If you need anything, please let us know."

"Dwarf Street welcomes you."

Locke accepted the breakfast expressionlessly. "That will be all."

"This afternoon, I need someone to clean my residence. But remember, do not enter my study. There are very dangerous things inside."

The Dwarf attendant hurriedly said, "Yes, Lord Augustine..."

Locke closed the door. After finishing breakfast, he sat on a fabric sofa in his study and looked at the several pots of Mandrake Vines arranged on the floor.

All these Mandrake Vines had been given to him by his mentor, Sophia.

Synthesizing one Level-4 Mandrake Vine required a total of twenty-seven Ordinary Mandrake Vines.

Synthesizing one Level-5 Mandrake Vine required a total of eighty-one Ordinary Mandrake Vines.

To be honest, if he had not been lucky enough to meet Mentor Sophia, there was absolutely no way he could have obtained such a large quantity of Mandrake Vines in such a short time.

It could only be said that even with the Horadric Cube, pursuing magic still consumed enormous resources.

But the gains were equally considerable.

Locke looked at a pot of Level-4 Mandrake Vine before him. It was a full size larger than an ordinary Mandrake Vine, and its surface was covered in dark purple scales.

According to the description, this Mandrake Vine was called a Super Mandrake Vine, and its overall capabilities had been comprehensively improved.

Locke had spent two days of spare time testing it and discovered that the Super Mandrake Vine's overall performance was even somewhat better than the descriptions of Tifro Rootvine in the books.

But this was not his greatest gain over the past week.

With a slight thought from Locke, the Invisible Mandrake Vine hidden on his right arm automatically revealed itself.

The Level-5 Mandrake Vine, synthesized at the cost of eighty-one Ordinary Mandrake Vines, had produced a special synthesis formula that created the Invisible Mandrake Vine.

The Invisible Mandrake Vine possessed every trait and capability of the Super Mandrake Vine, but also had the ability to turn invisible.

This meant his magic plant was naturally equipped with a passive Invisibility Cantrip.

That would give him a tremendous advantage in battle.

With the enhancement of the Invisible Mandrake Vine, the power of his Vine Hand would reach a level ordinary Third-Class Wizard Apprentices could never attain.

Moreover, it would strengthen all subsequent Vine Hand series spells.

In the study, Locke recorded the relevant data. "Mandrake Vines are no longer valuable now, but a pot of Ordinary Mandrake Vine still costs around one Magic Stone."

"Mentor Sophia felt these things were useless to her. If I did not take them, she would have casually thrown them away to avoid taking up space, so she gave them all to me."

"Otherwise, the total value of all the potted Mandrake Vines she gave me would be at least over a hundred Magic Stones."

Locke looked at the Level-5 Mandrake Vine wrapped around his right hand and could not help sighing inwardly. Learning magic was truly expensive.

Locke thought, "And this is not merely a matter of money."

"Because Mandrake Vines were phased out long ago, it would be difficult for me to buy such a large quantity."

"It was only because Mentor Sophia happened to have an experiment requiring so many Mandrake Vines. Otherwise, I could only try cultivating that many Mandrake Vines myself."

"That would take about a year."

"Being able to obtain a Level-5 Mandrake Vine so quickly this time was also due to my luck." Locke looked at the Invisible Mandrake Vine on his right arm. "Because my magic plant has leveled up, my Mental Power has also increased somewhat."

"This magic plant should be able to support me until the Second-Class Wizard Apprentice stage. That way, I will not need to replace my Magic Vine with Tifro Rootvine."

"After the Public Classroom, I will go to Mentor Sophia's office and use her Amethyst Matrix to test my Mental Power."

Witch Sophia had agreed to let Locke use some of the safer items in her office.

Among them was the Amethyst Matrix used to test Mental Power.

Through his exchanges with Lorne over the past few days, Locke learned that not every wizard mentor was as generous as Witch Sophia.

Most Wizard Apprentices besides himself had to pay five Magic Stones just to use an Amethyst Matrix once.

Even though using the Amethyst Matrix did not consume any magical resources at all.

Locke looked at the pot of Super Mandrake Vine he had placed on the floor. "If I sold this pot of Super Mandrake Vine, I could probably earn fifty Magic Stones."

"And because its performance is even somewhat stronger than Tifro Rootvine, there would definitely be no difficulty selling it. But if I truly did that, I would be courting death."

Locke thought vigilantly, "Using it myself is one thing. First, others cannot determine its exact nature. Second, they would only think it was the work of my mentor, Witch Sophia. They would not say much, and my mentor would not reveal my secrets to others."

"But if I, a Third-Class Wizard Apprentice, suddenly took this enhanced Mandrake Vine out to sell, it would draw countless wizards to investigate my secrets."

Locke tapped the tabletop with his fingers as he thought, "Even if I want to sell it, my wizard rank needs to be higher, and I need to learn the Magical Plant Breeding class and become a Breeder first."

"Then, if I sell it, others will only think I am a talented Breeder."

"As it happens, my mentor, Witch Sophia, is also a First-Ring Breeder."

A Breeder was a type of wizard who cultivated special magic plants.

Plant Magic required many special magic plants as casting materials. Different magic plants could give the same Plant Magic different levels of power.

Thus, Breeders were also a relatively common wizard profession.

The improvement of Tifro Rootvine was the masterpiece of a First-Ring Breeder from Holly High Tower fifty years ago.

From then on, Tifro Rootvine replaced Mandrake Vine and became one of the magic plants most favored by novice wizards.

Locke set himself the goal of becoming a Breeder.

"Once I become a Breeder, I can openly sell the Super Magic Plants I synthesize."

"Also, if I continue working as Mentor Sophia's potion-refining assistant, I can learn some skills as well."

"Of course, the most important thing is to become a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice as soon as possible. Only then will there be no risk of being eliminated by the Academy. And only by becoming a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice can I truly be considered a wizard of Lilith's Cottage."

Locke glanced at the housewarming gift the Hearthstone Dwarves had given him in his room: an exquisitely designed mechanical clock. "There is still an hour until the Basic Rune Studies Course."

"I should set off immediately."

"The quality of Lilith's Cottage's public classes is even higher than I imagined."

"If I do not go early, I am afraid I will not be able to get a seat near the front."

Lilith's Cottage's Public Classroom was located in the center of the port city.

The public classes were taught in rotation by different Formal Wizards and First-Class Wizard Apprentices.

Most of the time, First-Class Wizard Apprentices taught in their place, but occasionally Formal Wizards gave lectures.

Although they taught with extreme carelessness, this was already the only chance many Wizard Apprentices had to see a Formal Wizard.

Unlike Witch Sophia, who had only Locke as her student, the other Formal Wizards in the Academy had many students under them. Under normal circumstances, Third-Class Wizard Apprentices could not even meet their Formal Wizard mentors once.