Chapter 330: Establishing the Augustus Brand (4000)
Locke entered the highest-class VIP reception room. Madam Irina, dressed in gold and red with an exquisite shoulder cape draped over her shoulders, was already waiting inside. When Locke entered, Madam Irina rose to greet him in her formal wizard robes.
Locke closed the door, and Madam Irina's serious expression immediately changed, her manner becoming much more casual. "Locke, I was quite shocked when I heard that you had become a Formal Wizard. Who would have thought that the little Wizard Apprentice who used to linger endlessly between my two shops, Golden Secret and Owl Cauldron, was now a First-Ring Wizard in the Vaporization Stage?"
"Time really flies." Madam Irina glanced at Locke, smiling from the corners of her eyes. "Perhaps time isn't to blame. Locke, it's simply that you advanced far too quickly."
"It was this rapid change that made me feel time had passed so quickly."
Madam Irina's gaze paused briefly on the four Honorary Invention Certification badges hanging from Locke's chest. These were the badges that best represented a Formal Wizard's achievements in the Southeastern Corner Region. Yet Locke had earned four of them at such a young age, announcing to the world the abundance of his magical research accomplishments.
A trace of admiration flashed through Madam Irina's eyes.
Locke said, "I also have to thank you for your shops. They helped me greatly during my apprenticeship. Without your two stores, my products could never have been sold so smoothly."
Madam Irina was a Liquefaction Wizard, and her Mana far exceeded Locke's.
In the Southeastern Corner Region, it was not easy for a First-Ring Wizard in the Vaporization Stage to break through and become a First-Ring Wizard in the Liquefaction Stage.
Madam Irina smiled warmly. "Not at all. The products