Adamantine

Benjamin approached the machine and copied the others, placing his apprentice badge beneath it on a Detection Array.

Before long, a screen of light appeared before him, displaying a wealth of information. Looking at the mission details, even more comprehensive than those on the large screen, Benjamin felt rather moved.

"This thing can already be called the 'Magic Network,' can't it? The common people are still stuck in the Middle Ages, but the wizards have already entered the internet age."

Given the wizards' strength to wage war across countless planes, entering the internet age was hardly anything surprising.

"Let me see..."

Benjamin first browsed through his personal information, only to quickly discover in surprise that his point balance was not actually zero.

"What's going on?"

Benjamin stared at the six points in his account, baffled. Fortunately, the income details clearly explained where they had come from.

"Because there was less than a month between the start of term and next month, part of the difference from the ten points per month stipulated in the contract was refunded... Holy crap?"

Benjamin was genuinely shocked this time. Never mind how many resources it would take to refund such differences to so many students—the Academy's actions alone were enough to leave him in disbelief.

"They're actually this generous? Something like this... even in the law-governed society of my previous life, there probably wouldn't have been many organizations willing to do it, right?"

Amid his amazement, excitement welled up within Benjamin.

It seemed the wizards' rigor regarding contracts exceeded even his expectations. Though Benjamin knew this was most likely a way for the Academy to win people over, he still could not help feeling a sense of identification with it.

"Being willing to follow rules, and having rules that are relatively fair, really is enough to make people feel like they belong..."

With a few starting points suddenly in hand, the pressure on Benjamin immediately eased considerably. He swiftly searched for information on renting laboratories.

"A small low-grade laboratory... five points for ten hours, but only two hundred points for a whole month? Damn, that's a huge difference!"

Still, fortunately, he had just barely enough points now.

Benjamin casually left the machine, first heading to the apprentice cafeteria for dinner before returning to his dormitory.

After closing the door, Benjamin sat cross-legged on his bed. He appeared to have entered meditation, but his consciousness had actually arrived before the Great Dao Library.

A streak of flowing light descended before him in accordance with his will. Benjamin caught the book formed from that light and quickly flipped through it.

"I remember it was here... Got it!"

This was a basic book on practical exercises, mainly recording methods for extracting various materials.

On the page Benjamin was studying, the content concerned a material called "Adamantine."

[Gold is the essence forged through a hundred refinements. Yet secret arts exist that can temper its marrow from ten thousand yi of ordinary gold, yielding that which is purest and hardest, known as "Adamantine." This substance bears the firmness of heaven and earth and contains the principle of eternal constancy. Ten thousand arts find it hard to invade, and all evils dare not approach. It is the finest of fine choices for forging protective armor and treasures capable of storing Mount Sumeru within a mustard seed.]

The general meaning of this passage was that a material called Adamantine could be extracted from a large quantity of gold. To a certain extent, it possessed the concept of eternal unchangeability. Its properties were exceedingly stable, almost entirely unaffected by any form of energy, making it an excellent material for refining defensive and storage-type Dharma Treasures.

However, Benjamin's Cultivation had not even reached the first level of Qi Refining back then. And while his family ran a small business, expecting them to produce a vast amount of gold for refining was simply a fool's dream. So he had only casually flipped through this book at the time.

After seeing that fist-sized lump of gold in Alchemy class today, this had been his first thought.

"Let me see... It's difficult, but with enough tools to assist, even first-level Qi Refining Cultivation can barely refine Adamantine. The material loss is just a little high."

Moreover, according to the book, Adamantine was merely the most basic spiritual material. Through continuous refinement, it could also be refined into other, higher-grade materials.

But given Benjamin's current circumstances, refining Adamantine alone would be enough.

After carefully studying the method of refining Adamantine described later in the book, Benjamin forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart and withdrew from the depths of his consciousness.

He reached out and picked up the ugly golden cube he had made earlier that day.

Such a large chunk of gold was quite heavy. An ordinary person would find it difficult to lift with one hand.

But after entering the Meditation Method, elemental power strengthened not only a Wizard Apprentice's mental strength, but also their body. Benjamin, meanwhile, enjoyed the dual benefits of the Cultivation method and the Meditation Method, so lifting it was not particularly difficult for him.

His hands continuously toyed with the golden cube, while his face wore the perfectly appropriate expression of a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

In secret, Benjamin mobilized the True Essence within his body and began probing it with the detection method he had learned from the Great Dao Library, checking whether this gold could be refined like the gold of the Immortal Cultivation World.

The result was delightful. Judging from his probe, the structures of gold in the two worlds differed very little. Both could be refined into Adamantine!

"Phew... I can't be too hasty. The conditions aren't ready yet..."

After calming his excited emotions, Benjamin began considering what benefits this material could bring him and how he could use it to earn his first pot of gold.

"But no matter what, I can't neglect Alchemy if I want to conceal things better."

Having made up his mind, Benjamin carried the gold cube back to his desk. Using the Basic Alchemy Manual as a reference, he reinforced the fundamental knowledge Instructor Clark had explained in class that day and studied the complicated-looking metal Alchemy Disk.

For the next stretch of time, Benjamin repeated this seemingly dull and mechanical routine:

During the day, he holed up in his dormitory studying Alchemy Studies theory and trying to reshape the golden cube with Alchemy. At night, he meditated when the world was deep in silence, using Cultivation in place of sleep.

Occasionally, he would run into Amy at the cafeteria, maintaining just the right degree of contact with her.

Amy would always bring various bits of Academy gossip and rumors, providing Benjamin with quite a bit of valuable information.

This continued for more than ten days. Only after Benjamin confirmed that he had completely mastered the Adamantine refinement technique did he begin putting his real plan into action.

"Mr. Benjamin, this is the laboratory you reserved earlier. As requested, it has a window facing the direction of the rising sun. From now until six o'clock tomorrow morning, this laboratory belongs to you."

"Please note that the Defense Array within the laboratory can only withstand spells below the first ring. If any damage is caused, compensation will be required..."

A silver-white metal golem chattered on about the laboratory's various rules as it opened a completely sealed metal door.

"...The laboratory is entirely enclosed. Should anything happen, outsiders will be unable to learn of it, so please pay attention to your safety."

"Alright, alright, I got it."

Before the golem could continue its nagging, Benjamin decisively shut the laboratory door.