Power

Benjamin watched the list of materials constantly refresh on the Magic Network, from the most common copper and iron to rare elemental crystals, to ore samples from unknown starfields...

Though his points were more than anyone else could match, buying up all these "ordinary materials" for individual study?

It was almost impossible!

There were simply too many kinds of materials!

And these were only the relatively ordinary materials!

Above them were "extraordinary materials" containing strange energies, laws, or concepts!

Those were the key to crafting powerful magic artifacts and Magic Potions!

The points he was earning now were practically a drop in the Pacific compared to the Wizard Civilization's vast reserves of materials.

Let alone buying extraordinary materials, even gathering samples of every ordinary material would quickly evaporate his points through the costs of purchasing, transportation, storage, and more.

"Looks like I can only... take it slowly..."

Benjamin sat in his intermediate laboratory, staring at the material list on the Magic Network as he could not help but sigh.

The excitement from earning a huge number of points in one go had been considerably diluted by the sheer scale and complexity of the material system.

His path toward "becoming stronger" seemed far longer and more difficult than he had imagined.

Giving up on the idea of making large-scale purchases, Benjamin only symbolically bought several rather special material samples that seemed to have corresponding concepts in the Immortal Cultivation System, planning to start with them.

Once he had composed himself, Benjamin's following days returned to calm.

During the day, he attended classes. After class, he returned to the laboratory to study the foundational theories of Alchemy, Magic Potions, and runes.

At night, while cultivating, he would also enter the depths of his consciousness to carefully study the various knowledge he had obtained from the Great Dao Library.

With such a massive amount of learning filling his days, Benjamin's life became fulfilling and tightly packed. Even his desire to earn points diminished considerably.

More than a month later, the school replenished another fifty cubic meters of gold. This time, however, he did not buy much. He only purchased twenty cubic meters to refine into Adamantine as the foundation of his future stockpile of artifact-crafting materials, leaving the rest unsold.

After all, given his current circumstances, the points left over from his previous sale of Adamantine were already enough to last him a long time.

That day, after finishing a public class on foundational Alchemy theory, Benjamin was preparing to return to his laboratory as usual when Instructor Clark unexpectedly called out to him.

"Apprentice Benjamin." Instructor Clark looked at him expressionlessly.

"Instructor, is something wrong?" Benjamin's heart tightened out of habit.

Instructor Clark seemed not to notice Benjamin's nervousness. He merely asked in that unreadable tone, "What research have you been doing lately?"

Uh... is he showing concern for me?

Benjamin blinked, truly unable to glean anything from Instructor Clark's expressionless face.

After considering it, Benjamin decided to answer honestly, at least in part. "I've been trying to familiarize myself with the properties of various materials."

After hearing that, Clark gave him an inscrutable look.

However, he said nothing more, merely giving a simple instruction. "Go back and check the task section on the Magic Network."

With that, he turned and left, leaving Benjamin standing there alone, filled with confusion.

Was... that expression just now his way of showing satisfaction with me? Benjamin was not quite sure. After all, this instructor's facial expressions were far too subtle.

Sometimes, Benjamin envied his instructor's mask-like face. At least in many situations, no one would be able to discover what he was truly thinking.

With his instructor's strange instruction in mind, Benjamin greeted the surprised Amy and returned to his intermediate laboratory.

He opened the laboratory's Magic Network Terminal, connected to the Academy's internal Magic Network, and entered the task section.

He scrolled to the bulletin board and browsed through it casually.

The familiar low-level tasks were still there, but a new announcement at the very top instantly caught his eye:

[Workshop Emergency Project Notice: Organization Project for Stockpiled Materials in the Lower Storage Room Has Begun!]

[Description: The Wizard Civilization has conquered countless planes, and the lower storage room has accumulated an enormous quantity of unprocessed material samples from bygone eras or other planes. These samples are diverse in type and complex in properties, and personnel are urgently needed to conduct preliminary cataloging, cleaning, and basic property analysis. Apprentice volunteers with a certain foundation in material science and a willingness to contribute are now being recruited for this project.]

[Task Duration: Long-term.]

[Point Reward: Medium, calculated based on workload and results.]

[Special Note: Participants may have the opportunity to come into contact with a large number of uncategorized rare material samples. This is an excellent opportunity to improve one's material science knowledge and broaden one's horizons.]

[Application Method: Submit an application to the task office.]

Benjamin's eyes immediately lit up as he read the notice.

This was exactly what he needed most right now!

An opportunity to legally come into contact with a vast range of materials and even conduct preliminary research on them!

And yet a task like this had been sitting there without anyone taking it? If there was no catch, Benjamin would eat this table on the spot!

It was like receiving a pillow just as he was getting sleepy—and it was the finest down pillow imaginable!

Privileges really were something to be despised!

What? He was the one benefiting from the privilege?

Then there was no problem.

Without any hesitation, Benjamin immediately clicked the "Apply" option on the Magic Network Terminal and submitted his apprentice identification number.

Submission successful.

He looked back at the task bulletin board, intending to carefully examine the details of that notice.

However, in the instant he blinked, the announcement that had just been at the very top silently vanished, as if it had never existed.

Benjamin froze slightly, then understood.

"Nice, nice, nice. You're not even pretending anymore, huh!"

So that was what Instructor Clark's inscrutable look had meant...

Benjamin sat in his chair, looking at the empty task bulletin board as a powerful sense of gratitude and emotion welled up within him.

Only then did he truly realize the convenience brought by the Level Two Training Agreement.

It was not merely an increase in points and authority, but also the support of "information" and "opportunities" quietly provided by the high-ranking wizards!

It could be said that this agreement had opened many hidden paths for Benjamin that ordinary apprentices did not even know existed.

Meanwhile, Clark remained in his own laboratory. Looking at the task that had been claimed on his terminal interface, he nodded in satisfaction, then used his authority to close the task to further applicants.

In a world where knowledge was power, no one dared monitor a wizard's laboratory. After all, that was a hatred more irreconcilable than the murder of one's entire family.

But gathering some unimportant information did not necessarily require such trouble. For example... quite a lot could be inferred from someone's recent purchase list.