The Freshman Residence came with its own Biological Nurturing Room.
Freshmen who chose nurturing wizardry did their daily work there. It even had a dedicated Numerical Detection Device that used Wizard Technology.
It could accurately collect data on a Nurtured Creature and measure progress in nurturing wizardry.
It was not as accurate as the Eye of Truth, but it rarely made mistakes.
Ryan shut the Blue Poison Monkey in the Nurturing Chamber. The builders had anticipated the possibility of a Nurtured Creature going berserk and installed a dedicated Restraint Device.
Ancient Forest Mountain had a great many Wizard Freshmen, and their choices of Beginner Wizardry were not limited to the Elemental Energy Series and the Supernatural Nurturing Department.
Ryan knew that among this group of freshmen, some had chosen wizardry related to the Mechanical Wizard system, while others showed signs of awakening a Bloodline Wizard's bloodline.
The latter was exceedingly rare, and certainly not something a Commoner Freshman could possess. Only members of Wizard Families could afford to implant costly Supernatural Bloodlines into their descendants through Wizard Surgery.
A powerful Supernatural Bloodline could even carry someone all the way to becoming a full-fledged Wizard.
Bloodline Wizards had an innate advantage early on. By nurturing the bloodline within them, they could continually strengthen it, and every step forward brought a huge leap in power.
There were even cases of people becoming full-fledged Wizards within a hundred years.
Once someone had a Supernatural Bloodline implanted, obtaining an Admission Ticket was practically guaranteed.
The price of Supernatural Bloodlines was enough to deter most people. Many powerful ones could not be bought at any price.
There was a decent market for the Supernatural Bloodlines of Low-tier Supernatural Beings. Shops and institutions connected to Wizards sold them to anyone who could pay.
If Ryan wanted, he could see whether he could extract a Supernatural Bloodline from Harak and sell it for a good price.
Wizard Families almost never considered implanting low-tier Supernatural Bloodlines into their descendants. They generally chose mid- or high-tier ones.
The Wizard World ran on Equivalent Exchange. The advantages Bloodline Wizards gained could also hold them back in certain respects.
A Bloodline Wizard's power was rooted in their Supernatural Bloodline. Whichever bloodline they chose, the highest level they could reach was limited by that bloodline's original potential.
Harak flew over from the coat rack and landed on Ryan's shoulder as he came through the door. He stroked and teased the back of her neck with a finger.
Harak narrowed her eyes in pleasure and let out a low cry.
Someone implanted with Harak's Supernatural Bloodline could only become a First-level Wizard Apprentice at best, and perhaps not even that.
Harak was a Supernatural Lifeform created through nurturing. Whether she even had a Supernatural Bloodline was an open question.
Ryan did not have enough relevant knowledge to understand the relationship between Supernatural Bloodlines and Nurtured Creatures just yet.
Nor did he intend to follow the path of a Bloodline Wizard.
Anyone with real ambition and a goal of their own would not choose a Wizard's path with a fixed endpoint.
On the bookshelf, Ryan had placed the books on Supernatural Basic Knowledge near the middle, where he could easily reach them.
He had put all the other books on the upper and lower shelves: books about the Wizard World, the environment and geography of the Umbral Expanse's territory, nearby Wizard Forces, and discussions of the Wizard System's future development.
It took Ryan about half an hour to sort out the books on Basic Supernatural Knowledge he needed to master next.
The books piled on the desk covered nearly half of it and stood half a meter high.
And these offered only the most basic understanding of the supernatural side of the Wizard World.
This knowledge was essential to truly setting foot on the Wizard's path and gaining the ability to conduct Wizard experiments alone.
There was far too much to consider. He would need to master ten times, even a hundred times, the knowledge contained in the books before him.
The Relationship Between the Activity and Inertia of Elemental Particles, The Effect of Fire Element Particle Energy's Frequency and Amplitude on Wizardry's Power, Theory of Elemental Essence, Detailed Explanation of Wizard Particle Energy, Book of Dissecting the Supernatural.
Ryan had found the books on Basic Supernatural Knowledge mentioned aboard the Wizard Ship.
A knowing smile appeared on his face. It was the delight of finding a clue in an exceptionally difficult puzzle.
Ryan did not believe the connection was a coincidence. The Wizard who had planted this little clue and puzzle had to be a very interesting person.
He also felt a little more affinity for the Umbral Expanse.
The bookshelves in the other rooms aboard the Wizard Ship had probably been arranged the same way.
But first, a person would have had to find the relevant records on the bookshelf in their room aboard the Wizard Ship.
Ryan suspected that roughly seventy percent of the Wizard Freshmen at Ancient Forest Mountain had never bothered to read the books on those shelves.
And that was not all. There was also Basic Wizard Knowledge focused on the Supernatural Nurturing Department: The Theory of the Mystical Bond Between Nurtured Creatures and Wizards, Optimal Nurturing Methods and the Selection of Corresponding Species, The True Future Direction of the Supernatural Nurturing Department.
He found no Basic Supernatural Knowledge for the other branches of Wizardry. After
all, these books had been left for Wizard Freshmen, free of charge.
As far as Supernatural Resources and Magic Stones went, Ryan counted as wealthy among the Wizard Freshmen.
He kept the Red Metal Ring on his person. All his Magic Stones and Supernatural Resources were stored inside it.
Ryan had also learned what Supernatural Items were inside the Red Metal Ring.
The remaining three Wizardry Scrolls contained Fire Elemental Energy wizardry—Crimson Dragon Breath, Dark Elemental Energy Wizardry—Darkness Deprivation, and the wizardry Corrosive Acid.
The first two Wizardry Scrolls contained Mid-level Wizardry. The last contained Low-level Wizardry, though its destructive power and uses in certain situations even surpassed Mid-level Wizardry.
The last of the three books, however, took Ryan completely by surprise.
It contained neither Wizard Knowledge nor a Wizard Meditation Method. It was a diary sealed with wizardry, and the Eye of Truth even detected traces of a refined Wizard formation on it.
It was absurd, as though this were not a diary at all but a map to some rare treasure. It piqued Ryan's interest.
Notice: Analysis of the fifth Wizard Rune is underway. Estimated time: twenty days.
The Eye of Truth was taking longer and longer to complete its analyses. But when Ryan thought of Wizard experiments that took years at a minimum, it seemed normal enough. Once an analysis was complete, he was virtually guaranteed to trace the rune successfully. Other Wizards had to spend vast amounts of time grasping the essentials of a Meditation Method before attempting it with extreme care. One small mistake would undo all their work and cause them to fail.
While the analysis continued, Ryan could study and master the Basic Supernatural Knowledge before him, making up for what he lacked.
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