Knowledge?

After a day's journey, Green finally learned that the mysterious wizard was named Arowoz, and that their destination was a Wizard Academy called Lilith's Cottage.

The academy was extremely far away. They would have to sail on the sea for at least two months.

"Before we reach Zelato Harbor, we'll be visiting two more cities. During that time, if you have any basic questions, I can answer one for each of you free of charge."

On the small road, Arowoz spoke slowly in a mystical tone.

After observing for a day, Green discovered that among the six Wizard Apprentices, Kiram was the closest to the great wizard.

That was only natural. The guy had practically become Arowoz's servant, bustling around and attending to the wizard's every need. In return, he had received several benefits bestowed by the wizard.

However, the other five Wizard Apprentices all detested him.

The contempt and arrogance he held toward the other apprentices were written all over his face. He looked down on them as if he stood above them all.

"Master, you're truly magnificent. There are still some parts of the Mental Meditation Method you taught me the day before yesterday that are too profound and obscure. I still haven't understood them..."

Kiram carried a large bundle filled with the wizard's miscellaneous belongings. Since he was closest to the wizard, he could be the first to ask him questions.

Seeing this, Wade, who also wanted to consult the wizard, cursed under his breath, "That bastard really looks like a slave."

Curling his lip, Wade silently followed behind.

Yorkris walked farther back with his sister Yorklianna. Watching the two people ahead compete to get close to the wizard and ask questions, he said disdainfully, "Hmph, two idiots without wizard talent. Once we reach the Wizard Academy and I become a great wizard, they'll both be fit only to **** for me."

His sister Yorklianna remained silent, seeming like a girl with no opinions of her own.

Green didn't rush forward to compete for a chance to ask the wizard a question. There were two things he truly wanted to know, but the wizard would only allow one question.

What caught Green's attention even more was the word "free."

In other words, once they arrived at the Wizard Academy, would it no longer be free for Wizard Apprentices to consult formal wizards?

Wanting to make the most of this free opportunity, Green thought for a moment and turned his gaze toward Lafi, who was walking gloomily at the back of the group.

This girl was the daughter of the lord of Bissell City, yet she had been forced by her father to go to Lilith's Cottage. Among the six Wizard Apprentices, she was the only one who had not volunteered to become one.

Perhaps she knew more than the others about Wizard Academies.

At the moment, Green was most interested in two questions. One was what the Wizard World was truly like, and the other was why wizards could wield mysterious magical sorcery.

The second question was probably too profound, but as the city lord's daughter, she surely knew at least something about the first.

With that in mind, Green silently moved closer to Lafi.

"The world of wizards?"

Lost in sorrow, Lafi gave Green a surprised glance.

When Green had approached her just now, Lafi, who had experienced too much, thought he was trying to ingratiate himself with her. Such things were common among nobles, and as the city lord's daughter, she had encountered countless seemingly accidental meetings since childhood.

Lafi disliked nobles who tried to ingratiate themselves with her, but she disliked lowly commoners even more. Under normal circumstances, she would never have shown Green a pleasant expression. But when she thought about the life awaiting her...

Biting her lip, Lafi looked at Green's eager, yearning face. Sadness appeared on her delicate features, and she let out a sigh.

"Actually, the Wizard Continent isn't as wonderful as you imagine. First of all, everything you possess here, including your status, will be useless on the Wizard Continent, because you may never be able to return for the rest of your life."

Green was shocked. He might never be able to return for the rest of his life?

Could it be imprisonment!?

Seeing that Green had gotten the wrong idea, Lafi said softly, "Anyway, before we become formal wizards, we'll live forever in that place called the Wizard Continent. It's an incomparably vast land. Don't bother imagining how large it is—just know that it's far larger than anything you can imagine. There, wizards are supreme. Or rather, the power wizards wield is supreme..."

Half a day later, Green was deeply shaken by everything Lafi had told him. If the Wizard World was truly as she described, then it really wasn't as wonderful as he had imagined.

"In short, in the Wizard World, if you have no power, no Magic Stones, and no backing, you'd best keep a low profile forever and do what you're supposed to do. Otherwise, death will be the most normal thing in the world."

Lafi spoke coldly.

Green swallowed. After a long while, he finally began to accept this cruel reality. He even hesitated, wondering whether he should withdraw.

After all, the Wizard World Lafi described was far too terrifying. Human lives seemed utterly worthless, and there were no noble lords to restrain these wizards.

A little Wizard Apprentice like him might one day be casually erased from this world by some powerful wizard.

He was merely a commoner who had never seen the world.

Seeing Green's frightened expression, Lafi didn't want to strike him again and shook her head.

"Of course, the Wizard Continent isn't as terrifying as you imagine either. It has its own rules of operation, and those who govern those rules are the Holy Towers that possess unimaginable power."

Green followed the group in silence. After a long time, he finally raised his head, his eyes filled with determination.

If he truly retreated out of fear, he might be able to return to Bissel City and live an easy life, but he would also lose his only chance to truly see this marvelous world!

Besides, when he thought of the old steward at the Viscount's Manor, of how he and Old Ham had been bullied by those knights, and of how even the lofty city lord now had to treat him well after he became a Wizard Apprentice—the difference...

Only after seeing Green's gaze grow firm did Lafi let out a cold laugh.

"Heh heh, it's fortunate you made the right choice. I dare say that if you went to Lord Arowoz and told him you wanted to withdraw, he wouldn't have time to send you back. He'd definitely dispose of you with a wave of his hand. Hmm, look, just like over there."

Green and Lafi were already at the very back of the group. Following the direction she pointed, Green was instantly horrified.

Ahead of the group, the corpses of seven or eight ragged bandits holding axes and curved blades lay strewn everywhere. Their eyes were filled with terror. The wizard had acted so quickly that Green hadn't even realized their group had been attacked before the enemies were almost all dead.

Boom!

A red-eyed frog seven or eight meters tall fell from the sky, landing squarely on the last bandit still fleeing in the distance.

With a wet splat, the bandit became a puddle of mingled flesh and blood. Yorkris, who had been asking Arowoz questions beside him, was completely stunned, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

Green also felt his legs go weak. Without looking, he knew his face must be horribly pale, no better than Yorkris's at the front of the group.

Lafi, on the other hand, looked pale as well, but she remained relatively composed.

Croak, croak, croak...

The frog shrank again and hopped onto Arowoz's hand. As if nothing had happened, the wizard continued leading the group onward.

More than an hourglass later, Green stood respectfully beside the wizard and asked his question.

"The principle behind wizards wielding sorcery and magical power? Hmm, that's a good question."

Wizard Arowoz actually praised Green, then added, "A very good one!"

Green stared at the wizard in surprise.

"I've guided quite a few Wizard Apprentices. More than ninety percent of them asked me to teach them sorcery for killing, while ignoring the essence of wizards. The remaining ten percent asked all sorts of random, disorganized questions. Not one of them could see through to the essence as you have."

See through to the essence? What essence had he seen through?

Green was utterly confused.

Arowoz then directly tossed a book to Green.

"To answer your question with the words of a great wizard: give me endless knowledge, and I shall use myself as the fulcrum to pry open the Endless World. Therefore, for wizards, true power is the knowledge they possess and their own magic power. Yet in the end, you'll discover that the source of all a wizard's power is still the knowledge they possess."

Arowoz pointed at the book in Green's hands. "This copy of Meditation Guide is a gift for you. It contains some of my own insights from the past."

Green held Meditation Guide blankly, disbelief in his eyes.

"Using one's own magic power as the fulcrum and endless knowledge as the lever to pry open the Endless World? Since both magic power and acquired knowledge are the foundations of a wizard's strength, why did Arowoz say that knowledge was the source of all a wizard's power?"

One question after another surfaced, leaving Green somewhat dazed.

But Arowoz had already walked far away. It seemed he intended only to answer one question per person and had no desire to waste more words. Green didn't dare chase after him to ask more.

What Green didn't realize was that if each of these questions could be answered, they would become knowledge of the Wizard World.