Submitting the Task

When Taylor returned the instrument in his hand to the Miscellaneous Affairs Office manager, the manager saw that although Taylor's limbs were slightly weak, his clothes were still neat and unruffled, with not a single scratch on him. His evaluation of Taylor rose another two points.

Many newly promoted Level 1 Wizard apprentices had taken this task before. When they returned, most were a miserable mess or covered in dust. A few unlucky ones had even been cut by the Poison Vine Tree's thorns and had to use the points they earned to exchange for antidotes from him.

But the young man before him was completely unharmed. Though his limbs were a little weak, there was no doubt that he was one of the most outstanding newly promoted Wizard apprentices the manager had seen recently.

"Submitting the task."

As he looked at Taylor handing over the instrument, the manager took it and stared at the dark green liquid contained in the vessel below it, seemingly lost in thought.

"Eighteen points in total."

In the end, the manager converted the extra amount from the two portions of sap into two additional points and gave them to Taylor together.

After taking back the instrument, the manager returned a white point record card patterned with exquisite designs to Taylor. This was the white point record card every official Wizard apprentice of the White Tower Alliance possessed.

It recorded the points owned by each Wizard apprentice. As for powerful Wizards, they had more advanced methods and naturally had no use for such point record cards.

During the time Taylor had been a servant apprentice, all he possessed was a point recorder resembling a round coin. As long as the Six-Eyed Owl responsible for supervising them found nothing unusual, their point recorders would gain one extra point each day as payment for their work.

When he handed in the instrument, he also gave the manager his point recorder. The manager transferred the points from the recorder into the official point record card as well.

Taylor took the card. The composition of the magical runes on it was extremely complex, beyond his current knowledge to understand, but he noticed a sentence written at the bottom of the card.

"Before knowledge and truth, always remain in the posture of a seeker."

A seeker...

Taylor carefully considered those words. The more he thought about them, the more he felt they contained profound philosophical meaning.

Wizards were a group of people constantly seeking knowledge.

One Month Later

As the botanical garden shared by the entire White Tower Alliance, the Poison Vine Trees might have been located at its outer edge, but there truly were quite a few of them. During this time, Taylor had constantly taken on tasks extracting Poison Vine Tree sap, accumulating a considerable number of points in just one month.

According to the directions given by the botanical garden manager, the holes in some trees could yield more sap, while others sometimes did not even produce a full portion. Little by little, Taylor accumulated 240 points within a month.

He had earned those 240 points by practically risking his life. Once, while extracting sap, he was even ambushed twice by poisonous thorns on the Poison Vine Tree's vines. He spent a total of 40 points in exchange for two bottles of antidote.

The first time, there were too many vines, several of them waving right in front of Taylor, leaving him unable to watch both front and back. His arm was accidentally pricked, and he nearly collapsed on the spot.

The second time was because that Poison Vine Tree had been far too cunning. It actually launched a sudden attack from beneath Taylor's feet. This was also Taylor's fault for not taking out his round badge first to sweep the surroundings and drive away those vines and poisonous thorns.

He took on tasks almost every day. The intense concentration brought on by prolonged work had left him rather exhausted, leading to those two accidents. Taylor therefore decided to rest properly for two days and ease the intense mental pressure weighing on him.

"Haven't you been taking on plenty of tasks lately, kid? See? An accident was bound to happen, wasn't it?"

The librarian had now become something like a friend from another generation to Taylor. The librarian's name was Oak.

During this time, Taylor had also gotten to know Tutes, the manager of the Miscellaneous Affairs Office, and Gili, the person in charge of the Miscellaneous Affairs Office.

Oak mocked Taylor while glancing at his left arm. Taylor's left arm was still wrapped in thick white bandages.

"Looks like you were right this time, Oak. The road in pursuit of truth really is covered in thorns and dangers. That Poison Vine Tree was truly cunning—it nearly killed me with its poison!"

Looking at his left foot, Taylor shook his head. This time, he wanted to rest for a while not only because of the mental strain, but also because his left foot was injured. If he continued taking on tasks, his impaired mobility might lead to another accident.

Hearing Taylor's complaint, Oak raised his eyelids and said, "That's normal. Normal Level 1 Wizard apprentices only take on a task once a week. Who takes one every day like you?"

Hearing the hint of concern beneath Oak's complaint, Taylor remained silent. He merely wanted to save up more points, exchange them for the Flame Medal, then trade that for more knowledge to supplement himself and become stronger.

He simply wanted to endure hardship first and enjoy the rewards later—work himself hard for a while, receive the compensation he deserved, then devote himself to research and becoming stronger.

Perhaps age had made Oak wise. He saw through Taylor's thoughts at a glance, but he did not interfere, because every great Wizard was someone with strong convictions.

This road might be dangerous, and it might bring losses, but they would still earnestly carry out their own ideas and pursue the path and truth that belonged to them.

"How many points do you have now?"

"Two hundred and forty points."

"You're still a little short. Work hard, kid."

"How old are you, and how old am I? Can't you give us young people a discount?"

"Then I advise you to show some respect to an old fellow like me."

"Failed again. That old man's mouth is really tight."

Returning to his room, Taylor sat at his desk and opened the Flame Knowledge notebook, already densely filled with annotations and notes. After sighing inwardly, he continued immersing himself in his ideas, deductions, and analyses concerning flame knowledge.

Almost every day, he went to the Apprentice Library to trade barbs with Oak, the librarian, trying to bargain down the number of points required for that Flame Medal.

This was not merely about getting a bargain. It was also a way to add some variety to life. After all, this world of Wizards had no internet or videos. Perhaps powerful Wizards possessed unfathomable mental strength, allowing them to maintain long periods of study and experimentation measured in weeks, but Taylor could not yet do that. He had to find something to let his mind relax somewhat.

If he did nothing but immerse himself in knowledge of flames, magic, and spiritual power, the fledgling Wizard knowledge system within him would only become increasingly chaotic.