Ian

Angra Ring Mountains, a vast plain in the middle.

Early morning.

At the edge of the woodland, Ian stood in front of the house, looking toward the center of the plain at the tall, pointed wizard towers piercing the clouds.

That was Shadowmoon Tower Academy, the wizard towers of powerful wizards.

Last night, he had inexplicably transmigrated to this world, becoming a Low-level Wizard Apprentice.

The original owner was originally the second son of a noble count in a distant kingdom.

At the age of fifteen, he was tested and found to have wizard talent.

More than a year ago, his family sent him here for further studies.

At home, the original owner was an unruly and uneducated prodigal whose mindset had not yet matured.

After enrolling, he was bewitched by others and chose the extremely difficult Potion Studies.

During this period, he spent a large number of magic stones buying a bunch of materials, foolishly attempting to brew potions to earn magic stones.

Last night, while brewing a potion in the room, something went wrong.

He was poisoned to death on the spot by the rising toxic gas in the cauldron, which benefited the transmigrated Ian.

Why didn't all those previous brewing attempts produce such strong toxic gas, yet last night...

What he was brewing at the time was an ordinary Rank Zero Potion: Awakening Potion.

Its effect was that after drinking it, one could maintain two hours of mental focus.

It was one of the most popular auxiliary potions for apprentices when meditating.

After a whole night, Ian also slightly adapted to the fact of his transmigration and sorted out the memories in his mind.

He turned and went into the house, walking into the small experimental room next to the bedroom.

His residence was a two-room house built of wood, surrounded by a yard as tall as a person.

The facilities inside the house were crude; he usually ate and studied here.

Walking over to the workbench, he inspected last night's medicinal herbs.

After a moment, he picked up a withered herb, and a very faint putrid smell wafted to the tip of his nose.

Looking at the starry white spots on the leaves, Ian frowned deeply.

This is not Moonlight Grass, but Rot-Bone Flower!

The white spots on the leaves were formed by absorbing corpse qi and condensing.

The leaf shapes and spots of the two were extremely similar, but their functions were worlds apart.

Moonlight Grass was scarce, while Rot-Bone Flower was everywhere around the mountains.

The main raw material for the Awakening Potion formula was Moonlight Grass.

As for Rot-Bone Flower, it was generally used to formulate poisons, and a small amount was also used in some obscure body-tempering potions.

These medicinal materials were all forced upon me by Simon.

Ian's face was gloomy; it was this person who had coaxed him into choosing Potion Studies.

In nearly two years, the other party had earned no less than two hundred magic stones from him.

It had almost hollowed out the magic stones he brought from his family—no, it had already hollowed them out!

His current net worth was only six magic stones.

Simon's realm was higher than his; he was an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice who had stayed at the Academy for five years.

Does this person study Darkness-element Wizardry, yet he wouldn't recognize Rot-Bone Flower?

Ian was not clear whether the other party was careless or did it on purpose.

However, none of that mattered anymore!

Ian rolled up his sleeves, cleaned up the workbench, and intended to brew it once more according to his memory.

The original owner's talent was fairly decent, belonging to the upper-middle aptitude.

There was about a one-in-ten chance of breaking through to become a Formal Wizard.

First, he used a mortar to mix the Moonlight Flower and clear water, grinding them into a paste.

Then he took out the Menthol Crystal, mixed it with clear water, and began to extract the fern liquid.

At the finishing stage, Ian carefully stared at the pale blue glass bottle in his hand.

After a while, a wisp of green smoke emerged from the bottle, and the color of the solution quickly faded until it became colorless.

Failed!

Ian was not overly disappointed, either, since he could be considered to be brewing for the first time.

[Awakening Potion Proficiency +1]

Suddenly, a line of text drifted across his vision.

At the same time, a violent shock wave echoed in his mind.

A phantom status panel appeared before Ian's eyes.

This is... a game panel?!!

He shook intensely in his heart and rubbed his eyes hard.

After confirming repeatedly that it was not an hallucination, the corners of his mouth slowly curved up.

[Name: Ian Marcus]

[Age: 16]

[Realm: Low-level Wizard Apprentice (53%)]

[Talent: Medium Light Attribute Affinity]

[Skills: Star-Moon Lower Meditation Method: Beginner (72/200)

Wizard's Hand: Beginner (13/100)

Basic Potion Identification: Not yet initiated (42/50)

Awakening Potion: Not yet initiated (25/50)]

His mind stirred slightly, and the status panel vanished.

Then, as he tried to recall the thought, the light curtain reappeared before his eyes.

Just now, even though his potion brewing had failed, the status panel had provided positive feedback.

A small amount of brewing insight flowed into his mind, raising the proficiency of the Awakening Potion by one point.

After Ian digested the information, he let out a long breath and walked out of the laboratory.

His mood was still surging, making him unsuited to continue brewing potions.

He washed his face with cold water, forcing himself to calm down.

Looking at the pale face in the basin, with slightly sunken eye sockets and a somewhat wilted spirit, the whole person looked entirely unremarkable.

Stepping out of the house, the cool breeze blew against his face, feeling very comfortable.

Ian looked around, and through the gaps in the woods, the eaves of some houses were vaguely visible.

The people living inside were all low and intermediate apprentices.

This place belonged to the outskirts of High Tower Academy, four or five miles away from the nearest town.

Regarding security, they could only rely on the nearby Tower Patrol, and order was relatively chaotic.

Like Ian, they had no qualifications to live in the central plains area.

That was a privilege enjoyed only by formal wizards and beings above wizards.

As for how to acquire new knowledge usually, Ian remembered that besides self-study, he could go to the teaching area once a week to attend a free basic course.

Or he could spend extra magic stones to attend various specialized courses.

Magic stones! Ian sighed lightly.

Here, magic stones were the universal passport to everything.

No matter how low the aptitude was, as long as resources were sufficient, the early-stage cultivation speed would not be much slower than that of those geniuses.

His biggest asset right now was a large pile of low-tier magic stones inside the laboratory.

Ian walked around his house a few circles, and plans gradually formed in his heart.

The most urgent matter for him right now was not earning magic stones.

In another two months, it would be the two-year limit of his enrollment.

Shadowmoon Tower stipulated that new students needed to break through to the intermediate wizard apprentice within two years in order to continue staying and studying.

Those who failed to do so either had to pay high tuition fees or be cleared out from the high tower.

Most of those apprentices with low aptitude and poverty could not afford the tuition fees.

Some willingly became laboratory regulars or sold their bodies, and their fates were tragic.

Having managed by luck to enter the world of wizards and seen infinite splendor, almost no one was willing to give up this path.

And Ian also had to elevate his strength once more before that time came.

The fastest method right now was to rapidly improve the Star-Moon Meditation Method.

Thus, he could accelerate the tempering speed of his mental power and break through the upper limit.

Looking at the realm description on the status panel, a sense of urgency arose in his heart.

Previously, he had spent too much time on potions and gained nothing, leaving his cultivation progress lagging far behind others.

Returning to the house, after casually making some food to eat, he did not meditate immediately, but instead continued to brew potions.