Back at the Academy

"Potions, potions, fine potions!" "Incomplete Formal Spell Models! Don't miss out!" After so long without hearing another person's voice, Green found the hawkers' cries strangely jarring.

Green looked carefully around the market. Most vendors had set up stalls, with only a few occupying buildings. The stalls displayed either common medicinal herbs or scroll after scroll.

People moved between the stalls, haggling with the vendors. It looked no different from an ordinary market, except that everyone wore a black or gray robe that concealed their face.

The air was thick with radiation. Any ordinary person who entered would soon die from the exposure.

Green scanned the market with the Chip. It detected no high-energy reactions from force fields and nothing that could block its probes. That meant the highest-ranked people here were apprentices.

Green surveyed the market with interest. This was a Resident Wizard Market, established by Wandering Wizards for trading. Apprentices traveling outside the Academy often came to places like this to hunt for bargains or replenish their supplies.

Why hadn't Green come here to stock up when he left the Academy? For one thing, there was no guarantee of safety. People could easily follow him once he left the market. He had only just begun his mission then, with a long road ahead and no telling what might happen. Now he was returning to the Academy, so he had no such concern. Anyone who wanted to pursue him could try following him inside.

The second reason was that Green had advanced to First-Class Apprentice. He was much stronger than when he left the Academy.

Besides, too much murder and robbery would be bad for the market's growth. Such incidents were rare in a long-established market like this one.

Green drove the carriage to the market entrance, where a black-robed