Mentor

Early the next morning.

A knock on the door woke Lohr from his meditation.

He put away the Magic Stone in his hand and glanced at the Game Panel.

[Charge Points: 21.57%]

"Three and a half Charge Points in one night—not bad."

Back when he was in town, he could only gain six Charge Points in a month. Now he could gain three in a single night. His progress had already been tremendous.

After tidying his bed slightly and putting on his newly acquired wizard robe, he got to his feet and opened the door.

Seeing that the visitor was not the Kateya he had expected, but a white-haired old man in the robes of a Second-Circle Wizard, Lohr was startled. He immediately bowed and asked,

"Wizard, what instructions do you have for me?"

"My name is Biggs Agular. From now on, you are my student." Agular wore a gentle smile, but his words carried an unquestionable authority.

"Yes, Mentor." Lohr immediately changed how he addressed him.

Lohr was quite pleased to have a Second-Circle Wizard as his mentor.

Setting everything else aside, at least when he encountered difficulties while creating the Microscope Spell, he now had someone he could consult.

"Mm. If you wish to ask me anything, you may contact me through this communication orb."

Agular nodded in satisfaction and handed Lohr a black metal sphere. "A Leyline Communication Spell has been fixed within it. Use your mental power to stir it, and you can send me a message."

"Of course, before using it, you must first make some progress. It can be in any area. That will be the price for answering your questions."

The condition he proposed was not harsh. Compared to other wizards, it could even be called exceptionally generous.

Not to mention wizard apprentices who could not find a mentor at all, even most who did find one had to spend Contribution Points to ask questions.

That was hardly strange. Knowledge was precious, and understanding knowledge was even more precious.

"I understand, Mentor." Lohr hurriedly accepted the metal sphere and responded.

"Good. That will be all. I'll be leaving first." The moment Agular finished speaking, he vanished.

I wonder if I can get some apprentice spell slot allocations from this mentor.

Lohr closed the door and returned to the bed in his bedroom, rolling the metal sphere between his fingers as he thought,

It will probably be difficult. The fire- and earth-element Second-Circle Wizards of this era have no path ahead of them. Every one of them is a pioneer, so apprentice spell slot allocations should be scarce.

Unless I can produce a practical prototype of the Microscope Spell, I might have some hope of prying a few allocations out of him.

Although Second-Circle Wizards could not directly teach apprentices the spell combinations they wished to create, there would be no issue with splitting them apart and conducting assembly experiments in several portions.

Every spell had been created by the wizards themselves, so dismantling them was effortless.

That was precisely why the apprentice allocations in their hands were even scarcer.

Take it slowly. With a few chances to ask questions, I can finish a prototype within three to five months at most. No need to rush.

Lohr took a deep breath, stopped thinking about it, put away the metal sphere, and took out a Magic Crystal to continue meditating.

He needed to create the Microscope Spell, but he could not neglect cultivating his mental power and absorbing Charge Points either.

An hour later.

Knock, knock, knock—

Someone knocked on the door again.

Lohr stopped cultivating and got up to answer it.

This time, the visitor was no surprise. It was Kateya.

"Lord Lohr, this is the breakfast I brought you." Kateya held out a tray to him.

The food on the tray held no surprises: bread, beef, vegetable soup, and fruit.

"Mm. Would you like to come in and sit for a while?" Lohr accepted the tray and did not leave Kateya outside this time.

After all, she was already his experimental assistant. She should learn about the direction of his research.

Two heads were better than one. Perhaps she could give him some inspiration.

Of course, before that, he could not forget to give her a necessary warning.

Just as Kateya happily accepted the invitation, entered the room, and anticipated what would happen next, Lohr shared some good news with her:

"Kateya, just before you arrived, Mentor Agular came by and accepted me as his student."

"Go... huh?!"

Kateya froze for a moment, then immediately reacted in surprise. "Congratulations, Lord Lohr! Wizard Agular is a Second-Circle Wizard!"

Although Lohr's words were different from what she had expected, this news clearly made her happier than what she had previously imagined.

"Mm."

Lohr smiled and led her toward the study. "I'll show you the progress I've made in creating the spell. It would be even better if you could offer some suggestions."

"All right."

Hearing that, Kateya completely calmed down. At the same time, she guessed why Lohr had told her about becoming Wizard Agular's apprentice.

How cautious. She sighed inwardly. But that makes sense. Without such caution, he probably would not have become the only survivor aboard the airship.

The two soon arrived at the study.

Lohr sat before the desk, set down the tray, and handed the parchment to Kateya. "Take a look at these spell models first and guess what type of spell I intend to create."

"Yes." Kateya accepted the parchment and began studying it carefully.

She knew Lohr was testing her abilities.

If she proved incapable, he probably would not replace her, but her standing in Lohr's eyes would likely drop considerably from then on.

About twenty minutes later, after finishing his food, Lohr looked up and asked with a smile,

"Well? Did you notice anything?"

"Mm. The spell you wish to create should be a support-type spell," Kateya answered.

"Correct. What else?" Lohr continued.

"This spell is very unusual. It seems not to be an external spell, but one that acts within the Sea of Consciousness?" Kateya spoke with some uncertainty.

Even she felt that such a guess was rather absurd, but she truly could not see the presence of any conduction runes.

For any spell to be cast externally, conduction runes were an indispensable part.

Without such a rune as a foundation, a wizard simply could not guide the elements from within the Sea of Consciousness outward.

"Your guess is correct."

Lohr smiled in confirmation, then asked, "Do you remember what we searched for in the Central Archive for an hour yesterday without finding?"

"I remember. You said you wanted to find a spell capable of seeing extremely tiny things."

Kateya frowned slightly as she looked at the basic rune units recorded on the parchment. "But can this combination really achieve that?"

If earth elements were compressed to their limit, they might form elemental particles similar to the glass produced by burning with fire elements.

But what would be the use of overlapping and folding them afterward?

"Then let me first make a physical model for you."

Lohr raised his hand, drew a trace amount of earth elements together to form a small lump of earth in his palm, then guided fire elements to begin firing it.

He had decided to make a microscope by hand first, not only to help Kateya understand, but also because he would need it later when asking his mentor for apprentice spell slot allocations.

Compared to explaining a mountain of things, a physical object would clearly be far more convincing.