Magic Artifact Crafting District

Two hours later.

A microscope with lenses crafted by Lohr and all other components made by Kateya was assembled.

Lohr plucked a scrap of leftover vegetable leaf and brought it before the microscope. After making a few adjustments, he pointed to the eyepiece above it and turned to say:

"Kateya, come take a look at the results. Just look down through here."

"All right." Kateya stepped forward, brought her eye to the eyepiece, and looked down.

"These little bugs are...?"

With just one glance, Kateya spotted tiny worms squirming amid the veins of the leaf, along with some irregular spheres.

"Those are colonies of bacteria," Lohr explained. "We normally can't see them with the naked eye, but under a microscope, they're all plainly visible."

"I happened to find a few lenses while wandering along the coast. On a whim, I stacked them together and discovered this remarkable phenomenon."

"Ever since I came to the Wizard Tower, I'd been wondering whether there were spells with similar effects. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any in the Central Archive."

Without batting an eye, he had fabricated a reason for inventing the thing.

"How amazing."

Kateya exclaimed, then seemed to remember something. Her expression changed slightly.

"Right, Lord Lohr, the other food we usually eat..."

"You're quick to react. This stuff is on almost all food." Lohr smiled. "But there's no need to worry. Once it enters your stomach, it all turns into eggs... uh, it turns into substances that sustain our lives."

This time, Kateya did not feel happy at Lohr's praise. Instead, her stomach churned slightly.

She was not one of those freakish Bloodline Wizards who dared to eat anything, raw or otherwise.

"Kateya, do you think we could contribute this thing to the Wizard Tower and earn some contribution points?" Lohr failed to notice Kateya's discomfort and continued asking.

He had two purposes in asking that question.

On the surface, he wanted to see whether he could squeeze out a few contribution points.

Secretly, he wanted to prevent some muddleheaded First-Circle Wizards from turning their greedy hands toward him.

The precision of an apprentice-level Microscope Spell could at most help wizards optimize spells with greater accuracy and save some time.

It could not touch anything deeper, much less have anything to do with touching the strings.

Therefore, with a Second-Circle Wizard mentor protecting him, taking a few precautions was fine, but excessive caution was truly unnecessary.

"We'll need to take it to the Magic Artifact Crafting District for evaluation. If nothing unexpected happens, it should earn some contribution points."

Kateya suppressed her discomfort, explained briefly, then suddenly realized something and hurriedly asked:

"Lord Lohr, do you want to turn this thing into a spell model and place it in your Sea of Consciousness?"

"Yes." Lohr nodded, then asked, "If I complete this spell, I should be able to obtain a personal laboratory, right?"

"Of course!"

Kateya said with certainty, "If this spell model is completed, it will definitely help the wizard lords optimize their models. Receiving a personal laboratory would be entirely justified!"

"All right, then let's make a trip to the Magic Artifact Crafting District. When we return, we'll build this spell model together, my assistant." Lohr smiled as he extended the invitation.

If the microscope had not been tied to another purpose, he would have preferred to simply send Kateya off to handle the matter herself.

Finishing the Microscope Spell model as quickly as possible was his most urgent priority now.

"All right, Lord Lohr." Kateya nodded repeatedly.

At that moment, she was incredibly excited and had long since thrown the discomfort she felt upon hearing that food contained piles of bugs to the back of her mind.

She had imagined becoming Lohr's laboratory assistant in the future, but she had never expected that day to come so quickly.

More than ten minutes later, Kateya led Lohr to the Magic Artifact Crafting District.

The Magic Artifact Crafting District was a complex of buildings covering roughly two li. Unlike the quiet Spell Model Optimization Testing District, it was rather lively.

One First-Level Wizard Apprentice after another from the Earth-Fire School entered carrying strange and unusual objects, then came out empty-handed.

Their faces could not hide their exhaustion, yet they also showed traces of joy.

"These apprentices usually take on magic artifact crafting assignments to earn contribution points, then exchange them for Magic Stones and mental power potions to speed up their mental power training."

Seeing Lohr's gaze linger on the apprentices, Kateya immediately explained:

"But most assignments give very few contribution points. It usually takes ten days just to gather a single point."

"Yet they can't simply avoid taking assignments. Their meditation talents are poor, and their innate mental power is weak. Training normally is far too slow, and they would almost never reach Third-Level Apprentice in their entire lives."

"Those Second-Level and Third-Level Apprentices with even a little combat ability would rather go out to guard towns and face Temple Knights and mutated beasts than do this sort of hard labor."

Lohr merely nodded in silence and offered no opinion.

There was nothing new under the sun. If he had not raised his talent to Fifth-Level Meditation Talent through the Game Panel, he would have been just like these apprentices during the beginning.

Some apprentices who could not endure such hardship would sign up at laboratories and voluntarily offer up their spell slots in exchange for contribution points to improve their mental power.

That was one of the sources of experimental materials for wizards, and compared to Bloodline Wizards, Elemental Wizards were already exceedingly gentle.

Seeing that Lohr had little interest, Kateya said no more and led him into the entrance of the Magic Artifact Crafting District.

When the surrounding First-Level Apprentices saw the Third-Level Apprentice insignia on Kateya's collar, they immediately stepped aside and made way, while secretly sizing up Lohr behind her with curious eyes.

Don't tell me these people think I'm living off a woman?

Feeling the gazes directed at him, Lohr silently complained to himself.

Still, he did not take it too seriously. Time would prove everything.

After following Kateya for another five minutes or so and turning several corners, the two arrived at a room where only three or four people were waiting in line.

Kateya glanced over the people ahead. Seeing that the highest-ranked among them was only a Second-Level Apprentice, she immediately said, "Make way, everyone."

The First-Level and Second-Level Apprentices, along with the Third-Level female apprentice seated behind the desk handling registrations, all turned to look back.

Upon seeing Kateya, everyone—including the Second-Level Apprentice currently registering a creation—moved aside while holding their items.

The red-haired female apprentice responsible for registration smiled and said, "Kateya, Lus told me you latched onto a super genius?"

"His mouth is still as loose as ever."

Kateya shook her head helplessly and emphasized:

"Tia, I merely became Lord Lohr's assistant. Saying I latched onto him is going too far."

After observing him over the past two days, she had gained a general understanding of Lohr's personality.

He could be said to devote himself wholeheartedly to spells, with not the slightest interest in matters between men and women.

Therefore, she would never acknowledge rumors that might make Lohr dislike her.

"Is this Lord Lohr?" Tia shifted her gaze to Lohr beside her and smiled. "As expected of a genius—he's even this handsome."

"You're too kind." Lohr shook his head slightly, truly unable to understand what being handsome had to do with being a genius.

Without attempting to understand the female apprentice's train of thought, he stepped forward, placed the microscope on the table, and said:

"I accidentally created this device. It can reveal extremely tiny things on objects. Take a look and see how many contribution points it might be worth."