Meeting Kevin Again (Please Follow Along)

Three days later.

"The Magic Pet Cultivation Manual. This should be what Jacques meant."

In the Library, Richard took the Magic Pet Cultivation Manual from the shelf. This book recorded some basic knowledge about Wizards cultivating magic pets. The Academy charged three Magic Stones to borrow it for five days.

According to what Jacques had said when he gave him the Death Crow, aside from being unable to grow naturally, this Death Crow was no different from an ordinary magic pet.

After handing the Academy Coins to the little sprite that appeared out of thin air, Richard tapped the Crystal Ball against the book's number, completing the loan.

With the book in hand, Richard returned to his dormitory.

On his balcony, a Green-eyed Crow slightly larger than an ordinary crow stood with one foot chained, staring motionlessly into the distance.

This was the Death Crow Jacques had created.

According to Jacques, this Death Crow had a constitution of fifteen and could fly freely at an altitude of six thousand meters. Its feathers were extremely tough, capable of carrying two hundred jin without breaking. With those feathers, the Death Crow could even ignore Magic Missiles.

Jacques had also modified its claws and beak. Its razor-sharp talons could easily tear through steel plates.

After setting down the book, Richard took out the Iron Pellets he had prepared from a drawer.

Jacques had altered the Death Crow's digestive system into that of an omnivore, allowing it to digest certain metals to maintain the toughness of its feathers and the sharpness of its claws and beak.

Furthermore, this Death Crow needed to eat ten jin of fresh flesh and blood every day to sustain its daily consumption.

"Eat up, eat up. Eat a little more."

Richard opened his hand and allowed the Death Crow to peck at the Iron Pellets in his palm.

Right now, he needed to slowly build a relationship with the Death Crow. That would reduce the obstacles when planting the Soul Seed.

The Soul Seed was the core of magic pet technology, the foundation that allowed magic pets to obey a Wizard's commands. Through a Soul Seed, a Wizard could use their mind to command a magic pet to carry out complex activities and share its senses.

Among Wizards, some built their own Combat Systems by controlling large numbers of magic pets.

However, a Wizard Apprentice could split off at most two Soul Seeds, and if a magic pet died unexpectedly, its Soul Seed could not be recovered. Thus, during the apprentice stage, magic pets generally followed an auxiliary path like Richard's.

After feeding the Death Crow, Richard fetched a Watering Can and began watering the plants.

Richard had gathered many Magic Potion seeds and plants in the Black Stone Mountain Range. After returning to the Academy, he had planted them in a collection of flowerpots on his balcony.

After watering them, Richard returned to his desk. Many books lay on it. Aside from the Magic Pet Rearing Manual he had just borrowed, the rest were alchemy books Gerald had given him.

Richard had roughly leafed through some of these books. They recorded basic knowledge of Magic Armor, Magic Potions, Chimeras, and even Magic Arrays, and did so in great detail.

Borrowing even part of these books from the Library would have cost a huge sum in Magic Stones.

Yet now, Richard had obtained them without spending a single coin.

That was the benefit of becoming a formal apprentice. Some knowledge could not be obtained with Magic Stones alone.

Attending class, feeding his pet, watering flowers, and reading—Richard's day passed quickly.

That evening, Richard left his room, called Ellie from next door, and went downstairs with her to a newly opened Restaurant not far from the Tower.

Ever since deciding in the Black Stone Mountain Range to train Ellie into a teammate, Richard had begun placing importance on cultivating their relationship.

Sharing meals in daily life, attending classes together, going to the Library together, regularly taking on a couple of missions, and building their tacit understanding in battle.

That was how relationships deepened step by step.

The Restaurant's decorations were not complicated; they could even be called crude. A few landscape paintings and several tapestries hung simply on the walls, while twelve Magic Stone lamps dangled from the ceiling, illuminating twelve tables.

But plain decoration did not mean a plain Restaurant.

The Restaurant owner had somehow hired a group of Mortal Servants. These servants were tall and handsome, and every movement they made carried proper etiquette.

A servant handed the menu to Richard and arranged Silver Cutlery on the table.

"Charcoal Grilled Magic Patterned Pork Ribs. Long-term consumption can strengthen one's constitution." Richard looked at the words on the menu, then said with a smile, "This Restaurant owner has some means. The ingredients for all his dishes are Magic Beasts."

"Isn't this a little too expensive?"

Ellie looked nervously at the menu. Every dish on it was exorbitantly priced. Ordering just two dishes would cost three or four Magic Stones.

Converted into Golden Lark Coins, this single meal would cost an entire year's worth of the kingdom's tax revenue.

"Just trying something new. It's not like we eat this often." Richard checked off several dishes that interested him and handed the menu to the servant.

He was very interested in the effect of strengthening one's constitution.

The servant silently withdrew. Sitting in his seat, Richard looked around with some boredom.

The entire Restaurant had only twelve tables. Aside from his own, there were only four tables of customers.

"Hmm?" Richard suddenly noticed that the guests at one of the tables looked familiar. "Ellie, take a look. Is that Kevin, the one we met on the Airship?"

Ellie looked in the direction Richard indicated and nodded.

"It's him."

"Then this will be easy."

Richard walked over to Kevin with a cheerful smile and greeted him as though they were old friends.

"Kevin, long time no see. Have you missed me lately?"

The person dining with Kevin was still Griffith, the one who had helped him pass the examination back then. Seeing Richard come over to greet them, Griffith also stopped what he was doing.

"Richard?" Kevin was startled, then instantly understood what Richard meant.

"Long time no see, long time no see. Richard, have you been well lately?"

As he spoke, Kevin took a one-hundred-denomination Academy Coin from the inner pocket of his jacket.

"I've been doing all right, but I can't compare to Young Master Kevin."

Richard smilingly accepted the Academy Coin. Kevin's best quality was his tactfulness, both on the Airship and now.

"How could I be doing that well? I've only done a little business lately and made a little money." Kevin smiled and shook his head.

"A little business?" Richard twitched his nose. The moment he had approached Kevin, he had caught a fragrant scent.

"The scent of Wisteria Flower. Wisteria Flowers can be used for both making Magic Armor and brewing Magic Potions."

Kevin froze for a moment, then tacitly admitted it. As nobles who had risen through business, everyone in his family, from old to young, had a merchant's heart. After arriving at the Wizard Academy, sharp-nosed Kevin had quickly found a business opportunity and started trading alchemy materials.

"Good eye. Richard, could it be that you specialize in the Alchemy School?"

Seeing Kevin admit it, Richard's mind began to stir as well.

He specialized in the Alchemy School, so experiments would be indispensable in his future life. Although the Commercial District had plenty of materials, some niche items were difficult to find.

Since Kevin had begun dealing in alchemy materials, he would surely be frequenting the Commercial District in the future.

As the saying went, the more friends, the more roads ahead. Richard also began to consider befriending him.