"I'm willing!" Leilin replied quickly.
"Very well! Since the academy has arranged it, I will accept you as my disciple!" The middle-aged man stroked his chin.
"Although the environment is ordinary, it is sufficient for your enlightenment here!" Guofate glanced around the laboratory: "At least it's very quiet here, and we won't be disturbed!"
"Enlightenment?" Leilin was somewhat puzzled.
"
"Now, Leilin, tell me, in your heart, what is a Wizard?"
"Mysterious beings who can summon wind and lightning, and harness the powers of nature like fire!" Leilin brought out the common explanation from the Keli Archipelago.
"Hmm! Slightly off-topic!" Guofate commented.
"The so-called Wizard is actually just a title we gave to those with power during the ancient wars. Wizards study rules, master rules, and gain power by utilizing those rules. They are scholars constantly pursuing truth!"
Guofate explained the concept of a Wizard to Leilin.
"So, Wizard is not a title exclusive to humans!" Leilin began to understand.
"Correct! Other humanoid races, even intelligent life forms, have Wizards among them, such as Sea Wizard, Dragon Wizard, and so on!"
Guofate said casually, "Alright! Now let's begin the ceremony. Don't be afraid, it's very simple!"
*Crack!* The ground around Guofate suddenly softened, transforming into the shape of a magic circle, as strange fluctuations rippled outwards.
The surroundings immediately dimmed, with only a small flame rising at the center of the circle.
"Now! Give me your hand!" Leilin extended his hand, and a broad palm covered his own.
"Following ancient tradition, Leilin Farell, I hereby guide you onto the path of the Wizard!"
"Repeat after me!"
"I swear! I shall forever follow the path of truth!" Guofate used an unfamiliar language, but Leilin understood it perfectly, and his mouth unconsciously formed the same sounds.
"I swear! I will forever follow the path of truth!" The voice of a boy of thirteen or fourteen, still a bit thin and youthful, rang out.
"Without my teacher's permission, I swear never to reveal any knowledge obtained from my teacher..."
Guofate continued speaking, and Leilin followed along — their voices merging eerily into one.
At the center of the magic circle, the flame suddenly blazed brighter, roaring to life...
"Congratulations on becoming an official Wizard Apprentice!"
After the ceremony, Guofate offered his congratulations to Leilin.
Leilin lowered his head and looked at his own hands. After that mysterious ritual, he seemed to see the world a little differently — and yet, at the same time, nothing appeared to have changed at all.
"Anomalous fluctuation detected in the host's brainwave activity!!!" The Chip's alert sounded.
"It seems to be a change related to Spiritual Power. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no relevant data from my previous life — I'll have to fill in the gaps myself later!" Leilin felt somewhat helpless about it.
"The crystal ball storing the Meditation Method has already been given to you, right? Read through it more when you get back. You can now access the knowledge contained within it!"
"Come to my office at six tomorrow morning!"
"You may go now. And remember — don't wander around recklessly!" Guofate reminded him.
"As you command, Mentor!" Leilin bowed and stepped out of the laboratory.
"Good thing I passed through here earlier, or I still wouldn't know where the dormitory area is!" While following the Shadow Servant before, Leilin had already instructed the Chip to start recording a map. It was now about a third complete — at the very least, every place he had passed through was logged.
The Wizard's domain was dangerous, and Leilin had no intention of being caught up in something just because he took a wrong turn.
Arriving at the residential area, Leilin fished a key out from the bundle the old man had given him.
The key, made of black copper, felt heavy in his hand. Stamped on it was the number "783." The dormitory area was rather quiet and deserted now, and as Leilin walked alone through the empty corridors, the only sound was the echo of his own footsteps, which sent a faint chill down his spine.
Following the numbers, he found his room. "This is it!"
Leilin inserted the key into the lock, and a heavy metallic clank rang out.
As the door swung open, flames automatically lit up inside the dark room. "They've actually used magical principles to invent something like a voice-activated system?"
Leilin set down his bundle and surveyed the territory where he would be living for years to come.
The dormitory was rather small, divided into three compartments—a bedroom, a living area, and a washroom. Each apprentice actually got their own place, and there was even a stack of new blankets that looked clean and tidy.
"Not bad!" Leilin sat down and took out everything the academy had issued.
"A set of Apprentice Grey Robes. According to the Chip's scan, several spells might have been permanently inscribed on it—the defensive power is comparable to ordinary leather armor. Nice!" Leilin changed into the grey robe in short order, then pinned the apprentice emblem to his chest.
With this outfit on, he looked exactly like the grey-robed apprentices he had seen earlier today.
Leilin then put his belongings away and tidied up the room.
When he stepped out, the door of the neighboring dormitory opened, and an apprentice with brown hair walked out. "Hello! Are you a new apprentice? My name's Bill!"
"Hello! I'm Leilin, just arrived today!" Leilin replied. He happened to have something he wanted to ask. "Excuse me, how do I get to the dining hall?"
Hearing Leilin's voice, Bill's face showed a look of "just as I expected." "It's already evening, and I was just about to head there myself. Want to come along?"
"I'd love to!" Leilin smiled and closed his door behind him.
"The dining hall is on the third basement level. Everything's free of charge. Of course, you can also pay out of your own pocket and have them cook whatever you like!"
Bill walked ahead and led the way, chatting as he went.
"I'm from the Marsh Duchy. How about you?"
"The Keli Archipelago!"
"Wow! That's far! You must have had a rough journey?" Bill was clearly a chatterbox, and Leilin managed to extract quite a bit of information from him.
Bill, like him, was a new arrival—only five days earlier. As for the entire Black Bone Forest Academy, there were close to a hundred instructors, and the number of apprentices exceeded a thousand.
"Oh, right! Who's your instructor?" Bill asked.
"Guofate, the Potionology professor!" Leilin answered.
"Potionology? You're impressive!" Bill looked visibly shocked.
"Is Potionology really that difficult?" A hint of worry crept into Leilin's heart.
"Not just difficult — studying Potionology requires huge amounts of materials for practice. Very few people without deep pockets choose this path! Even though being an Apothecary really does earn a lot of money!" Bill fixed Leilin with a look of regret.
"You must have gotten a random mentor, and that python Banban completely played you!"
"Is that so?" Leilin rubbed his nose.
"Anyway! We're at the dining hall now — grab whatever you want to eat!"
The Academy dining hall was impressive, with food far better than what Leilin had eaten on the Airship. Only black-robed apprentices were seated here; not a single full Wizard could be seen.
After finishing dinner and bidding farewell to Bill, Leilin returned to his room, sat on the bed, and held the crystal ball in his hands.
"Finally, it's time to begin a Wizard's studies!"
Leilin caressed the crystal ball, his gaze gradually going vacant, his pupils slowly dilating.
"Data interface detected. Begin transmission?" The Chip's voice rang out.
"Begin!" Upon Leilin's command, his head was suddenly struck by excruciating pain, as if someone had forcibly stuffed a chunk of lead inside it.
"This is…" Leilin clutched his head and discovered that, along with the pain, a flood of images and text had abruptly appeared in his mind. The first line read: "Basic Meditation Method"!
The knowledge seemed to have materialized from nowhere, burning itself deeply into Leilin's brain.
It took a long time before Leilin recovered from the pain, though his head still felt groggy and muddled.
"Chip, begin organizing the Basic Meditation Method data!"
*Ding!* Task established. Organizing now!
A blue screen materialized before Leilin's eyes and began to flicker.
*Ding!* Data has been reorganized. 21.3% of redundant information removed. Begin transmission?"
"Transmit!" Leilin issued the command.
As the Chip continuously transmitted the data, Leilin gradually came to understand the Meditation Method used by Wizard Apprentices.
The Basic Meditation Method, as the name implied, was the Meditation Method designed specifically for Wizard Apprentices — the most fundamental of fundamentals. After countless years of refinement, it had reached a state of near-perfect completeness, and the Basic Meditation Methods taught by the various
Specifically, it functioned much like the visualization technique from his previous life — by sketching
Wizards liked to record every step of the process with precise data.
For Wizard Apprentices, they divided this stage of cultivation into three tiers: First-rank Apprentice, Second-rank Apprentice, and Third-rank Apprentice.
The distinction between apprentice ranks was determined by one's progress in the Meditation Method.
Being able to visualize eight Runes in a single meditation session met the standard for First-rank Apprentice, while visualizing all twenty-four Runes marked the transition into Second-rank Apprentice. As for Third-rank Apprentice, it seemed additional conditions were required.
And one's meditation progress was closely tied to one's innate aptitude.
"From the standpoint of Meditation Method cultivation, fifth-rank aptitude really does have an overwhelming advantage during the apprentice stage. It only takes five to six days to advance and become a First-rank Apprentice. No wonder Jiamen was still an ordinary person before boarding the Airship, yet after just half a month could already use Magical Items."
"With fourth-rank aptitude, reaching First-rank Apprentice requires about half a month to twenty days. Third-rank takes around a month, second-rank needs half a year, and first-rank takes anywhere from one year to several years!"
"This level of difficulty only increases further when advancing to Second-rank and Third-rank Apprentice later on. It's easy to understand why the instructors favor apprentices with higher aptitude. After all, compared to the modest effort invested now, in a decade or so they'll reap the reward of a full-fledged Wizard!"
"The Meditation Method data has been saved as a standalone file. Begin analysis?" A prompt window popped up from the Chip.
"Begin analysis!"
"Analysis in progress! Progress: 0.11%." The Chip displayed the status.
"This crystal sphere also transmits knowledge directly into the apprentice's mind, but its methods are far too crude. It doesn't care whether you actually remember anything. The Chip, on the other hand, organizes the data before transferring it directly to the memory center, and it can even assist with the analysis!"
Leilin calmly compared the differences between the two.