Chapter 15: The Fine Apprentice Wizard Robe

The Academy seemed even busier at night than during the day; on his way to the dormitory, Richard spotted seven or eight apprentices flying by.

"Could it be that the Wizard Academy also has classes at night?" Richard wondered.

When they arrived at the tower, two large door knockers were embedded in the thick door, with a metal lion-head sculpture above it.

Richard gently knocked on the door.

Bang, bang, bang.

"Are they recruiting new students again?"

Above the door, the metal-carved lion's head suddenly began to speak.

"Ah, the statue is talking!" Ali exclaimed.

The lion's head paid no attention to Ali's reaction.

"Little fellows, take out your crystal balls."

Upon hearing this, Richard and Ali did as instructed, taking out a fist-sized crystal ball from the pocket provided by the owl.

The quality of this crystal ball was much better than those used for the exam, with the entire sphere free of any impurities, smooth and translucent.

As soon as Richard and Ali took out their crystal balls, the lion's head shot a red light into them, confirming their identities, and the door beneath it swung open.

"Apprentice Richard, Apprentice Ali, welcome to Life Tower room number 012."

Entering the tower, the first floor was empty, seemingly a large hall. A thick layer of dust had settled on the ground, indicating that this tower had not been entered for a long time.

Following the stairs up, the second floor was quite different from the first, with a corridor spanning the floor, dividing it into two parts.

Richard chose a sunny room, and Ali, as agreed, moved into the one next to his.

"Good night."

"Good night, Richard."

The room wasn't small, about thirty square meters in size, with an en-suite bathroom, and all sorts of furniture were already in place. After cleaning the room and ensuring no furniture was termite-infested, Richard started to unpack his belongings.

He hung the Great Sword on the wall and neatly arranged the Synthetic Beast heart and an array of Magic Tools on the table. Lastly, he took out everything given by the owl; besides the crystal ball, there was also a black robe, a rule book, a book on the Basic Meditation Method, and ten Magic Stones.

Richard held the robe in his hands, and the long-inactive Miracle Furnace suddenly trembled.

"Hm? This robe could be used as a material?"

Richard looked over the robe in surprise; it resembled silk and faintly pulsed with Magic Power.

Richard probed with his spiritual power, and a rush of information entered his brain.

"Lucky Apprentice, you have received a masterwork Apprentice Wizard Robe handcrafted by Alchemy Master Jolod. This Wizard Robe is inscribed with a Force Field Protection Spell, Breath Concealment, and Purifying Filth Spells, and it comes with auto-recharging circuits—an excellent choice for low-level apprentices to guard against assassination attempts."

A twitch tugged at the corner of Richard's eyes; this Alchemy Master named Jolod seemed somewhat unorthodox.

Yet, the message left behind brought Richard one piece of information: this Wizard Robe appeared to be a 'masterpiece,' and perhaps the selection standard for the Miracle Furnace's materials was 'masterwork' Magic Tools.

Although this was his guess, with only this one example, Richard couldn't be sure. But the ability to refine was undoubtedly a good thing.

"Material: Apprentice Wizard Robe"

"Refinable Skills: Magic Engraving (incomplete)"

"Refining Cost: 15 spiritual power"

"Refinable Information: Force Field Protection Spell Model, Breath Concealing Spell Model, Purifying Filth Magic Model"

"Refining Cost: 5 spiritual power"

The information from the Miracle Furnace gave Richard a jolt. He hadn't expected a single Wizard Robe to potentially refine both skills and information.

"A Magic Engraving skill requires fifteen spiritual power, while the three Magic Models only need five—these spells must be Zero Ring Spells."

Richard eyed the Wizard Robe, hesitant to refine it. The three Zero Ring Spells were of little use to him, and the cost of refining the skill seemed likely to knock him unconscious.

"There's still some time before the entrance exams end, and there's nothing else to do right now."

After some contemplation, Richard decided to refine the skill.

Everything went dark, just as before, and Richard collapsed into unconsciousness on the spot.

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When he awoke again, it was already noon the following day.

"Was I out for that long?"

Richard looked at the glaring sunlight outside the bed window and slowly stood up.

A white light jumped up and down above the Miracle Furnace, and as Richard absorbed it, he seemed to transform into a wizard. Magic power flowed through his hands like threads, combining with materials of unknown origin to inscribe spells upon his Wizard Robe.

"Phew!"

Richard suddenly came to his senses, then stared blankly at his own hands.

The faint blue glow of magic power flickered at his fingertips, followed by the magic power turning into a thread that continuously extended from Richard's fingertips, forming a line of words in the air.

[Is this the skill of a wizard?]

Richard retracted the magic power. This skill seemed to open the door to a new world; he had never imagined that magic power could become a part of his body, as natural as moving an arm.

"It's incredible; this is still an incomplete skill. How powerful would it be if it was complete?"

In an instant, Richard felt the terrifying potential of a wizard. This was merely a part of one skill among the many that a wizard could master. If one possessed all the skills of a wizard, Richard dared not imagine how formidable such a wizard would be.

Could he become a wizard like them?

Richard dared not ponder any further. After washing up, he opened the Academy regulations.

The experience of the entrance exam had taught him that the books provided by the Academy were definitely of use.

After reading through the regulations from beginning to end, Richard's expression changed from relief to seriousness.

The regulations of the Academy were not strict; in fact, they could even be considered lenient. Many rules even served to prevent conflicts between Apprentices.

This contrasted greatly with its entrance exam.

But all gifts were subtly marked with a price.

Although the Academy prevented conflicts among Apprentices on a regular basis, every ten years during the Apprentice examinations, the Apprentices would once again face the life-threatening challenges of the entrance exam.

An Apprentice who wanted to survive until the graduation exams had to endure at least two bloody tests.

And if an Apprentice made it to the graduation exams, they faced two choices, either to take part in the equally bloody graduation exams and compete for the qualification to become a wizard, or to graduate directly. After paying off thirty years of tuition fees, an Apprentice could leave on their own.

Yes, the Wizard Academy actually charged tuition.

The cost of tuition was very high. If one did not become a wizard, an advanced wizard apprentice would have to work for the Academy for at least a hundred years to pay it off.

"Did the headmaster of this Wizard Academy come back from studying in Myanmar?"

Richard's face was grave as his earlier sense of relief vanished completely.

The content of the regulations made him feel like a fishbone was stuck in his throat, uneasy, and on tenterhooks.

Richard somewhat failed to understand what exactly the Wizard Academy was training?

A killing machine?

Putting down the regulations, Richard went downstairs and talked briefly with the lion-head door-knocker, inquiring about various matters of the Academy.

As part of the Academy, the lion-head door-knocker was well-versed in many rules and gave Richard a lot of constructive advice.

For instance, the library of the Academy was open to all Apprentices, and many books were available for borrowing free of charge. The Academy Inspectors were fond of nuts and gemstones, and getting along with them could avoid punishment for minor infractions. Even a magic stone with residual magic power could be exchanged for Academy Coins, albeit one had to haggle and so on...

These things seemed trivial, but if Richard had to discover them on his own, who knows how much time it would take.

"Thank you for your advice. I'll go to the commercial district and buy some Alchemy ointment for you later."

Richard gave a slight bow to the lion-head door-knocker and then turned towards the commercial district.

The lion-head door-knocker's body was made of metal and, although it had been rust-proofed by the wizard who made it, years of exposure to wind and rain caused some rust to form. This was quite uncomfortable for the lion-head door-knocker.

A bit of Alchemy ointment for rust removal would easily alleviate this discomfort.

The Alchemy ointment was not expensive. Richard got a large bottle of rust-removing ointment for twenty-five Academy Coins. On his way back, he also picked up a few sets of clothes and a couple of pairs of leather shoes.

After applying the ointment to the lion-head door-knocker, Richard returned to his room, took a bath, drank a bottle of Nutritional Potion, changed into new clothes, and then prepared to head to the library.

Wizards pursue knowledge and respect it, so the library became the most sacred place in the Academy.

The librarian could ask any borrowing Apprentice to leave if they showed disrespect to knowledge, and a good outfit could undoubtedly reduce a lot of trouble.

Richard now had too many questions that needed answers.

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