“I will speak with the Hunting Team; no other sorcerer will trouble you. You can go back and focus on your studies without concern.”
“Thank you for your trouble.”
“Just remember one thing, take good care of them; otherwise, the one troubling you will be me personally.”
Outside the three-tiered tower, Ivan touched the Plant element stone in his pocket. He could feel Instructor Randall’s profound fondness for the rapid wood silkworms, and perhaps by extension, a bit more care towards himself.
All in all, this new instructor made a good impression.
The Shadow Ant servant didn’t leave and took Ivan on a tour around the academy, which was divided into an experimentation area, botanical area, trading area, mission area, teaching area, and living quarters. There were also various towers where sorcerers resided, making the academy akin to a city beneath a fortress.
Along the way, he saw many apprentices, and virtually every one of them was formidable.
In the living quarter, the apprentice dormitory was only a single-story building. After checking in, he received the key to his own room and was led to room 921, where the Shadow Ant servant transformed into a wisp of black smoke and drifted away.
Ivan wanted to draw closer, but seeing this situation, he had no choice but to give up and use the iron key to unlock the door to his room. Stay tuned for updates on empire
“Though small, it has all the essential parts.”
The apprentices each had their own dormitory. He checked each room; aside from small windows with slightly poor lighting, he couldn’t find any faults.
The dorm wasn’t large, splitting into four even smaller rooms: a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and study. Each room was fitted with wall lamps. Somehow the construction was such that the rooms had surprisingly good ventilation, without the slightest odd smell.
On the bed in the bedroom lay a stack of clean, new quilts; the living room contained various household utensils, and the study was equipped with a desk, chairs, and empty bookshelves, but with pens, inks, and papers on the desk.
“Blackbeard Chapter, this Meditation Method’s name is even stranger than Ode to Spring Trees.”
Ode to Spring Trees was related to curse power, and he resolved to replace the Meditation Method, directly reading the contents of this section from the Crystal Ball.
The Blackbeard Chapter’s foundational part, after practice, would make insect kinds drawn to oneself, beneficial for becoming an Insect Control Master.
It also contained 40 meditation runes, correlating to the entire apprentice stage. Comparing the two Meditation Methods, Ivan concluded that the meditation runes of the Blackbeard Chapter were more complex and coherent, meaning that the early runes would aid in grasping the later ones.
“Too bad Toyennes is already dead, and the curse power can never be returned to him.” Ivan sighed. Although he said this, he inwardly felt it was better that Toyennes was dead.
After reflecting for a moment, Ivan turned his attention back to the meditation runes, as converting spiritual power was his most important task at the moment.
In the following days, his life was especially fulfilling. He needed to convert spiritual power, make sure the knowledge from the Crystal Ball was ‘in the bag,’ and attend the public courses offered by the school.
Before he knew it, five days had passed, and he had successfully outlined the first 13 runes of the Blackbeard Chapter in his mind, completely transforming his spiritual power into the nature of the Blackbeard Chapter.
[Meditation Skill Experience Point +50]
[Meditation Skill: Lv1 (91/100)]
[Runes Skill Experience Point +13]
[Runes Skill: Lv2 (155/200)]
“As long as one has enough mental power, grasping the corresponding runes is a breeze, so who would bother with arduously comprehending meditation runes, and not rush to use mental power potions?” He scorned the thought and yet calculated in his mind where to obtain a mental power potion.
With the conversion of spiritual power complete, he could begin practicing other things, such as new spells; he was particularly looking forward to ‘Blackbeard Crown.’
“Instructor Randall is so talented; he actually created such an ingenious Insect Control Skill. He truly deserves his reputation as the academy’s greatest Insect Control Master.”
Ivan admired inwardly. The traditional Insect Control Skill involved using one’s own power to form magic contracts, one insect after the other, and a magic contract needed to be set with each insect, or they couldn’t receive commands.
“`
The Blackbeard Crown took a different approach; it needed to absorb the aura of the insect swarm itself, using the insect swarm aura to condense a special ‘crown,’ thereby masquerading as the king of the swarm and achieving the goal of controlling the swarm.
There were two methods for controlling insects: the Insect Control Skill was akin to coercing through force, while the Blackbeard Crown directly transformed into the king to rule the swarm. Whether in terms of the number of insects controlled or the amount of one’s own energy consumed, the latter was far superior to the former.
The Blackbeard Crown also had an advantage in that it could control more than one type of insect at a time for battle, which the ordinary Insect Control Skill could not match.
“A 2nd Class apprentice can rule over one type of insect, and a 3rd Class apprentice can add one more. By that time, wouldn’t that be akin to having an army of insects?” He then thought about the daily expenses of the insects; the more formidable the insect, the more it would eat, and it was certainly not something an average apprentice could afford to raise.
As spells for controlling insects, the Blackbeard Crown and the Insect Control Skill had some similarities, which could provide him with some convenience in practicing the Blackbeard Crown.
Now that he was no longer a newcomer to spellcasting, he estimated that it would take about half a month to master the Blackbeard Crown.
The next day.
Ivan came to the Instructor’s three-story tower again, and just as he was about to knock on the door, he coincidentally ran into a fellow apprentice who had just come out, looking somewhat flustered.
“Mieyan senior apprentice?”
“You’re here, Ivan junior apprentice.”
Seeing the new junior apprentice, Mieyan stopped in his tracks and nodded kindly.
“You’re out of luck, the Instructor is not in right now. But there’s a warm-hearted senior apprentice named Gina inside. You can ask her if you need anything.” Mieyan glanced back, walked past Ivan for a distance, then turned and called out, “Gina senior apprentice, this is the new junior apprentice Ivan, he’s looking for you.”
Watching his senior apprentice’s retreating back, Ivan stood there awkwardly. Why was this senior apprentice always in such a hurry every time he came and went?
At that moment, an attractive female apprentice came out from the door. Her apprentice robe was embroidered with a bright red flower on the front, adding a touch of color to the robe. Ivan could feel a certain oppressive aura coming from her, signifying that she was a 3rd Class apprentice.
“Are you the new 2nd Class apprentice recently taken on by Instructor Randall?”
“I have seen you, senior apprentice.”
“A potion maker?”
“Yes.”
“The Instructor must be thrilled.”
Gina moved closer and patted his shoulder familiarly. Seeing his puzzled look, she explained, “You’re aware of how precious magic stones are, and you understand the cost of raising insects, right? Our profession as Insect Control Masters isn’t esteemed by sorcerer families, and ordinary new apprentices can’t afford the insects. Among this group, you’re definitely the most suitable.”
Hearing her words, Ivan was stunned. Just a few days ago, the Instructor hadn’t said anything like that; that man with the thick brows had actually been fooling him, and he had believed all those lofty reasons given.
“Heh, he must have told you it was about interest,” Gina said with a knowing smile upon seeing the look on his face, “Ivan junior apprentice, interest isn’t important for a sorcerer, what matters is suitability, and many things depend on one’s personal circumstances.”
The validity of her words was undeniable—some things indeed could not be forced. Ivan nodded in agreement.
“You don’t know much about raising insects, do you? Come on, I’ll take you to see an important magicalized item for raising insects—the insect nest.” Gina took his hand directly and pulled him into the living room of the tower, swiftly closing the door behind them.
Once inside, Gina began to unfasten her apprentice robe.
Ivan was somewhat dumbfounded by her actions; was this senior apprentice a bit too unrestrained?
“Gina senior apprentice, this doesn’t seem proper, does it?”
“What’s not proper?”
Gina didn’t heed his advice at all and went on to strip off her loose apprentice robe, revealing only a tight red tube top on the upper body, displaying her full and well-defined figure, which was not inferior to Justine’s.
“`
