Roy and Renien watched with envy, but when they learned that there was a fee for the regulations, they were immediately disappointed.
After becoming intermediate apprentices, the pressure of the courses increased, and the demand for Magic Stones grew larger.
They couldn't afford this fee.
There weren't many advanced apprentices this time, and after waiting patiently for a while, it was finally their turn.
Roy asked, "I need Magic Stones and materials...
Is anyone willing to exchange some gold coins or alchemical products?"
Several eliminated apprentices who hadn't finished their exchanges yet chimed in, "How do you want to trade, at market price?"
Roy replied, "At this time, there's no market price; it's just a matter of mutual need. Let's do a one-to-one exchange of gold coins for Magic Stones."
A few of the eliminated apprentices showed helpless expressions, but after a brief discussion, they decided to sell at a loss.
Under normal circumstances, no one would want to exchange Magic Stones for gold coins, especially at such a low ratio.
But since they were all leaving the Wizard Tower, everything couldn't be judged by common sense.
Roy decisively pulled out all the gold and silver coins he had saved over the years, along with small items he had made through alchemy, like glass beads and perfume bottles. He even shamelessly borrowed 50 gold coins from Renien to trade with those people.
He vaguely sensed that Renien wanted to socialize, to establish a small circle, to be the leader.
He didn't mind huddling together for warmth.
But the premise was that it had to be beneficial to him.
Although Renien showed a bit of reluctance, he still pretended to be generous and displayed his financial resources.
Roy also understood the principle of knowing when to stop, and he promised on the spot, "Thank you for lending me the money. I will strive to repay you with Magic Stones at a one-to-one ratio as soon as possible, and I will also pay interest over time."
This made the other party's expression improve a bit.
This time, Roy truly emptied his savings.
But the results were gratifying; he once again possessed a full 100 Magic Stones.
This could be considered his second bucket of gold. Perhaps he could use this batch of Magic Stones to experiment with alchemical formulas and find his own way to make money.
...
A few days later, in his residence.
Roy rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache, and got up to wash up in the bathroom.
"The knowledge of wizards is too obscure and difficult to learn! The efficiency of meditation is also very low; it seems this body has very poor aptitude..."
Over the past few days, he had begun to touch upon and understand the things that intermediate apprentices should know, greatly expanding his knowledge.
But it had also become noticeably more challenging.
"If this continues, I fear I won't be able to escape the upcoming numerous assessments and elimination projects, facing difficulties once again!"
Looking at his bloodshot eyes and pale face in the mirror, Roy frowned to himself.
This time, he couldn't afford to procrastinate.
He needed to prepare for the future.
After a simple breakfast in the cafeteria, Roy headed to the teaching area, ready to take the next step in his intermediate courses.
As a member of the Seven Towers Alliance in the Wizard World, Okmi Wizard Tower's curriculum included the teachings of the seven towers, covering seals, bloodlines, necromancy, elements, alchemy, astrology, and summoning, and even included some knowledge from Otherworld.
This meant that the apprentice education stages of the seven Ancestor Towers were actually interconnected.
However, the wizards were simply impatient to teach; they still preferred the traditional method of secret inheritance.
Even the classroom teaching model was derived from the university system of the arcane world, not something local.
Soon after, Renien, Niya, Andov, and others arrived one after another.
They greeted each other and exchanged pleasantries.
"Have you heard? Intermediate apprentices can choose elective courses for free based on their interests and actual situations..."
"Is that true? So free?"
"Of course! All public knowledge provided by the Wizard Tower is free!
After reaching a certain stage, they will also grant spell inheritance and enhance the transformation of the wizard's body.
But at the end of each month, there will be a progress assessment.
After two years, there will still be a Cleansing Tower assessment.
To advance from intermediate to advanced, you have two years, eight runes, averaging one every three months...
This means that if you don't have new runes revealed in three consecutive monthly tests, you will be deemed unqualified and will have to accept mandatory tasks as punishment!"
"Alright, I knew it wouldn't be that easy!"
Mandatory tasks are the responsibilities of the tower's stewards, often with pitiful rewards but consuming a lot of time and energy.
They were quite worried about this.
"Only after successfully revealing sixteen runes can you officially begin learning witchcraft and various formulas..."
"Hope we can hold on until that day and push for advanced..."
Renien said with some enthusiasm.
The others echoed, "Yeah, becoming an intermediate apprentice doesn't mean we can relax; this is a new starting point, and advanced apprentices are waiting ahead..."
At this point, Roy already knew that this young man with striking golden hair was the youngest son of a viscount family from the Old Continent.
Like him, he was sent here to be an apprentice after being tested for mental power aptitude.
Renien came from a much more prestigious background, but he had no family business to inherit; he only had the path of staying here and striving to become a wizard.
Niya, Andov, and others nodded in agreement.
Niya came from a merchant family, considered a woman of the affluent citizen class.
But after witnessing the vastness and grandeur of the mysterious world here, she didn't want to just go back and marry in a conventional manner.
Andov was a descendant of a fallen noble family, hoping to become a wizard and revive his family business.
All the lords and nobles of the Old Continent were descendants of wizards, including his ancestors, who were also some wizard lord.
In the Wizard World ruled by the Seven Towers Alliance, this was called Bloodline Nobles.
"Everyone has their own reasons for striving to improve, all hoping to become true wizards.
But this path is not easy; just being an advanced apprentice means many will be eliminated again, just like in the previous Cleansing Tower."
Roy contemplated his future path.
While chatting, the apprentice in charge of classroom discipline arrived.
He placed a human-sized Wizardry Artifact crystal ball on the podium and announced the start of the class.
Everyone turned their attention to the crystal ball, where light swirled and illusions emerged, quickly coalescing into the image of an elderly wizard.
He walked like a ghost to the podium and began to speak.
Roy found this teaching method dull and inefficient.
But in the precious knowledge of the Wizard World, having the opportunity to learn was already quite good.
So he focused intently, taking a lot of notes, not daring to relax at all.
At this moment, the illusion finally reached the part Roy had longed for—the content related to alchemy! "Alchemy originates from the attempt to transform base metals into precious metals, especially gold, and later developed into different studies...
Remember, the primary principle of alchemy is equivalent exchange!
This is true and without falsehood!"
The wizard's illusion in the crystal ball explained, unveiling the mysteries of this field to Roy.
(End of Chapter)