Hum—
A soft white light emitted, overpowering the yellow light of the oil lamp and illuminating the entire Meditation Room.
Colin moved his neck, releasing a relaxed breath.
It was now noon on the second day, with bright sunshine; had there been windows in the Meditation Room, it would be brilliantly lit at this moment.
Of course, the Meditation Room was indeed brilliantly lit at this moment.
In Colin's hand, the Bright Crystal consistently emitted a gentle white light.
With a thought, pale golden particles converged, and he looked at the Golden Paper.
In the Limit Breaking Point column, a new entry had appeared—"Skill: Basic Level Magic Crystal Making."
Using his thoughts to open it, a new line slowly emerged below—"Bright Crystal Making (1/100)."
Golden Paper classified apprentice-level witchcraft crystal making into major categories; upon opening it, one could see the folded progress information of different specific types of Magic Crystal Making.
After depleting over twenty crystals left by the original owner and spending more than ten hours, Colin finally succeeded once, albeit by luck.
This pace, although faster than most people's first success, was nothing special.
When he bought this book, an old apprentice who sold it mentioned someone had successfully made a Magic Crystal within half a day.
Of course, Colin later realized that lucking out with one successful attempt and being able to make it consistently were entirely different matters, with a vast gulf between the two.
However, he had the Golden Paper to assist him; as long as he kept making them, successful or not, there would be improvement—small from failure, large from success.
Only he could see the pale golden particles floating and dispersing in the air, his Bright Crystal radiated a comforting white light, filling Colin with a sense of security.
"Maybe, just as Erica said, do I still have a chance to become an Official Wizard?" he shook his head, suppressing his wandering thoughts, "It all depends on how much the Meditation Method will improve after the Limit Breaking."
But moments later, his thoughts uncontrollably began to drift again.
"Apprentices are merely human, and even an Advanced Apprentice has a lifespan limit of 120 years; but an Official Wizard... if I remember correctly, Master Lap has been alive for nearly three hundred years... Three hundred years! How much the world has changed, dynasties have come and gone..."
Gurgle—
The churning sound in his stomach interrupted Colin's daydreams, and he got up to leave the Meditation Room, planning to fix himself something to eat.
After lunch, Colin was so sleepy that he props onto his bed and slept until midnight, then rubbed his sleepy eyes, got dressed, and rose from his bed.
Standing by the window, listening to the sound of the waves, feeling the sea breeze, and admiring the sparkling reflection of the starry sky on the sea surface for a while, he began to pack things, preparing to go out at dawn to purchase raw material crystals.
"The School's black iron identity badge... a must-have, brings a sense of security on the outside... not to mention the magic stone-filled pouch, must bring that too... It seems these two are all I need to take?"
Colin, holding the pouch, seemed to recall something and walked toward the Meditation Room.
After a while, with dust flying around, he picked up a dust-covered Knight Sword from the wooden rack in the corner of the Meditation Room.
This sword was bought by the original owner along with the Breathing Skill.
Before placing it there, the original owner had coated it with a layer of grease, so it was in good condition despite being stored for a long time, albeit a bit dusty.
Unfortunately, for him who was not a Knight, this sword served only as a decoration, of little use if any danger arose.
"Maybe later, I could start practicing the Knight Breathing Skill," he thought, as he placed the Knight Sword back on the rack.
Wizards, since their magical power subtly enhances their physique during meditation, are not weak physically.
However, that's just it—nothing more.
At the Basic Level Wizard Apprentice stage, magical power merely keeps the body healthier.
Quality enhancement would have to wait until one becomes an Official Wizard.
That's why many sufficiently capable Apprentices also trained in a Breathing Skill, keeping it as a fallback measure during their Apprentice stages.
After all, an Apprentice in the basic stages, with limited mastery over witchcraft, theoretically would not be more powerful than a Peak Knight.
And beyond a Peak Knight, a Great Knight not only could live up to 150 years but was also quite competent in combat.
But still, they couldn't compare to Wizards, even a Basic Level Wizard Apprentice.
Of course, that's assuming a fully-equipped Basic Level Wizard Apprentice... Colin didn't qualify as such.
After all, the Knight's glaring weaknesses were too targeting-prone.
A single Wizard's standard spell against human knights—Mind Shock—was enough to handle most ordinary Knights.
Of course, for them being both Wizard and Knight, there is no such weakness.
Like those Basic Level Wizard Apprentices who had always been laying the foundation and had not learned too much witchcraft, they used the Knight's methods more often in their daily fights.
After all, the knight's methods were more covert, quieter than most witchcraft.
"Having many skills is not a burden—becoming a Great Knight through the use of Golden Paper and extending my life to 150 years might be more realistic than becoming an Official Wizard," Colin thought unintentionally.
Then he bent down and pulled out a brown leather half-armor from the lower layer of the wooden rack where the swords were placed. This too was bought along with the Breathing Skill.
Knight Sword, Breathing Skill, half-armor—they were bought as a set.
Holding the armor, Colin did not disdain it this time but rather wiped it clean and immediately wore it under his Wizard Robe.
After putting on the armor, although he knew it might not be very useful, he still felt a considerable increase in his sense of safety.
Later, he wandered around the stone house for a few more rounds and finally found an iron plate the size of a human face in the kitchen's corner.
After some thought, he tied it to the chest of his leather armor, instantly feeling even more secure.
After all the hustle, it had started to get slightly bright outside.
After checking all the items he was carrying again, Colin took a deep breath, pushed open the wooden door, and walked out.
By the seaside, the fog was thick, and it was still not completely bright outside, somewhat dim, with veil-like white fog undulating in the air.
The pebbled pathway was extremely quiet, which was a usual state for the place they lived. Apart from the laborers who cleaned the excrements and the stewards who delivered food each month, few people visited here.
Most Apprentices had heavy coursework and didn't have much time for socializing, and since they didn't need to hustle for meals, they mostly stayed home and seldom went out.
Walking outside the residential area and following the wooden fence for a few meters, he reached the main gate of the Wizard Territory.
Calling it a main gate, in reality, was just two sections cut out of the fence, making a simple wooden gate that could be opened and closed.
One gate was wider for easy transportation of supplies, and the narrower one was for people to pass through.
The narrow gate wasn't locked but merely fastened with an iron rod.
Colin pulled the iron rod aside and checked again if he was carrying his School badge before pushing the gate open.
The wooden fence around the School wasn't tall, barely over a meter high, serving only to prevent small animals from entering.
The real barrier of the School was the semi-transparent Protective Shield he had seen rise up a few nights ago.
That was a large Witch Array, which was why he needed to repeatedly check whether he was carrying the identity badge.
The identity badge was bound one-to-one; one could only enter Lap School's territory if they had it. Forgetting it would mean trouble.
After stepping out through the narrow gate and walking a few hundred meters forward, buildings gradually started to appear, marking his true departure from the monitoring range of the Witch Array.
Coming towards him was a row of neatly arranged gray buildings built on a hillside.
This area primarily housed various shops run by the School and a trading market.
Further down was a cluster of houses with various styles, inhabited by the best among those gathered in the Outer Territories of the Wizards.
And farther still, at the foot of the mountain, lay the small town they referred to as the gathering place in the outer world.
Ten minutes later, Colin arrived at the market in the center.
Although the shops also sold crystals, and in complete varieties, with all sorts of qualities and in large quantities,
the prices there naturally were a bit higher than those of the individual vendors at the market.
Had it been a normal time, perhaps he could overlook a small difference in price for convenience.
But now, with only one Magic Stone on him and wanting to buy as many crystals as possible, he had to head to the market.
The market was a large, square open space; perhaps it was too early, and there were only a few stalls, none of which sold crystals.
Colin stood and waited until the sun rose from the sea level, filling the sky with splendid morning colors, before the stalls that sold crystals appeared.
"How much for the Mixed Crystals?" he approached to ask about the prices.
"1 Magic Stone for 60 pieces, 20 Gold Coins for 1 piece," the vendor replied.
Colin nodded but didn't buy right away; instead, he waited a bit longer.
After a while, a few more vendors selling crystals set up their stalls, and he went to ask about the prices.
Finally, after several comparisons, he bargained for a while at the second-to-last vendor's stall.
He exchanged the only Magic Stone he had for 65 pieces of Mixed Crystals and a small pack of crystal powder as a bonus.
After that, he didn't delay any longer and immediately started back on his return journey.