Class ended as usual.
Dave planned to go to the Apprentice Market to see if he could find a cheaper Magic Crystal.
Although the normal price was ten magic stones per crystal, if the quality of the crystal was slightly lower, it could be bought for about eight magic stones.
After walking out of the classroom and walking down the corridor leading to the stairs, Dave suddenly felt something was wrong.
There were people walking in the corridor, and the apprentices maintained a suitable distance from each other.
However, he felt that someone was watching him.
A mage's intuition was no joke.
Dave turned two corners in a row, and he couldn't erase the feeling of being followed.
Was he being targeted?
Many thoughts ran through Dave's mind. Just as he was about to ask for help, someone hurriedly followed him.
The footsteps were very light and did not seem like a person's. Instead, it sounded like a pair of empty leather boots stepping on the ground.
Dave turned around warily and saw a head of chestnut-colored curly hair with a faint fragrance of gardenia.
At the same time, he heard a sound that was even softer than a mosquito.
"I can lend you the crystal."
"What?"
Dave wondered if he had heard wrong.
He recognized the person. It was the apprentice Millie who was bullied before.
The two of them had never communicated before, so why did she come looking for him?
"I can lend you the magic crystal!"
Millie repeated.
Dave couldn't see the top half of her face through her thick bangs, but at least he heard what she said.
"Why did you want to lend it to me… the Crystal?"
Dave didn't believe that there was such a thing as a free lunch in this world.
His next words were probably- how many Magic Stones are you charging?
Sure enough, Millie was silent for a moment before she said softly, "I need you to do me a favor.
"If you're willing to help, not only can I lend you the Magic Crystal, I can even... I can even give it to you."
Her voice was light and carried an ethereal air that seemed to be about to fly out.
Dave wasn't tempted by the offer.
People in this world would not give so many gifts for nothing.
An equivalent exchange was the norm here.
He could borrow it with favor, and he could even get an expensive magic crystal.
Then this favor must be hard.
" Thank you, there's no need for that."
Dave refused.
It wasn't like he couldn't afford the crystal.
Why would he agree to something so unreliable?
"Is that so?"
Millie smiled faintly, her slightly opened mouth seemingly carrying a trace of mockery.
"If you regret it, you can look for me anytime.
"Don't worry. This favor is not as difficult as you think."
After saying this, Millie left with light steps.
Dave frowned as he watched her leave.
He was a little confused. Why was Millie looking for him?
Could it be that she saw Andre's pestering and knew that he didn't have any magic stones to buy magic crystals?
He was also curious about the favor she said.
What kind of favor could make Millie pay such a huge price to ask him for help?
However, he also knew that curiosity was sometimes the most harmful thing for mages.
Before he had enough strength, it was best not to have such curiosity.
Shaking his head, Dave turned around and headed to the apprentice market.
..
The magic crystal could be considered one of the best items for acolytes on their path of growth.
For acolytes, learning magic was not something that could be learned simply by reading a book.
The root of the problem was that the casting of spells could not be separated from the construction of a mental model.
After the apprentices understood the principles of the spell, they still needed to go through a long period of practice to draw a mental model in their minds.
Only when one could draw a complete model in their mind at the moment of casting the spell would the mage be considered a beginner.
After becoming a level 3 acolyte for a year, Dave had only learned three acolyte spells.
This wasn't because he was stupid or lazy. It was a normal situation.
Learning magic was extremely time-consuming.
And this was only the most basic beginner-rank 0 spells.
As for those rank 0 spells that were several times more difficult, they were even harder to learn.
It was said that the ratio of bald heads of acolytes increased according to the third-grade, second-grade, and first-grade acolytes.
It was even more ridiculous when it came to official mages. As everyone knew, a variation of magic called Hair Growth was very popular.
It could be seen how much damage the brain and scalp of the mages had gone through when constructing the model.
And the magic crystal was the shortcut to this.
The mental model that was originally constructed in one's mind with mental strength could easily collapse, but it could be fixed in the crystal.
With the help of the magic crystal, the efficiency of the practice could be said to be twice the result with half the effort.
Teacher Gru, who was in charge of teaching water elementalism, made the corresponding request today.
During the next lesson, every acolyte needed a piece of magic crystal to assist in the lesson.
Not all acolytes could afford to buy a single crystal.
Most people should be able to gather enough money.
But Dave was different.
Due to the long-term rental of the Spellcasting Range, his already shriveled pockets became even more shriveled.
If it were a week ago, he definitely wouldn't be able to carry around so many magic stones.
However, things were different now.
There was a shop that specialized in selling magic crystals in the apprentice market.
The shelves were filled with all kinds of magic crystals. Even though they were all packed in exquisite wooden boxes, the customers who stopped in the shop were still very careful.
If one accidentally dropped a piece and broke it, then half a year's or even a year's income would be gone.
It was Dave's first time walking into a magic crystal shop. He looked around curiously and walked to the shelf that met his requirements.
He did not deliberately pick and choose.
It was not because he was ambitious but because he was poor.
He had counted before he came, and he now had ten magic stones in his hand.
There weren't many magic crystals that matched this price. They were all relatively small.
Choosing was a power that could only be obtained when there was a choice.
Unfortunately, he didn't have many options at the moment.
Soon, Dave picked a fist-sized crystal.
It was priced at nine Magic Stones. Compared to the Magic Crystal beside it, which was priced at one Magic Stone cheaper but had cracks on it, this Magic Crystal seemed to be of good quality.
Dave paid the bill at the counter and looked at the crystal with a satisfied smile.
In fact, the reason why he bought the crystals was not entirely because of the upcoming class.
He had been coveting this item that could increase the efficiency of learning spells for a long time.