Before mastering enough power, one must first learn to hide oneself - this is Charlie's philosophy of life.
With his mind and the knowledge accumulated on Earth, he will surely have more opportunities in the future, so Charlie gave this opportunity to his teacher, and it was also a test - a test of Master Roen's character and whether he is worthy of being followed.
Yulanda brought a newspaper, and excitedly said to Charlie, "Junior, look! The latest edition of the Daily Alchemy Report, the front page headline, and there are magical images of the teacher being honored at the Alchemy Guild."
Another very vivid and interesting media, Charlie picked up the newspaper and carefully observed the unique high-tech of this world.
The paper is sheepskin, smooth and sturdy, with a tactile quality in the writing, fully presenting the fullness and layering of the ink, which is a pleasant experience for both touch and vision.
Charlie shifted his attention to the newspaper, the front-page headline, a huge title immediately caught his eye: "The secret that has been dormant for a thousand years has been cracked, the power of the Third-level Alchemist inherits the mantle of the Alchemy Master".
At the bottom right of the title is an engraved complex inscription in a dark blue color, misty and flickering, captivating the eyes.
Charlie couldn't help but touch it with his finger, and suddenly felt a flash in front of his eyes, a projection image appeared above the newspaper, which was the most brilliant excerpt of the exchange between Master Roen and many other authoritative masters in the alchemy community.
Soon, Roen came, followed by a disciple, the disciple holding a exquisite box.
Roen asked, "Have you read today's newspaper?"
Charlie nodded.
Roen said solemnly, "I'm ashamed! Lying in front of so many people, claiming your achievement as my own. A few days ago, I even punished Martin, and I didn't expect to do the same thing just a few days later."
Charlie did not expect his teacher to have such a strong sense of justice, and he did not want Roen to suffer from guilt.
Charlie shook his head and said, "Of course it's different, Martin's was a subjective act, while you were helping me, this was my request, the nature is completely different."
Although that was the case, Roen still felt uneasy and unable to let it go.
Charlie changed the subject and said, "Actually, teacher doesn't need to feel too guilty, if the teacher didn't have this botanical garden, didn't invest year after year, didn't work hard to operate it, how could he have this opportunity, and how could he seize this opportunity?
There is a saying that goes, 'Any success is not accidental', the teacher's harvest today, half of it is due to your merit."
Any success is not accidental, Roen heard this and was stunned, he was often surprised by the golden sentences that came out of Charlie's mouth.
Roen dwelled on this sentence and murmured, "That makes sense."
Seeing the smile spreading on his face, Charlie knew he had passed this psychological barrier.
"Do you regret it?"
"Not at all, it's a good thing it was the teacher who went, otherwise I would have been in trouble!"
Roen was surprised, "How so? Were you shy? I couldn't see that at all."
"Teacher, have you forgotten why I was driven out by the Pavlo family?"
"Oh~ haha!" Roen immediately remembered the reason and smiled, nodding at him, shaking his head, "So it was Princess Elsa, you! How bold are you? What kind of person didn't you provoke? You just had to provoke her?!"
Charlie helplessly said, "Teacher, I've told you before, I was framed."
Roen disagreed, "If you had really walked the right path, how could you have been framed by small people? That was in your own home, don't try to hide your own problems with some excuses."
It was indeed this logic, the Grand Duke had also said so, and Charlie could only nod.
"No matter what the reason, you should not have provoked her, because she is likely to be the most powerful woman in the future Millennium Empire." Roen suddenly became serious and said, "Don't underestimate this princess, although she is a woman, she is also a person with ideas, ambitions and abilities, just look at what she has done in recent years.
She has created two newspapers, established her authority in the academic world, promoted reforms in the Empire's magic and alchemy industries, and maintains good relations with many industry heavyweights;
She has established the Millennium Alliance, formulated new industry standards, and has been fighting head-to-head with the giant Gold Coast Trade Alliance that your father belongs to, carving out a place for herself.
Think about it, magic and alchemy are related to the military strength of the Empire, and have always been a politically sensitive area, as well as a forbidden area for the imperial children and peripheral princes, but her entry point is the media, without directly controlling the relevant institutions of magic and alchemy, she has cleverly avoided the political minefields, and has successfully gained considerable influence, and has done some real big things, how can His Majesty not like her?
Let me tell you a secret, I hear that several of her imperial brothers attach great importance to her, not only because she is good-looking and likable, but more importantly because they value her ability to assist. Even His Majesty is considering amending the rule that imperial daughters are not allowed to participate in politics, which was formulated by the founding Emperor Peter."
Charlie sighed, "If it weren't for her being formidable, if it weren't for her teacher being formidable."
Roen laughed, "Why do I hear a sour note in your voice?"
Charlie sheepishly said, "Teacher, let's not talk about her anymore, that was a misunderstanding, and it's all in the past, I don't think I'll ever have any interaction with her in my lifetime."
Roen saw his desperate attempt to avoid her and chuckled, saying, "I'm just giving you a reminder, if you have a chance to meet her in the future, be sure to remember my words, if you have no ambition in politics, try to stay away from her, she is not a common man can handle."
Charlie nodded.
Then Roen waved his hand behind him, and the disciple beside him brought the box up.
Roen solemnly said, "This time, the teacher wants to thank you, not to mention the future possible awards, just the honor aspect, it is a huge gain for me personally and for my teacher Lendoff.
Here, I want to express my personal gratitude first, and if I win some awards, I will compensate you accordingly at that time, you also know that before that, I'm not sure what else I will gain, so I can't cash it in advance..."
Charlie was deeply moved, such a teacher is rare on Earth, in his previous life he had seen many teachers who would treat their disciples' achievements as their own, taking them for granted, and if the disciples had any objections, they would even design traps to make the latter unable to stand in the industry.
Charlie stopped him from explaining and said, "Thank you, teacher, the teacher doesn't need to be so particular, I don't need so much either, and besides, being able to follow the teacher to learn is a great grace, I still have to pay tuition fees to the teacher!"
Roen raised his hand to stop him, "About the tuition fees, your father has already promised, one matter is one matter. Don't be in a hurry to refuse, they will definitely be useful, you can never estimate how much it costs to cultivate a qualified magic user, when you start spending money, you'll understand."
Saying that, Roen opened the box, revealing a neatly arranged collection of items, before he could introduce them, Yulanda couldn't help but cover her mouth and exclaim.
"'Exquisite Withered Wood Staff', 'Blanche's Magical Robe', 'Fringed Boots', my goodness! This is the standard high-end equipment for a Haernis Mage!"Yulanda, who was usually calm and capable, was now excited beyond measure, her eyes shining with gold, her hands not knowing what to do, wanting to touch them but not daring to.
Roen nodded, smiling but not speaking, and before he could explain, Yulanda couldn't help but start introducing these equipment to Charlie.
"Junior, you used to envy my withered wood staff, now the teacher has given you an exquisite one directly, it looks the same on the surface, just a bit bigger in size and rougher in texture.
But I'll tell you, the true value of withered wood lies in its age, it's a plant that grows very slowly, only half a finger's height per year, like this staff has been made from at least thirty years old withered wood.
The older the withered wood, the better the magic conductivity and magic carrying capacity, conservatively estimated, its magic capacity is over 250 units, approaching the magic pool of a Third-level Mage, and the magic conductivity is superior to other low-level magical equipment, almost completely overpowering staves under 20,000 gold coins."
Yulanda hugged the staff, sighing, "Mmm! I'm so envious!"
Hearing this, Charlie took back the withered wood staff from her hands, and a feeling that was hard to describe enveloped his palms, like putting his hands in cool spring water, making his spirit shudder, without even driving his spiritual power to gather magic, he could feel the abundant magical energy contained in the entire staff.
Roen explained, "Yulanda's evaluation is a bit conservative, its prefix is not exquisite, but outstanding, a product of the Arcane Circle.
In terms of basic attributes, outstanding and exquisite don't differ much, this withered wood staff has a magic pool of 285 magic units, a magic conductivity coefficient of 6.5, and here are two reference comparisons: Yulanda's withered wood staff has a magic pool of 110 units and a magic conductivity coefficient of 2; Jordan's staff has a magic pool of 60 units and a magic conductivity coefficient of 1, compared to Jordan's staff, it means at least 4.5 times the magic capacity and 6.5 times the magic extraction speed.
And in terms of additional properties, the 'outstanding' prefix means two passive properties and one active skill.
It has been engraved with 'Concentration' and 'Magic Focus' etc., which increase focus and reduce natural magic consumption.
And its active skill is 'Mana Storm', which is a Third-level composite magic array."
Yulanda exclaimed, "Ah! Is it Mana Storm?!"
Charlie curiously asked, "What's so special about it?"
Roen explained, "For beginner mages, it's a double-edged sword, if used improperly, it's very likely to hurt yourself, but for advanced mages, it means a trump card that can turn the tide of battle.
Its main function is to drain all the magic from the staff in 3 seconds, what will happen then? Yulanda, you tell Charlie."
Yulanda explained, "This will present a state of magic overflow, which will passively generate 'Magic Amplification' and 'Magic Critstrike' super-magic effects, and may even trigger 'Spell Upgrade'.
Of course, there is certain risk in this, if the caster is not proficient enough in magic control and fails to release these magic forces in time, there may be a backlash of magic."
"Yes, everything has two sides, it just depends on your control ability, if you master it well, it may be a lifesaving measure for you in a crisis situation; if you don't master it well, sorry, you deserve to be backlashed."
Yulanda added, "And the difference from exquisite to outstanding is the addition of magical arrays, more active and passive skills, and this is often a qualitative leap, the price can also skyrocket at least tenfold."
That said, conservatively estimating, just this staff is worth 200,000 gold coins, when a great mage makes a move, it's truly extraordinary.
For the other two equipment, Roen didn't let Yulanda guess further, he just said, "'Blanche's Tailor Shop' is the signature of Haernis, and its magical robe is the signature of the signature, it is the standard equipment for an empowered initial-level mage in the Empire, I won't say much.
Unfortunately, the outstanding quality robe is already sold out, this one is exquisite.
As for the other equipment, Yulanda got it wrong, it's not just ordinary fringed boots, but 'Outstanding Fringed Boots', with a prefix added, meaning at least 3 times the performance improvement over ordinary shoes, and a self-contained skill 'Feather Fall', when the boot energy is abundant, it can be used three times, each lasting 10 seconds, and can be recharged by any conventional means."
Yulanda's eyes were shining with gold, exclaiming, "Wow! Two outstanding, one exquisite, what a luxurious set of equipment! Junior, with this gear, your strength is probably not inferior to a First-level Mage, if you're lucky, you might even be a match for a Second-level Mage, with fast casting and the super-magic effect of magic amplification stacked up, it's not just for fun."
Master Roen chuckled, "That's about right! The key to winning between low-level mages is not the level of the spells, nor the size of the magic pool, but who can cast faster.
Charlie's casting speed is the fastest among mages below the Third-level, and with the passive magic amplification effect, even average initial-level mages are not really his opponents."
Charlie was happy in his heart, but he could also control his soaring emotions, he put away the box and said calmly, "After all, they are just external things, and cannot cover up the fact that I am a magic apprentice without any stored magic."
"You are able to recognize this point, I am pleased."
"So what's next, teacher's arrangement for me?"
Roen asked, "Do you still remember the two choices I mentioned before?"
"Of course I remember."
"Now tell me your answer." Roen looked at him intently, waiting for Charlie's choice.
If he cannot accomplish the extraordinary, how can he survive under the calculations of the hidden hand? How can he intimidate the members of the Pavlo family? What capital does he have to unravel the mystery of his mother's death? Charlie was a person who was unwilling to be inferior in his previous life, how could he tolerate a mediocre ending!
Charlie met Roen's gaze and said solemnly, "I choose the Arcane Circle."
A faint smile appeared on Roen's face, "I'm starting to regret providing the second choice, well, since you've made your choice, then it's up to me to arrange the next steps, you only have one day to prepare."