Anthony's manuscript would be a valuable treasure, but to gnaw it down is not a simple matter.
The manuscript is full of alchemical terms, often leaving Charlie bewildered, and he has to go read the basic alchemy books to build a fundamental knowledge model.
At the same time, since contemporary alchemy serves magic, it must involve various magical knowledge: advanced natural magic comes from the forest elf tribe, written in Quuveiun language; common spells of wind, fire, water, and earth are inherited from the oldest language on the continent, Huderos; and arcane magic is described in Stonehearst by the god of arcane.
In his younger days, Anthony was full of energy and ambition, he learned several languages, so his notes are interspersed with texts written in other languages, and Charlie has to take several language courses to understand them, fortunately the language courses are mostly open courses in the Arcane Circle, no need to spend points.
As a result, the pace of sorting out the notes has become slower and slower.
After being awakened by Charlie, Anthony is also not in a hurry to succeed, and gives Charlie enough time to explore, while arranging some apprentice work for the other two apprentices, Eileen is okay, but Jerry has a pent-up anger.
So, time slips away quietly in the trivial apprentice work and the endless course study...
A month has passed.
The first round of new student task season has arrived, it is an activity organized by the academy, lasting half a month, and every new student must participate, to assess the teaching results of the mentors, and decide the score ranking of each new student generation, in order to maintain a fierce competitive atmosphere.
On the eve of the start of the activity, Anthony gathered the three apprentices together.
Anthony casually waved his hand, scattering magical elements in the air, gathering them into a strange pattern, "This new student task is arranged in the Sogou Marshes, one of the three major apprentice areas of the Magic Kingdom. Compared to other areas, these three places have the safest environment.
However, you must be aware that it is only relatively safe! There will still be high-level magical beasts lurking, you may still encounter void storms, and there may still be apprentices dying, it's just a slightly lower probability.
The first task season of each year has the highest new student mortality rate, you need to be psychologically prepared, now that the academy's recruitment season has ended, I can't possibly have any apprentices to supplement you.
So, I sincerely hope that all three of you can come back safely, and I won't even set a requirement for you to acquire points."
Jerry turned pale and asked, "Since it's like this, why do we have to participate? We can just not take the points, and wait until next time when our strength increases, and then participate in similar activities."
Seeing Jerry's attitude, Anthony was quite displeased, and he solemnly said, "This is a compulsory behavior, refraining means giving up the identity of an apprentice, and the punishment is very severe.
And the academy's design of the tasks is progressive, this time you miss the simplest tempering, next time you will encounter more cruel tests, the risks are constantly accumulating, you can't avoid it.
This is the purpose of the Arcane Circle, the students who go out must be able to stand on their own, otherwise do you think the 15% elimination rate of the Arcane Circle every year comes from?"
Charlie asked, "Teacher, what is the nature of the task? How do we earn points?"
Anthony gestured to the image in the air, "The Sogou Marshes is an area of 12 kilometers in radius, the terrain is roughly like this, this side is the Storm Ocean, which is a forbidden area, you absolutely cannot set foot in it.
A little further in is a winding narrow rocky beach, relatively the safest, because its environment and biological composition are the simplest, and the food is abundant, there are only some low-intelligence fishmen, I will mark it as troublesome.
Further in is a swamp wetland, perpetually shrouded in a thin mist, the visibility is relatively poor, there are giant crocodiles, poisonous snakes, and swamp crawlers lurking, occasionally you may encounter a swamp giant, if you encounter that big guy, you can only pray for yourself, I will mark the swamp as dangerous.
Deeper into the swamp is the dense forest area, the environment is very complex, and it is inhabited by even higher-level magical beasts, basically you don't need to consider venturing in, that area overlaps with the trial ground of Astral-level mages, you apprentices forget about it, I will mark it as a forbidden area.
Of the four major areas, there are only two places you can go, you can consider it."
Charlie frowned, "Isn't there a detailed map?"
"The point system has local maps for sale, but I advise you not to buy them, since it's a wild environment, the individual's scope of action is relatively small, it's basically of no reference value."
"So what is our main task?" It was basically Charlie asking alone.
"The main task is survival, the academy only allows you to bring one piece of personal equipment, and it is limited to below legendary quality, you are not allowed to carry any spatial equipment.
Apart from that, each of you is equipped with a standard apprentice pack, which contains seven days of food, two sets of apprentice gear and a return scroll, the return scroll has a magical seal, and the lock will only be released on the last day, which means that you will need to find food on your own for half the time, the longer you stay in the Sogou Marshes, the higher the points.
The optional task is collection, the Sogou Marshes grow many wild herbs, and magical beasts can also be collection targets, such as crystal stones, fur, claws, etc., they can be exchanged for a lot of points."
Anthony pointed his finger in the air, marking a few bright spots on the rocky beach, "These are the academy's official supply points, responsible for picking up the injured, if you are eliminated early, or voluntarily give up, then after the end of the task season, the lowest scoring batch will be eliminated through points settlement."
The rules are quite a lot, but it is precisely these rules that ensure a relatively fair environment, the only thing Charlie is concerned about is what is the relationship between the students participating in the survival task, and how will the academy guide them?
"Furthermore, I want to warn you, don't think that by staying on the rocky beach, you can be carefree, precisely because it is relatively safe, the apprentices will be most concentrated there.
You apprentices also have a competitive relationship, except that killing is not allowed, the academy does not interfere with the competitive behavior between apprentices, and after the points are settled, they don't care about the source of the exchange items, if you stay on the rocky beach, you have to always be on alert, your own kind may become your opponent, causing you to be eliminated early!
Every year there are apprentices who unleash some grudges and even end up causing deaths!"
Sure enough, competition is the eternal theme.
Jerry smiled and said, "I have a way, as long as we don't collect anything, just stay on the beach, no one will target us, since there's no profit for them!"
This is a very passive coping strategy.
"Childish! Naive!!" Anthony sneered, "Aren't food and equipment resources? If those things are plundered, can you still survive on the beach for two weeks?"
Jerry was silent.
"How do we distinguish fair competition from malicious harm?"
Anthony explained, "As long as one side surrenders, they cannot harm his personal safety, and if you ever issue a surrender signal, you will lose all your possessions except the return scroll, they will become the spoils of the winner, this is the agreed rule.
Anyone who violates the rules will be punished by the academy's audit department, judged according to the circumstances, and the highest punishment can be public execution!"
The explanation is reasonable, but in the wild environment, especially in the case of threatening life, how to ensure that the agreement can be truly implemented?!
Seeing Charlie's doubtful gaze, Anthony sighed slightly, "Rules are rules, rules always have loopholes, and there are also people who do not keep their word. The academy cannot do real-time monitoring, nor can they guarantee that everyone will be treated fairly.
What can really protect you is your own ability, and your companions, the three of you are from the same school, you need to help each other and get through it together.
As for how it really goes, you'll have to experience it for yourselves!"
The three apprentices fell silent, Eileen had been listening quietly, she was used to silently enduring, and Jerry clearly had his own ideas and did not change his mind despite Anthony's scolding.
Facing the new student task season, the three of them felt so abrupt, as the mentor, Anthony bears the greatest responsibility, it can be considered his dereliction of duty, in this past month he has not prepared for the activity at all, he didn't even tell his apprentices, he probably already had a negative attitude of giving up the points.
The apprentices of other mentors may have done ample preparation for this, gaining while the other side is losing, their own situation is worrying.
Anthony took three bags out of the drawer and said seriously, "Here are some recovery potions and magical auxiliary potions that I made, use them well! This is a bit of an advantage you have as my apprentice alchemist."
Jerry quickly grabbed a bag and started taking out the potions one by one.
"The orange-red ones are life potions, external application to treat wounds, internal consumption to restore physical strength; the pale blue potions are magic power recovery potions, the better the bottle, the better the recovery effect; the gray bottles are eagle-eye potions, which can improve your vision and perceptual acuity, and can detect invisible creatures to a certain extent, they are the highest cost-effective potions in the wild..."
Anthony introduced them one by one, and this small potion pack actually has a lot of good things, not only a lot of status recovery potions, but also potions that can enhance the effects of magic, such as Fireheart Essence, which can give fire magic spells a super-magic effect.
It can be considered as fulfilling his duty as a mentor.
Seeing Jerry's overjoyed expression, he knew that these potions, when put into the point system, are also valuable items, especially at this stage, tonight, the point trading system is likely to see a surge of trading heat.
"Alright, you guys go and rest early! Replenish your energy, and do your best to get through the first hurdle of the Arcane Academy."
The three apprentices responded in unison.
After Anthony left, Jerry couldn't help but say, "Hey, should we put some of the useless potions on the trading system and sell them? I know a friend who can help me sell them for a good price, that way we can also buy a good piece of equipment!"
Charlie put away his own pack and calmly smiled, "I won't sell any."
Jerry looked at Eileen, and she hugged her own bag and shook her head, "Me neither, I'm going to sleep."
Jerry's face looked ugly, and he muttered something under his breath.