Chapter 279: Apprentice
In summary, Punk now needed someone optimistic and positive, of ordinary background, with excellent talent, low-key and rational, and with strength not exceeding the Formal-Level to serve as the host for the Eerie Eyeball.
To be honest, finding someone who met all these conditions wasn’t easy. At the very least, it wasn’t possible to just wander around a few times like buying a cat in the countryside and find one. It was even less realistic to randomly encounter an orphan or beggar who happened to be a suitable candidate, as often happens in novels.
Fortunately, Punk’s current identity wasn’t just that of a powerful Master-Level Caster; he was also a recently joined Senior Mentor in the Thought of Truth. When the apprentice recruitment date arrived half a month later, he would need to select at least five talented apprentices to mentor.
This provided Punk with immense convenience.
First, the Thought of Truth preferred selecting talented individuals from among the poor, those with no significant background, as apprentices. The organization believed that apprentices from impoverished backgrounds not only avoided complicated and troublesome connections but also tended to have resilient and driven personalities.
Thus, Punk had a great chance of encountering mage apprentices who had no background, excellent talent, and a proactive, ambitious spirit.
On the other hand, within the Thought of Truth, although the status of apprentices wasn’t as lowly as in the Zhentarim—where any mentor could freely use apprentices for experiments—it was still permissible for mentors to conduct magical experiments on apprentices as long as the apprentices consented voluntarily.
This meant that even if Punk added some “unique” accessories to his apprentice, as long as the apprentice chose to accept the experiment of their own free will, no one would say anything. Given Punk’s status as a Master-Level powerhouse, not even any mage would dare to level moral accusations against him.
Most importantly, Punk was a top-tier powerhouse who ranked among the best even in the Gray Rain Country. For a Master-Level powerhouse like him, who enjoyed research, hated wasting time, and held a lofty status, to suddenly and inexplicably show immense interest in an unfamiliar low-level mage… no matter how you looked at it, it was highly abnormal. If Punk were to do that, it would be equivalent to announcing to everyone:
“Come and see! I have a big secret here! Don’t miss out!”
Anyone who did that either thought everyone else was a fool or was a fool themselves.
So Punk definitely couldn’t do that. Yet, he couldn’t just let his “positive emotion generator” live actively out in the world without keeping an eye on them. After all, creatures like “mischievous children” were the most unpredictable. He didn’t want to one day find his precious law fragment missing while he remained oblivious in his Magic Tower.
Now, this “Senior Mentor” identity came in very handy.
Although Punk wasn’t very good at acting, with his expressionless, icy face that made it impossible for anyone to guess what he was thinking, he could easily pretend to be a “stern but kind-hearted,” “benevolent” mentor.What’s so strange about a mentor paying a little extra attention to their favored “successor”? Even using some “slightly radical” methods to keep a reckless apprentice by their side is a sign of responsibility, right? And if they conduct some experiments on the apprentice… it’s all for the apprentice’s benefit! The apprentice gets first dibs on any good results from the experiments. Mhm, what a protective and doting teacher—nothing wrong with that!
As for why a powerful Master-Level expert would seek out such a low-level mage as an apprentice… Punk believed that strengths, much like weaknesses, could always be found if one looked hard enough.
For instance, being slow wasn’t procrastination—it was caution! Sleeping in class wasn’t inattentiveness—it was balancing work and rest! Being forgetful wasn’t carelessness—it was focused thinking!
It was a simple matter. And if some nosy fool tried to dig deeper… no problem. Punk was quite skilled in magic for disposing of corpses.
“As the saying goes, ‘Nothing is difficult for a willing heart.’ Though this plan is still a bit unreliable, it’s better than staring blankly at a treasure trove!”
Punk muttered to himself silently in his mind.
Out of caution, he went over his plan from start to finish several times. Only after finding no major flaws or oversights did he make up his mind—the Formal-Level Mages who had left the Thought of Truth Branch to search for apprentices had already set off. Half a month later, when the apprentices arrived, he would use a Divination Spell to carefully screen them.
Since the mortality rate for apprentices before reaching the Apprentice-Level was extremely high, the vast Thought of Truth recruited a full thousand apprentices at once. Punk refused to believe that among so many, he wouldn’t find even one suitable candidate.
But before that…
Punk patted his Master-Level Robe and leisurely strolled toward the laboratory door.
“There’s still some time before the apprentice recruitment day. In the meantime, I’ll just make a passable golem to get by.”
As he muttered to himself, Punk flipped his hand and retrieved a pristine white card from his Storage Ring.
It was an enchanted metal card specially used by the Thought of Truth to store exchange points. The three hollow-carved Mavis Marigolds on the card represented Punk’s status as a “Senior Mentor,” while a line of small text in the upper left corner displayed his remaining exchange points—4,950!
Using this enchanted card, members of the Thought of Truth could exchange for items at any branch or affiliated organization under the Thought of Truth. As a “Senior Mentor,” Punk also enjoyed a 10% discount and priority supply rights.
Now, Punk was heading to the Instructor Trading Market to purchase some materials needed for constructing a golem.This time, Punk had no intention of creating another flesh golem. On one hand, Grand Arcanist Vedrasha’s memories contained numerous golem crafting techniques that were in no way inferior to the flesh golem method developed by the mage named Kewevo (Note: Punk’s flesh golem crafting knowledge originally came as a “gift” from Mainaixi. The full title of the technique was “Kewevo’s Detailed Guide to Flesh Golem Creation”, which served as Punk’s only golem-making method in his early days). Now that Punk possessed superior golem crafting methods from the Netherese Civilization, he naturally had no need for a “minion” like the flesh golem that tended to attract so much hostility.
Of course, any distinctive traces of Netherese Civilization in the golem’s construction had to be concealed. Punk couldn’t afford to expose his secrets at this point, and this golem needed to adhere to the principle of maintaining a low profile—neither too weak nor too strong would be most appropriate!
There was actually another reason… Punk’s craftsmanship fell far below the required standard, and his technical skills were simply inadequate… ahem… let’s skip that part. The main consideration was maintaining a low profile!
Based on these considerations, Punk decided to create an average elemental golem—one that would demonstrate his ability to craft alchemical golems and his proficiency in alchemical magic, without appearing too conspicuous. It really was the most suitable choice!
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PS: The protagonist is currently in a development phase, so there’s indeed more explanatory content. I’m working hard to make the writing more engaging. This development period is quite necessary though—how can we have exciting moments without proper foundation building? So please don’t criticize too harshly, thank you muah~
I’ve adopted a two-month-old kitten, super adorable! Sharing cat photos in the group as bonus content~ Welcome to join group 548859662
(End of Chapter)