Chapter 229: The Magic Shop
Two weeks later, an equivalent called “Mana Stone” quietly emerged among the Wizard Apprentices. Almost every day, apprentices would enter the second underground level of the Magic School Castle.
Eddie woke up abruptly from his dream. Without time to wash up, he stuffed a piece of white bread into his mouth, pulled on his Magic Robe, grabbed a bundle, and darted out of the dormitory, running down the stairs quickly.
“Eddie, you’re too slow!” A little wizard boy with red hair and a snub nose sniffed and said to Eddie.
“Exactly! All the good spots have been taken by others. Our Mana Stone yield today will definitely be much lower!” A little girl with fluffy brown hair also said somewhat dissatisfiedly.
“My fault, my fault. Tonight, I’ll treat everyone to roasted chicken at the Delicious Restaurant on Magic Front Street,” Eddie said to the two with a smile, scratching his head.
Hearing Eddie’s words, the dissatisfaction on their faces disappeared. The three of them walked quickly to the second underground level of the castle together.
There were over a hundred Lesser Mana Stone Conversion Magic Arrays on the second underground level, but most of the spots close to the giant Mana Stone Conversion Array were occupied. The Mana there was dense, and the conversion effect was the best.
Mid-level Wizard Apprentices with mental power over 20 could barely support the consumption of one Mana Stone conversion alone. Lesser Apprentices like them, with mental power of only 9, needed three people working together to perform one Mana Stone conversion.
As time passed, the apprentices had discovered that talent existed in Magic too. With the same amount of time and daily meditation, some quickly became Mid-level Apprentices, while others lingered at the Lesser Apprentice level.
The generation of Inherent Mana was a major barrier for many apprentices. As for the Soul Sanctuary, they hadn’t even touched the door.
Eddie looked enviously at the few Mid-level Apprentices performing Mana Stone conversion alone, determination in his eyes. I must advance to become a Mid-level Apprentice!
The three opened their bundles, throwing the giant flower mouth, extendable neck, and wooden stem of the Giant-Mouth Man-Eating Flower they killed last time into the Magic Array. Then, they sat at the three points of the Magic Array in an equilateral triangle formation.
Eddie adjusted his breathing and began to activate the Magic Array. Mental power slowly poured into it along the magical patterns. As the Magic Array activated, the three began to meditate calmly. They acted as intermediaries, siphoning Mana from the surrounding environment through meditation and injecting it into the Magic Array.
As time slowly passed, the Monster materials in the Magic Array were gradually converted into a transparent Mana storage medium. As attribute-less Mana was injected into it, the Mana storage medium became more transparent and crystalline.
“Only three pieces, and not a hint of red in the color. Our position really doesn’t get a share of the Fire Element Mana overflowing from the giant Magic Array.”
The brown-haired girl said with some regret.
“Don’t be discouraged. I’ll treat everyone to roasted chicken! Anyway, the three of us have saved up ten Mana Stones each. We can all go to Ace’s Magic Pet Shop to buy a Shadow Crow as a pet!”
Eddie said to the two.
Two weeks ago, more than a dozen shops of various kinds had sprung up like mushrooms after rain on the street in front of the Magic Castle. The most attractive ones were Ace’s Magic Pet Shop and Ace’s Magic Item Shop.
The Shadow Crow was the most popular magic pet among Wizard Apprentices. Shadow transformation, speed, shadow strike, and the ability to attack the soul—if it were just these, the Shadow Crow would merely be a distinctive Monster and wouldn’t be so sought after by apprentices.
The most important effect of the Shadow Crow was the Mental Damage Transfer Covenant provided by the pet shop. The Shadow Crow was similar to yet different from a soul, allowing it to bear various supernatural effects affecting the soul on behalf of its master.
With it, one had a stronger guarantee of life.
There were many subspecies of Shadow Crows. Eddie and his friends didn’t have many Mana Stones, so they each bought the most ordinary Shadow Crow.
Passing by Ace’s Magic Item Shop, Eddie couldn’t help but go in again, staring at a Magic Item with longing eyes.
It was a thick carpet. Not far from the carpet was a small metal sign that read: “Nightlight 001 Flying Magic Carpet, takes you soaring into the sky!”
Eddie and his two friends walked out of the dormitory talking and laughing. The shadows beneath their feet twisted and disturbed from time to time. As they walked into the hall, they heard Wizard Apprentices discussing something in twos and threes.
“The magic academic journal ‘Spells’ has been published! Priced at one Lesser Mana Stone. The inaugural issue is free.”
“You’re too slow. Look at what this is.”
“’Spells’? Lend it to me to take a look.”
Several apprentices crowded together, flipping through the first-ever magic academic journal.
Eddie pricked up his ears, listening to their discussion, and walked over involuntarily. A line of text caught his eye, striking straight at his heart.
Activated Gargoyle: And a Discussion on Several Cultivation Directions for Contract Familiars by Polina.
His heart seemed to be hooked, staring at the magical letters above.
“I believe Contract Familiars can be divided into four types: Research-type Familiars, Combat-type Familiars, Life-type Familiars, and Composite-type Familiars.
Everyone wants a familiar that can help us research, assist us in battle, and take care of our daily lives. This seems difficult to achieve, but by cultivating an activated magical life form unique to oneself, perhaps one can…”
“I don’t want to read this paper. True Wizards still have to rely on themselves; familiars are unreliable too. Let’s first look at Lord Ace’s paper Life Repair: Exploration of Life Extension. Only infinite life makes it possible to conquer endless knowledge!”
The apprentice who had gotten the Spells journal early said. Eddie watched helplessly as he turned the page, his heart itching like a cat was scratching it.
Eddie walked to the red-haired snub-nosed boy and the fluffy brown-haired girl, pulling them toward the East Tower while saying: “Let’s go get Spells for free too!”
The snub-nosed boy looked at Eddie in surprise and said: “Didn’t you say you weren’t willing to share knowledge for free?”
The brown-haired girl also said in a sharp voice: “Someone said that even if he didn’t graduate, he would insist that knowledge has a price. How can he go back on his word?”
Eddie blushed and whispered: “Matters of Wizard Apprentices… how can they be called going back on one’s word? Matters of Wizard Apprentices…”
Hearing Eddie muttering about “Mutual Assistance” and “Cornerstone Principles,” the two laughed happily. For a moment, the air between them was filled with cheerfulness.
Amidst talking and laughing, the group arrived at the West Tower and received the inaugural issue of Spells from Bayen.
Eddie opened it hurriedly and turned to the table of contents.
Seven Common Shaping Weapons by Daina, Basic Principles of the Steam Engine by Betty, Nine Magical Applications of Casting Material Black Powder by Lucilu, Research on the Properties of Shadow Crows by Ace…
A thick journal containing a total of thirty-two articles. Polina’s article was on page fifty-three.
Eddie turned to page fifty-three and began reading earnestly. Inside the castle, more and more apprentices began reading the Spells journal. A trend was brewing.
Advance chapters at Nightjar Reads · nightjarreads.com