Chapter 96: Apprentice Ladder

The Black Mist Forest in the early morning was still shrouded in faint mist, but Luo En had already arrived at the school library in high spirits.

He had come to the library again, which was completely different from when he came here last time. At that time, he had just become a low-level apprentice, and even the most basic reading area inside required repeated review by guards to enter.

As a newly promoted professional Potioneer, he couldn't wait to use his new status permissions to learn more transcendent knowledge.

The library was located in an ancient stone tower, plain and unadorned on the outside, but every apprentice knew that this was the place that could improve oneself the most, apart from paid courses.

The person guarding the door was different from last time, replaced by an old gray-robed guard.

"Potioneer badge?" The old man said softly, a flash of surprise in his eyes, "Young man, you look at most sixteen or seventeen."

Luo En nodded with a smile: "Luo En Ralf, just passed the Potioneer certification assessment, personally presided over by Master Ma Genusi."

The old guard scrutinized the badge carefully, then nodded slightly after a moment: "The mark cannot be forged, it seems you are indeed a genius."

He stepped aside to make way, "Professional Potioneers have 'Level 2 permissions' and can access most ordinary classics and some advanced materials."

"Thank you." Luo En responded politely, then stepped into this hall of knowledge.

The interior space of the library was astonishingly wide, far exceeding its appearance from the outside. Clearly, some kind of spatial expansion spell had been used.

Layer upon layer of bookshelves wound up to the ceiling, forming a labyrinthine ocean of knowledge.

In the center of the huge hall stood a dark brown crystal pillar half a person high, engraved with complex runes.

That was the library's "Guide Stone", which could guide the inquirer to the corresponding area according to their needs.

Luo En walked to the crystal pillar, gently placed his palm on it, and silently recited the keywords he wanted to query in his heart:

"Mid-level apprentice, spell mastery, advanced requirements".

The runes on the surface of the crystal pillar lit up with a gentle blue light, and then a path composed of light spots unfolded in the air, guiding him to a certain bookshelf area.

Following the light spots to the designated location, Luo En found that this was an area specifically collecting advanced apprentice materials.

His gaze was quickly attracted by a thick brown leather book, with "Apprentice Ladder" written on the gold-stamped cover.

Taking down this book, Luo En found a quiet oak table nearby and sat down, carefully flipping open the yellowed pages.

"Mid-level Apprentice—The Second Ladder of the Apprentice Path", the bold title caught his eye.

Luo En read with rapt attention, recording key points in the notebook he carried with him from time to time:

"...Unlike the low-level apprentice stage, the core task of a mid-level apprentice is no longer simply to increase mental power values, but to deepen the ability to control mental power, especially reflected in spell construction..."

"...A qualified mid-level apprentice must master at least three or more zero-ring spells to the point of being able to cast them at will. This requirement is not set arbitrarily, but is based on the scientific principles of brain development..."

Luo En frowned slightly, paying extra attention to this key point.

The book explained in detail:

"...The construction process of a spell model is actually creating a specific 'thinking circuit' in the mental sea. Every time a spell is mastered, a corresponding neural connection pathway will be formed in the brain domain."

"When the number of mastered spells reaches three or more, these pathways will gradually intertwine into a network, forming a unique 'thinking network', significantly improving the flexibility and extensibility of mental power..."

"...More importantly, once this 'thinking network' is formed, it will become the foundation for the caster to contact higher-level spells."

"Without this foundation, even with powerful mental power, it is impossible to carry the complex model construction required for high-ring spells..."

Luo En suddenly realized: "No wonder Eric and Leah both emphasized spell mastery; it turns out this is the basic law of brain development."

Continuing to flip through, he began to understand the requirements for the high-level apprentice stage:

"...The sign of a high-level apprentice is that while mental power reaches a specific threshold, one can develop at least one spell to the level of personal specialization."

"This 'specialization' does not just mean increasing power, but more importantly, incorporating the caster's personal understanding, making it unique..."

"...Specialized spells are the only way to become a formal wizard. Every formal wizard possesses at least one spell system that is completely unique to them. This is both a test of personal understanding and a requirement for creativity."

"Those apprentices who lack creativity, no matter how high their mental power is, can never break through the boundaries of a high-level apprentice..."

Wanting to become a real wizard requires not only sufficient mental power, but also unique insights and creativity, which also fits his imagination of a wizard very well.

Just as Luo En wanted to continue exploring the details about the promotion of formal wizards, he turned to a page with content that had been obviously processed.

That page had only a few lines of text, and the rest was completely painted black with ink, leaving only the title "Detailed Rules for the Promotion of Formal Wizards" and a striking note:

"Only members of the candidate wizard sequence can consult".

Luo En tried to probe with mental power, but felt a powerful resistance pushing him away.

Clearly, these covered contents had special protection, and non-authorized persons could not pry into them.

"It seems that higher permissions are still needed." He whispered to himself in his heart, feeling a little disappointed but not discouraged.

Putting this book back in its place, Luo En came to the crystal pillar again. This time he wanted to find information about the origin of the knight profession.

The crystal pillar lit up again, guiding him to another area.

The classics on the bookshelves in this area looked even older, many book covers had faded, and the corners were severely worn.

Here, Luo En found a thick ancient book titled "Examination of the Origin of Knights".

The paper of this book was already yellowed and fragile, requiring extremely careful flipping.

The records in the book about bloodline knights and demon hunters were exceptionally detailed, which opened Luo En's eyes:

"...The origin of demon hunters can be traced back to the beginning of the Second Era. At that time, it was after the 'Great Cataclysm', and many wizards xxxxx, began to try to transplant parts of magical beasts' organs into humans, hoping to obtain corresponding bloodline abilities..."

Luo En frowned, and this line of text was crossed out.

He continued to read the content below:

"...Early demon hunter experiments mostly ended in failure, and most of the transplant recipients died or lost control and deformed due to severe rejection reactions. It was not until Adrian Morrell of the Black Crow School created a special 'stabilizer' that the success rate was improved..."

Luo En paid extra attention to this historical record—it turns out that demon hunters were indeed the product of experiments!

Continuing to read, he saw the content about the origin of bloodline knights:

"...With the continuous improvement of demon hunter experiments, wizards gradually realized that although directly transplanting magical beast organs could quickly obtain powerful power, rejection reactions and deformation risks could never be completely eliminated."

"So, Elvin Oswalt of the Arcane Academy proposed the 'Bloodline Activation' theory..."

"...Elvin believed that humans already carried fragments of ancient biological bloodlines in their bodies. Only by awakening these sleeping genes through specific rituals could they obtain corresponding power. At the same time, because these bloodlines already existed in the body, rejection reactions would be greatly reduced..."

"...This theory was quickly verified and promoted, becoming the foundation of today's 'Bloodline Knight' system."

"Compared with demon hunters, although the leap in power of bloodline knights is not as good, the stability and safety are greatly improved, and the deformation rate is reduced by nearly 70%..."

Luo En suddenly realized:

"No wonder Andre said that the Faruk royal family mostly awakens fire lizard bloodlines; these should be the bloodline characteristics left by their ancestors."

Flipping to the part about advanced potential, Luo En saw some frustrating content:

"...As a product of wizard research, the advanced path of the knight profession is essentially a 'limited development' mode."

"Whether it is a demon hunter or a bloodline knight, after completing the ritual, physical fitness will have a significant leap, but the subsequent growth curve will drop sharply..."

"...The reason is that this way of power improvement is the stimulation of existing potential, not the creation of new growth paths."

"When the genetic potential in the body is fully activated, simple physical training loses its effect."

"If you want to continue to improve, you can only continue to dig deep into bloodline potential or transplant more powerful organs, but this will also cause the risk of uncontrolled deformation to rise exponentially..."

Does it mean that the so-called [Bloodline Knight] path, a formal knight is the top, and there is no way above?