Chapter 14: Instrument and Technique

The circulating currency among wizards is magic stones.

But the main continent is densely populated, not everyone is a wizard, there are still many ordinary people, and gold and silver currency is also in normal use.

The Que Te Archipelago lacks the ability to issue currency; all circulating currency is transported from the main continent.

So the gold and silver coins that Madame Gelande gave Lin Ke can also be used in the Life Service Building.

Lin Ke has only been to the Life Service Building once; he is not particularly familiar with this four-story small building, only knowing the general layout.

The first floor mainly offers food and drink; some noble-born Newbloods who are not used to the cafeteria's stew and have some money will come here to improve their meals.

The second floor specializes in various smart devices, such as intelligent mechanical puppets, such as Portable Smart Brains.

Not all Newbloods can receive a free Portable Smart Brain from the academy on large aircraft, and the Portable Smart Brain is indispensable for Newbloods' life and study at the academy.

Therefore, for those Newbloods who did not receive a free Portable Smart Brain and have no money, the second-floor specialty store launched a Smart Brain Loan...

The third floor is a large bookstore.

The Library contains mostly popular, basic books; few involve advanced knowledge.

Many good books recording advanced and extended knowledge can only be purchased from bookstores.

The price is naturally not beautiful at all.

The fourth floor has all kinds of shops, with a dazzling variety of goods, and at the same time it's a mix of good and bad.

Shopping here is very testing of one's eyesight.

Lin Ke's needs are clear: a small weapon, easy to carry, capable of injuring Second Grade Wizard Apprentices and even Third Grade Wizard Apprentices.

Many weapons meet this need, mainly rune weapons, and even wizard implements.

So-called rune weapons, or more precisely, rune items, are ordinary objects with some runes added, giving them special properties and enabling special functions.

But a few scattered, non-systematic runes cannot cause a qualitative change in objects; they cannot be called wizard implements, have limited effects, and are not accepted by formal wizards.

Wizard apprentices and some ordinary nobles quite like using rune items.

Lin Ke is short of money, naturally cannot afford wizard implements that must be bought with magic stones, so he can only limit his search to rune weapons.

Looking east and west, Lin Ke took a fancy to a Breaking Law Sleeve Crossbow in a second-hand goods store.

Whether a Second Grade Wizard Apprentice about to be promoted or already a Third Grade Wizard Apprentice, they have not yet fully escaped the realm of mortal flesh; being hit in a vital spot by a crossbow bolt will cause serious injury, or even death.

The Breaking Law attribute of crossbow bolts is specifically used to target defenses such as shields and armor.

After arduous bargaining, Lin Ke finally bought this second-hand Breaking Law Sleeve Crossbow with three crossbow bolts for the price of two gold coins and fifty silver coins.

After buying the sleeve crossbow, he immediately equipped it.

So-called "fierce person, few words" is exactly this.

If you have the intention to deal with me, I'm not afraid to kill you.

Returning to the dormitory, Lin Ke preset several scenarios for using the sleeve crossbow, such as setting an ambush, such as launching a cold arrow suddenly, and also a counterattack from the ground...

After practicing each several times, familiar with how to shoot the crossbow bolt at the most tricky angle and fastest speed in those scenarios, Lin Ke then satisfiedly stopped.

Washing up, changing clothes, meditating.

For wizard apprentices, meditation is the most important means of increasing strength.

Only by persisting day after day can one make progress.

Lin Ke operated the Brain Seal Technique; his consciousness sank into the sea of consciousness, exchanging the real and illusory relationship of the entity and reflection of the equilateral triangle rune; then mental power was condensed into threads, first tracing the derived rune at the top vertex once, then moving to the bottom left corner, tracing the water-element affinity rune once, then moving to the bottom right corner, tracing the wood-element affinity rune once, and returning to the top vertex to form a cycle.

Each cycle consumes three standard units of mental power; after five consecutive cycles, Lin Ke's mental power entered an exhausted state.

Exiting the meditative state, although not tested and no data shown, Lin Ke intuitively felt his mental power quantity slightly increased a little, and his body also gained two kinds of magic power.

One kind of magic power is gentle and moistening; the other is full of vitality.

These two kinds of magic power are not concentratedly stored in any body part or organ, but are dispersed in every cell.

Because the quantity is still too small, Lin Ke has not cultivated any special method for tempering the body with magic power, so for now there is nothing miraculous.

However, Lin Ke is very satisfied with the effect of tonight's meditation.

The vast majority of Newbloods, after passing the first two and a half stages of meditation, first engrave a will rune in the sea of consciousness, then continuously meditate solely on that will rune for a period of time.

After becoming familiar with the rhythm and state of meditation, the ability to control mental power is also trained; then one proceeds to engrave other runes, finally forming a rune cycle and promoting to First Grade Wizard Apprentice.

Not to mention the time-consuming nature, the effect is not particularly obvious either.

Unlike Lin Ke, who promoted to First Grade Wizard Apprentice upon his first meditation, and thereafter each meditation steadily increases his mental power, with magic power gathering more smoothly.

Simply perfect.

Sleep.

……

Next day.

The sun rose as usual.

Lin Ke got up early, cleaned his personal hygiene, donned the morning glow, and went to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Leaving the cafeteria, on the way to the teaching building, Lin Ke deeply understood the strong pursuit of the legendary cultivators of his past life for bodily purity and abstaining from grains.

Such trivialities unavoidable in daily life are really a waste of time.

Eating is still okay to say.

Lin Ke still loves delicious food.

But spending a large amount of time each day on washing up and changing clothes makes Lin Ke somewhat intolerant.

Lin Ke secretly decided that he must learn a wizardry with cleansing effect, so that with a swoosh the clothes would be clean, and with another swoosh the body would be clean!

But wizardry is not something you can learn just by wanting to; the course "The Essence, Origin and Development of Wizardry" is the only one Lin Ke can currently access for knowledge of wizardry, yet it does not contain a complete wizardry model.

As for the course on wizardry models, it should be offered only next semester.

Lin Ke wants to study wizardry in advance; currently there are only three possible ways.

First, report to the academy his promotion to First Grade Wizard Apprentice, seeking any possible benefits or rewards;

Second, in the Library, sifting through the sands like panning for gold, to find among hundreds of thousands of books a witchcraft model as precious and rare as a pearl in the sea;

Third, purchase it at the bookstore in the Life Service Building.

However, each of these three approaches has its own drawbacks.

Buying at the bookstore costs Magic Stone; Lin Ke's annual subsidy of three standard first‑grade Magic Stones has not yet been issued, and his pockets are empty.

Trying to find it in the Library, the odds are equivalent to winning five million in a lottery.

All things considered, reporting to the Academy might still be the most suitable, though it would be a bit more high‑profile, after all classes have only just started two weeks ago.

Lin Ke did not rush to make a choice among the three options.

And be patient, wait a bit longer—who knows, there might be another way.

(End of Chapter)