Chapter 16: Reward

Another Monday.

Lin Ke entered the classroom full of energy, with Mo Li closely following.

"Have you heard, Lin Ke? Someone in our batch of Newblood has already advanced to First Grade Wizard Apprentice. It's said that person is Upper Fourth Grade, just a hair's breadth from Lower Fifth Grade Aptitude. He actually advanced faster than the dozen or so Lower Fifth Grade Newblood—amazing!"

Mo Li sat down, didn't immediately start reading, but with a somewhat complicated mood shared the news she saw on her Portable Smart Brain on the way.

Don't be fooled by the fact that she's been with Lin Ke all day for the past two weeks; the time they actually spend talking is really little, basically limited to before morning class and after evening class.

Saying this, she again felt a bit downcast.

"When will I ever advance to First Grade Wizard Apprentice! My aptitude is only Upper Third Grade, far inferior to that person!"

Lin Ke blinked slightly at her words, hesitated a moment, then said seriously: "Based on your meditation progress you described yesterday, it'll likely take another two weeks to complete the first layer of the meditation method and advance to First Grade Wizard Apprentice."

These days, seeing that Mo Li was indeed studying more diligently, Lin Ke shared some meditation experience with her.

Unexpectedly, Mo Li showed a tendency to "climb up the pole," and starting the day after Lin Ke began sharing meditation experience with her, she would each day detail her meditation progress from the previous day.

When it comes to seizing opportunities, Mo Li hummed, indicating she's not lacking.

"How do you know?"

Mo Li's first reaction was disbelief: "You haven't even advanced to First Grade Wizard Apprentice—how could you possibly know this so clearly!"

Muttering, Mo Li reacted, turned around in a flash, her eyes shining as if emitting light, but she lowered her voice in astonishment: "You… you… you've also advanced to First Grade Wizard Apprentice?"

"Hmm."

Lin Ke gave an affirmative answer with a calm expression: "It hasn't been long since the promotion."

Mo Li hurriedly asked: "Have you reported it to the academy?"

"No."

Lin Ke shook his head.

"Oh dear."

Mo Li let out a strange shout, grabbed Lin Ke's right arm with both hands and shook it vigorously, her expression unusually excited: "How can you not report it? The forum just said that for each batch, the academy gives rewards to the top five who advance. First place gets five Magic Stones and a Zero-ring Wizardry, second place gets four Magic Stones and a Zero-ring Wizardry, and so on; after the top five, you get nothing."

"I haven't seen this news yet."

Lin Ke really froze this time—never mind the Magic Stones, the Zero-ring Wizardry is something he's been desperately searching for lately but couldn't find.

Earlier, after leaving the Cafeteria, he had indeed felt the Portable Smart Brain vibrate, but he hadn't taken it out to check the details.

"Then hurry up and report to the academy right away! Magic Stones, wizardry, rewards!"

Mo Li appeared extremely anxious, almost wishing she could press Lin Ke's hand to operate the Portable Smart Brain.

"First, let go."

Lin Ke, with one hand pulling out the Portable Smart Brain with his left, raised his chin and tapped the right hand that Mo Li was shaking.

"Oh."

Mo Li got overexcited and forgot that.

Lin Ke unlocked the Portable Smart Brain, clicked the academy's official procedure icon badge, and entered the "official website."

Actually, Lin Ke already knew how to report to the academy; he just hadn't done it out of a desire to stay low-key.

Now there's already a very conspicuous early bird; if he quietly follows, he can claim the reward without standing out too much—wouldn't that be great?

"Um… Lin Ke had only guessed before, not sure that reporting would bring a reward, and the reward was quite good; he consoled himself like this in his heart."

Following the instructions, Lin Ke filled in his information.

The academy's "official website" immediately began the verification process.

After Lin Ke repeatedly authorized it, the Portable Smart Brain shot a blue light from its front-facing camera, beginning to scan his whole body.

The blue light lingered at the spot between his eyebrows, as if stalled.

Lin Ke's consciousness promptly sank into his sea of consciousness, inverting the real‑illusion relation of the rune equilateral triangle's substance and its reflection, then he dispelled the protection of the Brain Seal Technique.

Only after the blue light recognized the presence of the rune equilateral triangle did it shift to that location.

Soon after, the blue light retracted.

The Portable Smart Brain then popped up three notifications in a row from the "official website":

"Linke Grand, verified, you have advanced to First Grade Wizard Apprentice; as the third Newblood to advance in your batch, you are specially granted three standard first‑grade Magic Stones and free study qualification for one Zero‑ring Wizardry. Keep up the good work."

"Linke Grand, verified, you have advanced to First Grade Wizard Apprentice; you meet the basic condition for the annual subsidy of three standard first‑grade Magic Stones. Keep up the good work."

"Linke Grand, your reward and subsidy have been placed in the mailbox outside your dormitory door; please collect them promptly."

Third place—not bad at all.

Lin Ke nodded in satisfaction, exited the academy's "official website," revoked the permissions he had just granted one by one, and put away the Portable Smart Brain.

"Aren't you going back to collect the reward?"

Mo Li watched Lin Ke's entire operation from the side, her mood gradually calming, no longer as excited as before; seeing Lin Ke finish reporting and then settle into a calm reading posture, she couldn't help but ask curiously.

If it were her, she would have already flown back to the dormitory and secured the reward.

Lin Ke replied: "Opening the mailbox requires identity verification; others can't open it unless they use force. Since it's secure, even if you got the reward earlier, you couldn't use it right away—why rush?"

"Oh."

Mo Li pursed her lips, saying, "You've got a good mindset, while I just can't stay calm."

Her eyes rolled around, Mo Li put on a fawning smile, grabbed Lin Ke's right arm with both hands, and cooed: "Lin Ke, you advanced to First Grade Wizard Apprentice and never told me! I'm unhappy! Unless you share your experience with me!"

Lin Ke was speechless.

"Demon girl, you're back again?"

"When you reach the critical point of advancement, I'll certainly share my experience with you."

Lin Ke said seriously: "Advancing to First Grade Wizard Apprentice isn't such a big deal; being quick in one step doesn't mean you'll keep being quick, so there's no need to make it known to everyone."

"Exactly, exactly, you're absolutely right."

Mo Li interjected, imitating Lin Ke's tone: "Our current stage is all about learning, aiming to advance to full wizard as quickly and as early as possible; we've merely crossed a small hurdle, and it's not yet time to relax."

"As long as you can understand, that's good."

Lin Ke gave a slight nod, then didn't want to waste time chatting idly, and focused on reading.

Mo Li stared at Lin Ke's face from the side for a long time before turning her head away to attend to her own matters.

For some reason, whenever she tried to act cute and use her beauty to tempt, Lin Ke grew more serious and showed no desire to take advantage of her; instead, she felt more at ease acting cute and tempting Lin Ke.

She felt she had been poisoned.

(End of chapter)