Chapter 168: 172.Chapter 172 Summons from Afar

172. Chapter 172 Summons from Afar

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, a semester passed.

Since Mo Li moved into Lin Ke's villa, she has made rapid progress in knowledge study, meditation cultivation, magic mastery, research leadership, and team management.

In terms of academic performance, she placed second in both the midterm and final exams of the second-year autumn semester, only behind Lan Ni. Tai Le.

In meditation cultivation, she is infinitely close to the limit of a second-rank magic apprentice.

Only a little more time is needed to trigger a minor transformation of her sea of consciousness.

Becoming a third-rank magic apprentice is imminent.

It must be said, the experiments of Witch Selin on improving magic aptitude have indeed been significant.

Especially, after resolving the disharmony between soul and body, Witch Selin summoned Mo Li multiple times for targeted adjustments and nourishment.

Under the meticulous care of a senior pharmacist who is only a promotion away from being honored as a Grand Pharmacist, Mo Li not only did not pay a price for her initial gritty attempt, but instead reaped great benefits.

If tested now, even if Mo Li cannot reach the upper fourth rank, she is definitely an outstanding among the middle fourth rank.

It is roughly comparable to Lin Ke's initial aptitude.

Fortune or misfortune?

Who can know?

One can only say, heaven helps those who help themselves; those who help themselves are helped by heaven.

In terms of magic, the Do Anything Free group holds a practical drill once a week.

As time passed, the Benevolent Brother Group's members, all with lower fifth-rank aptitude, leveraged their advantage, greatly increasing their strength and causing Mo Li great trouble.

From almost always winning, to winning more and losing less, then to being evenly matched, this took about half a semester.

The three members of the Social Anxiety Group are not lacking in aptitude, study, or cultivation; after being influenced by the group's harmonious atmosphere, each has become much more outgoing.

During the practical drills, they also began to play aggressive attacks, their style becoming increasingly violent, no longer the initial defensive counterattacks.

Everyone polished each other, progressed together, and as magic apprentices they all gained combat power surpassing most peers.

Um... when relying solely on magic without rune items or magical implements.

Including rune items and magical implements, that becomes another evaluation system.

However, the Do Anything Free group firmly remembers the scene where the big shot single-handedly charged forward, suppressing dozens in a spectacular display.

Everyone is intensely enthusiastic about practicing magic.

In research and development, Mo Li independently led a project on an instant magic-recovery potion and achieved success.

The 'paper' was published, the 'patent' licensed to Witch Selin's potion shop, and the product sold well.

The ordinary local apprentices of the East District and the lower class of the West District, unable to afford expensive instant magic-replenishing potions, turned to Mo Li's developed instant magic-replenishing potion, and all spoke highly of it.

Good quality and low price, with toxic side effects nearly none!

Such a conscientious potion is rare; how could we not praise it?

In team management, the Do Anything Free group, after observation and evaluation, recruited six first-year Newblood.

The team grew considerably.

Moreover, these six new members all placed in the top ten of the combined rankings of the two first-year exams!

The Do Anything Free group is expected to have all its members participate in tomorrow's Two Districts Grand Comparison.

Among the seven or eight apprentice organizations of various sizes in the South District, this is truly unique.

As for Lin Ke, his progress is certainly not small.

He has relied on his outstanding talent, diligent effort, and a little bit of help from the 'golden finger'.

In one semester, he devoured all the books in the advanced academy's Library and all the data available in the high-level archives.

As for 'credits,' they were almost all exchanged for first-circle magic.

The academy is truly damn black-hearted.

The price of first-circle magic is damn expensive!

Whether purchasing with Magic Stones or exchanging with 'credits,' it's the same.

Considering that Magic Stones need to be reserved for purchasing supplies before the internship, Lin Ke had to reluctantly exchange 'credits' for first-circle magic.

In terms of cost-effectiveness, it's not very worthwhile.

But there's no choice; even if it's not cost-effective, we have to grit our teeth and exchange.

That is, there is a Do Anything Free group helping Lin Ke madly earn Magic Stones and 'credits'.

Otherwise, Lin Ke, who hardly conducted any research this semester, could afford how many first-circle magics?

Thus, centering on his innate magic 'Armor Lan Battle Armor,' Lin Ke carefully matched three water-system and three wood-system first-circle magics.

He did not over-extend his studies.

It's not that he doesn't want to, but that he cannot.

The reason is just one word,

Poor!

Therefore, to support Lin Ke's expenses as a formal mage, relying solely on the Do Anything Free group is insufficient.

They can only develop potions targeting magic apprentices; that is the limitation.

Even the few potions Lin Ke personally led in development earlier, after being sublimated by Witch Selin, can take effect on first- and second-rank mages.

If Lin Ke from before developed them alone, they could only target magic apprentices, with no exception.

This semester's Lin Ke has the ability but not the time.

This is a matter of choice.

It is a problem of balancing the allocation of energy and time.

Preferring to study knowledge rather than earn 'credits' and Magic Stones was Lin Ke's decision after careful thought.

First-circle witchcraft values precision over quantity, and can be supplemented later; lacking knowledge is absolutely unacceptable.

Fortunately, the difficult time has passed.

Light is on the way.

Starting from this vacation, he should have nearly half a year to devote his energy and time mainly to research.

Earn as many Magic Stones and 'credits' as possible.

Lin Ke thought so, and he acted accordingly.

Time slipped by unnoticed again.

In the blink of an eye, the vacation ended and the spring semester is about to begin.

Lin Ke was not very productive; over the entire vacation, he produced only one research result.

A potion developed from his intuitive feeling after many uses of 'multithreaded thinking', combined with the stimulation of his 'botany talent' and 'potion-making talent', together with his fairly rich knowledge accumulation, effectively enhances brain computing power.

Lin Ke named it 'Superbrain', with a simple and clear meaning.

He straightforwardly told everyone that this is a potion which, after drinking, can greatly boost brain computing power.

Witch apprentices can increase their brain computing power by 25% within ten minutes of drinking the potion;

First-rank witches can increase it by 22% within three minutes;

Second-rank witches can increase it by 18% within two minutes.

How is this effect?

This effect is as good as it gets.

Whether used daily for studying or in combat when needed, higher brain computing power is always better.

Especially during battle.

Higher brain computing power means finer control, clearer thinking, and more appropriate responses.

It means higher odds of victory.

Even a slight increase in odds of victory is worth spending a lot of money to buy!

When the wind blows away eggshells, wealth departs and people lose peace.

Nobody wants to face the grim situation where Magic Stones run out and then the person dies.

Such a potion that has hardly any toxic side effects and does not harm the brain while boosting brain computing power, once launched on the market, will surely sell well.

Upon seeing the sample of this potion, Witch Selin bluntly said she wanted to dissect Lin Ke's brain to see how he came up with developing such a potion and how he succeeded.

Such a talent for potion-making is truly enviable.

Therefore, Witch Selin specially convened a launch event.

She solemnly announced to those who, due to Lin Ke lying low for a semester, had doubted and wavered in their view of Witch Paro and her judgment:

Genius is genius.

Not that they don't sing; once they sing, they astonish everyone!

After the launch event, the sensation caused by the 'Superbrain' potion was in no way inferior to Witch Selin's earlier 'Remorse' potion. (See Volume 2, Chapter 99)

Even though Lin Ke himself did not attend the launch event due to special reasons, he still received extremely high praise.

The titles 'Next Witch Selin' and 'Genius Potion Maker' were directly placed upon Lin Ke's head.

Even the 'Ravosith Forum' actively gave extensive coverage to Lin Ke despite receiving no benefit.

They especially publicized how Lin Ke, in just one year, rose from an ignorant Storm Sea Newblood to a full-fledged witch, and his achievement in developing the 'Superbrain' potion.

For a time, Lin Ke stood out exceptionally.

His fame was unmatched for a while.

But Lin Ke grew increasingly low-key; he not only refused an interview from the 'Ravosith Forum', but also deliberately applied to the academy for a disguise magic device.

Intending to enter the advanced academy for further study under a false appearance.

Just then, a conscription order was suddenly delivered to Lin Ke.

Lin Ke can choose to respond to the summons, go to the front lines for early internship; or refuse to respond and continue advanced studies at the academy.

If the issuer of the conscription order were not Witch Paro, Lin Ke would definitely refuse it outright.

But the issuer of the conscription order happens to be Witch Paro.

In this situation, Lin Ke's choice is to consult Witch Selin and seek her advice.

"What are you hesitating about?"

Witch Selin's stunningly beautiful face, full of charm, appeared on the smartbrain screen as she asked doubtfully, "Witch Paro summoning you amidst her busy schedule must have his reasons; would he harm you?"

Lin Ke explained embarrassedly: "It's not that I'm worried about that; it's just that a conscription order suddenly arrived, leaving me uncertain whether it truly came from Witch Paro or if someone is using her name."

"It seems Luoken has twice played tricks on you, leaving you with a shadow."

Witch Selin smiled, made a joking remark, then gave the reason: "That guy Suolun has already returned to the homeland; it's said he has a fierce temper, so why don't you go avoid him for a while?"

Um…

Only then did Lin Ke suddenly realize why Witch Paro had hastily issued this conscription order.

It turned out that Suolun Luqiaya, who had been out of sight for over half a year, had returned.

This is a matter that cannot be ignored.

Even Witch Paro believes that Lin Ke should lie low for now to avoid the spotlight.

After all, no matter how intimidating Witch Kedi is, it's impossible for her to disregard her own future and safety, completely offend the Luqiaya family, and go all-out to fight Suolun Luqiaya.

Witch Selin also could not become Lin Ke's bodyguard.

Once Suolun Luqiaya sets her mind to eliminate Lin Ke, this serious threat, hardly anyone could stop her.

Including the academy's rules and protection!

After thinking it through, Lin Ke hurriedly said, "I'll respond to the conscription right away."

After he spoke, he didn't care whether it would be rude.

Lin Ke set the communication aside, returned to the conscription notice page, and chose to accept the conscription.

Seeing the words "Conscription response accepted" on the screen, Lin Ke breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he sincerely said, "Thank you, Witch Selin, for the reminder, and thank you, Witch Paro, for always worrying about my safety."

Witch Selin pursed her lips, her tone slightly disdainful: "That guy Paro really is always worrying about you."

Lin Ke always felt this sentence was steeped in jealousy.

Taking into account how Witch Selin had often, intentionally or unintentionally, revealed her resentment toward Witch Paro.

He didn't respond to that, but remained silent.

"Alright, go prepare early, don't be too anxious, but don't let your guard down."

Seeing this, Witch Selin held back her urge to keep complaining, gave a reminder, then hung up the communication.

"Lin Ke, when will you set out?"

Mo Li asked caringly, then immediately gave her suggestion: "I think the sooner the better, to avoid any complications."

She sat nearby, watching the whole process of Lin Ke receiving the conscription order, immediately contacting Witch Selin, and then agreeing to accept the conscription.

Even though she felt reluctant, the important matter came first.

Not only did she not show her reluctance, she actively offered suggestions.

Lin Ke then operated the smartbrain, checked the follow-up arrangements and suggested equipment list he had just received, and showed it to Mo Li: "The time has been set; tomorrow early morning. A special car will pick us up at 6:30."

"Then we need to start preparing now."

Mo Li checked the time, found there were less than 16 hours left, and suggested, "I'll pack your luggage; you go buy the equipment."

"Hmm, just like that."

Lin Ke had no objection to that.

The two split up to act, increasing efficiency.

Riding the villa's complimentary unmanned hovercar, Lin Ke headed straight for the North District of Ruiwo Suosi City.

All the accumulated Magic Stones were quickly used up in less than twenty minutes of shopping.

He barely managed to purchase all the equipment on the list.

Returning to the villa, Mo Li had already, with the help of the intelligent puppet butler, packed Lin Ke's luggage.

Clothing, daily necessities, high-energy rations, tent, tools—everything was ready, without omission.

Then he sorted the suggested equipment into categories and placed them in the package.

The preparations for the journey were thus complete.

Mo Li stood at the door of Lin Ke's bedroom, took a deep look, said nothing, returned to her room, and began packing her things.

She intended to move back to the dormitory to live.

If Lin Ke weren't there, even if the villa were huge and comfortable, Mo Li wouldn't want to live here.

Everywhere bore traces of their shared life, everywhere held their memories.

Yet only she herself remained.

Out of habit, she called out, but no one answered.

This feeling would be agonizing.

Mo Li did not want to, nor was she willing to, experience this agony.

After packing her luggage, Mo Li lay on the bed, pulled up the covers, and covered her head.

There were no tears.

It wasn't as if she would never return after leaving.

She just suddenly wanted to clear her mind and be alone quietly.

Not listening to Lin Ke's sounds, not sensing his breathing.

As she sat quietly, not knowing when, Mo Li actually fell into a deep sleep.

Lin Ke silently entered Mo Li's room.

After sensing, he found Mo Li indeed asleep, so he tucked her in with the blanket, then silently slipped out.

Actually, whether or not to cover her with the blanket makes no difference.

Given Mo Li's physique, how could she possibly catch a chill?

This is just a gesture of care.

The next day.

As dawn just broke, Mo Li got up.

After washing up, she came to the intelligent kitchen and halted the meal preparation program that was about to start.

Following the instructions and tutorial, she fumbled to prepare breakfast.

Soon, a burnt smell filled the whole kitchen.

The fried egg was burnt.

A pitch-black mess.

Not to mention eating it; just looking at it kills the appetite.

Lin Ke came over smelling it, but merely stood at the kitchen doorway, not entering.

Watching Mo Li repeatedly try, she finally managed to make two servings of breakfast that were at least passable.

"Yah, what are you doing here?"

Turning around and seeing Lin Ke standing at the doorway, Mo Li was startled and nearly knocked over the two plates she was holding.

Come on, try your cooking.

Lin Ke smiled and led the way to the restaurant.

Mo Li glanced down, seeing that the appearance and smell were nowhere near the breakfast made by the smart kitchen, she stuck out her tongue, but still carried it out.

Let's eat.

Lin Ke didn't stand on ceremony with Mo Li, called out, picked up his knife and fork, and tucked in.

This good?

Seeing Lin Ke eat with such relish, Mo Li grew suspicious.

Today is her first time cooking.

Didn't expect it to be actually not bad!

Mo Li cut a piece of fried egg, put it in her mouth, chewed only twice before spitting it out.

Not only salty, but bitter!

Lin Ke watched Mo Li repeatedly gulp water and rinse her mouth, and smiled faintly.

What he ate wasn't breakfast.

But it was the thought that counts.