Chapter 28
Pale Mask
After finishing the delicious red fungus and mushroom soup, Green felt refreshed, as if a pair of girls' hands were constantly tickling him.
Picking up the crystal ball and silently chanting an incantation, Green exclaimed in surprise after a moment, "Mental strength 23! It actually increased by 3 points!"
Indeed, after wearing the Joyful Spring Necklace, Green's mental strength had already reached 20 points. However, after eating the precious red-eared mushroom he obtained from the fat man and undergoing a period of mental stimulation, Green's mental strength actually increased to 23 points.
"but……"
Green gave another wry smile.
"Although my mental strength has increased, my magic power is only 144-148 points. I simply cannot unleash such powerful mental strength. It seems that daily meditation will be essential during this period."
After a moment of silence, Green made his decision.
Green avoided almost all contact with others, ignoring both gatherings from the Bloodsail Alliance and invitations from a few acquaintances. He focused solely on meditation each day, striving to improve his magical power.
Then comes the purification of horseflies and snails.
The remaining time was devoted to improving the elemental magic array deep within the soul.
As for the job cleaning the library, Green silently quit. As time passed, two months later, all of Green's companion worms were successfully cultivated.
Three months later, Green's elemental magic circle was completed.
Four months later, on this day, Green finally raised his magic power to 224-230 points, which was basically matched with the corresponding mental power level.
Four months later, Green completed the first major transformation in his life.
On this day, Green was in high spirits. Thinking about the progress made a few days ago regarding the forbidden zone of the life code, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious, almost waiting for Varo's call from the seventh floor of the Black Tower at any moment.
Moreover, the time to collect the magic stone from the fat man this month is almost here.
To be honest, the Philosopher's Stone that Green got from the fat man was rather extravagant, or rather, rather extravagant for a wizarding apprentice.
In the first month, Green received four hundred magic stones, which surprised him so much that he chuckled at the fat man.
However, when he received a thousand magic stones from the fat man in the second month, Green was utterly shocked!
When Lin received a full thirty intermediate magic stones from the fat man in the third month, he was grinning from ear to ear.
As for this month...
Green felt almost numb, because he realized he had no use for these magic stones.
Green felt that if things continued like this, in a decade or so, even some wizards might not be as valuable as him.
The only thing that reassured Green was that almost everyone at Blacksota Wizarding Academy knew that the fat magic apprentice possessed enormous wealth, yet he was still doing well. It seemed that the fat man did indeed have a very powerful background behind him.
With the Philosopher's Stone on his mind, Grimm did not immediately go to Black Tower.
Before that, Green had another matter to attend to: proving that he had officially transitioned from a novice to a wizard apprentice and obtaining his wizard apprentice certificate.
Half an hourglass later, Green arrived at the secluded tower of the Wizarding Academy.
A wizard resides in the tower year-round, specifically to test whether newcomers have successfully mastered more than three spells.
Although this tower is very famous and almost everyone knows it, almost no one will come back to it a second time in their lifetime, so it is not considered a gathering place for wizard apprentices.
A moment later, Green smelled the scent emanating from the wizard in front of him and almost had the urge to laugh, because the scent emanating from the wizard was actually a fragrance of love, Venus, that Green had concocted, and it was a perfume suitable for women.
Therefore, Green guessed that the wizard who was covered up was actually a woman.
After obtaining his wizard apprentice certificate, Green arrived at the fat man's place on the first floor of Black Tower.
"Hey, I used to deliver the magic stones to your place, why did you come out by yourself today? Has your witchcraft research made some progress?"
The fat guy was joking with Green.
However, the fat man understood. The Black Tower Wizarding Academy's newcomer trial, known as the Blood Millstone, was not easy to pass. A slight mistake could lead to certain death. Therefore, no amount of strengthening was too much for those who participated in the trial.
"There's been no progress. Even if there is some progress, it only increases our chances of surviving the trials."
Green shook his head.
"Alright, I suppose you have your own plans, after all, you're a guy with a fortune now, haha, here, this is your share for this month."
After saying that, the fat man handed Green a small bag.
Green glanced at them and saw that they were all mid-level magic stones, numbering around forty or fifty.
Grimm was numb to these stone-like things and only wanted to convert these magic stones into combat power as soon as possible. After thinking for a while, Grimm asked the fat man if he could use his connections to buy a high-level microscope from the Seventh Ring Tower, which represented a higher wizarding authority.
"The Seven-Ringed Holy Tower? This isn't a place anyone can just go to! Of course, if you're a certified wizard, no one will stop you from going anywhere."
The fat man glanced at Green and gritted his teeth, saying, "Alright, I'll see if any wizards in the family are going there. I'll ask when I have time, but don't get your hopes up too high anytime soon. You won't get any news until after your trial is over at the earliest."
Green was aware of the situation and didn't make any unreasonable demands, nodding in agreement.
Afterwards, Green arrived at the third floor of Black Tower. Looking at the rooms with signs hanging on them, he thought for a moment and went directly into a room with an alchemy sign.
Green's most pressing need right now is to learn alchemy and potion magic, and he also wants to get a little acquainted with mysticism and mechanical magic.
As for bloodline magic, although Green wanted to learn about it, he had no intention of studying it in depth.
A short, thin but energetic wizard sat in the room with his legs crossed, humming a tune as he looked at the wizarding books in his hands.
As Grimm entered the room, the old wizard glanced at him and asked nonchalantly, "Are you crafting magical artifacts, or learning alchemy?"
After performing the wizard's salute, Green calmly said, "I would like to ask you to craft magical artifacts, and I also wish to learn alchemy."
"Let's put the crafting of magical artifacts aside for now. Knowledge is priceless, but the academy has set a price for training apprentices. Hmm... If you want to ask some questions about alchemy, it's ten magic stones per question. If you want me to teach you the basics of alchemy privately, it's two hundred magic stones a day. I guarantee you'll learn all the theoretical foundations of alchemy in ten days."
The wizard chuckled: "Of course, understanding and practical application will likely require decades, even centuries, of practice before you can truly create your own magical artifact. Which one do you choose?"
Without hesitation, Green said in a deep voice, "I choose the second one, this is the magic stone."
The wizard took the bag Lin handed him, glanced at it, and exclaimed in surprise, "You ordered the whole course directly? This little guy is quite wealthy! Haha, I like it! Okay, the course will start tomorrow. Be on time then. Now you can tell me what level and type of magical artifact you want to order."
"Um, I'd like to commission a top-tier magical artifact for a wizard apprentice, primarily for defense against external magical attacks, preferably a breastplate or a chest protector. Also, I'd like a magic wand that can enhance magical power; I wonder if that's possible..."
"A magic wand that amplifies magic power? Generally speaking, these are only worthwhile for wizards with powerful magic. As a mere wizard apprentice, it's best for you to use a magic wand that seals magic. I suggest you wait until you advance to become a full wizard before ordering one. As for defensive magical artifacts, I actually happen to have one here."
As he spoke, the old wizard got up, rummaged around in the inner room for a while, and then handed Green a mysterious magical artifact.
"mask?"
Green was somewhat surprised. It was a white mask covered with purple spiral patterns, with a pointed horn on top, revealing only two eyes and nostrils, making it look rather mysterious.
"Hmph, I only showed you this magical artifact because I saw you had some magic stones. This mask is a replica of a famous magical artifact, and it was the strongest magical artifact I had when I was a wizard apprentice. Fixed price, minimum two thousand magic stones."
The old wizard spoke without even blinking.
"So expensive!"
Green was startled, knowing that the Eternal Earring, which was also a top-tier wizarding artifact for wizard apprentices, only cost six hundred magic stones.
"Good stuff is naturally expensive, otherwise do you think I wouldn't be willing to sell it after all these years?"
The old wizard curled his lip.
"This mask has two functions. First, it activates a magical defense shield, which is basically immune to attacks below 20 degrees Celsius. For attacks above 20 degrees Celsius, you only need one-tenth of the attack's magical power to easily defend against them. For attacks above 60 degrees Celsius, you'll need to consume about one-third of the opponent's magical power. For attacks above 100 degrees Celsius, the shield can block them, but the magical power consumed by you and the opponent will be equal. As for attacks above 150 degrees Celsius, don't count on this mask."
Green roughly calculated in his mind that with his maximum mental strength of 23, he could only unleash about 5 to 6 mental strength at a time. And with the amplification of the improved Firebird Elemental Magic Array, 5 to 6 mental strength could generate an attack of about 45 to 55 degrees, which was his strongest attack.
And his strongest attack, if it were to face this mask-like defensive artifact, would only require one-tenth of his magic power to defend against!
Grimm gasped. Such a powerful magical artifact?
Seeing Green's dumbfounded expression, the old wizard sneered, "That's only its first function. Its second function? See that horn on its head?"
The old wizard pointed to the corner of the mask and said, "This incorporates a kind of witchcraft called ultrasonic positioning. You'll understand once you put it on."
After putting on the mask, Green felt as if he had gained an extra sense, similar to an ear.
Beneath the mask, Green was able to "see" a world without color or smell, only matter, through sound—truly a magical ability.
However, for Green, since there is already a similar nose-hunting witchcraft, the second function of this mask is not as important as the defensive shield function.
Taking a deep breath, Green asked, "What's the name of this mask?"
"Pale Mask".
"Pale Mask!"
Green was startled, and almost instantly thought of the faceless masked wizard on the ship who summoned countless crows.
Could it be that this mask has some connection with that great wizard?
After thinking for a moment, Green made up his mind that he had to get his hands on this masked artifact.
Even though he had become a peak wizard apprentice with forty points of mental power, this extremely powerful magical artifact could still play a very strong role.
However, Green then asked, "What about the magic wand?"
After a moment's thought, the old wizard said, "A magic wand? If it's something like the Mask, I don't have any here right now. Even if I wanted to forge one, I couldn't be sure if I could do it in a short time. After all, the materials used to forge these top-tier apprentice wizard artifacts are already very close to those of real artifacts, but the price is much lower, and cost must also be considered. However…"
Green was used to the old wizard keeping things in suspense, and eagerly asked, "But what?"
"Hehe, look at this treasure of mine. I acquired it by chance more than ten years ago. It's a very creative magic wand called Blood Bat Kiss."
As he spoke, the old wizard handed a dark, unremarkable magic wand to Grimm.
"Six hundred magic stones."
Holding his magic wand, Green sensed the power for a moment, and as his magic was activated, a giant bat composed of pure wind elements appeared in the room. The bat's wingspan was about three meters, and its back looked just large enough to support a person as they flew.
"this……"
Whether it was a unique cognitive illusion of Green's or not, when Green saw this bat made entirely of wind elements, his first thought was not its ability to fly, but rather the further improvement of elemental magic arrays.
Picking up the crystal ball and silently chanting an incantation, Green exclaimed in surprise after a moment, "Mental strength 23! It actually increased by 3 points!"
Indeed, after wearing the Joyful Spring Necklace, Green's mental strength had already reached 20 points. However, after eating the precious red-eared mushroom he obtained from the fat man and undergoing a period of mental stimulation, Green's mental strength actually increased to 23 points.
"but……"
Green gave another wry smile.
"Although my mental strength has increased, my magic power is only 144-148 points. I simply cannot unleash such powerful mental strength. It seems that daily meditation will be essential during this period."
After a moment of silence, Green made his decision.
Green avoided almost all contact with others, ignoring both gatherings from the Bloodsail Alliance and invitations from a few acquaintances. He focused solely on meditation each day, striving to improve his magical power.
Then comes the purification of horseflies and snails.
The remaining time was devoted to improving the elemental magic array deep within the soul.
As for the job cleaning the library, Green silently quit. As time passed, two months later, all of Green's companion worms were successfully cultivated.
Three months later, Green's elemental magic circle was completed.
Four months later, on this day, Green finally raised his magic power to 224-230 points, which was basically matched with the corresponding mental power level.
Four months later, Green completed the first major transformation in his life.
On this day, Green was in high spirits. Thinking about the progress made a few days ago regarding the forbidden zone of the life code, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious, almost waiting for Varo's call from the seventh floor of the Black Tower at any moment.
Moreover, the time to collect the magic stone from the fat man this month is almost here.
To be honest, the Philosopher's Stone that Green got from the fat man was rather extravagant, or rather, rather extravagant for a wizarding apprentice.
In the first month, Green received four hundred magic stones, which surprised him so much that he chuckled at the fat man.
However, when he received a thousand magic stones from the fat man in the second month, Green was utterly shocked!
When Lin received a full thirty intermediate magic stones from the fat man in the third month, he was grinning from ear to ear.
As for this month...
Green felt almost numb, because he realized he had no use for these magic stones.
Green felt that if things continued like this, in a decade or so, even some wizards might not be as valuable as him.
The only thing that reassured Green was that almost everyone at Blacksota Wizarding Academy knew that the fat magic apprentice possessed enormous wealth, yet he was still doing well. It seemed that the fat man did indeed have a very powerful background behind him.
With the Philosopher's Stone on his mind, Grimm did not immediately go to Black Tower.
Before that, Green had another matter to attend to: proving that he had officially transitioned from a novice to a wizard apprentice and obtaining his wizard apprentice certificate.
Half an hourglass later, Green arrived at the secluded tower of the Wizarding Academy.
A wizard resides in the tower year-round, specifically to test whether newcomers have successfully mastered more than three spells.
Although this tower is very famous and almost everyone knows it, almost no one will come back to it a second time in their lifetime, so it is not considered a gathering place for wizard apprentices.
A moment later, Green smelled the scent emanating from the wizard in front of him and almost had the urge to laugh, because the scent emanating from the wizard was actually a fragrance of love, Venus, that Green had concocted, and it was a perfume suitable for women.
Therefore, Green guessed that the wizard who was covered up was actually a woman.
After obtaining his wizard apprentice certificate, Green arrived at the fat man's place on the first floor of Black Tower.
"Hey, I used to deliver the magic stones to your place, why did you come out by yourself today? Has your witchcraft research made some progress?"
The fat guy was joking with Green.
However, the fat man understood. The Black Tower Wizarding Academy's newcomer trial, known as the Blood Millstone, was not easy to pass. A slight mistake could lead to certain death. Therefore, no amount of strengthening was too much for those who participated in the trial.
"There's been no progress. Even if there is some progress, it only increases our chances of surviving the trials."
Green shook his head.
"Alright, I suppose you have your own plans, after all, you're a guy with a fortune now, haha, here, this is your share for this month."
After saying that, the fat man handed Green a small bag.
Green glanced at them and saw that they were all mid-level magic stones, numbering around forty or fifty.
Grimm was numb to these stone-like things and only wanted to convert these magic stones into combat power as soon as possible. After thinking for a while, Grimm asked the fat man if he could use his connections to buy a high-level microscope from the Seventh Ring Tower, which represented a higher wizarding authority.
"The Seven-Ringed Holy Tower? This isn't a place anyone can just go to! Of course, if you're a certified wizard, no one will stop you from going anywhere."
The fat man glanced at Green and gritted his teeth, saying, "Alright, I'll see if any wizards in the family are going there. I'll ask when I have time, but don't get your hopes up too high anytime soon. You won't get any news until after your trial is over at the earliest."
Green was aware of the situation and didn't make any unreasonable demands, nodding in agreement.
Afterwards, Green arrived at the third floor of Black Tower. Looking at the rooms with signs hanging on them, he thought for a moment and went directly into a room with an alchemy sign.
Green's most pressing need right now is to learn alchemy and potion magic, and he also wants to get a little acquainted with mysticism and mechanical magic.
As for bloodline magic, although Green wanted to learn about it, he had no intention of studying it in depth.
A short, thin but energetic wizard sat in the room with his legs crossed, humming a tune as he looked at the wizarding books in his hands.
As Grimm entered the room, the old wizard glanced at him and asked nonchalantly, "Are you crafting magical artifacts, or learning alchemy?"
After performing the wizard's salute, Green calmly said, "I would like to ask you to craft magical artifacts, and I also wish to learn alchemy."
"Let's put the crafting of magical artifacts aside for now. Knowledge is priceless, but the academy has set a price for training apprentices. Hmm... If you want to ask some questions about alchemy, it's ten magic stones per question. If you want me to teach you the basics of alchemy privately, it's two hundred magic stones a day. I guarantee you'll learn all the theoretical foundations of alchemy in ten days."
The wizard chuckled: "Of course, understanding and practical application will likely require decades, even centuries, of practice before you can truly create your own magical artifact. Which one do you choose?"
Without hesitation, Green said in a deep voice, "I choose the second one, this is the magic stone."
The wizard took the bag Lin handed him, glanced at it, and exclaimed in surprise, "You ordered the whole course directly? This little guy is quite wealthy! Haha, I like it! Okay, the course will start tomorrow. Be on time then. Now you can tell me what level and type of magical artifact you want to order."
"Um, I'd like to commission a top-tier magical artifact for a wizard apprentice, primarily for defense against external magical attacks, preferably a breastplate or a chest protector. Also, I'd like a magic wand that can enhance magical power; I wonder if that's possible..."
"A magic wand that amplifies magic power? Generally speaking, these are only worthwhile for wizards with powerful magic. As a mere wizard apprentice, it's best for you to use a magic wand that seals magic. I suggest you wait until you advance to become a full wizard before ordering one. As for defensive magical artifacts, I actually happen to have one here."
As he spoke, the old wizard got up, rummaged around in the inner room for a while, and then handed Green a mysterious magical artifact.
"mask?"
Green was somewhat surprised. It was a white mask covered with purple spiral patterns, with a pointed horn on top, revealing only two eyes and nostrils, making it look rather mysterious.
"Hmph, I only showed you this magical artifact because I saw you had some magic stones. This mask is a replica of a famous magical artifact, and it was the strongest magical artifact I had when I was a wizard apprentice. Fixed price, minimum two thousand magic stones."
The old wizard spoke without even blinking.
"So expensive!"
Green was startled, knowing that the Eternal Earring, which was also a top-tier wizarding artifact for wizard apprentices, only cost six hundred magic stones.
"Good stuff is naturally expensive, otherwise do you think I wouldn't be willing to sell it after all these years?"
The old wizard curled his lip.
"This mask has two functions. First, it activates a magical defense shield, which is basically immune to attacks below 20 degrees Celsius. For attacks above 20 degrees Celsius, you only need one-tenth of the attack's magical power to easily defend against them. For attacks above 60 degrees Celsius, you'll need to consume about one-third of the opponent's magical power. For attacks above 100 degrees Celsius, the shield can block them, but the magical power consumed by you and the opponent will be equal. As for attacks above 150 degrees Celsius, don't count on this mask."
Green roughly calculated in his mind that with his maximum mental strength of 23, he could only unleash about 5 to 6 mental strength at a time. And with the amplification of the improved Firebird Elemental Magic Array, 5 to 6 mental strength could generate an attack of about 45 to 55 degrees, which was his strongest attack.
And his strongest attack, if it were to face this mask-like defensive artifact, would only require one-tenth of his magic power to defend against!
Grimm gasped. Such a powerful magical artifact?
Seeing Green's dumbfounded expression, the old wizard sneered, "That's only its first function. Its second function? See that horn on its head?"
The old wizard pointed to the corner of the mask and said, "This incorporates a kind of witchcraft called ultrasonic positioning. You'll understand once you put it on."
After putting on the mask, Green felt as if he had gained an extra sense, similar to an ear.
Beneath the mask, Green was able to "see" a world without color or smell, only matter, through sound—truly a magical ability.
However, for Green, since there is already a similar nose-hunting witchcraft, the second function of this mask is not as important as the defensive shield function.
Taking a deep breath, Green asked, "What's the name of this mask?"
"Pale Mask".
"Pale Mask!"
Green was startled, and almost instantly thought of the faceless masked wizard on the ship who summoned countless crows.
Could it be that this mask has some connection with that great wizard?
After thinking for a moment, Green made up his mind that he had to get his hands on this masked artifact.
Even though he had become a peak wizard apprentice with forty points of mental power, this extremely powerful magical artifact could still play a very strong role.
However, Green then asked, "What about the magic wand?"
After a moment's thought, the old wizard said, "A magic wand? If it's something like the Mask, I don't have any here right now. Even if I wanted to forge one, I couldn't be sure if I could do it in a short time. After all, the materials used to forge these top-tier apprentice wizard artifacts are already very close to those of real artifacts, but the price is much lower, and cost must also be considered. However…"
Green was used to the old wizard keeping things in suspense, and eagerly asked, "But what?"
"Hehe, look at this treasure of mine. I acquired it by chance more than ten years ago. It's a very creative magic wand called Blood Bat Kiss."
As he spoke, the old wizard handed a dark, unremarkable magic wand to Grimm.
"Six hundred magic stones."
Holding his magic wand, Green sensed the power for a moment, and as his magic was activated, a giant bat composed of pure wind elements appeared in the room. The bat's wingspan was about three meters, and its back looked just large enough to support a person as they flew.
"this……"
Whether it was a unique cognitive illusion of Green's or not, when Green saw this bat made entirely of wind elements, his first thought was not its ability to fly, but rather the further improvement of elemental magic arrays.