Chapter 123: Chapter 1 The New Beginning_l
Translator: 549690339 |
Early morning.
The day had just begun to lighten.
Link Grande woke up promptly, got out of bed, and opened the window.
The cool morning breeze blew onto his face, refreshing and invigorating.
Two months had passed since the start of the spring semester and everything was tranquil, without many upheavals.
The eventful incidents that occurred during the holidays had all quieted down.
The gruesome fate of the Storm Sea New Blood and local apprentices who died outside the school were no longer a topic of discussion;
The once-resounding witches’ equality movement, following the intervention of unmentionable forces, had swiftly quietened down.
With the midterm exams drawing near, whether it’s on the school’s “forum” or in private conversations, all attention was focused on the grand competition between the two districts, happening three days after the end of the exams!
Of course, the points of focus for the Storm Sea New Blood from the Southern District and the local apprentices from the Northern District were not the same. They had different roles and positions, so naturally, their viewpoints differed.
The local apprentices from the Northern District dug out the records of the previous grand district competitions and flaunted them ostentatiously.
As if they had already scored an overwhelming victory even before the competition had begun!
They conveniently ignored the fact that the North District had always outnumbered the South every year.
And they had never succeeded in pushing the South District New Blood out of even the top three.
What the Storm Sea New Blood from the South District were passionately discussing was, who among the 30 of them could represent this year’s new blood to compete against over a thousand local apprentices from the North District of the same batch!
It’s 30 against 1000+.
Just hearing the numerical contrast gives one a sense of sorrow and bravery.
Link didn’t feel any of this, he was merely making steady progress on his preparations for the grand district competition while studying the new subjects for the spring semester.
“System.”
After finishing his morning wash, Link dried his face and silently murmured while looking at his taller reflection in the mirror.
A plain subtitle-style panel appeared before his eyes.
[Link Grande
Wizard qualifications: Intermediate Fourth Rank, Innate Spirit Power 17, High Affinity for Water Element, High Affinity for Wood
Element
Wizard’s Level: Second-rank wizard apprentice, Spirit Power: 75
Zero Ring Magic:
Water System (28): Secondary Misty Rain Technique (Breakthrough), Water Shield Spell (Breakthrough), Water Ball Spell (Perfect), Purification Water Spell (Perfect), Water Blade Spell (Perfect), Icicle Technique (Perfect)…
Wood System (28): Birth Induction Technique (Perfect), Thorn Entanglement (Breakthrough), Thorns Whip (Perfect), Leaf Arrow Spell (Perfect), Withering Spell (Perfect), Green Field Tracking (Perfect)…
Card Pack: None
Already used: “Mind Closure Technique” study card, “Pomona Sprout’s Botany Talent” talent card, “Philius Flitwick’s Spellcasting Talent” talent card, “Severus Snape’s Magic Apothecary Talent” talent card
Draw card times: 1 (10 standard second-level magic stones)]
Compared to two months ago, there was a significant improvement in Link’s abilities.
Firstly, he had already completed the third level of the meditation technique, his spiritual power had reached the standard to be promoted to a Third-class wizard apprentice, 75 points in the standard unit, and nine runes had already been constructed.
The reason why he hasn’t been promoted from a Second-rank wizard apprentice to a Third-class wizard apprentice was due to the small metamorphosis occurring in the Sea of Consciousness/Spiritual Power.
Link would remain a Second-rank wizard apprentice until the end of this metamorphosis period.
Each person’s qualifications, studies, understanding of the meditation technique, and mastery of Rune Studies are different, so the length of the metamorphosis period varies. Some are long, and some are short.
During this period, one could continue to study the fourth layer of the meditation technique and increase the quantity of spiritual power.
This is why some geniuses remain second-rank wizard apprentices even in their third year but are not panicked at all.
Once the metamorphosis ended, their progress in cultivation would surge rapidly.
Link estimated that even if he couldn’t be promoted before the grand district competition, he could complete this small metamorphosis period early into the competition.
Therefore, there was no significant problem to worry about, and there would be little impact.
Secondly, he had a highly abundant and well-rounded reserve of magic.
He had mastered 28 of both the Water System and Wood System Zero Ring Magic.
Among them, both the Water and Wood Systems each had 2 spells that had reached the Breakthrough level;
10 spells in each system had reached the Perfect level;
A small portion was at the Proficient level, an even smaller portion was at the Skilled level, and the vast majority were at the Beginner level.
In terms of offense and defense, Link currently relied more on his Magic Tool rather than magic.
He had master so many Zero Ring Magic to be prepared for all kinds of different situations, seeking comprehensive functionality.
Lastly, he had another draw card chance.
After saving up for two months, and the generous bonuses from Serene Wizard following the consecutive hot sales of the Glasswort series for nearly two months,
Link finally had enough standard first-level magic stones to exchange for a standard second-level magic stone and earn another draw card chance.
The best time to draw a card, Link decided, was now!
“May the gods bless me!”
With that murmur in his heart, Link began to draw his card.
Unadorned and without any special effects, the system’s card drawing ended in an instant.
The subtitle-style panel showed an updated content:
[Card Pack: “Multi-Threading Thinking” Status Card (Once every 96 hours)]
A sense of doubt blossomed in Link’s heart. Why did he draw a new card instead of continuing to draw talent cards?
The previous three talent cards from the HP World were extremely helpful and had aided Link a lot.
Just when he hadn’t completely benefited from them, why had it suddenly changed?
He wondered just how powerful the effect of the “multi-threading thinking” status card was, especially since it cost him a standard second-level magic stone, equivalent to 1200 standard first-level magic stones.
How powerful was it actually?
After all, it was explicitly mentioned that it could only be used once every 96 hours!
Without wasting any time, Link immediately used the “Multi-Threading Thinking” status card.
Instantly, he felt like a completely different person!
The world he perceived had instantly transformed.
Link felt as though he had swapped out his brain entirely!
As though he had upgraded from a Pentium 486 to an Intel 19-139OOks.
Perhaps my words were a bit exaggerated, but the meaning was exactly that.
Link could intuitively feel that the computational power of his brain had improved several times over, and he could simultaneously contemplate at least eight issues, mobilizing all of his memories and knowledge within his mind to tackle any doubts.
All the accumulated doubts indisciplines like “Mathematics”, “Rune Studies”, “Potion Studies”, “Physiology”, “Pathology”, etc., were instantly resolved.
If not for the timely activation of the “Mind Closure Technique”, Link felt that his brain would have overloaded and burned out.
Just like when a computer runs too fast, the CPU overloads, causing it to burn out and give off smoke.
Even with his brain’s ability to handle the strain, Link only maintained the “Multi-Threading Thinking” status card for less than three seconds before he “unloaded” it.
The consumption of spiritual power by this card is simply terrifying.
It’s as if it’s “burning” at a speed of 3 points of spiritual power per second. A crazy “burn”.
With Link’s current reserve of spiritual power, fully supporting the “MultiThreading Thinking” status card, he could only maintain it for up to 25 seconds.
But, for the sake of his life, he could only sustain it for 10 to 15 seconds at most.
Any longer would be too much.
If his spiritual power was drained in a short period, wouldn’t he faint on the spot?
While the aftereffects of the “Multi-Threading Thinking” status card were still lingering, Link devised the best pairing and best scenarios for using this card.
“Mind Closure Technique” + “Multi-Threading Thinking” status card = A humanoid supercomputer equipped with top-notch AL
Whether for studying, researching, experimenting, decoding, exploring, or fighting, it could exert an astonishing effectiveness.
A rough calculation made Link feel like he had been enhanced by two to three times instantaneously!
“So terrifying.”
Link drew in a sharp breath, making a minor contribution to the global warming of the Wizard World.
Massaging his slightly throbbing head, Link walks out of the bathroom, gets dressed, and goes downstairs.
Canteen.
Jasmine had already prepared breakfast for Link and was waiting at their usual spot.
“Is there a problem? You’re a bit late today.”
Jasmine had gotten a bit taller, her facial features were beautiful, her figure was graceful, her golden hair was dazzling, her eyes clear, she was slim, intelligent and gentle.
Her current temperament had completely transformed compared to when she had just entered Ravensmouth College.
It was like she was a completely different person.
“Alittle matter.”
Link sat down, picked up his knife and fork, but didn’t explain directly.
How could he explain the matter of the glitch?
He didn’t want to lie, so he had to gloss over.
“Boss, Big Sister, good morning.”
The five brothers, Buck Watt, Dalton Collen, Ezio Richie, Digee Finley, and Lynn Hewitt, came with their plates and greeted them politely.
From their appearance and daily behaviours, the five brothers had distinct characters and were easily recognizable.
Buck Watt was tall and had a broad face. He was a talkative one, loved to show off, show his abilities, bully others. The reason he became the so-called boss was purely because he talked a lot.
Ezio Richie was tall and slim, somewhat thin, and his facial features as if they were carved out. Just like his temperament, quite rigid. He didn’t talk much.
His crazy and goofy personality was just a disguise and a camouflage.
Digee Finley was a refined young man. If he didn’t purposely speak in a coarse voice, his voice would be gentle, on par with girls.
But his character was genuinely simple and kind, sticking to principles.
Lynn Hewitt had a common appearance, forgettable in a crowd, silent, but is a typical example of hidden wisdom.
After the five brothers teamed up, under Buck Watt’s leadership, they behaved ostentatiously for a considerable amount of time.
They offended many individuals but managed to have their way around things. That’s because Lynn Hewitt was there for planning and strategizing.
“Morning.”
Link put down his knife and fork, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and casually asked, “How’s the preparation?”
Naturally, he was not asking about preparation for next week’s mid-term exams, but the bi-regional competition.
The seven people present could easily achieve top fifteen, or even top ten in the mid-term exam results.
This needed no questioning.
After the five brothers closed ranks with Link, Link did not keep anything from them, and together, they prepared for the bi-regional competition based on the common formats from previous years.
Nothing was held back.
As to how well they were prepared, Link never inquiredabout it before, leaving it all to their own judgement.
Now, the bi-regional competition was imminent, leading him to ask about it.
“Pretty good.”
Buck Watt was the first to answer.
“Not bad.”
Ezio Richie nodded in agreement.
Digee Finley replied with a coarse voice: “Thanks to Big Brother for the guidance all this time.”
Lynn Hewitt, after pondering for a while, said: “It depends on the format of this year’s bi-regional competition. If there are no new formats, there shouldn’t be any problems. If there are new formats, it’s hard to say.” “Yeah, I think so too.”
Dalton Collen, who was easy to be overlooked due to his low presence, voiced his agreement with Lynn Hewitt’s view.
“How about you, Jasmine?”
Link looked to Jasmine, who had been quietly listening by the side.
Her nature had gradually quieted down, and she had become less talkative, except for chatting a few phrases with Link.
Jasmine extended her right hand, with her middle and index fingers imitating a sign.
Link understood instantly.
She had advanced to a second-rank wizard apprentice.
Good.
Everyone is off to a new start.
A good start.