Cycle of Destiny

Chapter 4 An Unexpected Choice

The wizard Elwynn once said in private, "Teaching mediocre magical apprentices is a tedious job. However, when you happen to encounter a student destined for greatness, hey, that's when the job becomes the most exciting thing in the world."

He had encouraged and supported Harry countless times; beneath his unkempt appearance lay a heart of gold. Watching one's most talented student turn into a mess was like witnessing a tulip wither before it even bloomed—disappointing and a stark reminder of the cruelty of fate.

Talent is certainly important for a mage; it's a prerequisite for learning magic. However, talent isn't the decisive factor in whether someone can become a powerful mage. The academy has too many examples of those with exceptional sensitivity who achieved only mediocre results, and too many great mages with average talent who achieved extraordinary things.

Learning magic is like a marathon with no finish line. A strong physique and ample stamina at the start can certainly give you an advantage, but the most important thing is being able to keep running.

The same applies to mages. Good talent will give you an advantage that others don't have throughout your magical journey, but that's not the most important thing. Intelligence, diligence, the choice of magical path, personal opportunities, and so on, all have a huge impact on a mage's growth.

Just as physical stature, coordination, and a strong heart are essential qualities for a knight, becoming a truly outstanding knight also requires daily training, a guiding instructor, countless hours of sweat and perseverance, excellent equipment, and the courage forged in life-or-death battles on the battlefield.

After squandering his talent, Harry lost all hope and seemed to have given up on himself.

The academy has meditation rooms specifically for apprentices and formal magicians. These meditation rooms not only provide a quiet environment for meditators, ensuring that they are not disturbed by the outside world, but more importantly, they can regulate the composition of magical elements in the room.

Differences in element affinity shape the strength of sensitivity, and each person's absorption efficiency for different elements also varies.

For example, when a fire-attribute mage mage mage mage meditates, the rate at which fire element is absorbed is far greater than that of other attributes, and the magic they learn later will mostly be fire-based.

The purpose of the meditation room is this: it can adjust the elemental ratio according to the needs of different mages, and achieve better meditation results by increasing the density of elements of specific attributes.

The effects of meditation on a fire mage in an environment rich in fire element are completely different from those of being trapped in a space filled with water element.

Harry tried many different methods in meditation rooms of different properties, but the results were all the same.

For the last six months, he never stepped into a meditation room again. In the eyes of others, he had completely given up.

He began to frequent the academy's monster market, buying monster meat regularly.

The Warcraft Market is right next to the Dark Forest. For mages, adventures in the Dark Forest are an essential part of their growth. Although the life-and-death battles fought to improve their magical power are hardly enjoyable, these adventures can provide them with enough money to support their magical careers.

That's right, it's money! Many laymen think that mages don't have any financial worries, which is a ridiculous notion. They'll say: mages have no desire for worldly wealth, focusing solely on their magical research; their primary method of restoring magical power—meditation—is completely free; and the expensive magic crystals and magical beast cores they use are just basic auxiliary tools; moreover, mages who enchant weapons, equipment, and accessories charge exorbitant fees each time. Therefore, they conclude that mages are the least short of money on this continent.

This view is widely circulated and believed among non-magicians, but it only invites anger and contempt among magicians.

In reality, mages are the poorest group on the continent, bar none. The phrase "the poorest rich" perfectly describes them. However, non-mages are right about one thing: the things mages use are indeed not cheap.

Although the academy provides mage robes for free, they must be imbued with magic circles to be truly effective. These magic circles enhance one's affinity with the surrounding elements and store several instantly cast defensive spells. Even the most basic magic circle costs at least twenty gold coins, enough for a family of three's annual expenses. There are also magic wands that reduce mana consumption during spellcasting; these only work if made of walnut wood, and the older the tree, the better. Even the lowest grade, twenty-year-old walnut wood, costs at least fifty gold coins. And then there are amplification accessories like magic-enhancing bracelets and rings, which boost the intensity of spellcasting, often costing hundreds of gold coins.

While meditation is free, the magic potions that enhance its efficiency are incredibly expensive. Not to mention the precious magical materials used for magical experiments—Moonlight Moss that blooms only under the full moon, the Red Scorpion Tail Flower that grows around desert ruins…Frostkiss Grass, Crystal Wing Moth's phosphorescent wings, Stoneclaw Bear's gallbladder, Thunderhorn Lizard's molted skin—all needed to make magic scrolls, and Soul-Binding Obsidian and Whispering Emerald that store magic power in experiments—which one isn't difficult to find, which one isn't exorbitantly priced? And all these incredibly precious magical materials can be completely destroyed with just one failed experiment.

As magic levels increase, the magical equipment that needs to be replaced becomes incredibly expensive. As for the income from enchanting weapons, equipment, and accessories, not to mention how many years and hours it takes to learn this skill, even a mid-level enchanter's monthly income probably wouldn't be enough to cover two magical experiments.

A mage's money is like water in the desert—never enough, always in search of something. Fortunately, there's the Dark Forest, a natural treasure trove, teeming with countless rare magical plants and home to all sorts of magical beasts. "The Dark Forest nurtured the magic academy"—this is no exaggeration.

The mages emerged from the forest with their spoils, keeping only what was useful to them and exchanging the rest for gold coins at the Warcraft Market.

If a mage needs a Stoneclaw Bear's gallbladder to craft a spell scroll, they can directly trade with other mages on the Warcraft Market. If it's not for sale or they find it too expensive, they can offer a bounty. Alternatively, they can hunt Stoneclaw Bears in the Dark Forest themselves. The latter method usually requires teaming up with other mages and signing a magical contract beforehand to agree on the distribution of loot.

When he emerges alive from the forest, his spoils will likely include not just the gallbladder he originally desired, but an entire Stoneclaw Bear. The other parts of the Stoneclaw Bear might be of little use to him, but could be a treasure to others. Its thick, tough hide, imbued with earth magic, is ideal for crafting protective scrolls or defensive robes; its incredibly sharp, inherently shattering claws, when ground into powder, are a crucial catalyst for enchanters creating armor-piercing weapon enchantments; its sturdy, easily moldable bones are perfect for crafting skeletal golems or construct puppets; even its blood is highly valued because its potency far surpasses that of ordinary ink when drawing high-level contract magic circles, and it can even be used to cultivate certain special magical plants. Therefore, it's no exaggeration to say that every part of the Stoneclaw Bear is a treasure.

In addition to selling different parts of various monsters, the Warcraft Market also sells essential equipment for mages, such as magic wands and magic scrolls, as well as precious plants and potions needed by mages.

As for monster meat, only mages who raise monsters buy it to feed their pets, and it's very cheap. The monster meat here used to be incredibly delicious, considered exceptional. However, since the establishment of the magic academy, the monsters here have become more powerful and ferocious, losing their former flavor. Another important point is that previously, the purpose of hunting was for the delicious meat, relying mainly on traps and the blades of warriors to kill these monsters, involving a process similar to bleeding them out. Furthermore, the meat was transported out of the forest promptly after being killed, reducing the gamey and unpleasant smells. Mages, on the other hand, kill monsters using magic, causing the monsters' blood to stagnate within their bodies. In addition, monster meat is far from what mages aim for, and there's no concept of transporting it out of the forest quickly for freshness. Therefore, the monster meat in the monster market is bitter and astringent, fetching very low prices, and only mages who raise monsters buy it.

When Harry stopped going to the meditation room and started frequently buying monster meat, everyone assumed he had given up completely and instead raised a monster pet—although no one had ever seen his "pet." However, everyone knew that monsters wouldn't help with the assessment, because becoming a formal mage required casting a level one spell independently without external assistance.

After buying monster meat for half a year and being underestimated by everyone, Harry surprisingly managed to cast a level one spell in his final assessment, barely managing to stay at the academy.

Unfortunately, this success came too late. Everyone had long lost patience with his talent, and the power of the magic he used was too ordinary. Apart from his own jubilation at the result, few eyes were willing to linger on him anymore. The deacon committee's decision to consider his future after he became a formal magician had also been tacitly forgotten by everyone.

After successfully making himself "invisible" in the academy, Harry unexpectedly became the personal disciple of the Holy Wizard—just as unexpectedly as he had failed repeatedly in the past.