Locke left the dormitory and walked through the elegant corridors of the academy, passing through the beautiful gardens. At that moment, he spotted Cohen Julian and his lackeys in the garden.
Locke frowned at the sight. Recently, Cohen Julian and his followers had been making quite a name for themselves.
In the past year and three months, the Frank Empire had decisively defeated the allied forces of the remaining four kingdoms three times and had even invaded the Kingdom of Bain.
Now, only three of the original seven kingdoms remained, along with the Frank Empire.
As the son of a Frankish earl, Cohen Julian naturally became more arrogant within the academy, turning into an untouchable figure whom everyone had to defer to.
He had tried to provoke Locke several times, but Locke had always ignored him. Moreover, Cohen Julian's own family had issued him several warnings, so he eventually gave up any thoughts of antagonizing Locke.
But now, in the garden, Cohen Julian's face was deathly pale. Standing before him was none other than Professor Olde of Aurelian Academy.
Unlike over a year ago, Professor Olde's face was now pitch black, as if he had crawled out of a grave—a zombie whose state of being was uncertain, neither clearly alive nor dead. His skin was gaunt, like a fleshless skeleton.
The only recognizable features were the eyepatch over his left eye and the gold-rimmed glasses on his right.
If not for those, Locke might not have recognized him at all.
Cohen Julian, his face pale, stammered, "But I'm a Frankish citizen. My country is powerful. You can't force me to go to your office after class to copy things for you…"
"All the students who copied for you died under mysterious circumstances."
Olde licked his lips, staring greedily at Cohen Julian with undisguised contempt. "It doesn't matter which country you're from, little native. Heh."
Olde seemed to have gone mad, no longer caring much about hiding the secrets of the Wizard World from ordinary people—or perhaps, in his eyes, Cohen Julian was already a dead man.
Olde continued, "Cohen Julian, you've failed too many times. So now, you must come to my office and work for me."
"You don't have the right to refuse. Your family will ensure you comply. Consider this one of the benefits I've provided—resources that helped your Frankish emperor unify this little island faster."
Cohen Julian's face turned even paler, the usual arrogance and bullying demeanor completely gone. Faced with Professor Olde, he suddenly realized that all the pride and power he had relied on were now utterly useless, fragile, and meaningless.
In fact, he was now convinced that his family would sacrifice him to please Olde.
He wanted to speak further, to fight for his survival, but at that moment, Olde suddenly turned his head as if he had discovered something new—his gaze locking onto Locke, who stood in the corridor.
Locke gave Olde a slight nod, then prepared to turn and leave.
After all, Olde didn't seem entirely sane at the moment.
It was better to keep his distance.
But at that moment, Professor Olde, contrary to his previous habit of pretending not to see Locke, suddenly spoke up: "Locke, congratulations. You've succeeded."
Locke knew he was referring to his achievement of becoming a third-class wizard apprentice.
After advancing to a third-class wizard apprentice, Locke met Professor Olde again and realized just how formidable the man's spiritual power was.
Even as a second-class wizard apprentice rapidly nearing the end of his lifespan, Olde's mana and spiritual energy seemed far superior to his own.
Locke felt his mana subtly suppressed in the professor's presence, his spiritual activity dulled, accompanied by slight dizziness.
Professor Olde left the garden and approached Locke, speaking in a voice only the two could hear: "Locke, you've become a third-class wizard apprentice."
"I knew you could do it two years ago."
"After all, you're the first student who died in my office... then came back to life."
Locke's eyes flickered uncertainly. He couldn't discern Olde's intention—was this casual conversation, a probe, or outright threat?
Professor Olde chuckled. "You were incredibly lucky then. You must have coincidentally awakened your Wizard Talent, which is why my Life-borrowing Ritual didn't kill you."
"Let's say we became acquainted through conflict."
"I haven't made things difficult for you these past two years, so I'd say our relationship is... acceptable."
Locke responded neutrally, "Professor Olde, you're the academy's teacher, I'm its student. How could our relationship be anything but good?"
This was a subtle reminder—Olde's wizard family still resided in the Wizard World, which might restore some of his rationality.
Olde smiled. "Don't worry. I merely wish to propose a transaction."
"The Wizard Ship won't arrive for another three months."
"Tungus has nothing left to teach you. He's just a second-class wizard apprentice like me—equally decrepit, merely a few years younger."
"Moreover, Tungus specializes in fire magic, so he has little left to offer you. But I'm different—my expertise lies in Necromancy. I can sense you have some affinity with Dark Energy Element Particles too."
Professor Olde continued, "So if you don't want to waste these three months, perhaps we could help each other."
"Of course, you may refuse. This is merely a suggestion."
Meeting the professor's stubborn gaze, Locke asked, "What transaction do you propose? What would I gain? And Professor Olde, you're a second-class wizard apprentice while I'm third-class. I fail to see how I could assist you."
Olde lowered his voice. "That's where you're mistaken. While my spiritual power and mana surpass yours, I'm too old. My mana is severely contaminated—too unstable for delicate work. And I don't trust Tungus either."
"I need you to prepare a potion for me. I'll provide all materials and methods. My spiritual fluctuations are too erratic to handle such precision work."
"I understand beginners face high failure rates."
"I have three sets of materials. Rest assured, even if you fail all the configurations, I won't blame you. You can tell Tungus about this and have him assess your safety, but this time I'm truly not deceiving you."
Olde's tone softened considerably. "About past matters, I apologize to you."
"As compensation, you can receive all my magical research notes. I'll also teach you my signature spell [Skull Explosion], and I can prepare all the casting materials and study materials for you."
Olde said earnestly: "You've already learned your first spell, and your mental power is now about ten times that of an ordinary person. So you'll learn the second spell very quickly. The prerequisite courses for Skull Explosion are Animal Undead Basics, Magic Manipulation Basics, and Negative Energy Basics."
"Among these, you've already studied Magic Manipulation Basics, so you'll progress through the remaining two courses extremely fast."
"If you can master two spells before boarding the Wizard Ship and further increase your mental power, it will significantly improve your evaluation score," Professor Olde continued. "This should be highly beneficial for you."
"If you seek Tungus's help instead, the situation would be different. First, you want to learn a second spell but lack Magic Stones."
"Second, at your current level, Tungus can't assist you much. His expertise lies in fire magic. He could be more helpful to that girl Patty, though."
Patty was studying [Scorching Spark].