Chapter 234 - The Searing Ring and Swordsmanship

Chapter 234: Chapter 233: The Searing Ring and Swordsmanship Course Chapter 234: Chapter 233: The Searing Ring and Swordsmanship Course In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed, and White Stone Tower Academy had officially been open for over ten days.During this period, Richard, living as an auditor, continually garnered the information he wanted to know from White Stone Tower Academy. He had gradually become familiar with the many situations within the academy, and many of his own research efforts had seen breakthroughs.

Half a month later, White Stone Tower College Library.

This was a building over ten meters tall, which from the outside, looked like a flattened cylinder made of large blocks of white boulders—quite imposing.

Inside, it was divided into three levels, and Richard was currently on the first floor.

In front of a long wooden table on the first floor, Richard had placed a closed book with a certain yellowish leather cover—”Skin Record: Basic Spell Compendium”—which he had just finished reading. Now, he was flipping through a book called “The Mysteries of Magic Rune Spells—Wizard Toltey’s Handbook.”

“Rustle rustle,” Richard’s spirit was highly concentrated as he turned the pages quickly, rapidly committing the knowledge to memory. Occasionally, he would pause at a particular spot, sinking into thought, recalling the knowledge from “Monroe Chapter” for some verification.

Beside Richard was Gro, who also had a book in front of him entitled “Keduo’s Views: How to Become a Qualified Wizard Apprentice.”

Gro’s brows were tightly furrowed, with one finger on the page, reading word by word, and muttering to himself in a low voice. Although his reading pace was slow, compared to Richard, Gro’s attitude was also incredibly serious. However, as he read longer, Gro’s frown deepened—he was becoming more and more confused.

What was meant by “optimal construction of the Magic Origin”? What was meant by “effective enhancement of Melting speed”? What was “the critical element of Mana circulation”? What was “the opening of Mana channels”?

As Gro, who wasn’t even proficient in meditation, he had no clue how to become a qualified Wizard Apprentice.

After staring at the book for quite some time, Gro couldn’t help but raise his head, wanting to say something to Richard. But he saw Richard immersed in deep thought, gulped, and swallowed down what he wanted to say.

Just then, Richard, who had been deep in thought, suddenly had a sharp gaze, looking around as if he sensed something was amiss.

Gro was startled and quickly asked in a low voice, “Lord Richard, what’s the matter?”

“Uh, it’s nothing,” Richard replied vaguely, his eyes still scanning the surroundings. At that moment, Richard distinctly felt a Ring on his finger heating up, as if it were a red-hot branding iron.

The change in the Ring’s temperature was abrupt and without warning, and this Ring was the very same antique Ring that Old Marlon had given him on the giant wheel, as revenge against White Stone Tower. This left Richard with a sense of alarm.

Richard remembered Old Marlon saying when he handed over the Ring that it was related to a secret of White Stone Tower, and if the secret were unraveled, unimaginable benefits would follow.

So, what did the heating of the Ring signify now?

Was it triggered by something related?

Richard continued to scan his surroundings but found nothing out of the ordinary, nor any particular situation: Most students in the library were quietly reading books, some were placing books back on the shelves, some were standing in front of the shelves searching for books to read, some were at the service desk by the door handling borrowing matters, and some others…

Everything was normal. Nothing seemed amiss.

Then… could it be because of a specific point in time that caused the Ring to heat up on its own?

Richard continued to guess but felt the Ring on his hand cooling down bit by bit after a brief heat, returning to normal, as though nothing had happened.

Richard was extremely puzzled in his heart, but after much thought, he couldn’t find a clue and chose to give up, preparing to investigate further when the opportunity arose.

At that moment, Richard thought of something and turned to Gro, asking, “By the way, isn’t it almost time for the swordsmanship class?”

“Uh, that…” Gro hesitated for a moment, “I haven’t heard the Copper Bell ring, so probably not yet…”

Gro had only gotten halfway through his words when outside the library, there was a deep “dong” sound. The enormous Copper Bell was struck, and its muffled tone spread throughout the academy. This signified the end of one class and also indicated the approach of the next.

“Uh, okay then,” Gro quickly changed his tone, “The copper bell is ringing, it’s about time. Let’s go to class, Lord Richard.”

“Hmm.” Richard nodded, stood up, put the books on the table back to their original place on the shelf, and walked out of the library.

At the door, Richard paused, rubbed the ring he got from Old Marlon on his hand, his eyes flickered slightly, but ultimately, he followed Gro out.

After a while,

When the crisp sound of a copper bell rang out, in an open space in front of a small grove within the White Stone Tower College, more than twenty students had gathered. They were there to learn the elective course “Swordsmanship·Apprentice Level Close Combat (Moke),” among which Richard and Gro were included.

For Gro, the reason for taking this course was simple—because it was cheap.

Yes, cheap—a rather bitter reason.

Although Gro was a prince, upon arriving at White Stone Tower, he found himself in an embarrassing financial situation. Even though he brought some valuable jewelry with him, which he sold for nearly a thousand gold coins, he still couldn’t quite afford the high expenses of the White Stone Tower and had to budget carefully.

This made him regret not bringing more valuables, a sentiment like “I was so stupid, if only I had brought more valuable things with me” Richard had heard more than once.

For Richard, the reason for taking the course wasn’t the cost.

With a large number of crystal coins from the Mysterious Wizard in the Space Iron Ring, Richard could well afford to enroll in the most expensive courses, but he didn’t really want to do so.

After all, the most expensive course was just teaching one more advanced spell. In Richard’s view, mastering one additional spell, or two, didn’t make a significant qualitative difference. If he really wanted to make a breakthrough, it would be better to follow his own plan to study the entire magic system and magic rune mechanisms, which would be more beneficial.

If possible, he didn’t want to take any course at all.

In reality, because he was registered as an auditor, Richard felt that even if he really “skipped class” every day, it wouldn’t attract much attention.

But out of caution, since the school year had just begun for a little over ten days, Richard didn’t want to take any risks and thought it better to continue pretending to be an ordinary auditor. So he followed Gro, the genuinely ordinary auditor, and chose to learn the same course.

Besides, Richard was indeed somewhat curious about the Apprentice Level close combat swordsmanship of this world and wanted to see how it differed from the ordinary swordsmanship.

Thinking this, the “tap tap tap” of footsteps arose, and Richard saw a man in his thirties wearing a grey, form-fitting hunting outfit emerge from the woods.

The man had an unremarkable face, but his eyebrows were incredibly bizarre—as if they had been deliberately smeared with charcoal, but very unevenly. At first glance, they resembled a pair of pickled black catfish hung above his eyes.

Richard noticed that on the chest of the man’s grey hunting outfit, three black ravens were embroidered—signifying the man’s status as a Third-level Wizard Apprentice. Had he been a wizard, an embroidered miniature white stone tower would have adorned his chest instead.

This suggested that the man might be one of those stuck at the peak of a Third-level Wizard Apprentice for a long time, unable to break through, and probably had been teaching at the college for over a decade. Perhaps he was compelled to serve the college and had specifically set up this course. So, his strength was hard to gauge.

Not only did Richard think so, but the other students also harbored similar suspicions upon seeing the man.

Black catfish… No, the man walked out of the woods, his eyes swept over the students, sharply sensing their skeptical gazes.

The man did not get angry but simply said in a deep voice, “I know what you’re thinking. Do you believe that because I’m not a wizard, I’m not capable enough to teach you?

Hmph! Let me tell you, I, Moke, was once a wizard. It’s just that due to an injury, I was demoted in rank and became a wizard apprentice. Maybe for the rest of my life, I won’t be able to break through again, but I can still teach you bunch of kids who’ve just entered school.

Of course, you can choose not to believe me. I can’t be bothered to explain anything to you. This is the first lesson. Those who don’t want to learn can leave now, and someone will refund your elective course crystal coins. For those who want to learn, follow me.”

Having spoken, the man turned and walked back into the woods.

The crowd in the clearing in front of the woods was stunned, exchanged glances the next moment, and followed him.