November 13th, Year 14523, Star Realm Calendar.
Less than twenty days remained before the trial.
Walking through the academy, Pei Ze could clearly feel the sense of urgency permeating the air.
Most of the first-year students he passed walked with hurried steps, their faces tense.
Just three days prior, the academy had finally released some information about the trial.
Including the rewards and elimination rules.
Just as Yuan Wanjun had said, the top fifty in the trial would receive generous rewards.
The reward for first place was even more staggering: five thousand contribution points and a chance to enter the Realm of Truth.
Rumors about the Realm of Truth were a mix of fact and fiction, and Pei Ze didn't know much about it himself. All he knew was that even the scions of great Wizard Clans revered the Realm of Truth.
'It makes sense,' he thought. 'In the world of Wizards, anything worthy of being named 'Truth' could hardly be ordinary.'
In stark contrast to the generous rewards were the harsh elimination rules.
The one thousand apprentices ranked lowest in the trial would be expelled!
As expected, the moment the rules were announced, they caused a massive uproar among the first-years.
Many apprentices who felt they weren't strong enough were thrown into a panic, terrified of being eliminated. As a result, they began to train even more desperately.
A tense and solemn atmosphere descended upon the entire first-year class.
...
After class, the members of the Star Spirit Society gathered.
As soon as they gathered, Shao Hong spoke with a serious expression, "I've made some inquiries. The trial is going to be held on a deserted island."
"What about the content of the trial?" Pei Ze asked.
He had been busy brewing potions these past few days and hadn't attended many classes, so he made a point to show his face today.
Shao Hong shook his head. "It's not clear yet. The content of the trial is different every year, and the academy is excellent at keeping things confidential. We won't know the specifics until the day it begins."
He paused for a moment, then added thoughtfully, "But if the trial is on a deserted island, we'll likely have to spend some time in the wild. Everyone should prepare in advance. If you can afford it, it would be best to get a dimensional bag and stock it with enough food and fresh water."
At these words, many of them gave wry smiles.
A dimensional bag costs more than a thousand Gold Coins. Other than someone like Shao Hong, who comes from a wealthy Wizard Clan, who could possibly afford one?
Even upper-year Wizard Apprentices from ordinary families had to painstakingly save up contribution points for over half a year just to afford a dimensional bag.
Taking in their expressions, Shao Hong thought for a moment before suggesting, "Alternatively, you could learn the Poison Detection Spell. That way, you'd be able to forage for food and water on the island."
Yuan Wanjun scratched his cheek and said with a wry smile, "It takes more than half a month to master a new spell. I don't have that much time to waste. I think I'll just bring a couple of antidote potions instead."
"That's a good idea."
"I agree."
The rest chimed in with their agreement.
With so few days left before the trial, they couldn't possibly waste time and energy on a Zero-Circle Magic spell like Poison Detection, which offered no benefit to their combat abilities.
With that time and effort, they'd be better off learning another spell like Touch of Fatigue or the Flash Skill.
'A deserted island, huh...'
Pei Ze's eyes glinted.
'Looks like buying that dimensional bag was the right call after all.'
"I heard Yin Guang has already constructed his eleventh Will Rune," Yuan Wanjun said with a look of pure envy. "At this rate, he'll definitely be able to complete the last Will Rune before the trial."
"Pei Shaoqi is about the same. He constructed his 11th Will Rune two days before Yin Guang did."
"If you ask me, the strongest is still Gu Lin," Guan Ling chimed in. "She's already constructed all twelve Will Runes, and her Spiritual Power is over 40 units. Hers is the highest Spiritual Power in the entire first year!"
Pei Shaoqi, Yin Guang, and Gu Lin—the three apprentices widely acknowledged as the strongest in the first year.
Most people believed that the first-place winner of this year's trial would undoubtedly be one of those three.
"Those three are different from us," Shao Hong said with a sigh. "They're all direct-line descendants of the five great Wizard Clans. They must be practicing an Advanced Meditation Technique. The twelfth Will Rune is not their limit."
At his words, the expressions on Yuan Wanjun, Guan Ling, and the others grew complicated.
While they were considered elites in the eyes of ordinary students, when compared to heaven-blessed prodigies like Pei Shaoqi, Yin Guang, and Gu Lin, they were no different from the rest.
They simply started on different levels.
"Forget it. I have no intention of comparing myself to those three monsters," Yuan Wanjun said, shaking his head with a sigh. "I'll be happy just to pass the trial. You two, though, Shao Hong and Pei Ze—you can definitely go for the rewards."
"That's right!" The others all nodded.
Shao Hong glanced at Pei Ze. "I only just constructed my seventh Will Rune. I'm not strong enough to rank in the top fifty of the first-year class. It'll be extremely difficult to earn a reward."
"But you're different, Pei Ze. You can absolutely aim for the top ten!"
"I'll do my best," Pei Ze said with a noncommittal smile.
Guan Ling said with a grin, "If Pei Ze makes it into the top ten, our Star Spirit Society will secure its spot as the number one new society."
The mention of this brought smiles to everyone's faces.
There were many newly established societies in the first year, but few of them had any real strength.
After all, most of the truly talented elite apprentices were snapped up by the established societies early on and would never join a new one.
But the Star Spirit Society, thanks to the presence of Pei Ze and Shao Hong, was able to stand out among the many new societies.
In fact, several established societies had previously approached Pei Ze and invited him to join.
But after careful consideration, Pei Ze had politely declined.
While the established societies had deep roots and offered significant resources to their members, joining them also meant being bound by numerous restrictions.
With potion-making as his personal cash cow, he had no reason to sacrifice his freedom for a few extra resources.
After a bit more idle chatter, the group went their separate ways.
Returning to his apartment, Pei Ze first took out the Magic Pet Food to feed Wuyu, then went to the living room and sat down.
'Omniscience.'
At his mental command, his attribute data instantly materialized in his mind.
[Spirit: 35.93]
[Constitution: 15.72]
[Task 1: Improve the Sleep Spell's magic model. Estimated time: 3 days, 4 hours, 23 minutes.]
[Task 2: Improve the Flash Skill's magic model. Estimated time: 16 days, 1 hour, 9 minutes.]
After returning from the Black Market, although Pei Ze had been busy brewing potions, his training had never slacked.
As his Spirit attribute increased, his speed at analyzing spells grew ever faster.
Now, it only took him three to four days to analyze a Zero-Circle Magic spell—and that was without expending any Spirit for acceleration.
As a result, his pace of mastering spells was astonishingly fast, far surpassing that of an ordinary Wizard Apprentice.
To date, he had mastered a total of fourteen Zero-Circle Magic spells.
In addition to his five improved spells—Mage's Hand, Acid Splash, Dizziness Technique, Plant Spirit Light, and Touch of Fatigue—he had also mastered Sleep Spell, Flash Skill, Repair Skill, Light Spell, Poison Detection, Secret Technique Mark, Lock-picking Skill, Cleaning Technique, and Communication Skill.
Of these, Pei Ze planned to continue improving two combat-support spells: Sleep Spell and Flash Skill.
As for the others, they offered little combat advantage and had been learned merely for utility, so he had no plans to improve them for now.
When most Wizard Apprentices had only mastered two or three spells, Pei Ze, with a full fourteen under his belt, could already be considered a monster.
What pleased Pei Ze even more, however, was that just yesterday, he had finally succeeded in constructing his twelfth Will Rune.