However, what pleasantly surprised Reed even more was a notification message from the system after improving the Mage's Hand.

Ding!

"Successfully improved Mage's Hand. Improved advantage: The magic model structure is stable, and its power has been increased fivefold, gaining the ability to transform. Cons: Mana expenditure has increased by 50% Rating: Excellent. Although the mana consumption has increased, its powerful strength and ability to transform makes up for that shortcoming. Personal experience reward: 500."

This was the first experience points Reed had gained in more than ten days... and it came from a reward for improving magic.

Reed Kaschar

Race: Vampire (Progenitor)

Level: Mage Lvl 10 (603/5000), Warrior, Lvl 5 (level cap reached)

Mana: 652/652

Talents: Progenitor Vampire (Unique), Bloodline Shackle (limited), Magic Affinity (Ultimate)

Racial ability: Bat Transformation, Blood-sucking recovery, Powerful physique (passive)

Spells: First Circle of Magic: Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Puppetry, Mage's Hand, Mana Shield, Waterfall.

Second Circle of Magic: Detection, Greater Fireball, Thunderstorm, Puppet Master, Mana Surge, Haste, Strengthen.

Third Circle of Magic: Teleport, Voidwalking, Pyroblast

The experience originally on the attribute panel was 103, and now it had increased to 603 points.

The special talent of the Progenitor Vampire would gain him experience every month, but they would only be counted at the end of the month.

It took 5,000 experience points to level up from Level 10 to 11. It took less than ten days for him to improve a spell, inclusive of the time used to conceive the idea. Meaning, by improving three First Circle spells he could gain a level within three month's time.

While he was eager to go ahead, he still suppressed the idea.

He had more important things to do now, and he did not have that much time to stay cooped up in the mage tower to study magic.

...

"It's too difficult."

"Ninety magic nodes? Is this still a Mage's Hand?"

"Can someone teach me? I can't seem to get it."

"Goddess of Magic above, why does this node run in reverse?"

On the third floor of the mage tower, twenty-two apprentice mages were quietly listening to Reed's lecture, but they were crying in their hearts.

Everyone was initially very excited after seeing the improved Mage's Hand Master Reed had developed.

This meant they might be able to learn it as well.

Master Reed too was not stingy, and directly drew the magic model in detail, and guided them to build the model.

But only when they actually built the magic mode, did they know how insane the model was.

Many of the magic nodes were completely contradictory to what they had learned before. Reverse intersections, reverse operation nodes, and all other completely insane magic nodes gave them massive headaches.

It was just too difficult.

They needed to construct 50 magic nodes in order to be a full-fledged mage, and now they have to study a magic model of 90 nodes, and that made them despair.

Sharing the magic he had worked so hard to develop was something happy and proud, but after Reed enthusiastically finished his lecture, he found that there was something wrong with this group of apprentice mages.

"Viena, do you have any questions?"

Viena, who had noted down every single word Reed had spoken in her notebook, stood up looking a little downcast.

"Master Reed, the method you had mentioned is too difficult for us. Mana is like sticky mercury, and even moving a little takes a lot of mental effort. We are unable to do it as easily as you."

Reed was slightly stunned when he heard this answer.

He had never realized that there was a gap between people. The bloodline of the Progenitor Vampire had the affinity for magic, and this talent made controlling mana as simple as breathing for him.

However, for an ordinary apprentice mage, mana was like the heaviest shot of lead, and even moving a little took a lot of strength.

It was impossible for most apprentices to build magic models as easily as he could.

Simply put, this was the difference between a genius and the common folk.

An ace student would tell a crap student that listening carefully in class was enough to learn, but no matter how hard he listened, the crap student would still never be able to catch up to the ace student.

The gap in talent was often unbridgeable.

There were over 1,000 mages officially registered with the Grimm's Lodge of Mages, but there was only one Transcendent Mage.

This was the difference.

After realizing that he had somewhat idealized the situation, Reed demurred for a moment.

His talents were also the strongest among the vampires, and the vampires were a highborn race as well as natural spellcasters. The talents of ordinary humans could barely compete with normal vampires, so the gap between him and them did not have to be said.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "Don't worry. First, get familiar with the magic model of the Mage's Hand, and by the time you are familiar with the model of Mage's Hand, you can start to study this derivative form of magic. This seemingly complex derivative magic is not actually difficult, and its essence was still a transformation of the Mage's Hand magic model. I will write down my ideas and thoughts about the study of magic on the board, once you have gotten familiar with it, then you can come back to build the model step by step."

Hearing Reed's words, the apprentice mages almost jumped up in joy.

They were just so lucky, to be able to meet a generous mentor such as Master Reed.

After Reed wrote all of the relevant information on the magic blackboard, he then walked out of the room with some thoughts.

It seemed like it was time to recruit a new group of apprentices.

There were too few talented ones among the apprentices, and even Reed could feel that half of the apprentices he had were very ordinary. Perhaps even becoming a full-fledged mage would be a huge challenge for them.

When the Progenitor Vampire recruited apprentices, he had never thought of seriously teaching them, so there were many apprentices that barely met the minimum standard were accepted, which directly resulted in the quality of the apprentices to be low.

He needed a lot of talents, especially human mages. The Vermillion Tower could not be supported just by him alone in the future.

As for the vampires, he did not need to worry too much. As long as the agriculture program was successfully carried out, the castle could be developed, and the advantages of the highborn would be realized.

"Master Reed, Laurent is waiting for you on the first floor."

Viena walked out of the room following Reed, her blond hair curled up very beautifully.

Those blue eyes were like the most beautiful of sapphires, and shining with gleaming light.

"Has the Goldwheat Guild complete the food stock purchase?"

"Master Reed, Laurent wanted to report this to you when he last came here. The Goldwheat Guild's warehouse within Grimm is small, and the grain purchased during this time had already filled it to the brim, and needed to be dealt with."

Reed nodded.

The Goldwheat Guild was originally a small guild, and its warehouses were not large. Food stocks that could feed a hundred thousand for a month was not a small amount.

"All right, follow me down to see him. When I'm not around in the future, you will be responsible for the affairs of the Goldwheat Guild."

There was a tinge of surprise on Viena's face followed by a tinge of fear and worry.

"Master Reed, are you chasing me out of the mage tower? I swear to the Goddess of Magic, I will try my best to become a full-fledged mage..."

Looking at the girl being flustered like a little bunny, Reed shook his head.

"No, learning magic is not in conflict with managing a guild. If you don't want to, I'll find another suitable candidate."

Viena was very bright, and Reed had taken a liking to this girl, be it a mage or a manager of a guild, he felt that Viena had the potential to do both well.

"If this is your request, I'll be glad to accept it, but I will not fall behind in magic."

Seeing that stubborn little face, Reed smiled slightly as he turned and went downstairs.

Viena clenched her small fist as she looked at Reed's back.

Master Reed, Viena will not be driven out of the mage tower by you. I will become a mage!

In these past two days, Reed had both intentionally and unintentionally inquired about the process of recruiting apprentice mages, and the keen Viena perceived a different atmosphere and became somewhat sensitive.

As they reached the first floor, Laurent, who had been waiting, hurriedly greeted him.

The Goldwheat Guild warehouses had been full for the past few days.

The piles of grain had made his hair turn gray from worry, as these were grains worth thousands of gold Pykes, especially now with the orc incursion ongoing.

With so many refugees about, in an event of a lotting, the thirty or fifty people of the Goldwheat Guild would be powerless to stop them.

This was not something that had not happened before. Once winter arrived, many starving civilians would begin to attack a merchant's manor, and over the past two days, he clearly sensed that more and more people were gathering around the Goldwheat Guild.

There were not only civilians and beggars, there were also many underground forces peeping in the dark.

If it had not been for a powerful patron in Reed holding the fort, his Goldwheat Guild would have been robbed clean long ago.

At this point in time, the significance of food was just too great.

"Master Reed, half of the food stock has been collected, but the warehouses of the Goldwheat Guild no longer have any space to store them. The Alex Consortium had been urging us to collect the food we purchased as soon as possible too... You see..."

Reed comforted the anxious Laurent.

"Don't worry, I'll have a couple of apprentice mages go over to help you guard it. The food will be shipped out of town tomorrow morning, and I will have people coming to collect it."

Shipped out of town?

Laurent was dumbfounded for a moment, wasn't he supposed to find a warehouse to stock the food, and wait until two months into winter before selling them off?

"Master Reed, with you around, those filthy rats and beggars will not dare to act against the Goldwheat Guild. There is no need to expend so much effort to transport the food out of the city. It will take too much time when we are selling it the next time around. Plus, the security outside the city is worse than within the city... I think we can resolve this by renting two large warehouses near the mage tower."

Reed waved his hand.

"This batch of grain will not be sold in the city. I have already contacted the buyer, so don't worry about it."

Just kidding, this was the basis of the agriculture program. After this batch of grain was transported back to the castle, he could begin the raid for populations.

Selling the food stock off could earn him a couple of gold Pykes, but a precious resource like population was worth much more than gold Pykes.

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