17 Chapter17-The Magical Prodigy
[Detected a precious treasure, would you like to spend 3,000 gold coins for appraisal?]
Seeing the newly appeared notification, Ranch was utterly astounded.
The appraisal fee for this necklace is 3,000 gold coins...
Could it be even more precious than the Crystal of Immortal Sword Qi?
He took a deep breath, chose not to appraise it, and instead asked Vera, "What is this?"
As the owner of the treasure, Vera should know the details, so there was no need to spend gold coins.
"This is a Blessing Necklace," the girl began, hesitating for a moment before continuing, "The person who wears the necklace only needs to recite the spell, make a wish, and they can receive a blessing, including the talent to practice magic."
Hearing about the necklace's function, Ranch understood Vera's intention.
She wanted him to use the Blessing Necklace to gain the talent for practicing magic, which is why she offered the meditation technique as well, but he didn't need it now.
"Vera, thank you, but I don't need it," Ranch declined Vera's kind gesture, handing the necklace back to her.
Vera wanted to explain further, but then saw Ranch opening the meditation technique and earnestly starting to read it.
For any magus, a meditation technique is of utmost importance.
The meditation technique Vera provided was naturally no ordinary one; it was the treasured Light Meditation Technique.
It was renowned not only for its ability to quickly absorb magical elements during meditation but also for slightly enhancing one's Magic Affinity.
With long-term practice, it could significantly elevate a person's magical talent.
Of course, this enhancement seemed of little use to Ranch.
Having been a noble, Ranch could naturally understand the content described in the meditation technique.
With Sophia and Vera by his side, not worrying about any disturbances, he immediately began to attempt the meditation.
Soon, he sensed the magical elements in the air.
The magical elements around him started converging towards his body, stirring up a gentle breeze inside the tent.
Feeling the surge of magical elements, Vera's eyes widened in shock, and she whispered to Sophia, "Sister Sophia, is this really Ranch's first time meditating?"
"It should be," Sophia replied.
In fact, Sophia was also puzzled at the moment; she couldn't understand why this was happening.
Clearly, the Muir family's powerful magi had once tested Ranch's magical talent, and the conclusion was that Ranch was a child abandoned by magic, devoid of any magical affinity.
"Could it be that Ranch has truly been watched over by the gods?" Sophia thought to herself, increasingly convinced that this was the truth, and couldn't help thinking, "Following Young Master Ranch was indeed the right choice, only he can lift the curse of our people!"
Meanwhile, Vera was simply astounded.
She remembered her own first encounter with magic; it had taken her a full two hours to sense the magical elements in the air and successfully meditate.
Yet, it seemed Ranch took less than ten seconds, a vast difference that made Vera realize a fact—Ranch was a magical prodigy!
However, Ranch, in the midst of meditation, was somewhat dissatisfied.
"With this rate of absorbing magical elements, I'd need at least seven days of meditation to become a magic apprentice," Ranch calculated in his mind, his brows furrowing slightly before he accessed the system.
[gold coins: 158,360]
Ranch had used up his daily gold coin refreshes previously and had also purchased some rather useful items.
Now, with over one hundred fifty thousand gold coins remaining, he felt a sense of relief and thought, "One hundred fifty thousand gold coins should be enough for now; I can afford a little luxury."
Subsequently, Ranch utilized the ability from his achievement "Wealthy Merchant" — the capability to spend gold coins to enhance his own strength.
As the gold coins were continuously spent, a vortex of magical elements swirled around him, infusing into his body, and Ranch's magical aura grew increasingly intense.
In just ten seconds, Ranch smoothly transitioned to a magic apprentice, then to an Intermediate magic apprentice, and kept progressing until he reached the peak of magic apprentice level, where his magical aura finally ceased to intensify.
[gold coins: 118,360]
"Forty thousand gold coins spent!" Seeing the remaining amount of gold coins, Ranch was somewhat astounded, yet the outcome was within his expectations.
Under normal circumstances of meditation practice, it would have taken at least three months to reach the peak of the magic apprentice level.
Time is indeed money, and this phrase couldn't be more accurate.
Beside Ranch, Vera was completely dumbfounded.
She had never seen anyone advance so swiftly, stuttering in her speech, "Ranch, you... you... you've now reached the peak of magic apprentice!"
Ranch nodded, smiling, "That's right, it seems I do have some magical talent after all."
Vera, regaining her composure, looked at him with intense admiration, exclaiming, "No, this isn't just some talent, even the Tribunal's saint saintess talent doesn't compare to yours! Ranch, are you interested in joining the Tribunal? I can recommend you, and I believe you will become a powerful magus!"
"Sorry, Vera, I don't have such intentions right now," Ranch politely declined Vera's offer.
Joining the Tribunal didn't seem like a good idea to him.
If he hadn't uncovered the truth about the Tribunal relic he received from Charles — a dark god stone tablet, he might have considered it.
But now, with the Tribunal evidently colluding with the dark god, Ranch had no interest in getting involved.
Wait a minute!
The dark god?
Sophia mentioned that her elven tribe's loss of magical talent was due to a curse from the dark god.
Could there be a connection?
Ranch glanced over at Sophia, noticing her gaze had turned exceptionally devout, as if a zealot in the presence of their deity, her body seemingly trembling slightly, emanating a faint magical aura.
Could Sophia also be sensing the magical elements now?
What was going on here?
With Vera still inside the tent, the curious Ranch chose not to ask.
However, due to Ranch's recent actions, there was a stir outside the tent.
The caravan leader, Pierre, approached the tent, respectfully saying, "Mr. Ranch, there seemed to be a strange gust of wind attacking your tent just now, we suspect a powerful spellbeast might be nearby."
As Pierre finished speaking, another angry voice erupted.
Butler Haren, completely disregarding Vera's command, roared into the tent at Ranch, "You deceitful insect, come out here!"
As he spoke, Haren conjured a sphere of water in his hands, emitting an aura that was frightening.
As an advanced magus, even injured, he could distinctly sense that the turmoil of magical elements was caused by Ranch.
But when he first met Ranch, he had already discerned Ranch's magical talent — or rather, the lack thereof; a complete void of magical affinity.
Now, Ranch was not only practicing magic but causing elemental turmoil!
The answer was blatantly obvious...
Ranch, that cunning insect, must have deceived Miss Vera into using the Blessing Necklace for a wish-granting blessing, enabling him to practice magic smoothly.
This was an unforgivable sin!
Ranch must die!
Otherwise, the loss of one blessing from the Blessing Necklace was not a cost he, nor Miss Vera, could afford.
Inside the tent, Vera heard Haren's shouting and immediately moved to open the tent and step out, but Ranch was quicker, shooting out like a cannonball, and then, with a punch fueled by rage, he smashed it into Haren's face, saying with fury, "Butler Haren, I overlooked your behavior previously for Vera's sake, but now you are asking for death!"
"You despicable brat, resorting to sneak attacks?" Haren was even more furious.
At this moment, Haren, completely disregarding his injuries, began chanting spells, and several fireballs shot towards Ranch, radiating terrifying heat.
Just being close to them caused a searing pain, his rage so overwhelming that he didn't care if the fireballs harmed others.
Behind Ranch were Sophia and others; if he dodged, the fireballs would hit Sophia.
With this in mind, Ranch's face showed a hint of madness as he concentrated his Knight Aura into his fists, smashing the incoming fireballs, scattering them into sparks.
Haren laughed and said, "Foolish move, how many times can you block?"
As he spoke, dozens more fireballs flew out.
As a basic spell, the mana consumption of Fireball wasn't significant; Haren could effortlessly cast them all night long.
Ranch, meanwhile, reopened the system's Store.
If he remembered correctly, there was a magic skill book available in the Store before.
