15 Choice of Master

After paying the guards 15 magic crystals in exchange for lodging and attendance of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, the apprentices were brought to a room where roughly 50 magi were standing.

"There are two methods to choose a professor. The first is to chose by placing your name inside the crystal ball and my treasure will pick a professor for you! This method is absolutely free of charge."

"Excuse me? What is your treasure?" An acolyte asked cowardly.

"Oh?" The old man laughed, and suddenly a black python appeared on the table, "This is my magical pet! Spotty! It does not recognise any of you, so I think it's the fairest for it to choose! Any other questions?"

"No…...No more!" Seeing the large python, the acolyte quickly retreated backwards.

"There is also another method, which is for the acolytes to choose their own professors. Here with me is a list containing short introductions of various professors and their requirements, all for your choosing. Of course, if you choose this method, you will need a magic crystal as payment!"

George possessed 20 magic crystals, so one magic crystal didn't really matter in his eyes.

Quickly scanning through the list of professors, it seemed that Magus Kroft was an abnormality, requiring no fees and willing to offer extraordinary benefits to his disciples.

"Mentor Kroft, Department of Potioneering, specialises in medicine, herbalism, and neutralisation of energy."

Able to provide information on 1 topic free of charge. Addition benefits based on the disciple's talent.

Requirements: Grade 3 Talent and above

George was the first to move forward: "I wish to have Magus Kroft as my master!"

Other acolytes had five hours to choose their masters, but George only used a few minutes before choosing. Some other magi provided good benefits to a grade 5 talent like him, especially Magus Crow, who was Kroft's rival. However, George couldn't see how a magical artefact could make up for the potion recipes, even if they were incomplete, capable of raising spiritual force.

"Since you have already decided, so be it!" After speaking, the old man took a quill pen and scribbled on the parchment paper, "Here are your belongings, follow the shadow slave to where Kroft is!"

The old man handed a sack over to George, and summoned a shadow humanoid creature.

[An unknown creature of high energy! Estimated Strength: 1, Agility: 4, Vitality: 1, Assessment: Harmless but quick and difficult to catch]

George bowed and even nodded to the remaining acolytes, before leaving through the large door.

The black coloured creature floated in front of him and occasionally spun in a circle. Its speed was quite fast, but with knight physique, he didn't have too much trouble following it.

George followed the shadow slave and passed through several corridors, two large halls, and a garden. It then stopped in front of a worn-out laboratory.

The shadow slave turned translucent, and immediately passed through the door, leaving George outside. George was speechless, yet he did not dare knock on the door. Therefore, he just waited outside patiently.

After a moment, there came a middle-aged man's voice.

"George? Enter!"

"Yes!" George pushed opened the doors of the experimental lab.

A sweet and spicy aroma filled the laboratory room, mingling with the odour of poisonous fumes and liquids, which made the young knight furrow his brows. Although he was a knight, he knew that prolonged exposition to those fumes would eventually lead him to lose vitality. Seconds later, however, Kroft cast a small spell that sealed the fumes, replacing the poisonous odors by a pleasant perfume flagrance. Rather than poisonning him, the flagrance was now rejuvenating.

A huge table took up the space of almost half the lab, and placed on it were various test tubes, flasks and beakers, as well as some other apparatus that George could not identify.

In front of the laboratory table, there stood a white-haired, middle-aged man who wore white robes. His collar was embroidered with golden patterns, and his eyes emitted a golden light, like two golden gems.

"I'm Kroft, and I've heard the details from the shadow slave. So then, George, are you willing to become my apprentice?" The middle-aged man put down the test tube in his hands and said solemnly, "Since you are a grade 5 talent, I will allow you to ask five questions a day on any topic I am familiar with. It includes potioneering, curses, dark energy neutralization and shadow element. I see that you are already in possession of an elementary set of meditation since you are very close to becoming a level 2 acolyte. Since you chose me, I will even grant you a welcome gift. This book might not look very valuable, but they contain my experiments, failures and discoveries as an apprentice. You will find a lot of insights in it"

"I am willing!" George hurriedly answered. The benefits far exceeded what he expected. Back in the book, Leylin only had gotten information on a couple topics for free. It seemed like being a grade 5 talent truly was a blessing in magus organizations.

"That's good! Since you are willing, I'll accept you as my disciple!" The middle-aged man stroked his beard.

George smiled.

He didn't know a lot about the Magus world, but he knew that Magus Kroft was the master he had to choose. He wasn't overly greedy, and even good to his disciples. It was only a matter of time before George would get his hands on Magus Kroft's recipes. From this point onward, becoming a Level 3 acolyte would become easy.

Tricking Bicky, one of the two other disciples of Magus Kroft, would allow him to get his hands on [Rainbow Potion], which would also increase his odds of becoming a magus by 30% and reducing the side effects of losing lifespan. With his talent, this was the shortest and safest path to the Magus Realm.