CH37

Helag inserted the brass key into the door lock. Magic flowed within, and with a click, the door automatically opened.

As the door opened, soft yellow lights illuminated the room.

The house was fully furnished with tables, chairs, and a fireplace stocked with wood.

Oil paintings, mostly landscapes, adorned the walls.

The wall lamps resembled those on the ship but were more elegant, with softer light emanating from pale yellow stones inside.

The first floor comprised a living room and kitchen. The second floor had three rooms: a bedroom, a study, and an empty room.

The third floor was an attic with a lower ceiling, suitable for storing miscellaneous items.

The kitchen was well-equipped with utensils and various spices. Helag even found tea and coffee.

He lit the fireplace, boiled some water, and made himself a cup of coffee.

After a brief rest, Helag began planning his next steps.

"Deep Blue, suggest a course study plan."

[

Course study suggestions are as follows:

1. Study the basics of meditation techniques.

2. Study the fundamentals of spell model construction.

3. Study multiple languages.

4. Learn a defensive Level 0 spell.

5. Learn an offensive Level 0 spell.

]

Deep Blue provided a detailed plan, and Helag realized he had a lot to do.

He opened the rune stone to check the course schedule. Moonlight Woodland's courses ran from 9 AM to 9 PM, with each class lasting three hours.

The schedule was packed, offering courses like anatomy, necrobiology, and shadow studies.

Helag found Lori Evan's "Basics of Meditation Techniques," which started a new session next Monday.

"The price…" He noted that the course cost fifteen gold coins.

Gold coins were paid on-site, but Helag had course vouchers, so he could use them instead. Moonlight Woodland would later convert the vouchers to gold coins for the teaching wizards.

The meditation course had three sessions, totaling nine hours.

"Fifteen gold coins for one course, and this is just a basic one."

Helag counted his money from his space ring, finding he had only twenty gold coins.

"Let's check the tasks." Helag opened the task section to see what was available.

[Herbology lab assistant needed, must have herbology knowledge. Pass the on-site test to be hired.

Pay: 30 gold coins.]

[Assist in killing a mountain giant.

Requirements: at least a second-class apprentice with two or more offensive spells.

Pay: 20 magic stones.]

[Collect Ghost Valley Walking Grass.

Pay: 20 gold coins per plant.]

The rune stone allowed viewing tasks and contacting task issuers. To post a task, one had to go to the administration hall, fill out information, and pay a deposit. The task would then be updated on the Magic Net.

Each rune stone was bound to a specific wizard, and its functions varied by wizard organization.

The rune stone's usage range was limited to the area of the eight wizard organizations. It couldn't be used outside this range but was sufficient for daily life.

Helag registered for "Basics of Meditation Techniques," "Fundamentals of Spell Model Construction," and "Introduction to Herbology."

He calculated that these three courses would normally cost seventy gold coins.

Since Larry had no current herbology courses, Helag chose a course by a witch named Yuna.

The three courses would be completed within three weeks.

Next, Helag planned to borrow books. Courses didn't provide textbooks, so apprentices had to get them themselves. If the library had them, they could be borrowed; otherwise, they had to be bought from other apprentices.

Moonlight Woodland's library was the tallest building, with seventeen floors. It had existed for over two thousand years, housing various books.

Helag's borrowing privileges were the lowest, allowing access only to the first floor.

Fortunately, the three books he needed were basic and available on the first floor.

Helag borrowed the meditation and herbology textbooks, but the spell model book was out of stock.

"You can check the flea market," the librarian suggested, seeing he was new.

"Flea market?"

The librarian explained, "Wizards sell unused items there. You can find all sorts of things. It's worth a look."

Following the librarian's directions, Helag went to the west side of the town, where the flea market was located.

It resembled a regular street market but was quieter, as wizards were generally more reserved.

Many wizard apprentices manning stalls were engrossed in books, only pausing to attend to customers.

The stalls offered a variety of items, including unusual animal parts. Helag even saw dragon dung for sale, though it looked suspiciously fresh.

Disgusted, Helag quickly moved to the stalls selling books.

One stall had several stacks of books, run by a bespectacled, skinny boy.

"Do you have 'Fundamentals of Spell Model Construction'?" Helag asked.

The boy adjusted his glasses and nodded. "Yes!"

He rummaged through the stacks, taking a while to find the book.

"How much?" Helag asked.

"Fifty silver coins."

Helag couldn't believe his ears. "How much?"

The boy explained, "That's the going rate. I bought it for fifty silver coins too. You can sell it after your course. We all do this to break even, not to make a profit."

To be sure, Helag checked other stalls and found the boy was telling the truth.

Though he doubted the no-profit claim, the market price was indeed fifty silver coins.

"Here," Helag handed over fifty silver coins and took the book.

After counting the coins, the boy asked, "You're new, right? Add me as a rune stone friend. I have many books."

"Sure," Helag agreed, thinking it would be helpful for future book searches.

"Hi, I'm Leo Severin," the boy introduced himself with a smile.

"Helag Merlin."

After adding Leo, Helag had two friends on his list.

"I wonder what Lilian's rune stone ID is…" Helag suddenly thought.

They hadn't known about rune stones before arriving, so they could only communicate by letter for now.