Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Chen Lin was awakened by the pungent smell of sulfur.

Water droplets seeping from the stone wall slid down the mossy veins and gathered into murky puddles at our feet.

The laboratory resembled the dissected abdomen of a colossal beast: rusted copper pipes coiled on the ceiling, dripping dark green slime; among the piles of demonic plant remains in the corners, a snake-patterned vine was slowly devouring rotting rat carcasses, its vines rustling like leather as they moved.

Outside the window, the spire of the Thornwood Academy pierced the leaden sky, and the bloodthirsty thorns entwined on the black iron fence bloomed with gaudy red flowers, each petal dripping with the blood of the apprentices' failures from the previous night.

"The 37th potion-making practice class..." Chen Lin clenched the withered dragon claw grass in his hand.

As a researcher in Earth Botany, he spent half a year at this wizarding academy at the bottom of the class—his mental strength stagnated to level two, and he destroyed three cauldrons in a row during Potions class.

If he fails today's assessment, he will be stripped of his apprentice badge and become nourishment for the Bloodvine. This is the rule of the Black Wizard Academy, "Thorn Garden".

Within the territory of the dark wizards, the law of the jungle prevails, and all lower-ranking apprentices are slaves of the academy's headmistress, Vivian.

For the academy, lower-level apprentices are all tools, with only the distinction between valuable and worthless ones. Valuable apprentices can stay and even receive substantial investment—of course, to obtain higher returns—while worthless apprentices are destined to become fertilizer.

"Hey, isn't this our 'Mr. Gardener'?"

A mocking laugh came from behind him. Derek leaned against a pillar entwined with snake-like vines, toying with an icicle between his fingers.

He was a renowned frost talent in the academy, and the three silver stars embroidered on the hem of his robe symbolized the peak of the third level of mental power.

Compared to Chen Lin's mediocre talent, Derek has received a hundred times more resources than Chen Lin.

For example, the magic stabilizer that Chen Lin urgently needed—the potion he desperately needed to pass the apprenticeship exam in the potion class—was only one percent of his monthly ration.

Last night he froze a competitor's right hand into pieces, and ice shards were still clinging to the toe of his boot.

Yes, the Dark Wizard Academy does not forbid competition and fighting among apprentices, as long as you prove that you have the potential and ability to bring greater benefits.

Except in certain special circumstances and situations, dark wizards tacitly approve or even encourage transactions and competition among apprentices.

For outstanding seed wizard apprentices like Derek, aside from a few specific violations, only Dean Vivian can usually impose severe punishments; other teachers and administrative staff generally focus on persuasion.

Chen Lin had hoped more than once that he would join the White Wizard Academy—the White Wizard Academy believed in the survival rule of peaceful competition, advocated equivalent exchange, and considered people to be the foundation of some means of production.

For the sake of future development, white wizards never hesitate to provide some benefits to mortals and apprentices, protecting the young wizards so they can grow up healthily.

Driven by the White Wizards, all formal wizards signed the "Wizarding World Future Development Protection Convention," which limited the excessive exploitation and persecution of wizarding apprentices by formal wizards. The White Wizards, mainly academic and religious wizards, formed the Wizarding Development Committee to ensure the implementation of the convention.

Of course, in the wizarding world, a formal wizard is an individual with corresponding rights and obligations.

For white wizards, newly appointed official wizards represent the hope of leading the wizarding world to greater prosperity, bringing more possibilities and a brighter future.

For dark wizards, newly recruited official wizards can enter more dangerous areas in the short term, bringing them more benefits. In the long term, they may help their interdimensional wars plunder more resources, making them qualified collaborators or even lifesavers in times of crisis.

"Do you need me to lend you some magic stabilizer?" Derek flicked his finger and tossed the bottle toward Chen Lin, but it suddenly froze in mid-air.

The ice pick exploded! Liquid mixed with shards of glass splashed onto the boiling crucible—Derek was trying to create an "accident."

Chen Lin suddenly retreated, only to bump into a cold body.

Those who contaminate the laboratory shall have their eyes gouged out.

Ella's voice sounded like rusty gears grinding together. The potions teaching assistant's robes were covered in stitches, and her exposed left eye was a mechanical prosthetic that made a clicking sound when it turned.

She was once a human modification experiment of a dark wizard, and now she is responsible for eliminating "worthless apprentices" and maintaining the normal operation of the laboratory. Under normal circumstances, she does not interfere with the interactions between apprentices.

The scalpel that slipped from her sleeve was already pressed against Chen Lin's spine.

"My potion-making assessment isn't over yet!" Chen Lin shouted urgently, large beads of sweat dripping down his cheeks onto his linen apprentice shirt.

Ella's mechanical eyes flashed with a dangerous light as she looked at the crucible and slowly put away the scalpel. "Continue. This is your last chance."

"Add dragon claw grass powder when the moon dew boils..."

Chen Lin silently recited the steps, his fingertips trembling at Derek's sinister grin and Ella's blade.

The liquid medicine suddenly surged! Dark green bubbles expanded and burst, and pungent smoke engulfed the laboratory!

"Inferior materials for inferior apprentices!" Derek waved his sleeve to disperse the smoke. "Get ready to be thrown into the Demon-Feeding Cave!"

Ella's mechanical eye locked onto Chen Lin's throat: "Processing time: three minutes."

In despair, Chen Lin cut his finger and dripped his blood into the medicine pot.

Seed of Origin, awaken!

Dark gold patterns slithered through the medicinal liquid like living snakes, and a cold, mechanical voice exploded in my mind:

[Analysis Target: Inferior Awakening Agent]

[Error: Overload of *Gynostemma pentaphyllum* activity (15% excess)]

[Optimized solution: Reduce dosage by 10%, add snake vine juice to balance toxicity]

The time-travel cheat code has finally arrived! Whether it's my final fantasy before I die or not, I can only try it as a last resort!

Chen Lin lunged at the snake-patterned vine in the corner.

"Trying to commit suicide with poison ivy? I'll help you!" Derek grinned maliciously as he spurred his ice spikes toward the roots of the vines.

Chen Lin, however, grasped the snake-tail-like vine tip with his bare hands—the highly poisonous thorns pierced his palm, and the Seed of Origin suddenly roared:

[Absorb Evil Energy: +1]

[The mental pollution caused by snake vine has been purified]

The vines curled obediently in his palm, dripping emerald sap.

In the medicine pot, the dragon claw grass and snake venom mingled, and the dark green liquid gradually became clear like amber.

Derek, enraged, gathered an ice storm: "You bastard, how dare you use forbidden techniques!" This bizarre situation led Derek to conclude that Chen Lin had used a forbidden technique that sacrificed his lifespan to complete the potion test, and in his haste, he was ready to take action directly.

In the instant the storm struck, Ella suddenly stepped in front of Chen Lin. The scalpel drew a silver arc, and ice crystals shattered into dust in mid-air.

"Finished product: Mild waking potion (92% purity)." The mechanical eye scanned the liquid. "Test passed." She turned to Derek, the tip of her knife flicking up the silver stars on his robe: "Interfere with teaching again, and I'll break your spine and use it as a stirring rod."

......

Late at night, Chen Lin huddled by the stone window of his dormitory.

Through mental communication with the Seed of Origin, Chen Lin has gained a basic understanding of its characteristics and functions: it can analyze the origin of all things, devour evil thoughts to strengthen itself, suppress the consciousness of dangerous magical plants, and has a terrifying control over plants and magical potions.

Whew, the crisis is not completely over yet. Chen Lin thought to himself, if he can't break through to the third-level apprentice within six months, he will eventually become the dean's fertilizer.

The reason Derek planned to kill Chen Lin was simply because he couldn't stand Chen Lin pruning and maintaining the vines in the garden last time, and Derek tricked the newcomer into giving him a reminder. Today, he wanted to kill him, which would cause him a lot of trouble.

Ella's reaction during the day was unusual; she shouldn't have let Derek off so easily. What caused her attitude to change so drastically during her performance in the lab today?

Yes... after completing the drug testing... let's deal with whatever comes our way.

The most urgent task now is to complete the cultivation of the Moonlight Moss. Possessing the Moonlight Moss's purification abilities is key to fusing with the magical plant and advancing to the next level. However, with his current aptitude, fusing with regular ivy should not be sufficient to achieve the breakthrough to Level 3 Apprentice...

We have no choice but to take the risk; relying on the power of the Seed of Origin, the success rate should be quite high...

The moonlight illuminated the wound on my palm where the snake-patterned vine had pierced my skin—fine golden roots emerged from the flesh, greedily absorbing the faint light from the moonlight moss on the windowsill.

The prompt from the Seed of Origin resurfaced:

Moonshoe moss (degraded variant)

[Original Restoration Solution: Mix sludge, bat guano, and graveyard worm slime]

He dipped the medicine residue into the table and drew the formula, when a cold voice suddenly came from behind him: "You can communicate with the souls of demonic plants... what are you?"

Ella stood like a ghost in the shadows, her mechanical eyes flashing red: "The Bloodvine will devour Derek's right hand tomorrow. If you want to live, tell me your secret before dawn."

Thorns grew wildly under the moonlight, their reflections like a cage, locking Chen Lin's figure in place.