Nascent Soul Rebirth: Starting as a Wizard

Solo boarded the public carriage.

The carriage was filled with the smells of cheap tobacco, sweat, and leather, which gave him a fleeting illusion that he was back on Earth commuting on the subway.

Only the occasional glances from the passengers in coarse cloth around him—curious yet wary, and wary yet harboring a barely perceptible hint of envy—reminded him of where he was.

The worn leather armor and long sword at his waist stood out too much among ordinary people.

He wasn't used to this kind of attention, but he also secretly confirmed one thing:

On Emerald Isle, the status of a formal knight still commands attention.

He got off the bus early at a relatively quiet street corner.

Sunlight slanted across the bronze signboard of "Old Oak Tailors and Clothing," and the little bell on the door jingled as the door was opened.

The store was very clean, and the air smelled of wool fabrics mixed with a faint fragrance.

The shop owner was a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. His gaze swept quickly over Solo before he gave a polite smile.

"Good day, sir. It seems you've come from afar?"

Solo nodded without saying anything more, and took out a not-so-full leather purse from his inner pocket.

The coins he had accumulated by reselling odds and ends of various ports and docks made a slight clinking sound in his bag.

He reached in, his fingertips precisely distinguishing the size and texture of the different coins—

Those were copper coins; a hundred of them could be exchanged for one silver coin. What he needed now was a larger silver coin; ten silver coins could be exchanged for one shiny gold coin.

As for the large gold coin bearing the profile of the Jadeite Grand Duke, which only appears in truly large transactions, it is a hard currency that requires ten gold coins to exchange for one.

He picked out three silver coins and placed them on the smooth, dark wooden counter.

The silver coin struck the wood with a steady, crisp sound.

On Emerald Island, a silver coin like this is enough for an average family of three to live comfortably for more than a week, while a gold coin is enough to support a family of five for half a year.

The three silver coins that Solo paid were roughly equivalent to half a month's wages for a skilled craftsman, which was a fairly reasonable, even slightly extravagant, expense for acquiring a decent set of clothes.

"I need to change my clothes," he said. "Something presentable, preferably... something like what young people going to the Emerald Wizarding Academy usually wear."

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up, his gaze lingering politely on the three silver coins for a moment, and the warmth in his smile became more genuine.

"You've come to the right person. When young gentlemen and ladies on their way to college pass through Emerald City, they often stop by my shop to order similar styles—the material must be good, the cut must be good, but it doesn't have to be too flashy."

He turned around and deftly took a dark indigo wool coat from the hanger.

"How about this outfit? The colors are sophisticated and suitable for various occasions."

Solo looked at himself in the mirror after trying on the clothes:

The well-fitting cut accentuates the tall and straight figure, while the dark color softens the knight's sharpness, resulting in a clean and simple overall look.

That certainly seems to be the case.

"And this cloak, it's windy on the island," the shopkeeper said, handing over a well-made dark green hooded cloak, "and this..."

He took out a polished walnut cane with an uncarved milky-white pebble at the top.

"It's also an item that young people often wear; it's a kind of fashion statement."

Solo took the cane and weighed it in his hand. The wood was solid, but apart from serving as decoration and support when walking, it didn't seem to have anything special about it.

However, in order to better integrate into the environment, he decided to buy it all at once.

With a pair of sturdy new boots and a practical dark backpack, three silver coins would be just enough.

When he left the shop, his attire had been completely transformed. He had gone from a weary knight from a foreign land to a young man who seemed to have some background and was preparing to go to the academy.

When I got back into the carriage, the street scene outside the window was different.

The roads are wider, with neat rows of ornamental trees planted on both sides, and the buildings are becoming increasingly tall and exquisite.

But this prosperity seems to have no direct connection with the wizards.

In those jewelry stores with their expansive windows, gemstones shimmer alluringly under the magic lights.

The silk shop displayed its latest, dazzling fabrics, while the perfume workshop exuded complex and expensive synthetic fragrances.

These were clearly designed to serve the island's nobles, wealthy merchants, and respectable families who aspired to join high society.

The gilded family crest on the signboard and the slowly rotating three-dimensional illusion of GG highlight worldly wealth and status, rather than the mystery of witchcraft.

Occasionally, you can catch a glimpse of something special in the window of an inconspicuous shop on a street corner:

A few mineral specimens with a faint phosphorescent glow, strange powder in an engraved crystal bottle, or an ancient scroll bound with mithril thread.

Even these items, which may be related to wizards, are displayed like luxury goods, with price tags often in gold coins, clearly not for everyday purchases by ordinary people.

Besides the distinctive salty smell of the sea breeze, the aroma of freshly baked bread, and the scent of expensive perfume, the air also carried a subtle, indescribable sense of energy—

It was faint, like a low chord playing in the distance, reminding people of the subtle connection between this city and that renowned academy.

Solo leaned against the window and observed quietly.

This bustling scene reminded him of the Xuanhuang Realm—

The cultivators of that world are either ethereal and otherworldly, or possess dazzling magical treasures; their attire is perhaps more extravagant than anyone I've ever seen here.

But human society seems to have been forgotten by time, remaining stuck in the slow pace of agrarian dynasties.

In the Xuanhuang Realm, the separation between immortals and mortals is as insurmountable as an insurmountable chasm. Cultivators reside high in sacred mountains and blessed lands, while mortals have nothing but awe and submission towards them. Dynasties are merely tools for sects to maintain their rule and select promising talents.

Unless faced with a major calamity that could shake their foundations and cause a sharp decline in population, thus affecting the source of cultivators, high-level cultivators rarely concern themselves with the suffering of the mortal world.

As we see before us, powerful beings and a vast number of ordinary people coexist so "ordinarily" in the same city.

On the streets, you can see both well-dressed ordinary people and occasional wizard apprentices hurrying by—a scene unimaginable in the Xuanhuang Realm.

Here, the wizard seems to exist in a more complex and subtle way:

They need this city as a supply depot and an interface with the outside world, but the vast majority of them don't really belong here.

The city prospered because of its proximity to the academy, attracting resources and talent from all sides, yet it also developed its own secular life system that was neither entirely close to nor completely separate from the wizards.

According to the address written in Catherine's letter, Emerald Mansion is located on the outskirts of the Academy District and is a property under the name of the Emerald Duke.

As the carriage approached its destination, the streets became quieter and the pedestrians dressed more elegantly.

Solo maintained a slightly alert state of spiritual awareness throughout the journey, carefully sensing his surroundings.

Since he arrived on the island, the number of people who have passed through his field of vision has probably exceeded ten thousand, but no more than twenty people have shown obvious energy fluctuations.

Moreover, the vast majority of fluctuations are slight, only at the level of a low-level apprentice.

He had only clearly sensed one mid-level apprentice—a pale-faced young man dressed in dark casual clothes indistinguishable from ordinary citizens.

I paused briefly in front of a shop selling exotic goods from overseas, then quickly turned into a side alley.

He vanished without a trace, as if Emerald City had truly been just a fleeting stopover for him.

As for advanced apprentices, or perhaps formal wizards whose presence is as prominent as a beacon, not a single one was seen.

This state of "scarcity" and "passing through without staying" is different from the thorough and institutionalized separation between immortals and mortals in the Xuanhuang Realm.

It's more like an unspoken boundary, based on some kind of social consensus or underlying rules.