Wizard: I devour the stars with swarms of insects.

"My mental strength has improved somewhat, and I've managed to advance to the level of a first-class wizard apprentice," Wayne said with a smile.

boom--!

Upon hearing this, the surrounding knights and guards, including Isabel, were shocked, and their eyes were filled with deep awe.

Although none of them had the qualifications to become wizards and could not become wizards, the classification system for wizards was not particularly clear.

However, as the saying goes, "one is influenced by one's company," they served around the Natural Symbiotic Wizard Tower every day, doing their utmost for Lord Wayne.

Through exposure, I also learned some things about wizards.

My God, a first-class wizard apprentice... a first-class wizard apprentice, only one step away from the legendary formal wizard level!

Their eyes couldn't help but reveal expressions of envy and respect.

And now, Isabel, the captain of the knights, felt admiration and joy—after all, she was genuinely happy that Lord Wayne had been promoted.

But a strange sense of sorrow lingered in my heart.

Because first-class wizard apprentices seem to have already gained a certain status in the wizarding academy of the Black Forest City.

For wizards with high status and great power, the people they associate with will be various nobles and social celebrities.

At that time, Wayne may be surrounded by illustrious young ladies and exceptionally talented female apprentices.

Or perhaps they are the daughters of dukes and counts who are adept at scheming and even more beautiful... and what about myself?

She was merely a female lord who had only barely risen to the rank of high-ranking knight thanks to a potion bestowed upon her by Lord Wayne, and whose family had long since fallen into ruin.

As Lord Wayne's power grows stronger, as a wizard, he will no longer need the protection and guard of his knights.

Therefore, while I feel joy and happiness for Lord Wayne, there is also a hint of worry deep in my eyes.

I worry that in the future I will become worthless in Lord Wayne's eyes, and there will be nothing left for me to be grateful for.

Of course, Wayne was unaware of Isabel's current ulterior motives.

And even if they knew, they wouldn't care or pay attention.

Wizards only pursue eternal power and knowledge, and they don't care about such trivial sentiments.

Moreover—!

Wizards live for hundreds of years, by which time these mortals will be old and gray.

He had only just entered the "middle age" that belonged to the wizarding profession.

The beauty and looks of ordinary people are nothing more than fleeting cosmetics to me, a mere pastime that vanishes in the blink of an eye.

Now, sensing his much more acute perception of energy in the surrounding air, Wayne's eyes revealed a look of joy.

"We should tell Professor Morse the good news..."

Wayne thought to himself.

Promotion now means not only an increase in status, but also the possibility of receiving further guidance and resource support from mentors.

Then, Wayne turned and walked toward the Natural Symbiosis Wizard Tower.

When they arrived at the laboratory at the top of the tower and opened the door, they found that Professor Morse was not there; they didn't know where he had gone.

"My advisor isn't here right now..."

So Wayne had no choice but to go back downstairs and back to his laboratory. After thinking for a moment, he had an idea and activated the [Hive] AI.

Now that I've been promoted to First-Class Wizard Apprentice, the size of the insect swarm I can control should also be further increased...

"Based on my current mental strength, taking the Armored Stinging Fly as an example, how many swarms of insects can I control?"

Wayne asked the Hive AI in his mind.

[Calculations in progress... Calculation complete. The maximum number of "Armed Stinging Flies" that can be precisely controlled simultaneously is: 1000!]

"A thousand armed stinging flies, is that it...?"

Seeing the result before him, Wayne tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his eyes showing deep thought.

Currently, the number of insects residing in my consciousness is only a little over a hundred.

It seems that I will need to expand and reproduce on a large scale next.

However, the Armed Stinging Fly evolved from the basic Fruit Fly, and the most prominent characteristic of the Fruit Fly is its rapid reproduction.

Furthermore, the reproduction rate is exponential, so it is not difficult to breed up to a thousand individuals.

"After the swarm has fully reproduced, isn't it a bit too monotonous to always use the same few attack patterns?"

Wayne thought to himself.

"In the past, I had too few insect swarms to control, which limited my effectiveness, so I didn't say anything."

"Once we start controlling a swarm of a thousand insects, we can't just rely on the old, simple, and monotonous tactics of 'mass volley fire,' 'dispersed harassment,' and 'focused attack.' We definitely need to find some more diverse attack patterns."

"But how exactly should I do it...?"

Wayne frowned in thought.

He paced back and forth in the laboratory.

Based on my understanding, there doesn't seem to be a spell model for the "swarm" attack pattern in the Wizarding Academy of the Black Forest City.

Furthermore, strictly speaking, the "swarm" actually belongs to the natural symbiotic wizard tower, which is a biological type of witchcraft discipline.

However, having followed Professor Morse for nearly a year, I had never known that he had any research related to swarms.

On the contrary, Professor Morse usually focuses more on the integration between organisms, and seems to be trying to create a kind of organism that is close to perfect.

This seems to have put us in a bit of a bind.

"Hmm, but what if we think about it differently..." Suddenly, Wayne thought of something and an idea popped into his head.

If we were to draw an analogy, insect swarms are, in some ways, similar to sandstorms or blizzards in nature.

The only difference is that sandstorms and blizzards contain particles, while ours are just a few individual insects.

However, the general models should be similar, all of which are a kind of "potential" composed of individuals.

Therefore, perhaps I could look for some wizarding disciplines that study the earth element and find some witchcraft models to study!

Immediately, Wayne's eyes lit up, and he felt that his thinking had broadened.

Next, Wayne left the Natural Symbiosis Wizard Tower.

Furthermore, before leaving, he instructed Isabel to remember the castle she had been building for herself in the family territory, which she intended to use as an "experimental field."

Send someone to clean and tidy it up.

I should go there in the next couple of days to conduct some experiments, and I'll need this space then.

"Yes, Lord Wayne!"

Upon hearing Lord Wayne's request, a look of joy appeared in Lake Isabel's green eyes.

At least Lord Wayne can still use me now. As long as I can still be of help to Lord Wayne, I feel at ease and don't feel abandoned!

Next, Wayne headed to the public library inside the Black Forest City.

Although the Black Forest City is a large wizarding academy organization, it is divided into various disciplines and majors, and each has a corresponding wizarding tower with a tutor in charge.

Each wizard's tower contains a library with books on its own subject and specialization.

However, within the wizarding academy, there is also a public library where copies of books from various departments are kept.

This is intended as a reference for wizarding apprentices from different disciplines when exchanging ideas, learning, or combining two different forms of witchcraft.

After all, wizards are beings who pursue truth and knowledge.

As the saying goes, "the stones from other mountains can be used to polish jade." Sometimes, if you have doubts about a certain witchcraft model and feel that you have reached a dead end and have no ideas, you can learn from it.

One can indirectly seek inspiration from the magical models of other similar genera and species, and look for ways to break through.

This is a very common occurrence in the learning process of wizards.

Soon after, Wayne arrived at the public library of the Black Forest City and went inside.