Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 128 Visiting the Mentor

However, given the current situation, I must first meet with my mentor.

So, on his way to the Celeste Alchemy Chamber, Richard devised two sets of stories.

The first version of the story was given when Seras believed he was a second-level wizard apprentice after his aura concealment was effective. The other version was prepared when Seras recognized him as a peak third-level wizard apprentice after his aura concealment was exposed.

Just as Richard entered the two-story building of Seres, he lingered for a while in one of the alchemy rooms available for rent on the first floor, but unfortunately, he did not see any familiar figures.

After going up to the second floor, Richard waited at the door of Seras's private alchemy room, just like always.

But as soon as Richard stood still, he heard a familiar voice coming from inside the door; it was his mentor, Serales.

"Richard?" This time, Celes didn't call Richard in, but instead opened the door and came out herself.

Richard could clearly sense the joy in his mentor's words and excited expression.

Suddenly, Richard felt a warm current flow through his heart!

"Mentor, I'm sorry to have worried you!" Richard looked at Serales, bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle, and said.

Seres helped Richard up, looked him over, and said, "Hmm! Your mental strength seems to have reached the peak of a second-level apprentice?"

Richard was taken aback, then feigned embarrassment and scratched his head. "Yes, mentor, in the past six months, I've gained some insights into the Rodrigo meditation method, so my mental strength has improved quite rapidly!"

Richard felt a little relieved. It seemed that the Rodriguez Meditation Technique's concealment effect was very effective, even his mentor, a formal wizard, couldn't discern his true strength.

Without the Concealing Breath effect, if his peak mental strength as a third-level wizard apprentice were exposed, even if his mentor Seras could accept his explanation, the sect's hurdle would likely be quite troublesome.

While they might not be dissected, hearings and various tests from different schools of thought would follow, which would be extremely troublesome!

"Come in and sit down to talk." After a brief moment of excitement, Seres quickly regained his composure.

This is the quality of a professional wizard—the ability to remain calm and collected at all times.

After the two entered the alchemy room and sat down, Richard briefly told his mentor what had happened to him, concealing the teleportation array, Fingart, and the blind merman tribe.

He was simply knocked into an underground river by the ancient dark fishman and immediately fainted. Unknowingly, he drifted with the current and came to an unfamiliar place.

When he awoke again, he found the area teeming with monsters. After many battles, he managed to find an underground river and return to the surface.

Richard also occasionally cited examples of battles with various monsters, such as brain-eating monsters and demonic horned frogs, but he did not mention powerful monsters like mutant crab monsters and troll mantises, which even third-level wizard apprentices found troublesome.

Because Richard's current strength is at the top level of a second-level wizard apprentice, the monsters that match him are the most suitable; otherwise, it might backfire.

The most difficult situation to distinguish is when a lie is mixed with a large portion of the truth.

It wasn't that Richard was deliberately trying to hide anything, but he felt that saying certain things might affect his inspiration panel, otherwise there would be no way to explain them.

And the Inspiration Panel is my biggest secret, so let's just call it a white lie!

Seres nodded repeatedly as he listened to Richard's battles with various monsters, praising Richard's various combat responses and immediately having no doubts.

In his early years, when Celes had just become a formal wizard, he had also traveled to the Underdark and encountered one or two of the monsters that Richard had mentioned.

Moreover, he knew that there were many layers and crevices between the surface and the Underdark. It was rare for a wizard apprentice to survive being swept into a layer by an underground river, but it was not impossible.

As far as he knew, there were at least seven or eight recorded instances of this happening within the Ignis school alone, the most recent being several decades ago.

Therefore, in Serales's view, Richard was really lucky to have survived under such circumstances. Moreover, most importantly, Richard's strength had actually increased significantly.

As Richard recounted his experiences, he also took out more than ten kinds of unique herbs from the Underdark from his pack. To be precise, some of them can also be found on the surface, but they are only produced in some very special places and are produced in very small quantities, making them extremely precious on the surface.

"This is a golden fern fruit? This is rosemary? This is…" Seras, who was obsessed with alchemy, was overjoyed and immediately stood up to carefully examine the herbs that Richard had taken out.

Seeing his mentor beaming with joy, Richard couldn't help but smile as well.

Although Thras is a master of apothecary arts, there are still a few rare herbs from the Underdark that even Thras can't immediately name.

"Mentor, these herbs were prepared for you," Richard said with a smile.

Seras's face beamed with delight, but after giving Richard a long look, she shook her head and said, "Although I like it very much, I cannot violate the wizarding principle of equivalent exchange. Tell me, Richard, what do you want?"

Serales' meticulous attitude gave Richard a headache.

"Mentor, there's no need to be so formal. I'm just expressing my gratitude to you; I really don't want to make a deal with you," Richard said with a wry smile.

"Oh~ really, there's nothing you want to ask me?" Serales smiled slightly.

"Haha, I do have a few questions I'd like to ask you, but I can offer you a paid consultation, which has nothing to do with these herbs," Richard said rather apologetically.

"Go on."

"Um, I just wanted to ask you about the origins of the Rodrigo meditation method. If you could tell me more details about that exploration of the ruins, that would be even better."

"Oh, it seems you've already started preparing for your advancement to a full-fledged wizard?" Seras looked at Richard with a smile.

"Hehe, it's never a bad thing to get ready early," Richard said, scratching his head.

"Although you are my disciple, all of us who participated in this project have promised not to disclose any information about that ruin. Therefore, I can only give you the information about Rodrigo that I have found myself, and the price will offset the price of these herbs."

After listening, Richard's expression changed, clearly somewhat disappointed, but after thinking about it, he nodded in agreement; something was better than nothing. "Okay, mentor."

"Actually, even if I could tell you about that ruin, it wouldn't be of much use to you. Besides, you'd have to pay a large sum of magic stones, because that ruin can no longer be opened. At least, no wizard below level two has any chance of forcibly opening it. So, it's actually a good thing you don't know."

Upon hearing Seras's cryptic remark, Richard immediately understood what was going on.

The mentor's meaning was that the entrance to the ruins must have been destroyed for some reason, and that other possible ways to enter were probably no longer possible.

If you want to get in, the only way is to break through by force, which requires at least the strength of a level two wizard.

Clearly, Richard does not possess this ability at this stage.

"Richard, don't have too high expectations for the follow-up content of the Rodrigo meditation method. Even with the information I've given you, it will be very difficult for you to find any useful clues."

Richard nodded in agreement. Indeed, ancient sorcerers often left behind many enigmatic texts or diagrams. If you cannot understand or perceive the key within them, even if you are given the specific location of the ruins, you still cannot enter.

Moreover, Rodrigo is from a very distant era, and much of what he left behind is missing, making it even more difficult to find any clues from the missing information.

"However, Richard, do you know why advanced meditation techniques are so rare?" Seras said, handing Richard a recording crystal about the size of a thumb.

It contained information about Rodrigo that Serales had gathered.

Richard respectfully accepted it, then shook his head and said, "I hope my mentor can guide me."

"This has to do with formal wizards. You know, the power of formal wizards far surpasses that of ordinary people and even knights. Even a hundred formal knights would find it difficult to fight a level one wizard head-on."

However, the resources required to become a formal wizard are enormous, and once one becomes a wizard, the resources required are even more massive.

As Seras recounted the secret in a melodious and rhythmic voice, a glint seemed to flash in Richard's eyes as he thought to himself, "So it's the scarcity of resources that makes the upper echelons of the wizarding world so tightly controlled over the promotion of formal wizards."

"Therefore, even I cannot reveal to you the knowledge I obtained from the Ignis School regarding the advancement to a formal wizard, but I can give you some hints that there are very big differences in the advancement to a formal wizard."

The first type is ordinary level three wizard apprentices who, with the help of the Limit-Breaking Water, barely manage to break through to level one wizard. Of course, this is the lowest level among level one wizards, but it is also the most common type.

The innate witchcraft he possesses is mostly level zero witchcraft learned during his apprenticeship, which is far less powerful than level one witchcraft. Therefore, his combat strength ranks at the bottom. Moreover, most importantly, his path forward is cut off, and he cannot cultivate to the level two witchcraft.

At this point, it is too late to practice advanced meditation techniques, because advanced meditation techniques require laying the foundation for the first level during the apprenticeship period!

The second type is much better than the first. It refers to those who successfully advance to the level one wizard by accidentally acquiring a level one wizarding spell and the Limit-Breaking Water.

Although the innate sorcery he possessed was also level one sorcery, most of the level one sorcery he acquired did not match his meditation practice, which also led to the severing of his path forward.

This kind of promotion is most common in ordinary wizard families, and their combat strength is considered to be in the middle.

However, among the first-level wizards who advance in the second scenario, there are some with exceptionally high strength, which requires extra attention.

(End of this chapter)