Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 14 Sanders' Hut and the News (Please continue reading)

Richard stepped into the room and saw many shiny reagents of various colors, neatly arranged in the cabinet behind the counter.

A young brown-haired girl, also dressed in a gray robe, was intently flipping through a book.

Upon seeing someone enter, the brown-haired girl quickly stood up and said, "Hello, welcome to Sanders' Cottage. We have a full range of potions available for purchase."

"Are there any potions I can use for self-defense? Ideally, they should be under 15 magic stones. I can't afford anything more expensive," Richard asked bluntly.

While buying goods from such reputable stores may be slightly more expensive, the advantage is that you won't encounter any problems.

The brown-haired girl chuckled, then immediately said apologetically, "I'm sorry, the school rarely sees such a frank wizarding apprentice as you."

The brown-haired girl glanced at the white bone club symbol on Richard's gray wizard robe and said, "I guess you're a new student who hasn't been here long. So if you're using it for self-defense, it's probably mainly for dodging monsters or wild beasts during missions, right?"

Richard nodded; he found that the brown-haired girl had excellent observation and judgment skills.

Seeing Richard nod in confirmation, the brown-haired girl turned around and took a bottle of shimmering silver reagent from the cupboard, showing it to Richard.

The introduction also stated: "This blinding potion is quite good. After it shatters, it flashes a bright light, which will temporarily blind the monsters in the muddy swamp who are used to darkness, enough to buy you time to escape. It costs 12 magic stones."

And then there's this stinking potion, made from the dung of swamp dragons, which can drive away most wild beasts and monsters for a short time.

"It smells a bit unpleasant, but the effect is excellent. It costs 10 magic stones." The brown-haired girl pointed to a spot on the shelf and said.

Wait, even feces can sell for 10 magic stones? This swamp dragon must be a treasure trove from head to toe!

"In addition, the Swiftness Potion is also very useful. After drinking it, it will quickly stimulate the muscles of the thighs and calves, and will increase explosive power by about 40% to 50% in a short period of time. It lasts for about half an hour and costs only 5 magic stones."

If you have decent agility, Swiftness Potion is a great choice.

The only slightly unpleasant thing is that after taking the Swiftness Potion, there will be a three-day side effect, during which your lower body will be extremely sore. The girl glanced at Richard's thin figure and said.

Clearly, she wouldn't recommend this Swiftness Potion to a portly or elderly wizarding apprentice.

After a moment's thought, Richard made his decision and said, "Then I'll take one bottle of Stink Potion and one bottle of Swiftness Potion. By the way, can you use gold dinars to buy them? If not, I can exchange them first and then come back to buy them."

"You can buy it directly, but it will need to be converted at a ratio of 1 to 13, which means you will need to pay a total of 195 gold dinars. However, I can round down the difference for you. I hope you will come to our store more often next time, is that alright?" the brown-haired girl said readily.

Richard quickly calculated in his mind that even if he went outside to exchange, the ratio would be at most 1 to 12, and it would also waste a lot of time. Besides, the girl would round down the amount, so he immediately agreed.

Richard returned to his dormitory and, after practicing the breathing technique once, went to bed early.

As soon as it was light, Richard began to check the knight's longsword, leather armor, gray wood shortbow, black feather arrows, and two bottles of potion that he needed to carry.

He then went out and headed towards the mission area, intending to explore the area early and familiarize himself with the environment.

As Richard entered the mission area, he was greeted by a spacious, vaulted hall.

In the center of the hall was a strikingly tall black stone wall, which must have been fixed with some kind of magic array.

On the black stone wall, a series of task details were scrolling, presented in an effect similar to the three-dimensional images Richard had seen in his previous life.

For example, the quest "Clean up the carrion wolves" includes not only quest details but also a 3D model of the carrion wolves that rotates next to the quest's text description, making it incredibly lifelike.

The different types of tasks are marked on the stone wall.

At a glance, Richard noticed different mission categories such as patrol missions, collection missions, cleanup missions, wanted missions, and deployment missions.

Each task also includes suggestions, such as recommending that the task be undertaken by a level 2 wizard apprentice, or recommending that the task be undertaken by a group of three or more people, etc.

Directly in front of the black stone wall was a row of service counters, where several senior apprentices were responsible for counting loot, receiving and sending tasks, and providing consultations.

For ordinary first-level wizard apprentices, since they have very few wizarding skills, they mainly take on patrol or collection missions near the school.

Even for quests near the school's headquarters, the muddy swamp itself contains many low-level monsters, so first-level wizard apprentices often have to team up to accept these quests.

Three to five people is the standard number of people in a regular team, while the upper limit of five people comes from the school's regulations.

As time went by, more and more students started coming and going from the mission area. Some were waiting for others, while others were consulting or accepting missions at the counter.

Just then, Richard, who was strolling around, heard two people chatting quietly nearby, and a few words they mentioned inadvertently piqued his interest.

So Richard pricked up his ears and listened attentively.

"You saw Vijay skillfully use the level 0 sorcery Shadow Grip in battle?" A short, silver-haired female student carrying a large bow asked the blonde girl next to her suspiciously.

Behind it is a large bow that is almost as tall as a person, which is quite eye-catching!

"It's true, I saw Vijay perform this magic with my own eyes. A shadowy hand appeared out of thin air, grabbed two carrion wolves, and crushed them into a lump of flesh. It was incredibly powerful!" The blonde girl, who had a sweet face and a small mole on the corner of her mouth, said with an envious expression.

"The Vijay you mentioned, is he the one who ranks second among our group of trainees? No wonder he was able to learn Shadow Grip. By the way, I heard he's about to advance to level two, right?" the silver-haired girl continued to ask.

"That's right, his mental strength has long exceeded the requirements for promotion. I heard that his proficiency in Shadow Grip is a little lacking, because promotion to the second-level apprentice requires mastering two level zero attack spells and cultivating them to a proficient level."

"But judging from his appearance, he should be done around this month," the blonde girl said with certainty.

"Wow, that's amazing! In just one year and two months, he's about to be promoted to Level 2 Apprentice. He's a prodigy!"

Unlike me, if I can get promoted within three years, I'll have to thank the gods for their blessing!" The silver-haired girl couldn't help but show an expression of admiration.

"Actually, he could have advanced much faster, but he chose Shadow Grip, one of the most difficult level zero sorcery spells to master, which is why it's been delayed until now. Otherwise, he should have succeeded two months ago!" the blonde girl added.

"Shadow Grip, one of the most difficult level zero sorcery spells to master." Richard listened, seemingly understanding.

When Richard returned to the agreed location, a tall young man, holding a sword and shield, was talking to Meiluo, and seemed quite excited.

Out of curiosity, Richard went closer to listen and immediately learned the reason.

"Meiluo, it's one thing to bring in a newcomer, but to agree to the treatment of a formal team member is something I will not agree to!"

Even if he really is a good archer as you say, he can only get half the reward of a regular team member at most! The tall boy seemed to reject Meiluo's suggestion outright.

(End of this chapter)