Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 147 Taking the Mutant Heart

As darkness fell, bonfires were lit in the inner square, with simple iron frames erected on top to hold large pots or buckets. Several burly middle-aged women began stirring something that looked like a thick soup with spoons.

Some women and children, though still sobbing intermittently, began setting up tents not far from the campfire.

It is likely that an adult male died in the battle just now.

The reason for setting up additional tents in the inner castle square is that there are not enough rooms in the inner castle. After all, no matter how large the Clavel family's castle is, it is impossible to accommodate all the residents of Silverpine Town to take refuge.

The rooms inside the fortress were prioritized for the wounded and the guards who were fighting desperately at the front.

Clearly, under these conditions, although the food stored in the inner fortress cellar was enough to feed everyone for several months, the Baron's family could not afford to have an overly luxurious dinner in the hall. They simply ate a smoked meat feast as a welcome dinner for Richard.

After dinner, the old baron, accompanied by Sir Rollins, the sheriff of Silverpine Town, went to visit and comfort the townspeople.

Silverpine Town is the fiefdom of the Clavel family, and the old baron has always been highly respected there. Because the Clavel family has been rooted in the area for over a century, and these generations of barons have taken good care of their fiefdom, providing infrastructure and tax breaks, they have attracted a large number of free people to settle there.

This has transformed Silverpine Town from a small town with only a few hundred households into a medium-sized town with over a thousand households.

With the old baron's comforting words, the residents of the currently homeless town felt reassured.

This gave Richard a real sense of his father's prestige among the residents of Silverpine Town.

As they passed a campfire, Knight Rollins pointed to a widow and her child standing beside it and said to the old baron in a somber tone, "This is the Silverpine Town blacksmith shop. These are the children of blacksmith Joey. Blacksmith Joey was killed in the previous battle."

The old baron nodded after hearing this, walked over to the child and said, "My child, your father is a hero, he will live forever in our hearts." Then he said to the blacksmith Joey's wife, "If you encounter any difficulties in life, you can seek help from the Clavel family."

"Thank you, Your Excellency," the woman replied, her voice choked with emotion.

The old baron paused, then added, "If the child ever wants to train as a warrior, he can come to the Clavel family."

At that moment, the little boy stared intently at Richard, who was dressed in a black robe, pointed at him, and said in an unusually clear child's voice, "I want to be like him."

Immediately, everyone turned to look at Richard, which surprised Richard as well.

Immediately, the little boy's mother covered his mouth and explained, "I'm sorry, sir. Because Young Master Richard saved us this afternoon, my child has been particularly interested in the huge monster next to him ever since. I told him that only by becoming a wizard like Young Master Richard can one summon such a monster."

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but smile.

Richard squatted down, smiled, and ruffled the little boy's hair, saying, "You have ambition, but to become like me, you might need a little talent. Perhaps you could start by becoming a knight."

After listening, the little boy nodded vigorously and hummed in agreement.

This reminded Richard of the idea of ​​testing the children's wizarding aptitude, so he brought it up with the old baron and Knight Rollins.

They were all familiar with wizard aptitude tests, especially the old baron.

Before Richard went to the Ignis School, he had seen Richard take a simple wizard aptitude test once. At that time, it was Stefano, a second-level wizard apprentice, who did it for Richard.

After some thought, the old baron decided that, to avoid confusion, the tests would be conducted in batches. First, the children of the family guards and servants would be tested for wizarding aptitude, and then all the children in Silverpine Town who met the age requirements would be tested.

The old baron instructed his steward, Paddy, to gather all the castle guards and servants whose children were six years of age or older, while the children of Silverpine Town were to be gathered by Knight Rollins.

Upon hearing that Baron Richard, the young master of the Baron's household, was going to conduct wizard aptitude tests for the children, the surviving people in the entire inner fortress square immediately became excited.

This also diluted the previously somber atmosphere in the square.

People are always like this; as long as there is hope, they will try their best to live.

This hope, in particular, is very likely to emerge in the next generation.

This reminded Richard of a famous saying from his past life: "Everything for the children, everything for the children."

The first group to be tested were the children of the Clavel family's guards and servants; a total of twenty-three children were tested.

There are age requirements for wizard aptitude tests. If the child is under six years old, their wizard aptitude may not be fully awakened, leading to significant oversights and inaccuracy.

So all of these 23 children are over six years old.

Under the housekeeper's arrangement, the twenty-three children obediently lined up and waited at the entrance of the hall.

In fact, every one of the twenty-three children had seen Richard before. So when Richard sat in the head seat of the hall, the children recognized him at first glance. He was the man in black who had saved them from danger.

What Richard didn't know was that, in the children's hearts, the most memorable figure was the enormous, grotesque monster, not their master.

However, starting with the first child, seven or eight children in a row failed to test as having wizarding potential. This made Richard sigh, realizing that the proportion of people with wizarding potential among ordinary people was indeed extremely small.

However, when it came to the ninth child, Richard's eyes lit up.

Because the crystal ball finally reacted, no longer remaining completely still like the previous children, a child with wizarding potential finally emerged.

But after a while, Richard's joy was dashed again, because the child's wizarding aptitude was quite poor, only at the fifth level.

However, Richard saw that the little boy was sturdy and had a good knightly prospect, so he asked the butler to make a note of it so that the butler could pass it on to his father later.

Even if a child doesn't become a wizard's apprentice, becoming a knight is something many parents would be extremely happy about.

In an average family that can barely make ends meet, the cost of training a warrior is generally unaffordable, let alone a knight.

The next child to enter the hall for the test was a beautiful blonde, blue-eyed little girl. She glanced at Richard, somewhat intimidated.

"Come, child, don't be afraid. Gently hold the crystal ball in your hands, close your eyes, and concentrate as much as possible to feel the energy particles in the air." Richard's magnetic voice came to the child's ear.

Encouraged by Richard, the little girl nervously and carefully placed her hands on the crystal ball on the table, as if afraid of breaking such a beautiful object.

At the same time, following Richard's instructions, he concentrated and focused on perceiving external elements through the crystal ball.

Before long, a deep green color began to gather in the originally colorless crystal ball and gradually stabilized, with very few other colors remaining.

"Alright! Very good."

Hearing Richard speak again, the little girl relaxed, opened her eyes, and looked at Richard with a puzzled expression.

"Child, what's your name?"

"My name is Tina, and I'm ten years old. Sir, did I pass the test?" the little girl whispered, clearly a little shy.

Richard nodded. "Yes, you're lucky. You have good wizarding potential."

"Sir, does that mean I can come with you?" The little girl looked up, her clear eyes meeting Richard's, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes into a pretzel, revealing her nervousness.

Richard couldn't help but ask curiously, "Tina, why do you want to come with me? You know you're still young, and being separated from your family is a very painful thing. There's no need to be in such a hurry."

"My parents died during the day. Now I'm with my aunt." The little girl's eyes were slightly red.

Clearly, this is a painful memory for her, and even just thinking about it makes her sad.

Richard looked into the bright, hopeful eyes before him, and felt a real pang of distress.

This little girl has excellent aptitude. She has a high affinity for natural elements and her mental strength aptitude is also at a medium level. It can be said that she is much better than Richard himself before he entered school.

Unfortunately, Tina is drawn to natural elements, not dark elements, so Richard cannot introduce her to the Ignis School; that would be irresponsible towards her, perhaps.

"Tina, not now. You need to stay at your aunt's house for a while, and then I'll come pick you up," Richard said, shaking his head regretfully.

The little girl's face immediately showed disappointment, but when she heard that Richard would come to pick her up, she smiled happily again.

The little girl bowed and whispered a thank you before being led aside by the old butler, Paddy, to register.

At Richard's instruction, Paddy wrote down the little girl's name and address in detail, giving her special attention. She would be well taken care of. If she was unhappy at her aunt's house, Richard also instructed the old butler Paddy to have her move directly to the castle.

Richard, on the other hand, was pondering how best to arrange things for Tina.

It seems that the only wizard apprentice I know with an affinity for the natural elements is Ophelia. Obviously, if Tina is trained by her, there will definitely be no problem.

However, Ophelia was only about the same age as Richard, so was it a bit too early for her to be taking care of a child? After thinking it over, this gave Richard a bit of a headache.

The children's subsequent tests were unremarkable.

Two hours later, all the children of the residents of Silverpine Town had finished their tests. There was only one child with low fire element affinity, who was not of great potential for development. However, Richard still instructed Paddy to record it.

Among the hundreds of children, Tina was the most talented, the little girl with a high affinity for natural elements.

That night, Richard's room was constantly filled with people coming and going, from his father, mother, and elder brother to Duan, a second-level wizard apprentice, and even Knight Rollins, etc. This made Serena, who had been waiting anxiously, feel extremely frustrated.

However, Serena overheard that Richard was going to Silverpine Forest early the next morning to track down the source of the monsters, which made Serena, who was originally overjoyed, anxious again.

The beautiful seventeen-year-old maid, who originally had some romantic thoughts, could only suppress her longing again as she looked at her young master who was so busy that he barely had time to breathe.

Richard discovered that he was really not suited for socializing. Even though it was just family and a few guests, chatting with seven or eight people left him exhausted. It was far less relaxing than studying witchcraft or making potions alone.

With a wry smile, Richard shook his head. He suddenly remembered that he hadn't taken the [Heart of Mutation] yet. He was setting off to track down the monsters tomorrow, and it was clear that taking it would further enhance his strength, making it a more prudent move.

Richard took out the "Mutant Heart," which he had carefully stored away until now, from a specially made light green box.

There was a heart the size of an infant's fist, dripping red and emitting an unusual fragrance. This fragrance seemed to reach the depths of one's soul, making every cell in the body seem to be screaming, "Eat it! Eat it!"

According to the fishman's notes, the mutated heart, which can slightly improve mental strength, is naturally extremely precious.

For example, the main ingredient, the variant of Crab Demon Heart, and the precious auxiliary ingredient, Troll Mantis Eye, are all very difficult to find.

Richard still remembers how much effort it took to collect all the raw materials for the [Heart of Mutation]. It was a collective effort of the entire Blind Fishman tribe that enabled Richard to gather all the materials.

In addition, the crafting difficulty of the Mutant Heart is even higher than that of the Golden Horned Frog Egg.

This time, Richard also wanted to see just how much change this [Mutant Heart] could bring, and whether it could really improve a person's wizarding aptitude as described in the Merman's Notebook.

If it is true, then what exactly is this range? Because the notes are vague and do not provide a specific quantitative description.

One bite and it melted in his mouth. Alchemy was truly amazing. This thing, which should have had a muscular texture, turned into a jelly-like texture. In just a few bites, Richard swallowed the entire mutated heart.

A warm current immediately spread from Richard's stomach to his limbs and bones.

A feeling very similar to the pure soul energy that the Soul-Devouring Spider receives after devouring an enemy's soul is slowly forming in Richard's senses.

Although it will be slower, the quantity will be much greater. If Richard's body were a piece of soil, then it is not a single spring rain that is watering it, but dozens of raindrops, and slowly, hundreds of raindrops, watering the soil.

Spring breeze and gentle rain nourish the heart!

After an unknown amount of time, Richard fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, the beautiful young maid secretly observed her young master through the crack in the door for a long time. Whether she was annoyed that her young master didn't care about her or worried that he was too tired, she obediently didn't disturb him all night.

When Richard woke up again, he found that it was already the next day, as the morning sun had already shone into the room through the window.

In an instant, Richard noticed the difference in the person.

It seemed as if another veil had been lifted around him. He could see tiny particles floating in the air, hear the maid's rapid breathing outside the door, and most importantly, he could feel the shackles within his body, whether from his flesh or his soul.

There will be another update tonight. I hope everyone will support me with lots of monthly tickets! (`) Sending love!

(End of this chapter)