Chapter 9 Canteen

"According to the normal recovery speed of a level six talent... I need to rest for an hour now." Benjamin thought to himself.

But even though I need to rest, there are still things I can do.

He looked at the simple but complete facilities in the dormitory, then looked down at the "Basic Alchemy Manual" and the box of alchemy tools on the table.

Since you want to play the role of a hard-working alchemy apprentice, meditation alone is not enough.

Benjamin took out the admission manual that Instructor Clark had given him in the wooden box and read it carefully.

The handbook introduces the college's basic structure, course schedule, point system, public facilities, and some rules and regulations that need attention.

Jemin also understood the importance of points - it is the only currency that can be exchanged for higher-level knowledge, rarer materials, laboratory rentals, and even guidance from mentors.

"Renting a laboratory..." Benjamin looked at this item and fell into deep thought.

Although he didn't know much now, Benjamin roughly knew that what wizards in this world valued most was knowledge.

At the same time, the wizards in this world are extremely stingy with knowledge.

After all, in this world, knowledge can really be transformed into power.

"In that case... things like laboratories shouldn't have any monitoring facilities, right?"

The more you value and are stingy with knowledge, the higher the security in the laboratory will be. After all, if any surveillance secretly installed inside is discovered, the entire wizard community in the academy will be angered.

"In order to have enough privacy, it seems I need to find a way to get a laboratory of my own."

The freshman handbook does say that you can use points to rent a private laboratory long-term, but it doesn't specify how many points are needed. But if you think about it, you know it will definitely not be a small number.

As a result, the next most important task is to add earning credits.

He quickly finished flipping through the freshman handbook, glanced at the time, and while "waiting for his spiritual sea to recover", Benjamin picked up the thick "Basic Alchemy Manual" and began to read it carefully.

The manual is extremely detailed, covering everything from the most basic material classification and property identification to various basic alchemical principles, formulas, and experimental procedures.

The text was obscure, the formulas were complex, and many of the concepts were new to him.

Fortunately, with the help of the Dao Shu Ge, he has become very good at learning over the years. It didn't take long for Benjamin to immerse himself in the contents of the manual.

In this way, Benjamin studied the basic alchemy manual in the intervals between his practice, and continued to try to meditate after his "condition recovered". However, every time he would "accidentally" draw a wrong stroke with his mental power at the key position, accurately creating a "failure".

Every time he failed, he showed some appropriate pain, such as frowning and trembling slightly.

This was repeated three times, and it was already evening.

"I'm a little hungry, so I might as well go to the cafeteria." Benjamin had an idea.

Going to the cafeteria not only solves the dinner problem, but also allows him to observe the status of other new apprentices, which helps him further adjust his "acting" strategy.

With an idea in mind, Benjamin put away the meditation method and manual, straightened his clothes and walked out of the room.

Leaving the dormitory building, follow the route marked in the admission handbook to the apprentice canteen.

The Alchemy dormitory building is relatively independent, but the cafeteria is shared by all the apprentices in the academy.

Along the way, he saw many young figures with tired faces but still curious eyes. Most of them had just finished their introductory attempts and were on their way to satisfy their appetites.

The closer you get to the cafeteria, the more complex the smells in the air become—no longer the smell of reagents and metal, but the aroma of various cooking dishes.

After shining his apprentice badge on the detection array in front of the gate and pushing open the cafeteria door, Benjamin was slightly shocked by the scene before him.

This is more like a luxury restaurant than a canteen.

In the huge space, dining tables are placed in an orderly manner, the floor is smooth and clean, there is no trace of oil smoke in the air, only the tempting aroma of food.

The dining table in the central area was filled with a wide variety of food: golden roasted meat of an unknown monster, mushroom soup with an enticing aroma, colorful fruit salads, and even some things that looked like desserts or pastries.

The most important thing is that the food here... is free!

As long as you are an apprentice, you can take these foods that look very valuable at will.

Only in a special area on one side of the dining table are there some ingredients or potions that are rare in the wizarding world and contain special energy effects. These need to be purchased with points.

"Tsk, it's worthy of being a wizard academy that controls the resources of an entire plane... the basic benefits are quite generous." Benjamin sighed in his heart.

For many apprentices from poor families, this free and plentiful food itself is a huge fortune.

Adequate nutrition can also help them better cultivate their mental strength and recover their bodies.

Even for Benjamin, it is quite attractive. After all, refining essence into qi consumes his own blood and body energy. It is no exaggeration to say that Benjamin himself is a super eater.

He picked up a tray and walked across to the dining table.

Benjamin did not rush to get his food, but instead looked at the other apprentices in the cafeteria subtly.

Judging from the excited and curious eyes of these people, most of them are new faces who have just enrolled today. They sit together in groups of three or four, talking in low voices.

With his keen perception, Benjamin can clearly distinguish their mental fluctuations and physical conditions.

"This one is pale, and his mental energy is a bit disordered... It seems he has failed at meditation many times."

"The guy holding his head in pain must have been seriously injured by the backlash. It seems like getting started isn't that easy for a newbie."

"But these few people sitting in the corner, with rosy faces and full of energy... are they very talented or have a solid foundation? They haven't been affected much. Have they already entered the door?"

He quickly sketched out a simple "new student status distribution map" in his mind.

Those apprentices with lower talent levels obviously suffered a lot in their first meditation attempts.

Even the apprentices with level five or six talents seemed to be a little tired.

Only a few people looked very good.

Benjamin's eyes fell on a corner of the cafeteria, where several young men and women with extraordinary temperament were sitting.

They were obviously the geniuses detected today, and they performed with ease even though they had just gone through the potentially equally difficult introduction to meditation.

These people were surrounded by some apprentices with admiring expressions, and were whispering to each other.

Instead of going over, he walked to a relatively quiet area and randomly took some grilled meat and vegetable salad to fill his tray.

Just as he found an empty seat and sat down to enjoy his dinner, a voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

"Hello! Are you the new alchemy apprentice? Me too!"

(End of this chapter)