Chapter 19
Simply having excellent herbal extracts may not be enough to impress Michelle.
But the talent he displayed had already attracted the attention of Glenn and Emily, who were in the same class with him.
"Hello, I'm Emily." Emily was the first to greet the teacher after she left. "We'll be taking Herbology classes together from now on, so please keep an eye on me."
"Hello, I'm Li Hao." Li Hao nodded.
She communicated briefly with Li Hao and then left. Glenn, who had been waiting nearby, came up and communicated with Li Hao in a familiar manner after the two of them finished talking.
If their small team had been lukewarm towards Li Hao before, then the talent Li Hao displayed this time made them feel that it was necessary to invest in him.
He invited Li Hao to dinner. This was the first time he was truly accepted by their team.
I told Li Hao a lot of inside stories about the Mage Tower and some little rules among mages.
For example, meditation in one's own room is slow, but if you can use points to open a meditation room, there will be a formation made of magic stones, which is full of magic power and is very conducive to meditation and practicing spell models. I think many people in their team will meditate in the meditation room.
Alternatively, you can redeem points through a middleman. You can redeem points by crafting potions. The best option is to become a middleman, buy potions in towns, and then bring them back to exchange for points. This also works.
However, they usually go through an intermediary to handle this procedure. If Li Hao needs it, they can provide Li Hao with their reliable channels.
There are also some obscure messages, such as as long as you are willing to spend 10 gold coins, you can get guidance from a formal wizard, which is a bit like extracurricular tutoring in the previous life.
"What is that teaching?" Li Hao asked
"There are several teachers offering classes right now. I participated in the Hand of the Mage training. They basically teach spell models," Glenn said.
"It feels like such a waste of money," Li Hao sighed. Even though she had easily earned her money, she still felt the expenses in the Mage Tower were too high. Everything started with gold coins. Back in Charleston, she couldn't even spend a single gold coin. Becoming a mage was truly a costly endeavor. Talent already limited many people, and money made life even more difficult for the poor.
"But once you learn the first spell, earning gold coins will be much easier. You can join any mercenary team, and the price is generally 10 gold coins a month. With your good talent for potions, you can make potions in the future. For example, ordinary healing potions cost 80 silver coins. Each time you make potions, you can make at least ten bottles." If it were the previous Li Hao, she would not be worthy of Glenn's kindness to her, but a potion genius would be looked up to even by a formal wizard.
"I heard that the teacher will only teach the most common healing potions in class, so how do we get the recipes for other potions?" Li Hao continued to ask. The Potions class will only teach one healing potion. This was the information she got from asking Chelsea.
The base couldn't wait for her to take classes for half a year before she could learn to make potions. If she could buy them, that would be best.
"Any potion formula produced by the Mage Tower can only be redeemed with points. There's no other way around it," Glenn said to Li Hao in a low voice. "What we learned and what we redeemed at the Mage Tower is all recorded."
The Mage Tower prioritizes paid knowledge, with even meditation techniques being delivered via special magic items. Control over potion recipes and spell models is even stricter. It's said that everything that happens in the Mage Tower is under the watchful eye of three third-level mages.
It seems that I can only buy it with points, Li Hao thought helplessly.
After the dinner, Glenn also invited him to participate in a private auction among apprentices. Back at the base, they gathered information and gained a deep understanding of the mage profession.
"It is said that when you first try to construct a spell model, it is best to do so in the meditation room of the Mage Tower. Firstly, there is plenty of magic power there, and secondly, the Mage Tower will come to the rescue if any problems arise." Glenn added a little bit and invited them to go to Charleston for a party together the day after tomorrow.
He said this gathering was hosted by a Charleston business. It was a way to connect with these apprentices who hadn't yet become full-fledged mages. It was also said that there would be gifts.
"I haven't even learned a spell model yet. I can't call myself a mage." Li Hao declined.
"That trading company holds such a gathering every month, inviting new mages who have just joined the Mage Tower to get to know each other. It's also held for mage apprentices, and no official mages participate," Glenn added.
Li Hao nodded. The base was also explaining the reason. "Join the party. The day after tomorrow, you can sell the last of your jewelry and exchange it for points with gold coins."
The base now has a budget schedule, and the highest priority is still Longyan Potion. Even if there are any worthwhile discoveries during this period, they must be put aside and wait for budget approval.
A wave of competition swept across the base, with each group determined to produce a good report and secure the budget.
The specific plan was determined by the Planning Group, a department formed by Director Luo to formulate plans. With only eleven seats, the ones held by Lin Lan and Li Maoxue were crucial. The decision to sell the last of their accessories was driven by the fact that the costs of the Mage Tower had truly exceeded their expectations.
The people at the base initially thought it was an exaggeration, and that preparing around 50 gold coins would be enough to cover Li Hao's expenses. Who could have imagined that the Mage Tower would be such a money-hungry beast, demanding money for everything?
Next up was the Magic Tools class. There were students from the same batch as her in this class, though they weren't familiar with each other. They still sat together, though luckily, there weren't any textbooks or tools to buy for the Magic Tools class.
The teacher of the magic equipment class was a tall, thin, middle-aged man named Reeves, who stared at them with eyes as sharp as an eagle.
Li Hao hadn't expected that he would have to start using magic tools right from the start. Even freshmen like them were assigned tasks.
When Li Hao picked up a small hammer and a crystal, and listened to the jingling sounds in the classroom, he realized that it felt like an assembly line. As the teacher, Reeves was like a supervisor, walking along the aisle of seats, correcting anything he saw wrong.
In this class, Li Hao seemed to have learned something, yet also seemed to have learned nothing. Did she learn how to use her mental power to infuse the crystal's magic into the iron sheets? In the end, the iron sheets were collected, and she felt like she was just doing a part-time job.
Naturally, Li Hao did not perform as well in this class as he did in Potions class.
In the afternoon, Li Hao continued his meditation training as usual. From the initial three-hour cycle, he could now complete a meditation session in fifteen minutes. Li Hao's mental strength increased by more than ten times that of the average person.
In other words, she could achieve progress in just one day that would take a normal person 10 days. According to her original schedule, it would have taken Li Hao at least a year to begin her first attempt at a spell model. Now, she only needed to practice for another 20 days.
Li Hao looked at the dashboard, which showed her mental strength had reached 88 points. The visible progress and the numerical value gave her the illusion of playing a game. She had previously wondered why the system had chosen her. Perhaps deep down, she also longed for a life full of ups and downs.
Li Hao's life here was incredibly regular and hardworking. He didn't know how he managed to persevere. Countless times, closing his eyes and looking at the back button, he'd think of the comfortable chairs and fun games back home. He'd also be surrounded by his parents and friends, and most importantly, the relaxing and safe environment.
She would practice until midnight every day, then get up at 7 a.m. She was even more diligent than she had been in her third year of high school. Even though practice wasn't a required task assigned by the base, she didn't slack off.
Today was the day to go to Charleston, and Li Hao decided to go to Sharia's shop to exchange gold coins. No matter what, Sharia's favor must be repaid, although there was no way to do it for the time being.
The people at the base said that Shalia helped her out of profit. But the other party saved his life, and this matter cannot be changed. Li Hao is not offended by the person, but by the matter. A life-saving grace is a life-saving grace.
"Take a look at these ornaments." Li Hao opened the bag and laid out the ornaments. As always, they were incredibly exquisite, and most importantly, two of them were made of fluorescent material.
Li Hao demonstrated it to her, which was an eye-opener for Shalia. Although the magic world was not without things that glowed at night, this was the first time Shalia had seen something that could be made into an ornament.
The two necklaces fetched a high price. Li Hao happily accepted the bag full of gold coins. There were 163 gold coins, and Shalia directly gave 100 gold coins for the two fluorescent ornaments.
The people in the base cheered, especially the scientists whose proposals had been rejected. They saw that with more money, they could buy all kinds of magical things and have a budget to carry out their experiments.
After putting the gold coins away, Li Hao, wearing a gray wizard robe, walked on the road. She had blended in perfectly.
Now, the people of Charleston no longer looked at her with such scrutiny. Many people even gave way to the mage.
She went to the restaurant that left such a deep impression on her again.
She still remembered the scene, the bloody battle and the turning point of her fate. This time, she ordered the meat again. Now she could understand the menu. She also knew that the dish that had helped her through the most difficult times was called "Dudu Rat Meat."
Unexpectedly, it was rat meat. This was a different experience for her. She had eaten a lot of strange dishes in the cafeteria of the Mage Tower before.
Li Hao was thinking at the time that if the live broadcast room was open to the public, she could also become a food broadcaster. She didn't know if it was because of the meat or the environment, but she didn't get fat even though she ate meat every day.
Since you can't leave here, then just enjoy the fun of the magical world. But of course, don't let your guard down.
She gathered at the restaurant Glenn had mentioned. She found it quite crowded, with more than ten people, more than half of the freshmen, and even the three most gifted apprentices.
As soon as Li Hao arrived, a noble girl waved and motioned Li Hao to join them.
"Li, you're here." The girl who spoke looked at her with smiling eyes.
Maggie, with above-average talent, was only sixteen years old. With her blond curly hair, fluffy skirt, and delicate features, she looked sweet, like a little princess. However, the base's psychologists had analyzed her. They found her extremely dangerous, not because of her abilities, but because of her psychological problems, which could lead to her doing something unnatural at any time.
Li Hao had better not provoke this sweet-looking girl. However, the girl was unusually enthusiastic towards her.
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