Richard turned the seal ring on his hand and looked the girl in front of him up and down.

Although he didn't mind taking in a talented wizard apprentice as his student, given his current situation, Richard was still very cautious about taking in a disciple.

As soon as he joined the Ignis School, he was already standing against the old family power, the Soto Family.

Although Teacher Celes would go and mediate, Richard knew that even if the other party let the matter go for the sake of Teacher Celes, it was hard to say what would happen in the future.

Moreover, he was about to go on a long journey. According to the plan, he would first go to the capital of the Kingdom of Heron, and then go to the Loras Peninsula of the Vitlor Continent where Meiluo was. He would not be able to return for at least half a year.

If something unexpected happens in the middle, I'm afraid the delay will be even longer. So if I recruit an apprentice now, it is not the right time in all aspects.

However, this did not affect Richard's intention to first listen to the other party's reasons for choosing him.

"Lina, first of all, among so many mentors in the school, why did you choose me, a newly promoted wizard, as the mentor?" Richard said.

"Sir Richard, you are the only instructor in the Ignis School who offers a course on puppetry. I am very interested in this subject. Moreover, your legendary experience of being promoted from a first-level wizard apprentice to a formal wizard has become a role model in the school, so."

Lina stood in front of Richard with her hands hanging naturally on her belly, but her constantly twisting white fingers revealed that the girl was very nervous and not as calm as she seemed when she was narrating.

Richard nodded. This reason was indeed very sufficient.

"Okay, then tell me, why should I accept you as my apprentice and not someone else?" Richard continued to ask.

An average wizard apprentice, if he is not mentally prepared, would think that the wizard in front of him is prejudiced or has an opinion about him, and his legs would tremble when he hears a formal wizard say this.

But Lina's face turned pale at first, but then she quickly raised her head and took a look at Richard's half-smile, and instantly came to her senses.

Sir Richard didn't seem to have any prejudice against her, he was just more interested in how she would answer.

This immediately made Lina relax a lot. After thinking for a while, Lina replied: "Sir, although my wizard qualification is only second-class, my affinity with dark elements is medium, and my mental strength is super, but..."

"Stop! Say what you just said again."

Richard couldn't help but speak seriously, and his whole body adjusted slightly from his original casual sitting posture to a more formal one.

If he heard correctly just now, this little girl said that she had super mental power?

Richard looked at Lina with burning eyes and said the words he had prepared: "Lina, I'm sorry, I don't plan to take in an apprentice. Maybe after a year or two, I will consider taking in an apprentice."

At this time, Richard swallowed it back into his stomach.

Although Lina had no idea why Lord Richard did this, after a slight pause, she still obediently repeated what Richard meant.

"My Lord, although my wizard qualification is only second-class, my affinity for dark elements is medium, and my mental strength is super-class..."

Richard automatically ignored Lina's subsequent words.

Richard knew too well the advantages of having super mental strength when controlling puppets!

This means that if Lina had not died young, not only would she have been able to control more puppets than ordinary wizards, but she would also have been much more sophisticated in her control.

This is especially true for puppets that have no soul to control them!

For example, rock combat puppets, obsidian combat puppets, etc., and more advanced ones are giant war puppets, etc.

Of course, Richard's blood-bone puppet is not among them. The blood-bone puppet has a soul to help control it. From this perspective, the blood-bone puppet is actually more like an undead summoned creature.

To be precise, the Blood and Bone Puppet is an organic combination of puppetry and undead summoning.

"Lina, I agree."

Richard agreed immediately before Lina could say anything else.

Moreover, according to Richard's judgment of Lina's breath, the other party is already at the critical point of a first-level wizard apprentice and will soon enter the second-level wizard apprentice level.

If I accept Lina as my apprentice, I should be able to add some points immediately, but not much. If I upgrade from level one to level two, the apprentice mentor can only get 50 points.

However If I count my original 100 points, I will have 150 points, which means I can exchange for another level 1 mid-level ogre skeleton as the raw material for the second blood bone puppet.

"Um, thank you Sir Richard, no, thank you mentor!"

Lina was stunned for a moment, then she covered her mouth with her hands, her big eyes fluttering with warm joy, and she bowed to Richard repeatedly.

"You don't have to be so polite."

Richard smiled slightly.

Looking at Lina's joy, Richard couldn't help but recall the scene when he first met Mentor Ceres. He didn't expect that he would have an apprentice so soon.

In an instant, Richard remembered the scene when Teacher Ceres asked him to choose one of three gifts for the meeting.

I had never thought about accepting a disciple before, let alone preparing a gift for the meeting!

However, the wizard's mind was as fast as lightning, and soon, Richard thought of several suitable gifts.

It is not expensive, but it can reflect my concern for students as a mentor, especially for a mentor like me who is about to go on a long journey.

"But, Lina, I will be going on a long journey soon. It may take a long time and I won't be back for half a year. So, as your mentor, I have prepared a welcome gift for you. It can be regarded as compensation for not being able to teach you even though I just accepted you as my apprentice."

"Teacher, that's really not necessary." When Lina heard that Richard, as a mentor, had prepared a gift for her, she couldn't help but wave her fair little hands and said with a slightly anxious look on her face.

Richard waved his hand and interrupted Lina's speech.

"You can choose one of the following three different options." Richard said to Lina.

"The first item is to give you a bottle of prophet potion. After taking it, it can permanently increase your total mental strength by a small amount. According to your current situation, I estimate that after taking it, you will be able to be promoted to a second-level wizard apprentice immediately."

When Lina heard this, her big beautiful eyes lit up. It seemed that she was very eager to be promoted to the level of a second-level wizard apprentice.

Richard smiled and continued:

"This potion is the same as other potions that increase mental strength. The first time you take it, the effect is the best. The effect will be halved after taking it. Of course, Lina, you can also choose to exchange the prophet potion for the shadow power potion. After taking it, it can slightly increase your affinity for dark elements."

"The second item is a rock combat puppet, which is about the top level of a third-level wizard apprentice. Judging from your current mental strength, it is difficult to control it, but after you are promoted to a second-level wizard apprentice, you should be able to control it with your talent."

"This should be of great use to you at this time."

Richard paused again at this point and glanced at Lina.

He noticed that Lina hesitated twice with her red lips and almost opened her mouth to agree. The desire in her eyes was obvious to ordinary people, but Lina seemed to hold it back and did not choose this option immediately.

Immediately, Richard briefly explained the relevant situation of this ring that had not been used for a long time.

This immediately made Lina's eyes widen again. She didn't expect that the instructor's last choice would be a defensive witchcraft prop. This was a very valuable gift.

Her brain was buzzing as if it was hit by a pie in the sky!

All of a sudden I couldn't concentrate on thinking about which one I should choose.

"Oh my god! I originally thought that a genius like Lord Richard must be very cold and difficult to approach. This time I came here just to give it a try."

"I didn't expect that Lord Richard actually agreed. I became his chief apprentice, and I even got to choose from three gifts! Happiness really came too quickly and too suddenly!"

"How should I choose among these three items?" Lina couldn't help but murmur.

Richard, on the other hand, smiled and calmly observed his chief apprentice to see what choice she would make.

Of course, Richard did not offer the Rodriguez Meditation Method for the other party to choose. Firstly, it was because their relationship had not reached this stage yet. Secondly, the relationship between him and the other party was also different from the situation between him and mentor Ceres at that time.

Therefore, we cannot generalize.

"Teacher Richard, can I choose the second option?" After thinking for a moment, Lina finally spoke weakly.

"Haha, why did you choose the second option? You know, even for a third-level wizard apprentice, it is very difficult to control the rock combat puppet. Lina, why did you think of choosing this option?"

"Teacher, as for the first option, I am confident that I can break through to the second-level wizard apprentice without taking potions. Moreover, the rarity of the prophet potion is far inferior to that of the rock combat puppet. If I don't choose the second option this time, I will definitely regret it."

"As for the third item, although it is also very valuable, I currently need to quickly improve my combat power. In comparison, the black jade ring is good, but it is not as good as the rock combat puppet."

Looking at Lina who was talking eloquently, Richard couldn't help but nodded with satisfaction.

He was very satisfied with his chief apprentice's quick response and clear thinking.

Richard pointed to a burly humanoid statue about two meters tall placed in the corner of the room and said:

"Lina, this rock combat puppet is yours. However, you still need to learn some knowledge about the intermediate control core."

After Richard explained some details about the control of the rock combat puppet to Lina, he let Lina leave.

Richard tapped his fingers slowly on the handle of the chair. He suddenly thought of a problem. He was about to go on a long journey. If he could buy a flying mount, it would save a lot of travel time.

In the past, it was because he was only at the apprentice level, but now, ground mounts are no longer his first choice.

After thinking for a moment, Richard decided to go to the supply point to post a task to purchase a flying mount.

He had very low requirements for a flying mount, as long as it could travel long distances. ——In the villa of a formal wizard in the Ignis School.

"Father, are we just going to let Robert's death go like this?" A middle-aged man with a sinister face bowed slightly and said to the gray-haired old man sitting on a red leather sofa in front of him.

The middle-aged man was named Raymond Soto, and Robert Soto was his most talented offspring. Although he was only the son of himself and a maid, he had been quite fond of Robert since he discovered his wizarding talent.

Robert Soto was an acquaintance of the Ring of North who asked him to go to the Ring of North to study.

It can be said that Robert and Raymond had high hopes! But he didn't expect such a thing to happen.

"As a master of potions, we should give Celes some respect. Besides, I also heard that the great wizard Graf seems to be very optimistic about the boy named Richard."

The gray-haired old man had a very gentlemanly temperament, and the aura he exuded was profound and majestic, even compared to the great wizard Graf, it seemed only a step away.

The old man paused and continued, "In that case, killing that little guy will not bring any benefit to the family except making Celes hostile to us and causing the great wizard Graf to have a problem with us."

"Raymond, if one day you inherit my position, you must learn to put aside your personal emotions and consider issues from the perspective of family interests." The old man said in a deep voice.

"I understand! Father!" Raymond bowed his head respectfully, but the cold light flashing in his eyes on his gloomy face seemed to reveal that he would not give up just like that. —— Ring of North.

Gildarts's residence was still filled with the smell of various healing potions.

"The Soto family, these cowardly guys, actually compromised so quickly!" Gildarts muttered to himself after taking a look at the contents of the communication mark.

His originally pale face now had a blush on it.

But it was obvious that this was not a sign of his physical improvement, but rather the result of his momentary anger after hearing the news from the Soto family.

"No, this matter will not end like this!"

"Just wait and see! Boy, let's see who will have the last laugh!"

In the study of an ancient castle on a mountain top in the Green Kingdom, a white hand was shaking a red wine glass.

Then the sound of bird wings flapping was heard.

A bird of prey, about the size of an owl and with a pair of striking red blood swallows, suddenly landed on the study window.

"Hey! It's actually the Blood Falcon."

A clear voice was heard, and it turned out that the owner of the white hand was a lady.

She just stretched out her hand gently, and the blood falcon seemed to be attracted and flew quickly to her hand as if it had fallen into a trap.

"I didn't expect it to be Gildarts's mission to kill a new wizard from the Ignis School. His name is Richard, and his strength is level one. The bounty is 10 high-level magic stones. It seems that he has been out recently."

"I didn't expect it to be such a big deal! There's such a high reward for killing a new wizard. I'm sure the assassins in the organization will be very happy. Maybe it will even attract the attention of second- and third-level assassins."

The woman's name is Julis Vance. As the person in charge of the Hand of Death, a killer organization covering the entire Essos continent, not only is her own strength unfathomable, but she is also the information intersection point of the Hand of Death in this area.

After shaking a small bell on the table, a mysterious man in a black robe slowly emerged from the darkness on the side and bowed slightly to the woman.

The woman opened her red lips slightly:

"Issuing a mission. Mission target: Richard Clavier, a new wizard of the Ignis School. Mission requirement: Kill him within one month. Mission reward: Nine high-level magic stones."

The missing piece is the commission from the Hand of Death's missions, which is similar to the assassin's agency fee.

"Yes, sir," the mysterious man in black robe replied hoarsely, and then slowly disappeared into the shadows again.

(End of this chapter)