Early the next morning.
A knock on the door woke Lor from his meditation.
He put away the Magic Crystal in his hand and glanced at the game panel.
[Energy points: 21, 57%]
"Earning 3.5 energy points in one night isn't bad."
Back when he was in town, it took him a month to earn 6 energy points. Now getting 3 points in one night was a great improvement.
After tidying up the bed slightly, he put on the newly acquired Wizard Robe, stood up, and opened the door.
To his surprise, the one knocking wasn't Kateya as he expected but a white-haired old man in a second-ring Wizard's Robe. Lor couldn't help but be startled and immediately greeted him, asking:
"Wizard sir, what instructions do you have for me?"
"My name is Biggs Agular. You are now my student," Agular said with a gentle smile, though his words carried an undeniable authority.
"Yes, Mentor," Lor immediately changed his address.
Having a second-ring wizard as a mentor, Lor was quite pleased.
At the very least, he now had someone to consult when he encountered some difficulties while creating Microscope Witchcraft.
"Hmm, if you need to consult me about something, you can contact me through this Communication Ball."
Agular nodded in satisfaction and handed Lor a black metal sphere, saying, "It has a constant Earth Vein Communication Witchcraft. You can use Spiritual Power to activate it and send a message to me."
"Of course, before using it, you must make some progress, in any aspect, as that's the reward for answering your questions."
The requirement he set was not harsh; compared to other wizards, it was quite lenient.
Not to mention those Wizard Apprentices who couldn't find a mentor at all; even if they did find one, most had to spend contribution points to ask questions.
This wasn't surprising, as knowledge was precious, and understanding of it even more so.
"Understood, Mentor," Lor quickly took the metal ball, responding promptly.
"Alright, that's it then. I'll be going first," Agular said, and disappeared instantly.
"I wonder if I can get some apprentice spell slots from this mentor."
Lor closed the door, returned to his bed in the bedroom, fiddling with the metal ball as he thought to himself:
"It will be difficult. In this era, second-ring wizards of Fire and Earth Elements have no predecessors; each is a pioneer, and their apprentice spell slots should be scarce."
"Unless I can present a feasible prototype of Microscope Witchcraft, there's little hope of getting more."
Although second-ring wizards can't directly give apprentices their spell combinations to learn, they can break them down into multiple parts for experimental assembly without any issues.
Each spell is their own creation, and breaking them apart is a piece of cake.
Therefore, their apprentice allocations are even more scarce.
"Take it slow; with some opportunities to ask questions, I can refine a prototype in at most three to five months, no rush."
Lor took a deep breath, stopped overthinking it, put away the metal ball, and retrieved the Magic Crystal to continue his meditation.
The creation of Microscope Witchcraft needed to proceed, and the cultivation of Spiritual Power and gathering of energy points couldn't be neglected.
...
An hour later.
"Knock knock—"
There was another knocking at the door.
Lor paused his cultivation, got up, and opened the door.
This time, it was no surprise; it was indeed Kateya.
"Lord Lor, here's the breakfast I brought you," Kateya handed a tray to Lor.
The food on the tray was nothing new: bread, beef, vegetable soup, and fruit.
"Hmm, would you like to come in for a sit?" Lor took the tray and didn't turn Kateya away this time.
After all, she was already his experimental assistant and should get to know his research direction.
Two heads are better than one, and maybe she could bring some inspiration?
Of course, a necessary reminder couldn't be forgotten.
Just when Kateya accepted the invitation with delight and entered the room, anticipating the next steps, Lor shared some good news:
"Kateya, just before you came, Mentor Agular stopped by and took me in as his student."
"Oh...what?!"
Kateya was stunned for a moment, but the next second she reacted with excitement, "Congratulations, Lord Lor, Wizard Agular is a second-ring wizard!"
Although Lor's words weren't exactly what she anticipated, this news obviously made her happier than what she had initially thought of.
"Yes."
Lor smiled, leading her to the study as he said, "Let me show you the progress of my spell creation. If you can offer any suggestions, that would be even better."
"Alright."
Hearing this, Kateya completely calmed down and also guessed the purpose behind Lor's earlier statement about becoming Agular's apprentice.
"So cautious," she thought to herself, "But rightly so. Without this caution, I'm sure he wouldn't have survived as the only person on the Flying Ship."
Soon, they reached the study.
Lor sat by the desk, set the tray aside, and handed parchment to Kateya, "Take a look at these Witchcraft Models and try to guess the type of spell I'm aiming to create."
"Yes." Kateya took the parchment and began to study it seriously.
She knew Lor was testing her abilities.
If she failed, there was little chance of being replaced, but her position in Lor's mind would drop significantly.
About twenty minutes later, after Lor finished his meal, he looked up and asked with a smile:
"So, did you figure anything out?"
"Hmm, the spell you want to create seems to be a support-type spell," Kateya replied.
"Not bad. What else?" Lor continued to ask.
"This spell is quite special; it seems to act within the Sea of Consciousness rather than externally?!" Kateya said somewhat hesitantly.
It really was because even she found this guess a bit absurd, but no conductive runes were present.
Any spell intended for external use requires a conductive rune as an integral part.
Without that rune as a foundation, a wizard couldn't guide the Elements out of the Sea of Consciousness.
"Your guess is correct."
Lor affirmed with a smile, asking, "Do you remember yesterday when we spent an hour in the central library and couldn't find something?"
"I remember, you said you wanted to find a spell that allows seeing extremely fine details."
With a slight frown, Kateya looked at the basic rune units on the parchment, "But can this combination really achieve that?"
Compressing the Earth Element to the limit might form element particles similar to the glass-like material created by burning Fire Element.
But what practical use does overlapping and folding them have?
"Let me create a practical model for you first then."
Lor raised his hand, mobilizing a trace amount of Earth Element to form a small lump of earth, followed by activating the Fire Element to burn it.
He decided to manually craft a microscope to facilitate Kateya's understanding and also for when he sought apprentice spell slots from his mentor later on.
Compared to explaining a lot, a tangible object is clearly more persuasive.