After helping Kay carry the specimen back to the dormitory, Tiddy, Kay's little follower, looked back step by step, her steps as as if pulled by a magnet, and she shuffled out slowly. She moved her lips, wanting to remind Kay if he had forgotten something important, but seeing Kay's indifferent face and hearing his words without a trace of warmth, Tiddy swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue and slunk away dejectedly.
As soon as Tiddy left, Kay shook his head gently. The apprentice specimen on the experimental table had a strong anti - decay ability and could last for two months without any problem.
After spending a morning on the anatomy class, Kay strolled back to the bedside and opened one of the five magic books given by his mentor, Mosesdo - "An Introduction to the Basic Knowledge of the Wizarding World Across the Continent". Wow, this book was as thick as a big brick, the thickest one Kay had ever seen. Besides talking about some common magic knowledge in the book, there were hand - written annotations by the mentor on the sides of many paragraphs, like hiding treasures. Those practical and valuable magic knowledge were naturally the focus of Kay's attention.
In addition, the customs of the wizarding world and the wizarding continent described in the book also fascinated Kay. "Is the world we live in called the wizarding world?" "Where is the Underdark in the wizarding world?" "Where is my hometown in the wizarding world?" Kay wondered to himself as he flipped through the book. Unfortunately, this book focused on basic knowledge. By the time Kay flipped to the end, he still couldn't find the answers. Even the annotations about the local customs were written in a vague way, as if they didn't want people to know too much about the surface and other regions. Kay probably only knew that this world was much bigger than he thought. From the mentor's notes, one could sense the mentor's feeling of insignificance when facing the vast wizarding world as a formal magician.
Speaking of which, Kay had been in the Underdark for ten years. He had never seen any apprentice who could leave Menzoberranzan and return to the surface. The sunlight during the day and the starry sky at night had become the deepest images in Kay's memory. In the Underdark, when Kay looked up, he could only see the faint light of the in the sky above the ground, pitifully weak. The black magicians of the academy kept the method of returning to the surface tightly under wraps. Over the past ten years, Kay had roamed around Menzoberranzan many times, trying to find a way back, but he hadn't found a single clue. Every time he saw the black magicians abducting new people from the surface, he would see a huge flying ship. Where did this ship come from? What did it rely on to fly? Kay had no idea at all. He only knew that every time a large number of children were transported to Menzoberranzan by this ship, and after unloading the people, the ship would disappear the next day, as if it had never appeared.
In the dim light of the magic crystal lamp, the young figure of Kay flipping through the magic book was stretched long. I don't know how long it had been, but the door creaked open. A girl who made Kay feel familiar and at ease walked to his side. After accompanying Kay to read five more pages of the book, Lina said, "Go to bed early. Don't you have to take other magic classes tomorrow?" Kay nodded, closed the big book, pushed it under the bed, and lay down embracing Lina. Soon, the magic crystal lamp went out by itself. In the darkness, besides the suppressed gasps, Kay whispered, "Today, Magician Corsolon gave me a specimen. The preservative liquid is very strange. I don't know how to prepare it." "Hmm... I'll help you take a look tomorrow." Lina let out a low murmur and replied softly. When it came to anatomy skills and knowledge of dark and death theories, Lina, as a senior apprentice, was far better than Kay. Even Kay's steady anatomy techniques were learned from countless practices with Lina. As a senior apprentice majoring in fire and dark magic elements, Lina was also very enthusiastic about these majors. If they could the secret of Corsolon's preservative liquid, even if they onlya little, it would be a great gain for both of them. Chatting about these things while having sex was not that they were perverted; in the underground world, this was the norm. Kay and Lina had long been used to talking about death and specimens, which showed that they had truly integrated into the identity of black magicians, adapted to the atmosphere of the Black Magic Academy, and also meant that they had stood above most apprentices in all aspects, whether in strength, adaptability, or mentality.
In addition to Corsolon's anatomy class, the academy's public classes were fully opened, including courses like the introduction to pharmacology, monster identification, and initial magic model construction. As long as Kay was interested and thought it was useful, he would go to audit. From names like "introduction" and "initial", it could be seen that the knowledge taught in the public classes was just the most superficial part of the magic knowledge in that department. Knowledge was priceless; unless you became a disciple of a formal black magician, you would have the opportunity to study in depth. Wanting to achieve something great relying on the superficial knowledge from the public classes was purely a pipe dream. In fact, the public classes were mainly for entry - level and low - level apprentices in the academy. For intermediate apprentices like Kay, they had basically heard these courses before. Those formal black magicians who gave lectures also rarely taught new things in the public classes. Moreover, black magicians were generally cold - tempered and stubborn. If an apprentice accidentally made them unhappy, even intermediate or higher - level apprentices might be beaten or even killed. However, the probability of intermediate apprentices being unlucky was much smaller than that of low - level and entry - level apprentices. After all, the academy had trained them for more than ten years, and it was not easy for them to reach the intermediate or higher - level apprentice stage, so they couldn't be casually bullied by formal black magicians.
When Kay audited the public courses, there was an interesting thing: the one who taught the basic knowledge of fire elements and the introduction to alchemy happened to be his mentor, Mosesdo. Maybe because Kay was there, every time the mentor gave a lecture, he would take out some in - depth new knowledge to talk about. As a result, every time the mentor had a class, the classroom would be packed with apprentices. As a personal disciple, Kay always served as the mentor's assistant or class representative, standing on the podium or in front of the experimental table, feeling the mysteries of magic and truth up close. During this period, Kay also met Tiddy, the entry - level apprentice he had dealt with once before, many times. Tiddy took the initiative to chat with Kay after class, which made many apprentices who didn't know the truth think that Tiddy was on Kay's side, and no one dared to have bad intentions towards this little entry - level apprentice.
How could Kay not see through Tiddy's little scheme. But from the very beginning, he had no intention of saying anything about it to the outside world. As for how long Tiddy could "ride" on his "coattails", it all depended on her own skills and luck. If in the future there was some trouble that involved Kay, Kay would not only deny it but also turn his back on it.
There were no truly good people in the Black Magic Academy in the real sense. Kay was not a good person either; he just had a bottom line in doing things. But if someone dared to take advantage of his bottom line and do things that harmed his interests, Kay would definitely use magical flames to let the other party know what real cruelty was.
Besides becoming a faint focus in the class of his mentor Mosesdo, Kay also seemed to be of interest to Dier, another formal black magician in the public class. In Kay's eyes, Dier was the most beautiful formal black magician in the Black Magic Academy, and she had publicly questioned him in class many times. Kay didn't think that Dier's attention to him was because of Merry, the disciple sitting not far away. He guessed that it was mostly related to his own mentor, Mosesdo. Recently, Kay had been going to his mentor's place less often, but occasionally when he went, he would run into Dier visiting the mentor too. Did these two formal black magicians have frequent interactions? Or was there some special relationship between Dier and his mentor? Kay couldn't help but wonder in his heart.
Although Dier was beautiful, her way of doing things was full of the ruthlessness of a black magician. Kay had seen more than once in her class that she made entry - level apprentices "test medicines" in public. Some apprentices were lucky; after testing the medicine, nothing happened to them, and they might even get some benefits. But more apprentices were miserable. At best, they suffered physical pain and left Kay had even seen an apprentice explode into a blood mist in public, covering the whole classroom with blood. The scarlet color at the corner of Diers mouth was hair - raising. One never knew if it was a blessing or a curse for Merry to become her disciple.
The study in the public classes had made Kay's life and busy during this period. But besides attending classes, Kay didn't forget about mastering a few intermediate magics. Kay had been to the public library four times that month. The one - hundred points of academy reward from the grade assessment were enough for Kay to exchange for the knowledge of two intermediate magics. In fact, among the five magic books given by the mentor, "The Shaping Characteristics of Fire Elements" and "Annotations of Ankoda" each contained an intermediate magic, namely the Flame Hand and the Object - Controlling Technique.
The Flame Hand was an offensive magic, which had a larger attack range than the Secondary Fireball Spell and was more accurate in hitting targets. When casting it, a huge fire - element hand could be summoned, which would tightly grip the enemy amidst the chanting, and it also had a bit of a locking - on function. The Object - Controlling Technique was a functional magic, which was not useful in battles but could help apprentices with trivial matters in daily life and magic experiments, like commanding a broom to clean or making an experimental beaker float beside them, ready to dispense reagents at any time. So, although the Object - Controlling Technique was not useful in combat, advanced magic apprentices would all learn it, and formal black magicians often showed off this ability in experiments and classes too.
Kay had mainly been learning the Flame Hand during this period because the academy's mandatory mission was approaching. Kay didn't want to stay in the city for guard or patrol duties; he wanted to go outside the city to take risks. After being promoted to an intermediate apprentice, he also needed to find an opportunity to prove his strength. Recently, Lina had been reading "Annotations of Ankoda", which recorded the Object - Controlling Technique, more often. Magicians valued the inheritance of knowledge and were exclusive. If Mosesdo found out that Kay had shown the magic notes to others, he would definitely reprimand Kay. But the mentor didn't know about it, and besides, Kay and Lina had such a close relationship that he didn't think sharing the magic book given by the mentor with Lina was a big deal. Lina had taught Kay Fireball Spells and other magic knowledge before, and Kay was always willing to share good things with Lina. Maybe it was Kay's personality and way of doing things that gradually warmed and melted the heart of Lina, this "crazy woman", and the two of them became a truly united pair who shared weal and woe.
But just knowing the Flame Hand was not enough. After experiencing many battles and watching formal black magicians fight, Kay felt that he needed to learn a defensive magic. Magicians were weak in close - combat and had poor physical constitutions. No matter how strong their elemental power was, if they were closed in on or their defenses were broken, they would be in a passive position. Kay didn't have as many magic items as his mentor Mosesdo, and as an intermediate apprentice, he didn't have the financial resources or knowledge to make a puppet meat shield. So, he could only find another way to use magic to protect himself.
Kay was worried: "Lina said that most shield - type magics were spell models that only advanced or higher - level apprentices could master. Low - level shield magics had weak protective power, were difficult to learn, and consumed a lot of magic power. What magic should I choose to defend myself?" He wandered among the bookshelves on the third floor of the public library. Looking at row after row of magic books, his finger finally rested on a book with a reddish cover - "Explanation of the Basic Model Construction of the Fire Wall Spell".
Strictly speaking, the Fire Wall Spell was an offensive magic. In battle, it could summon a wall of fire to push forward. In terms of coverage area, it was a bit wider than the Flame Hand, barely qualifying as a range - attack magic. But when it came to lethality and precision strikes, it was not as good as the Flame Hand, and it was even worse than Kay's enhanced version of the Secondary Fireball Spell. However, it could also be seen that the magic books Mosesdo gave Kay were all carefully considered and of great value.
Both were intermediate magics. The value of the Flame Hand was at least more than twice that of the Fire Wall Spell available in the library. But after careful consideration, Kay still chose to exchange for the Fire Wall Spell. For no other reason than that, in specific situations, the Fire Wall Spell could act as a defensive magic and block attacks from a certain direction for Kay. Moreover, the difficulty of constructing the spell model of the Fire Wall Spell, as well as the consumption of mental power and magic power, were all within Kay's acceptable range.