Wizard: I Can Refine Everything

Chapter 102: Chapter 2 Wizard World

After the Apprentice War, Richard’s life began to change.

Following his early qualifications for wizard promotion, Richard no longer stayed immersed in studies at the academy but, as Jolod suggested, went out for a journey. @@novelbin@@

The Black Tower Wizard Academy was located on the edge of the Wizard Continent, close to the surrounding archipelago. Richard hailed from the Golden Bird Flower Kingdom, situated on one of the larger islands in the archipelago.

There were more than one kingdom like this among the islands.

Richard rented a large ship and traveled back and forth among these islands, personally witnessing the facade of the Wizard World.

Most countries on these islands were still in the feudal era, with lords and kings constantly warring against one another. Richard traveled through them for a year and witnessed many joys and sorrows.

...

A year later, Richard sailed to the distant seas. Although the islands were sparse there, they contained myriad breathtaking scenes far more beautiful than the human conflicts.

In the distant sea, huge whales the size of islands surfaced, spouting streams of water nearly a kilometer high. Sharks as large as ships constantly swam day and night—they swam all their lives and only stopped when they died. Schools of silvery flying fish leapt out of the water; they were the birds of the ocean, migrating along ocean currents annually. Swarms of luminescent plankton moved underwater, resembling fireflies in the sea at night…

These wondrous sights inspired many emotions in Richard, and he began to study these phenomena spontaneously, without any ulterior motives nor for the sake of power.

Richard simply wished to uncover their secrets and enjoy the process of exploration.

Richard stayed at sea for two years during which his inner self was purified. He no longer focused on the purpose of his studies but began to appreciate the process itself.

The education at the Black Wizard Academy often led a wizard into traps of utilitarianism, where every study was driven by the desire for power. But for a wizard, power was merely a byproduct—the true treasures were the knowledge discovered.

After two years, Richard went ashore and started touring the cities under the academy’s governance.

The Black Tower Wizard Academy’s management of its cities was extreme; either it cultivated them carefully or left them untended entirely.

Like in Gael City, which Richard had visited before, where the development was quite impressive, and ordinary citizens received good education. But in the Golden Bird Flower Kingdom where he was born, the medieval lordship system was still in practice, and the populace under it was incredibly ignorant.

Richard observed these well-developed cities and noted that they all fell along certain trade routes; they served as landing points for the Wizard Commerce’s flying airships.

The flying airships of the Wizard Commerce always took breaks during long transports.

And these well-developed cities were strategically positioned at these stops.

“It seems the Wizard Commerce plays an important role in the Wizard World,” Richard muttered as he watched the flying airships continuously take off and land.

He had toured the cities under the academy’s governance for two years, meeting many graduated wizard apprentices.

Some of these apprentices were still researching, while others had fully integrated themselves into ordinary human life, enjoying the privileges of the elite class.

Apprentices graduating from the academy usually worked for the academy for a hundred years before being assigned to reside in a city governed by the academy to watch for any crazed apprentices.

These apprentices were the most welcomed guests among the upper class of mortals, as their transcendent powers could solve many problems for the elites.

However, some apprentices wished not to do so and would often join mercenary groups to commence travels across the Wizard Continent.

As wizard apprentices, these individuals generally did not encounter danger in the current Wizard Continent.

After his travels, Richard returned to the academy. By then, his spiritual power had reached the critical value of forty-nine point nine, with no room for further improvement.

Upon returning to the academy, Richard immediately sought out Jolod.

“Not bad, you seem much better after going on a journey,” Jolod said cheerfully after observing Richard.

Several years of traveling had greatly transformed Richard’s demeanor; he now appeared more stable and reserved, exuding a mature aura.

“Teacher, I’m ready,” Richard said.

Jolod calculated the time and felt it was about time to attend a gathering at the Tower of Truth.

“Alright, I have a meeting at the Tower of Truth tomorrow; we can leave together.”

That evening, Richard and Ali met. Although they hadn’t seen each other for years, their relationship remained unaffected. Over the years, Richard kept sending letters to Ali, sharing the wondrous sights he had seen.

“You’ve returned this time to ascend to wizard at the Tower of Truth, haven’t you?” Ali said softly while lying in Richard’s arms.

“Yes. My spiritual power has already reached the limit of an apprentice, and the teacher is also going to the Tower of Truth, so it fits well.”

“I heard it’s quite dangerous to ascend to wizard.”

“A thirty percent failure rate,” Richard said lightly.

Ali suddenly sat up, turned around to face Richard, and said earnestly:

“You better not fail, Richard. I’ve been waiting to spend the next ten thousand years with you.”

Richard smiled:

“I’ll succeed.”

…

The next day, Jolod took Richard aboard the flying airship.

“Teacher, do wizards also need to ride airships?” Richard asked, puzzled.

“Generally speaking, wizards do not need to.” Jolod entered the cabin of the airship and turned to close the door.

“But if I bring you along, it’s different. Taking you to the Tower of Truth would cost at least a thousand magic stones, and we’d have to endure the elements.”

Saying this, Jolod patted the large bed in the cabin.

“By taking the airship, we avoid sleeping outside, only spend a few hundred magic stones, and don’t have to fly ourselves. Switching between airships a couple of times, I can also show you a real wizard city.

No matter how you look at it, it’s a bargain.”

Richard, at a loss for words, honestly found a chair and started studying runes.

The Dark Water Rune given to him by the Great Wizard Qing Shuang had been his subject of study for years, and he had made some discoveries.

The Dark Water Rune, unlike the common runes Richard encountered, was a rare rune, each akin to natural magic.

Once activated with magic power, like the Dark Water Rune in Richard’s hand, it could produce a mass of black liquid that absorbed light and was highly corrosive.

Through his tests, Richard found that this liquid was actually a variant of the water element, meaning it was still water but could undergo annihilation reactions.

Richard tried to have it undergo an annihilation reaction with a common fire element, and the results surprised him greatly.

Because the Dark Water absorbed light, it would partly absorb the light emitted during the annihilation reaction, thereby enhancing the core power of the spell slightly.

This discovery thrilled Richard.

He had a thought, if he could find another fire element rune that also had the ability to absorb light like the Dark Water, perhaps he could significantly enhance the power of the annihilation spell.

But rare runes were treasures to any wizard, and acquiring such a rune was no easy feat.

For this, Richard was mentally prepared.

After riding in the flying airship for a month, Jolod finally disembarked.

And as he did, Richard was instantly stunned by the sight before him.

“Boy, you’ve never seen this, have you?” Jolod looked at Richard’s reaction with some pride.

Before Richard lay a massive airship port, with hundreds of airships landing and taking off.

Beyond that, various bizarre buildings came together with towering wizard towers, forming a fantastic, large city.

In this city, alchemy machines shared roads with horse-drawn carriages, people of all shapes and colors walked the streets without any surprise at the spectacle. Between the wizard towers, beams of light flashed by, which, upon closer inspection, were apprentices riding on magic equipment.

Alchemy workshops’ chimneys spat black flames, the hot steam being channeled from underground boilers through thick pipes into the workshops, and opposite them, a tavern opened inside a tree welcomed patrons.

Beastmen, Dwarves, and various oddly-shaped patrons, resulting from bloodline fusions, arrived by alchemy machines, carriages, or even riding magic brooms, and drank merrily without any hesitation.

On the streets, peculiar alien creatures ate or swept, cleaning the pathways.

Above, small flying airships hung banners advertising newly-opened alchemy shops.

The city was a mixture of various fantasy elements, then mixed in some steampunk and modern aspects, making it look extraordinarily vibrant.

“The White Wizard Academy likes to integrate the academy with the city, and wizards directly manage every aspect of the city,” Jolod explained, “What you now see is both the Golden Dragon Wizard Academy and its city.”

“This… is a bit too fantastical,” Richard murmured to himself.

However, Richard quickly accepted this reality; as a world at the forefront of conquering otherworlds, it wasn’t unusual for the Wizard World to be slightly fantastical.

“Shall we go in and wander around?” Richard asked.

“Wander around?” Jolod shook his head, “We only have two hours. After this, we need to transfer to three more airships to reach the Tower of Truth before the end of this year’s promotion period.”

“Promotion period?” Richard inquired.

“You didn’t think you could just go to the Tower of Truth anytime for the promotion, did you?” Jolod glanced at his disciple, “Every year, from July to September is the promotion period for the Tower of Truth; miss it, and you have to wait till next year.”

“From what you’re saying… advancing as a wizard seems to require the Tower’s equipment?” Richard asked.

“Equipment?” Jolod shook his head, “The materials needed for the promotion ceremony can be gathered by any academy, but the most critical thing can only be accessed at the Tower of Truth.”

“What is it?”

“The Origin of the Wizard World.”