Wizard: Start consuming attributes from the equipment slot.

Chapter 9 Getting Back on Track

Nina saw Viktor's attitude and couldn't help but shake her head slightly.

But to say that she cares that much is not quite true.

Although she appeared to be very helpful from the very beginning when she met Viktor, she was actually the more anxious apprentice than her mentor, Manuges.

Just as she said, this status as a follower apprentice gave her great advantages during her wizarding apprenticeship, and she was not lying.

However, Nina also didn't mention the problems that arose after this phase.

Now, she has reached the advanced wizard apprentice level and has accumulated some experience. At this stage, she can no longer spend most of her time in the experimental building watching the alchemy golem production line as before.

Breaking through to become a formal wizard requires a lot of resources, so she needs to spend a lot of time completing the tasks issued by the academy, earning points, and accumulating magic stones.

So now, her status as a follower apprentice has become a constraint that prevents her from leaving... While her mentor Manugs is not difficult to get along with, the fundamental difference between a formal wizard and a wizard apprentice makes it impossible for her to resist. She can only try to gain Manugs's consent to cancel the previous contract and restore her freedom.

Manugs did not stop her and agreed that she could leave, but only on the condition that it would not interfere with his business, namely the normal production of the alchemical golem.

Therefore, compared to Manugs, the person who was really anxious to find a replacement was actually Nina... and that is the fundamental reason why she took the initiative to approach Viktor and offer to teach him.

Viktor was naturally unaware of these matters.

However, having been a seasoned veteran in the workplace before his time travel, and knowing the inherently cold and aloof nature of wizards, he sensed that there must be something he didn't understand about Nina's enthusiastic approach to him.

However, the current situation cannot be changed. Since there is no way to violate a formal wizard contract, it is wise for a person to play along.

Moreover... let's set aside whether this job has any pitfalls or not.

At least for now, this invaluable, hands-on guidance is worth every penny spent on my choice...

......

Before we knew it, it was dusk.

After greeting Nina, Victor walked out of the laboratory building and headed towards his residence.

When they arrived home, Garr had been waiting for a long time. He handed Viktor the few sheets of paper he was holding and said:

"Your Highness, these are all the records I can remember about body-strengthening techniques."

"Then, in addition to the materials and methods of body tempering, I also wrote down the problems I encountered during my practice and the things I need to pay attention to... It's on the last two pages. You can remove them if you don't need them."

"No, this is fine."

Viktor reached out and took the papers, his gaze lingering on them for a moment before he smiled.

"This is what I wanted... Thank you, Gar."

"No trouble at all, Your Highness, it's all my duty... You probably haven't had dinner yet, I'll go prepare it right away." Garr bowed his head, accepting Victor's praise, then turned and walked out of the room.

As his footsteps faded into the distance, Viktor plopped down in the chair in front of his desk, his gaze fixed on the body-strengthening manual in his hand, his smile widening.

"As expected... my guess was right."

"Besides the requirement that the item belongs to me, books and text-based items must contain a bit of extraordinary element in order to be equipped."

Viktor's gaze fell on the notification that popped up in the corner of his eye:

[Equipable item detected: Garr's Body Tempering Training Notes]

[Equipping this item grants the following attribute: Lava Body Forging Technique Lv1 — Enhances physical attributes and muscle explosiveness.]

[Requirement for absorbing equipment: Complete twenty sessions of Body Tempering Technique training]

[Select equipment?]

"It's just a pity... the body-strengthening method isn't very effective."

Viktor shook his head slightly, but he wasn't too surprised.

The Knight Body Forging Technique was originally designed for mortals without the potential to become wizards. Even if one cultivated it to its limit and awakened the Seed of Life to become a Great Knight, one could shatter city gates with a single strike, making one a tank on the battlefield of mortal kingdoms.

However, the actual destructive power it can cause is only equivalent to a zero-ring spell cast by a wizard apprentice.

This is a fundamental issue of level, an insurmountable chasm that cannot be bridged simply by trying harder.

Magic is... still a bit too advanced.

Therefore, more than this body-forging method, what Victor was really concerned about was whether he could acquire knowledge-based items for equipment in this way.

If possible, it means that he can not only find books that can help him grow, but also take the initiative to make up for his weaknesses or shortcomings.

This discovery might allow Viktor to avoid some detours and save a lot of time with the help of his equipment inventory...

Click!

The door to the room was pushed open, and Gar walked in carrying some food.

Viktor then put down his body-strengthening technique, walked to the dining table, sat down, and watched as Gar divided the food. He then picked up his knife and fork and began to eat slowly and methodically.

Garr was equally disciplined, eating quickly yet maintaining a quiet and tidy manner.

Only after they had finished eating did Viktor finally speak and ask:

"Garl, any news from the family lately?"

Garr paused for a moment, then nodded:

"There are some, Your Highness... but most of them are just fragmented pieces of information."

Victor continued to ask:

"Is there anything noteworthy?"

Garr hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking:

"There is one... but I cannot confirm its authenticity, Your Highness."

Viktor looked up at him and couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing:

"Then tell me about it."

"It's about Princess Vivian... I received an unregistered letter earlier, which said that Princess Vivian might also have come to Morningstar City."

"I cannot confirm the authenticity of this message and am still investigating the source of the letter, so I did not inform you immediately."

"Vivian?"

Viktor's eyes flickered; this was the name of his sister in this life.

However, just like most royal families in ordinary countries, although they are siblings, their relationship is not good; they are more like enemies than relatives.

The last time he had news of the other party was after they disappeared without a trace after the family disbanded. This news… He chuckled and shook his head, saying:

"Since it's uncertain, let's just pretend we don't know."

"If she really did come to Morningstar City, then as long as she's still alive, we'll see her sooner or later."

Garr nodded slightly:

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Since there's nothing else, you should go to bed early after you've finished packing. I still need to write some things and need a quiet environment."

Viktor also stood up and returned to his desk.

He picked up a pen and paper and began his efforts to devour the second piece of equipment.

......

Over the next few days, Viktor's college life was finally on track.

The two books that could be equipped, "Introduction to Alchemy" and "A Brief Explanation of Ancient Rune Techniques," were successfully devoured on the third day. This was the result of Viktor's hard work, which included taking time out of his spare time and staying up late at night to grind.

The book contains nearly 20,000 words; if copied twenty times, that's almost 400,000 words.

Viktor's hands were practically cramping from writing these past two days, but he finally managed to complete the book's requirements for consuming resources and successfully free up his equipment slots.

The book "An Introduction to Ancient Rune Technology" naturally took its place in the equipment slot.

The equipment attribute for this book is: Rune Master lv1 — Increases ancient rune learning speed by 200% and slightly increases understanding of ancient runes.

Viktor was well aware of the effect of runes on learning speed, having already experienced it before, but this stat also increased his understanding of ancient runes, which differed from the effect of another stat, Master Alchemist Lv1.

But after experiencing it firsthand, he immediately understood just how exaggerated the effect of this entry was!

To put it bluntly, even among all the disciplines of alchemy, rune technology is a truly high-end technology, and its difficulty is exceptionally high!

The main difficulty lies not in the application of runes, but in how to learn runes and understand their existence... This requires a talent—the ability to quickly identify and recognize any rune.

Runes are something that wizards learn and recognize from the rules of heaven and earth. To truly learn them, one needs to have a certain grasp of the rules of the world.

Therefore, it is obvious that a wizard apprentice cannot truly master rune technology.

Just like a mobile phone, even if a genius has the best technology and talent, and can program countless programs and create countless software, he can only make changes and modifications within the scope of the mobile phone's function.

But the rune technology that true wizards master involves using individual runes to create their own 'cell phone'... This is fundamentally different.

It is precisely because of this that Nina was able to maintain the operation of the alchemy golem production line as a follower apprentice.

After acquiring the term "Rune Master," Viktor discovered that he seemed to be able to vaguely understand some runes... This feeling wasn't clear; it was somewhat vague and confused.

Yet, compared to Nina's approach of completely misunderstanding and relying solely on experience, this was far superior...

Nina didn't realize this. She just felt that Viktor seemed to have some talent in alchemy. After only a few days of learning from her, he was already able to help her with the maintenance of replacement parts.

If everything goes smoothly according to her plan, wouldn't she be able to get rid of her job here in less than ten days or half a month?

The thought of this possibility brought a hint of satisfaction to Nina's gaze as she looked at Victor.

In the afternoon, another figure appeared in the laboratory building.

"tutor?"

Nina was standing next to the workbench, watching Victor clean and maintain a gear.

The next second, he suddenly realized that something had appeared behind him. He subconsciously turned around and saw a figure wearing a green robe.

The overall image of the middle-aged man is not particularly outstanding.

But what was particularly striking about her knee-length green robe was the numerous pockets on it, the purpose of which was unknown.

He appeared abruptly behind Viktor and Nina without making a sound. Although Nina noticed him, the mentor, Manuggus, seemed unconcerned. He merely glanced at the parts they were working on and then asked Nina:

"Has he already started to be able to handle these kinds of problems?"

Nina kept saying that her mentor was easy to get along with, but when she actually faced Manugges face-to-face, she was clearly nervous and fearful, and immediately nodded in response.

"Yes, mentor."

"Victor has a very good talent for alchemy; he was able to get the hang of it in just a few days."

"You've got some talent, haven't you?"

Manugs turned to look at Viktor, who also seemed somewhat flustered, awaiting his evaluation.

He didn't say much, but simply nodded and gave the order:

"Then let's continue."

"If he is competent, you can come to me and cancel the contract."

After saying that, without waiting for Nina to say anything more, he turned and walked towards the second floor of the laboratory building.

As Viktor watched the other person disappear down the stairs, the breath he had been holding in suddenly relaxed.

In reality, for 99% of the people in this world, a formal wizard is an unimaginable figure... You know, in mortal kingdoms, even a low-level wizard apprentice can live a very comfortable life, being a guest of honor of nobles wherever they go, and an absolute person of high status.

For a formal wizard, destroying a mortal nation might be troublesome, but overthrowing a royal family is just a matter of a single sentence.

Otherwise, Victor wouldn't have gone from being a prince of the duchy to his current situation.

But compared to the pressure of fame, what Victor felt more strongly was the fundamental difference in life.

It is said that when a wizard apprentice advances to become a full wizard, his soul undergoes a qualitative change, which greatly increases his spiritual power. However, this also produces a unique spiritual radiation that can kill mortals and exerts a strong oppressive force on wizard apprentices.

I experienced it once before during the entrance exam, and now I'm experiencing it a second time... but it's still the same feeling.

It felt like being choked by invisible air, and I couldn't help but sweat on my back and tremble in my hands and feet, as if I was about to die at any moment.

Take another look at Nina.

She was a high-ranking wizard apprentice, and her mental attributes were far superior to his, so she didn't appear to be in as serious a condition as he was.

She noticed Victor's gaze, turned her head to look at him, and smiled:

"I told you, my advisor has a pretty good temper."

"Besides, your advisor isn't here most of the time, and even when he is, he's upstairs most of the time, so you'll hardly ever see him. Don't be too nervous, you'll get used to it."

"Finish your work first, and then I'll take you to the shop where you buy the materials. It's a place you'll be dealing with frequently in the future, so I'll show you around."

"Okay, senior."

Viktor nodded, but the scene from just now kept replaying in his mind, and a burning passion stirred within him.

A full-fledged wizard... he won't be long!