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Chapter 39: 006: Apprentice Knight
The conversation eventually returned to the tragedy of the Corrupted Forest.
"I heard this time a hero emerged during the examination. Thanks to him killing the Black Wizard Apprentice, more apprentices were spared from calamity."
"I heard that too, but I don’t know who it is. Could it be one of us?"
"Impossible!"
Subaru shook his head resolutely and said, "Don’t even think about it. For sure it was one of the senior classmates who did it."
"Think about it, that was a Black Wizard Apprentice. Yuri is the strongest among us, having been on the battlefield, yet he got killed by the Black Wizard Apprentice. As for the others? Who could possibly have that ability? Could it be you?"
Carl nodded. "That makes sense."
Subaru leaned back into his chair, casually throwing an arm across Lynch’s shoulder and pulling him close. With a wretched grin, he said, "You know what? Everyone is looking for this hero right now. I heard some girls can’t wait to... hahaha..."
Hahaha...
Looking at the chubby guy’s gleeful and vulgar expression, Lynch couldn’t help but feel a bit curious.
Me...
Am I really that popular?
...
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, more than three months had passed.
In Lynch’s stone house, at dawn.
Before dawn’s light completely lifted the curtain of night, the forest was shrouded in a faint, bluish-gray mist, as though the entire world was immersed in a calm and mysterious atmosphere.
Inside the stone house, Lynch was conducting his experiments as usual.
On the experiment table before him rested a fruit the size of a goose egg, its warm pale yellow skin smooth and delicate, seemingly coated with a thin layer of wax.
Lynch picked up a small knife and cut it open.
"Psss..."
When the sharp knife gently sliced through the plump fruit, creamy white liquid, like a spirit long-imprisoned, eagerly poured out, flowing along the blade in a delicate milky stream. A faint smell of milk spread throughout the room.
This was Milk Fruit, a peculiar fruit in the Wizard World. Once mature, it produced milk-like liquid inside, with a rich aroma and the ability to restore energy, making it highly favored by wizards.
Lynch used to be quite fond of this fruit until he once heard Subaru mention that some female apprentices would transplant the nucleus of milk-producing vesicular cells from Milk Fruit into their mammary glands to gain the same ability.
Lynch couldn’t understand why witches would conduct such bizarre and seemingly useless transplants that offered no evident enhancement to their abilities.
Until Subaru sleazily explained that those witches did it to replenish their partner’s energy during the life harmony ritual, while adding a touch of playful fun to the process.
"......."
Perhaps it was puberty kicking in. At 13 years old, the age of vague curiosity about relationships, as his hormones gradually surged, Lynch clearly felt that this chubby guy was becoming more and more vulgar and lewd.
After draining all the fruit’s liquid, Lynch split it completely open. Carefully, he took a pair of tweezers to remove the black sesame-sized seeds embedded in the fruit’s core—these were Milk Fruit seeds.
Lynch had previously thought Subaru was entirely talking nonsense, but now he suspected there might really be witches doing such things.
This was because not long ago, he received a commission to transplant the seed nucleus of Milk Fruit into the cells of Enchanting Fruit, so that the cultivated Milk Fruit could possess the same extraordinary attribute as Enchanting Fruit.
And the effects of Enchanting Fruit... were the same as Earth’s little blue pills...
Thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t hard to understand. During the long lifespans of wizards, aside from cultivation, their lives would be monotonous, lonely, and dull, naturally leading them to seek some amusement to relieve emotions and pass the time.
Although he could understand, Lynch still didn’t agree with this practice.
After all, in his view, there were so many things to do every day—reading books, meditation, experiments, swordsmanship training. He only felt time wasn’t enough, so how could he find boredom even possible?
As for promiscuity, Lynch disagreed even more. Compared to the fleeting pleasure of physical collision, what he sought was the transcendence brought about by soul connection. Loveless mating would only bring exhaustion and deeper emptiness.
Such topics were premature anyway, considering he was only 13 years old.
One by one, he inscribed runes onto the extracted seeds before embedding them into the pre-prepared Enchanting Fruit sprout embryos nearby, concluding his task.
[Elementary Magic Plants Transformation Exp Points +6.]
Lynch picked up a cup of water from the side, took a sip, and then opened the system panel to take a look.
[Elementary Magic Plants Transformation lv2: 2968/3000.]
[Basic Extraordinary Cultivation max]
[Shadow Touch max]
[Meditation lv1: 1686/3000]
Since returning, Lynch’s life had shifted back to the regular grind—grind, grind, and grind.
Through his tireless efforts, all his abilities saw progress. Basic Extraordinary Cultivation and Shadow Touch had both reached max level, while Elementary Magic Plants Transformation only needed a few dozen points to level up.
Even the most challenging Meditation had over half its progress bar filled. Everything was trending in a good direction.
After closing the panel, Lynch checked his current spiritual power. Having completed several experiments last night, his spiritual power was heavily depleted, not enough for further cultivation.
For other apprentices, this would be a clear cue to sleep, but instead, Lynch grabbed his Cross Sword and walked out into the courtyard to begin training.
If spells were not an option, then grind swordsman training!
"Hoo! Hoo!"
The sound of the Cross Sword slicing through the air rang out, sharp and distinct in the quiet morning.
Compared to his clumsy and awkward movements when first practicing swordsmanship, Lynch now displayed vastly improved skills. His actions flowed smoothly like water, each sword technique radiating a palpable lethality far removed from mere choreographed stunts.
[Basic Swordsmanship lv1: 672/1000.]
Indeed, after three months of training, Lynch’s Basic Swordsmanship had reached entry-level proficiency, nearly crossing the threshold into the proficient stage.
His current attire offered even more hints—he no longer wore beginner protective equipment, and for better grip, didn’t bother with gloves. His palms were instead wrapped in anti-slip bandages. Over time, his hands had developed calluses from wielding the sword.
[Basic Swordsmanship Skill Level +3]
[Basic Swordsmanship Skill Level +2]
[Basic Swordsmanship Skill Level +5]
After completing three rounds of swordsmanship training, Lynch could feel the heat radiating from his body. Without delay, he returned to the house to start training in the Knight Breathing Method.
[Knight Breathing Method lv1: 316/1000.]
Although trailing slightly behind swordsmanship in progress, the Knight Breathing Method had also reached the entry-level stage. By Mortal World standards for knights, Lynch was now a bona fide Apprentice Knight.
The system panel’s attribute list offered a more direct reflection.
Attributes: Strength 1.1, Agility 1.3, Constitution 1.0.
All attributes—strength, agility, and constitution—had exceeded the ordinary threshold of 1, equivalent to the level of an average adult male. Yet, Lynch was only 13 years old.
The external changes brought by attribute growth were evident. Lynch could feel his previously frail figure becoming sturdier. His height had shot up, and lifting his shirt even revealed faintly visible abdominal muscles.
[Knight Breathing Method Skill Level +3]
[Knight Breathing Method Skill Level +2]
After finishing two rounds of Knight Breathing Method training, Lynch opened his eyes, signaling the end of his morning regimen.
Stretching to loosen his body, he got up to prepare breakfast for himself. In addition to flamingo eggs, his breakfast now included various meat products such as Thorny Back Bear ham and Phantom Elk steaks.
These foods provided abundant protein and energy to support his knight training. For this, Lynch had even specially modified a medium-sized Cannibal Flower, removing its gastric acid membrane and transplanting Freezing Grass cells to allow it to freeze food for long-term preservation after swallowing.
While space equipment also offered certain preservation capabilities, it often altered the taste. For food storage, it was unquestionably inferior to this artificially-created freezer.
Having finished his meal, the Tower’s apprentices trickled out of their rooms, yawning.
"Yawn~ Verus, why are you up so early today?"
"So annoying! Don’t know which lunatic spent the whole night cutting up Milk Fruit—its aroma spread everywhere, making me hungry all night and unable to sleep well."
"I smelled it too. I thought it was just a dream..."
On the windowsill, Lynch looked slightly awkward. Evidently, he’d need to be more mindful during experiments next time; disturbing others wouldn’t be ideal. 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
"Flap! Flap!"
At that moment, there was a sound of wings fluttering, and a Raven swooped down and perched near Lynch’s windowsill. Just like last time, it began to peck at its feathers, this time extracting a Brass Key.
The Raven said, "Apprentice Lynch, your application for library access has been approved. Here is your Brass Key. Please keep it safe."
Lynch’s eyes lit up. His library access application had finally been granted?
