Wizarding Era

Know Yourself

After a long wait, the biological auxiliary chip finally completed its first self-check with great difficulty.

Soon after, Grim's basic attributes were projected into his mind.

Name: Grim

Race: Human

Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 4, Constitution 3, Intelligence 8

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Class: Wizard Apprentice (Junior)

Health Points: 11/11

Professional Experience: 614/1000

Status: Healthy

Professional Skills: Scroll Scribing, Spell Reading

Personal Skills: Burning Hands

In their world, every normal human is born with some basic physical attributes. Over generations, wizards have explored and organized these attributes into four main categories: strength, constitution, agility, and intelligence. All advancements in wizardry are fundamentally based on these four basic attributes.

Strength quantifies a character's muscle mass and physical robustness. This attribute is particularly important for melee wizards. It affects the base damage dealt with melee weapons and the chance to hit in melee attacks.

For ordinary people, having 3—5 points of strength is normal, while 5 points would be considered strong for an adult.

Agility measures hand-eye coordination, flexibility, reaction time, and balance. This attribute is important for warriors who usually wear light or medium armor, rogues in leather armor, and anyone aiming to become an excellent archer.

Constitution represents a character's health and stamina. Constitution bonuses increase a character’s vitality, making it crucial for all classes.

Resistance to poison and similar threats comes from constitution.

Concentration checks are vital for spellcasters, with constitution as the key attribute.

Humans have a minimum constitution of 1; anything less means death!

Intelligence determines a character's learning capacity and reasoning ability. This is crucial for becoming a wizard, as it affects the number of spells one can cast, the difficulty of the spells, and the resistance to mental influence.

Animals typically have an intelligence of 1 or 2, while humans start with 3. To become a wizard, one must reach at least 21 points of intelligence.

The only way to increase intelligence is through continuous meditation practice, reading magical books, or studying the notes and insights of old wizards.

But such opportunities are always out of reach!

In this cold and brutal world of wizardry, knowledge equals power, and acquiring power demands a high price.

Why do so many wizard apprentices stay despite knowing the dangers within the wizard tower? Because all knowledge and resources can only be found here. Stepping outside the wizard tower, even with immense wealth, it's hard to find such systematic magical knowledge and experiential heritage.

In the terrifying world of wizardry, all extraordinary casting techniques and precious magical knowledge are monopolized by the wizard community, leaving ordinary mortals with no chance of access!

Thus, knowledge and resources become the two wings necessary for wizards to pursue their dreams. Only by firmly holding onto these can a wizard's future be bright!

After reviewing his basic attributes, Grim turned his attention to the skill column.

Grim's professional skills include Scroll Scribing and Spell Reading, which are the most basic professional skills for wizard apprentices.

One allows apprentices to accurately copy the magical knowledge they need, while the other is the foundation for reading magical books.

Without the Spell Reading skill, ordinary people encountering magical texts would be mentally confused by the enchanted words, leading to bizarre actions. Only wizard apprentices who have undergone rigorous mental training can overcome this effect and truly learn the magical knowledge contained within.

The only personal skill listed, "Burning Hands," marks the only magical attack method Grim has mastered in his six years as a wizard apprentice. It allows him to attach a flaming elemental particle to his palm, turning anyone who touches it into toast.

Unfortunately, as a mere apprentice, Grim cannot fully control any spell. He can only engage in superficially impressive but ultimately mediocre element manipulation based on his affinity with basic particles.

Grim's highest affinity is undoubtedly with fire particles!

Such talent isn't highly regarded in the Swamp Tower, as it is known that Master Anderson's elemental affinities are dark and wind particles. Given the mismatch between Grim and his mentor, gaining guidance becomes significantly more challenging, often leaving Grim to slowly figure things out on his own.

This issue indeed troubled Grim before, but now with the activation of the biological chip, he believes he will definitely find a path suitable for him as a wizard.

As for the professional experience column, Grim had a preliminary understanding after consulting the chip's data on his past memories and knowledge. The chip extracted two major prerequisites for advancing in wizardry.

First, the wizard's source attribute, namely intelligence, must meet the standard.

This means that although Grim is already quite intelligent with an intelligence score of 8, making him an exceptionally smart "ordinary person," he still needs to reach at least 21 points to advance formally. The gap of 13 points can only be bridged through extensive reading of magical books to gain experience.

Secondly, the knowledge system must also reach the required standard.

This means that after Grim brings his intelligence up to 21 points, he must also fill his professional experience to possibly advance formally. Only when both conditions are met can he advance formally.

Gaining experience is quite diversified. Methods like copying scrolls, reading spellbooks, practicing magic, making wands, analyzing magical items, etc., all bring a certain amount of professional experience to Grim.

It sounds easy but is not. Only successful processes yield experience. Simply finishing a book without real understanding is futile.

Thus, even with the aid of the biological chip, Grim still needs to exert tremendous effort.

As Grim was lost in thought, footsteps echoed in the corridor outside his room.

"Grim, come out quickly, it's time for us to go execute our mission!" A rough voice accompanied by heavy knocking on the wooden door reverberated through the room.

Tony, another apprentice like Grim, arrived. They were tasked with patrolling the perimeter of the swamp tower and collecting some magical materials every seven days as part of routine tasks set by their master.

Grim responded and quickly tidied up his room before donning a black cloak and stepping outside.

Tony was broad-shouldered and muscular with a fierce face and messy long hair, resembling more of a barbarian than a wizard apprentice. Rumor had it that people from Greenbark indeed possessed a thin strain of barbarian blood.

Without exchanging many words, Tony led the way down the spiral staircase with Grim following closely behind.

Though the Swamp Tower housed over fifty official apprentices, few were seen loitering in public areas during daylight hours. Most apprentices spent their time either honing their craft or preparing for various magical experiments, rarely venturing out.

This contributed to the generally quiet atmosphere within the Swamp Tower.

Passing through the dim corridor and descending the spiral stone stairs to the first-floor lobby revealed slightly more activity since it served as the living quarters for around twenty young apprentices aged between eight to fourteen.

These children from distant lands harbored dreams of becoming great wizards unaware of how perilous and terrifying the path ahead truly was.

Within this group of there existed strict hierarchical divisions. Roughly speaking those gathered here had intelligence scores ranging between three to five thus not yet qualifying as true wizard apprentices but rather as trainee apprentices.

Trainee apprentices completed language and literacy studies here. Once they passed meditation tests perceived their elemental affinities successfully gathered elemental particles they could ascend to the second floor becoming official wizard apprentices. Those who failed to meet requirements would be eliminated.

Guiding these youngsters through meditation teaching them languages and instilling basic rules of the wizarding world...such menial tasks obviously couldn't fall upon grand wizards hence became part of daily routine for official wizard apprentices.

However such tasks would never fall upon Grim's shoulders.

After greeting Valens who was instructing the language lesson without engaging much with eager gazes from trainees Grim and Tony made their way towards a closed stone door at back end of lobby.

Tony placed right hand upon door murmured incantation "Kulim*da."

With completion of ancient incantation heavy stone door creaked opened revealing gloomy world outside Swamp Tower before them.