Saul signed the substitute teaching agreement on the spot.
Although the salary was pitifully low.
After signing the substitute agreement, Laura didnât waste a single second, stuffed him with the previous instructorâs lesson plan, and left.
Saul walked up to the podium, casually told some apprentices who had stood up to bow to sit down, and began flipping through the lesson plan.
He had never really taught anyone before. His only current apprentice was still a first-level apprentice moonlighting as a fortune teller.
So he had never thought about how to conduct classes for others.
However, since he had decided not to rely on magical power to approach the boyâto avoid making any anomalies on him disappearâSaul naturally needed to first close the distance between them.
It would be best if he could get the boy to actively approach him.
In an instant, Saul had figured out his persona: a young wizard with some ability and some arrogance, but who often lacked a bit of luck.
Saul quickly read through half of the previous instructorâs lesson plan and discovered they had already reached how to use compound runes to improve originally simple magic formations, making them more effective while reducing energy consumption.
Most of the students below werenât paying attention to Saulâs actions. They were more focused on gnawing through heavy magic books or writing their own study notes.
They didnât seem to truly care what this class would cover.
Saul looked at the class schedule. Third-level apprentices only had two classes per week, with each class lasting an entire morning.
The content in this teaching plan could be taught for a year.
Saul slammed the two-finger-thick lesson plan back onto the podium with a loud bang.
Several wizard apprentices sitting in the classroom jumped in fright, nervously watching the new instructor, afraid he might also pick someone he didnât like and beat them up.
Here, higher-level apprentices bullying lower-level ones and instructors bullying apprentices were all too common.
Some people stayed out of trouble thanks to special status or abilities, while others couldnât stand it and left.
But most apprentices still remained in the large lecture hallâafter all, this was the cheapest academy available.
As long as they still wanted to continue advancing, these apprentices without much background could only endure the cultural environment here, then work hard and study diligently, hoping to one day advance to true wizard status.
Saulâs sudden book-slamming startled some apprentices in the front, but the further back the apprentices sat, the smaller their reactions.
Especially those in the very back rowâthey didnât even lift their heads, focusing intently on their own affairs.
Saulâs target was resting his chin on his hand, looking sideways out the window at the sky, lost in thought about something.
Saul temporarily ignored them and instead braced his arms on the podium, leaning his upper body forward, using a slightly higher tone than usual, âLet me introduce myself first. Iâm Saul, your substitute instructor. Unless something unexpected happens, I wonât be staying here long, so Iâll arrange the course content myself during this period. If any of you still want to study the planned curriculum, you can come here to self-study. As long as you donât make noise, I wonât care whether you listen to my classes.â
As soon as Saul finished speaking, everyone looked at each other, and some immediately took out other books to read.
The three apprentices in the back row still showed no reaction.
Saul remained unhurried. He snapped his left fingers, and immediately a cluster of red smoke appeared to his left side, quickly condensing into several large characters.
âLocator Selection.â
Several third-level apprentices who had been watching Saul immediately widened their eyes.
âIâve noticed that although youâve all established connections with your locators, most of your connections arenât solid.â
As Saul spoke, he walked down from the podium and casually grabbed an apprentice sitting in the front row, pulling him forward.
âLike this apprentice, who went through great effort to find a locator unsuitable for himself, then forced himself to transform to adapt to that unsuitable locator.â
Saul unceremoniously ripped open the apprenticeâs robes, exposing the chest underneath.
This apprentice had a metal cylinder in the center of his chest.
It was hollowâthe kind you could put your hand straight through.
When the outer robes were pulled away, the metal cylinder immediately emitted a âwhooo whooo whoooâ whistling sound.
âThis garbage is essentially a wind-attribute locator. Oh right, whatâs your name?â
âDa-David, instructor.â
David was completely bewildered.
Although third-level apprentices wouldnât be particularly nervous about carefully concealing their locators, being exposed like this in front of everyone and having it called garbage made him very upset.
But stronger than his displeasure were fear and shame.
Because he also knew his locator was truly garbage, with almost no possibility of advancing to true wizard status.
And after other apprentices learned about this, they definitely wouldnât regard him as an equal like before.
David struggled to suppress his spiritual body, preventing his agitated emotions from transmitting to his physical body and being detected by Instructor Saul.
Just as David was beginning to despair about his future, wondering if he should drop out like other third-level apprentices with no hope of advancement and find an ordinary job, he heard Saulâs voice again.
âI donât know where you got this garbage locator formula from, or if the formula you obtained was incomplete to begin with. Either way, after your own modifications, it truly lives up to the name âgarbage.'â
Davidâs head was already drooping toward his chest.
But then Saulâs words suddenly changed.
âHowever, you can also feel proud of yourself, because the one thing you did right was not completely ruining yourself for this garbage locator. And with some modifications, this garbage can barely be upgraded to ordinary quality.â
Saul snapped his fingers again, and the red characters âLocator Selectionâ beside him changed to âCompatibility.â
By now, except for the three apprentices in the back row, everyone else had raised their heads, staring intently at Saul and the nervous David, afraid to miss a single word.
âDavid, youâre wind-attribute. Choosing metal magical materials for your locator actually restrains windâs flexibility.â Saul raised his hand and actually pulled the metal cylinder directly out of Davidâs chest.
Davidâs legs went weak and he nearly collapsed to the ground, but Saul caught him and prevented him from falling.
Saul held the locator and gave it a gentle shake. The entire locator immediately split into pieces, floating in the air.
Saul raised his hand and flicked lightly, directly throwing several metal components out the window.
âFirst, remove the garbage parts that can no longer be used.â
A seemingly unremarkable wooden board appeared in his palm, complete with scorch marks.
âThen replace them with more suitable materials. Oh, this lightning-struck wood is average quality, but itâs not cheap either. Youâll need to reimburse me with magic crystals later.â
David nodded numbly.
He was already stunned. How did he feel like Instructor Saul seemed to be⊠going to modify his locator on the spot?!
Saulâs hands worked like a precision machine, making a few cuts on the lightning-struck wood and transforming the entire board into uniformly shaped components.
Under Saulâs magical manipulation, these components directly formed a cylinder with a hexagonal cross-section in mid-air.
Then Saul flicked Davidâs original locator materials one by one into the new wooden cylinder.
âThen put the barely usable garbage left from your locator inside, and this becomes an ordinary-quality locator.â
Saul directly drew micro magic formations in the air with his hands, then inscribed them on the new locator before pushing the new locator back into Davidâs chest.
David looked down at his new locator, his face first showing terrorâafter all, this new one hadnât been tested at allâthen transforming into delight!
âYou might need some time to adapt. Go back and meditate.â Saul pushed the dazed David back to his seat. âAt least now you have about a thirty percent chance of advancing to true wizard status.â
Afterward, he walked back to the podium.
This time, even the three wizard apprentices in the back row looked at him with shock.
âSo, can any of you tell what the truly important step was in my modification?â
(End of Chapter)
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