Chapter 220: 004: You have been promoted to a wizard!
Shadow Tower, Lynch Mansion.
âCaw! Caw!â
Two dry screeches came from outside the window. A raven flapped its wings and slowly landed on Lynchâs windowsill, using its claws to sweep aside the nettles growing wildly over the edge while shouting into the room through its beak:
âLynch Valen, apprentice, youâve got registered mail!â
Lynch pushed open the wooden window and took the letter from the ravenâs claws. He casually asked, âThanks, whereâs it from?â
The raven responded, âThe Putan Kingdom, Frost Cold Town. Itâs probably a friend of yours from the Human World.â
Sure enough, Lynch noticed the Bayn family crest on the sealing mud.
He said, âSomeone from my hometown.â
The raven replied, âThatâs wonderful, still having people from your hometown. The life of a Transcendent is so long that most apprenticesâ parents and relatives fade away into the river of time, no longer visible. Treasure it.â
Lynch nodded, âI will.â
âWell then, good luck to you.â
The raven flew away.
Lynch turned back and opened the letter to read it. The letter invited him to go back, explaining that Acate had recently purchased a dilapidated estate from a fallen noble. While exploring the estateâs study, he had unexpectedly found a hidden chamber. Within the chamber, he discovered an object suspected to be a Wizard artifact and hoped Lynch could come to appraise it.
âThe ancient and mysterious patterns, covered in strange runes, glowing even in the depths of the nightâŠâ
âWe found it in the hidden chamber, which itself was concealed behind an oil paintingâŠâ
The letter was filled with vivid descriptions of how Acate had serendipitously bought the broken-down estate, encountered eerie events while organizing the property, and ultimately uncovered the hidden chamber and its relics. It was so detailed that Lynch couldnât help but admit that such writing wouldnât be possible without firsthand experience.
But after finishing, Lynch scoffed.
He knew all the talk about a fallen estate and hidden chamber was nonsense. Acate, that old fox, most likely stumbled upon an Extraordinary Item somewhere, and it was probably already in his possession for quite some time.
The real purpose of sending the letter was undoubtedly not about asking Lynch to appraise it. More likely, heâd run into trouble and wanted Lynch to help him outâjust like what happened with the silver mine the last time.
Thatâs just how the nobles are, full of unnecessary theatrics, always beating around the bush instead of speaking plainly.
Lynch tossed the letter aside without care. The letter seemed to sprout wings, drifting into the deepest part of the living room before the flames of the crackling fireplace engulfed it, turning it into fuel for the fire.
This fireplace had accompanied Lynch through an entire harsh winter.
He had even laid out a soft carpet and set up a low table beside the fireplace.
After cultivation sessions, he and Avery would sit by the flames, lounging on the carpet, enjoying the warmth of the fire while savoring an assortment of snacks and sipping a touch of the fairiesâ secret brew.
Most of the time, snow would still be falling outside, its flakes gently drifting down from the sky, piling up on rooftops and filling the courtyard.
Theyâd head outside for some playful funâsnowball fights, building snowmenâand once exhausted, theyâd return inside, shedding clothes soaked through with snow, bare against each other, wrapped in a blanket by the fire for warmth.
Theyâd feel time flowing softly beside them, serene, free from the unease of its passing.
It was truly a comforting enjoyment.
âClick.â
At that moment, the sound of a key turning came from outside the door, and soon, Avery stepped inside.
âI,â
âAm back!â
With cheerful steps, the girl walked up to Lynch, giving him a big, warm hug.
Lynch tilted her chin up and kissed her cheek, then her soft lips, responding with passion, âWelcome home.â
âIâve got good news for you.â
âAnd thereâs something I need to discuss.â
Lynch was about to tell Avery about his advancement to Wizard, but to his surprise, she seemed to have something to say first.
Lynch replied, âYou go first.â
Avery nodded and then asked, âLynch, regarding your mentor, how have you been handling it? Wizard Somda has been missing for five years. As per the Towerâs regulations, heâs automatically lost his status as a mentor. As a Netta Apprentice, youâll need to find a mentor to take you in.â
Lynch asked, puzzled, âHuh? This is a thing?â
Heâd been so caught up in advancing to Wizard that heâd entirely overlooked this.
Avery pouted, âHonestly, such an important matter, and you arenât prepared? Are you planning to get expelled from the Tower? At your age, youâve already exceeded the limit. Leaving Netta would also mean leaving Shadow Land. Donât you understand?â
Leaving Shadow Land would mean the two of them would be separated, and that was what truly upset Avery.
Lynch said, âSorry, a momentary oversight. Iâll start looking tomorrow.â
Avery replied, âYouâll be too late.â
After a pause, she pulled out a stack of documents and handed them to Lynch. âIâve already contacted a few mentors for you. These are wizards who are willing to take you on as their apprentice. Pay special attention to Wizard Ron; heâs particularly eager for you to become his student.â
âIf an apprentice successfully advances to Wizard, the mentor also gains a generous reward. Right now, youâre quite the hot commodity to many wizards.â
With a playful smile, she added, âItâs just too bad I havenât advanced to Wizard yet. Otherwise, wouldnât it be great if you were my apprentice?â
Lynch replied while flipping through the documents, âNo problem. Youâve already been my de facto mentor. Iâve learned invaluable knowledge from you.â
Avery was briefly stunned, asking, âWhat did you say?â
With a sly grin, Lynch responded, âBiological knowledge, of course!â
âYou rascal!â
A blush of embarrassment spread across Averyâs face as she lifted her foot to kick Lynch, only for him to catch it. His hand then mischievously slipped under her clothes, kneading and caressing.
âStop messing around.â
Avery quickly pushed Lynch away, knowing that if she didnât, it would be another couple of hours before anything productive got done. Though she didnât mind, priorities needed to be addressed first.
She hurriedly said, âLetâs handle the serious matters first.â
With no choice, Lynch withdrew his hand and focused instead on examining the stack of documents earnestly.
Truthfully, mentors werenât so critical to him anymore. After successfully advancing to Wizard, he now stood on the same level as the Towerâs mentors. The most they offered was the formal title of âmentor.â
Still, there was merit in learning. Among three people, one could always be the teacher. Having the opportunity to discuss knowledge and explore academia with other wizards remained quite valuable.
âHmm?â
At that moment, Lynch noticed a particular row of text in the documents: âMentorâs teaching scope limited to apprentices.â
He asked with a peculiar expression, âWhat does this mean?â
Avery answered matter-of-factly, âExactly what it says. Whatâs wrong? The Towerâs mentors are obviously meant to teach apprentices.â
âWhat if an Outer Ring apprentice applies to join the Inner Ring after advancing to Wizard? How would the mentorship work then?â
Avery paused before saying, âAre you kidding?â
âThe Tower trains apprentices until age 30. Considering most enter Shadow Land at around age 12, they get 18 years of training.â
âEighteen years to go from starting on the Wizardâs Road to advancing to Official Level Wizard, practically without resources, purely through personal cultivationâthat kind of ability is unfathomable.â
Looking at Lynch like he was crazy, she asked, âWhat sort of genius could achieve that? Tell me, Iâd love to know.â
The average time it took for an apprentice to advance was fifty years. Without resource-intensive methods, fifty years was already average. Advancing in two or three decades meant they were undeniable prodigies.
Avery added, âThose with such talentâFourth-class or Fifth-class potentialâare immediately taken in by Netta upon their arrival in Shadow Land.â
âWhich means your hypothetical scenario doesnât actually happen.â
Lynch thought for a moment.
That⊠was probably true. Based on the Towerâs operational model, it really was unlikely for an apprentice to advance to Wizard level without a mentor.
âMakes sense.â
He nodded, âBut thereâs always an exception to the rule, isnât there?â
Avery scoffed, âAn exception? Well, go ahead, surprise me. No special reasonâjust genuinely curious to see it.â
Lynch replied, âSince youâre so curious, I wonât let you down.â
Looking skeptical, Avery wondered where Lynch might conjure such a phenomenon.
Before she could figure it out, Lynch raised his hand and snapped his fingers lightly.
âSnap!â
Accompanying that crisp sound was a surge of unparalleled Spiritual Field emanating from Lynch, bursting outward like an overwhelming mountain pressing down on her. The force made her knees weak and her soul tremble.
It was a kind of pressureâa domination exerted by higher-dimensional life over lower-dimensional existence.
Averyâs eyes widened, her smile completely wiped away.
In disbelief, she exclaimed, âYouâve advanced to Wizard!â
If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.