Chapter 17 – Chapter 17: Witchcraft and Double Draws_1

As night fell, the lights came up.

Link, after finishing a full day of classes and spending some time in the library, returned to his dormitory under the starlight, unhurried.

He swiped his ID to open his mailbox, which contained two small boxes and an envelope.

Link took out the boxes and the envelope, then entered his living room.

He opened the envelope first, inside which was a coupon and instructions for its use.

After reading the instructions, Link learned that the coupon could be used at the Witchcraft Trade Center next to the library to select a Zero Ring witchcraft free of charge.

“Witchcraft Trade Center?”

Link went to the library every day and could see the square one-story building not far away, but never knew its name or function.

It wasn’t marked on the campus map in his portable brain.

As a result, Link did not know he could purchase Magic Blueprints there during the first two weeks.

Thinking about it, perhaps the college intentionally didn’t make the Witchcraft Trade Center public. After all, having existed for nearly 1800 years, the college had a good understanding of the psychology of New Bloods like Link who lacked a sense of security and always wanted to keep things on the down-low.

The college wanted new blood to know that there was no need to hide their minor achievements, which didn’t even amount to successes. There were rewards for reporting them promptly; otherwise, they wouldn’t even know where to buy Magic Blueprints!

What? Did you say bookstores?

A Zero Ring witchcraft worth five standard first-level Magic Stones at the Witchcraft Trade Center would cost at least ten in a bookstore.

And that’s a conscience price.

Link carefully put away the coupon, planning to go to the Witchcraft Trade Center the next day.

Then he opened the two boxes, both containing standard first-level Magic Stones. One box held three, and so did the other.

The college was particular about things. Rewards were just rewards, and subsidies were just subsidies. They weren’t mixed up.

Link picked up one of the regular hexahedrons of standard first-level Magic Stones, intending to take a closer look at the captivating little cuties.

But as Link’s fingers touched the Magic Stone, the long-quiet Krypton Card Drawing System suddenly stirred.

“Beep! New monetary system detected, system updating…”

“Update complete, please check at your earliest convenience.”

Link’s hand froze there, unwilling to move for a while.

With his understanding of the system’s money-grubbing properties, didn’t this update mean he would have to recharge with Magic Stones to draw cards in the future?

He’d only drawn a card once and had planned to find time to work to earn money, save up 10 Gold Coins, and draw a second card.

Really, he didn’t know if tomorrow or an accident would arrive first.

With a heavy sigh, recognizing that he couldn’t avoid it, he decided he might as well face it sooner rather than later. Link resignedly invoked the system panel.

[Link Grande]

Wizard Qualifications: Intermediate Fourth Rank

Wizard’s Level: First Rank Wizard Apprentice

Card pack: None

Used: “Mind Closure Technique” learning card

Draw Card Count: 0 (first draw only requires 1 Magic Stone)]

As expected, Link’s suspicions came true.

The money-grabbing system had taken a shine to Magic Stones and abandoned gold and silver coins.

Spit! What a jerk.

Link deeply despised this behavior of the system but then, without any hesitation, recharged one Magic Stone, redeeming one card-drawing opportunity.

“On God’s Body!”

Link silently cast a buff, “Draw!”

In an instant, the system completed a simple and unadorned card draw, and the panel quietly updated.

[Link Grande]

Wizard Qualifications: Intermediate Fourth Rank

Wizard’s Level: First Rank Wizard Apprentice

Card Package: “Pomona Sprout’s Botany Talent” Talent Card

Used: “Mind Closure Technique” Study Card

Draw Card Times: 0 (10 standard first-level Magic Stones)]

Tsk… It’s another card from Harry Potter World.

Without hesitation, Link immediately used the talent card he had just drawn.

Being from the Headmaster of Hufflepuff College and the senior professor of Herbology at Hogwarts School of Magic, Link noticed a difference as soon as he used the talent card.

All of Link’s previous doubts and questions about “Botany” disappeared.

Every lesson he had taken in the past month, and the knowledge he had acquired by self-study, were all immediately integrated and understood.

The effect was immediate.

“Value for money!”

Link did not discredit the system because of its high cost, but instead praised it.

People should not deceive themselves!

After dismissing the system panel and packing up the remaining magic stones, Link freshened up, washed away his exhaustion, went through his daily meditation, and went to sleep.

The next day.

Link carried his cards and magic stones, left the dormitory, and headed for the Witchcraft Trade Center.

The level of automation at Ravensmouth Biological and Medical College is extremely high. Apart from the new student recruiters and teachers at enrollment, Link has never seen any other staff.

The majority of campus affairs are handled by the New Blood using their identity cards and personal smart devices. The rest is handled by intelligent mechanical puppets.

The Witchcraft Trade Center did not have staff and fully operated through intelligent automation.

The front door of the Trade Center was firmly shut. Link looked around for a while and found an access control device on the left side of the main door.

After some thought, Link took out his card and pressed it on the access control device.

The main door opened on both sides.

Upon entering the Trade Center, Link found that only one hall was open for use, and the small doors on the three walls were locked.

In the center of the hall, there was an interactive device with a large screen.

Link found a slot and inserted his card into the card reader of the interactive device.

The large screen lit up, displaying a directory of zero-ring witchcraft, which was long and divided into categories based on elemental types.

Link browsed the directory of zero-ring water system witchcraft for a while, finally selecting the secondary Misty Rain Technique.

This is a functional witchcraft that condenses water elements and magic power into clouds or a light rain. The clouds have some stealth, confusing, and hallucinatory effects while the rain nurtures plants.

After making his choice, a small door on the left wall clicked open, revealing a small opening from which a tray was extended.

Link quickly walked over and picked up the sealed scroll from the tray.

This type of scroll is specifically used to engrave magic blueprints. When unsealing, it must first be bound to the user’s spiritual power, after which it cannot be unsealed by others.

Thus, the Wizard Organization can avoid the leakage and outflow of magic blueprints to the maximum extent.

After putting away the scroll, Link did not rush to leave. Instead, he took out all of his belongings, five standard first-level magic stones, and inserted them one by one into the recharge slot of the interactive device.

Since he has high affinity with both water and wood elements, it is most suitable for him to study water system witchcraft, wood system witchcraft, and water and wood dual compound systems witchcraft.

However, the compound witchcraft is classified as first ring witchcraft. To learn it, he must first become a third-class wizard apprentice and only then can he learn it when he is about to be promoted to an official wizard.

Therefore, during the first-rank and second-rank wizard apprentice stages, Link could only learn water system witchcraft and wood system witchcraft separately.

After some comparison, Link chose a wood system zero-ring witchcraft called the Birth Induction Technique.

Its purpose is to make plant seeds germinate without damage, and to make plants mature within a very short time at the expense of losing their reproductive function.

However, the secondary Misty Rain Technique meshes well with the Birth Induction Technique.

If a secondary Misty Rain Technique is promptly deployed after growing a plant using the Birth Induction Technique, the plant will not lose its reproductive function.