Overall, there had been no significant improvement.
In terms of Rank, since there had been no advancement in the Meditation Method, the progress on the Wizard Level was slow, now merely at 8 out of 100.
And the realm of the Knight, too, because of the hustle of traveling, remained at 93 out of 100, still some time away from reaching the limit.
As for witchcraft...
Colin couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
Because of the cost of the Foolishness Scepter, his progress in witchcraft was pretty much the same as when he was on Bananka Island.
'But now that I have finally arrived at a relatively stable place, I'll keep the Foolishness Scepter as a trump card, not to be used as frequently as before... It's time to start making an effort to improve.'
He put away the Golden Paper.
Colin pondered for a moment, then took out his Wizard Alliance pass.
He certainly hadn't forgotten that this pass contained the information about the Wizard Alliance that he currently lacked the most.
With his eyes slowly closing, his mind immersed within it, he began to carefully peruse the information inside.
...
The next day.
Dawn's light faintly shone.
The hubbub of life began to seep through the street-facing window of the room on the second floor.
Colin got dressed out of bed and walked to the window to pull back the linsey-woolsey white curtains.
Looking out the window, the enticing smells of food began to drift up from the street below.
Baked bread, sandwiches, and more, a variety never seen by him before on Blackstone Island or Bananka Island.
Neustadt City... or rather, under the rule of the Wizard Alliance in the Siya Continent, the material life was more abundant than he had imagined, just looking at these breakfasts, nearly rivaling the standards of Earth in his previous life.
Knock, knock, knock.
A gentle knocking came from the door.
"Master, breakfast is ready," Renee's voice followed soon after.
Pulling his thoughts back, Colin quickly finished his delightful breakfast, instructed Renee and the others to wait for him in the inn, then went downstairs.
Descending the stairs, an Apprentice Witch at the reception was engrossed in a thick black book.
Seeing this, Colin seemed reminded of something, he paused slightly and changed direction to approach the front desk.
"May I assist you with something?" the dark-haired Apprentice asked, looking up from her book.
Her tone was calm, not the slightest bit irritated by being interrupted by Colin's sudden approach; after all, being interrupted was a common occurrence in her job.
"Hello," Colin said, rubbing his bracelet on his left hand, "I don't really need anything specific, just looking to gather some information... I was wondering if you would be willing to entertain a paid inquiry."
He had initially intended to go out to a tea house or tavern to gather information from the servers there.
But on second thought, the information he needed was nothing more than about the Tin Saint School and shipping deals.
Nothing particularly sensitive, so he decided to directly ask this local Apprentice working the front desk.
"Paid inquiries are certainly possible—" The dark-haired waitress began with a nod, but then her eyes focused on the bracelet in his hand, and her tone shifted, "However, sir, could you please stop using your detection bracelet?"
"To be frank... it is not particularly polite."
She couldn't sense the fluctuations from the detection bracelet, but she recognized the bracelet on Colin's wrist...
If she wasn't mistaken, it was a Trojan Bracelet Type 2... a very classic model.
Regrettably... there are now Witch Tools that can evade its detection,
but those tools are costly, and not many can afford them... the Trojan Bracelet Type 2 remained a high-cost performance choice.
"I apologize."
Colin halted his actions, touched his nose, and apologized promptly.
The results from the Trojan Bracelet's detection had already transmitted to his retina.
[Target Strength: Intermediate Wizard Apprentice.]
The dark-haired Apprentice was somewhat surprised by his swift apology, hesitated, then introduced herself:
"Sofia."
Colin nodded in response:
"Just call me Colin."
Sofia nodded back, inquiring: "Sir, what information would you like to know? You may ask now."
"After you ask a question, I will name my price, and if you find it agreeable, I will proceed with the answer, how does that sound?"
"Rest assured, the payment comes after the answer, the price is fair for all."
"Agreed." Colin nodded, then after organizing his thoughts, he asked:
"Which Schools are there in Neustadt City, and can you give a brief introduction to each?"
Sofia paused slightly before responding,
"Five hundred Magic Stones."
Colin couldn't help but frown slightly.
Sofia sighed.
"There are close to a thousand big and small Schools in Neustadt City, and even just giving a rough introduction is a significant undertaking... Five hundred Magic Stones is really not much."
"But I know what you want to ask." Sofia stretched out her palm and gestured a five.
"Five Magic Stones, and I'll give you a brief overview of the thirty-six main Schools in the city."
"Agreed," Colin nodded without hesitation.
The information about the main Schools of Neustadt City should not be difficult to find.
However, for him, it would probably take quite a bit of time to gather... and it might not be as detailed and complete as what Sofia had organized, not to mention the possibility of encountering other unexpected issues.
These five Magic Stones, spent to save time, were not expensive.
"Very well." Sofia began her explanation.
"The main Schools of Neustadt City are divided into two tiers."
"The first tier consists of nine Schools, including Swot, Yista, Silver Guard..., among which the Yista School is the strongest."
Colin nodded; he knew about the Yista School, as its name was also mentioned in the information on his pass.
Put simply, the Yista School is the true, uncrowned ruler behind Neustadt City.
"The second tier has twenty-seven Schools in total, mainly the subsidiary Schools directly under the first tier, with Silver Ring, Wotak, Magic Ring, and Tin Saint attached to the Yista School, and those attached to Silver Guard include..."
Upon hearing the name Tin Saint, Colin kept a poker face but silently heightened his attention.
After another fifteen minutes or so, Sofia finally finished introducing each of the thirty-six Schools in turn.
"The main content of the Schools is roughly as follows."
After finishing, Sofia let out a light breath and then picked up the tea on her left and took a sip.
"Give me a detailed introduction to the Yista School and its subsidiary Schools, as detailed as possible... for instance, how to join them."
"If you only need me to talk about the information that circulates in the street, three Magic Stones."
"If you want to know some news that outsiders usually can't find out... twenty Magic Stones."
Sofia spoke slowly.
"News that can't be found out?"
Sofia smiled and continued,
"If you, sir, are planning to join the Yista School or one of its subsidiaries..."
"Then the news I know might not be enormously helpful, but at least can save you some detours."
Sofia paused for a moment, thereby making her speech more direct.
"Such as details to take note of in exams, the preferences of the examiners, or even how to obtain a token."
"Twenty Magic Stones... it's definitely a bargain."
Having said so, she quietly awaited Colin's response.
For a wizard like Colin, who was clearly from afar, the purpose of coming to Neustadt City was mostly to join a School.
The city of Neustadt had long formed a series of industries because of this.
Apart from anything else, the ceaseless supply of tokens in the black market was the best proof of this.
Of course, this had nothing to do with her as a mere Apprentice.
She was just selling some information to earn a bit of hard-earned money.
"Agreed," Colin replied impassively, reaching out and handing over twenty Magic Stones to Sofia.
He wasn't surprised that Sofia had guessed he was planning to join a School since he hadn't made any particular effort to hide it.
There was no need to hide it... as long as he ensured that the information about possessing a token wasn't leaked.
Sofia was somewhat surprised to receive the Magic Stones since the agreement was to answer first and then receive payment.
But since Colin preferred to pay upfront, of course, she had no complaints.
She organized her thoughts and began to recount slowly.
After some time, Sofia finally finished speaking, and she picked up her tea for another sip.
Colin, on the other hand, was silently processing the information.
'The Tin Saint School has an exam in half a month, huh...'