"Is the selection finished?"
Atbolde gazed at Colin who emerged from the secret chamber and asked slowly.
"Yes, Mentor." Colin halted, subtly nodded his head, and extended his palm to reveal the mechanical mind's crystal replica.
However, his attention was actually focused on the bizarre and sudden exotic skill—Anando's Dice.
"Then let's go, I will take you to retrieve the meditation method for your subsequent First Rank Wizard stage," Atbolde spoke again.
Advancing to a First Rank Wizard was no small matter, involving numerous procedures.
"Okay, Mentor." Colin nodded and continued to follow Atbolde.
Retrieving the meditation method went smoothly, and shortly, he obtained the imprinted meditation method for the subsequent First Rank Wizard stage.
As for whether the content of the Tin Saint Meditation Method was compatible with his current practice of the Tin Ring Meditation Method...
He had never worried about that problem.
Golden Paper was just a tool; he himself was the true master of the knowledge.
After integrating the Tin Ring Meditation Method and pushing it to its limits, he had thoroughly mastered it.
Merging it with the Tin Saint Meditation Method posed no issues.
A little while later.
At the Black Castle entrance.
"Mentor Atbolde, I will be heading back first," Colin bid his mentor goodbye.
"Hm, focus on solidifying your strength, ponder more on the direction of the witchcraft you want to major in," Atbolde replied, "As for the responsibilities you'll take on afterward, we must wait until your advancement files are sent up before they can be assigned to you."
"When the school sends down a notification, I will have Lillian inform you."
A First Rank Wizard was already considered the backbone of the school; thus, their work and directions were allocated with more caution, and naturally took more time.
"Okay, thank you, Mentor Atbolde."
Colin bowed to Atbolde and briskly turned to leave.
The location of Black Castle was in the deep core of the school; unlike the outside world, the people passing by here were fewer, with more carriages and other vehicles.
He walked briskly.
Soon, he arrived at a secluded place.
Carefully surveying his surroundings and ensuring there was no one around, his thoughts stirred, and his magic power momentarily diminished significantly.
An imperceptible golden dice suddenly appeared in front of him, spinning rapidly before slowly stopping, finally settling at the number two.
Undoubtedly, what he had just performed was the exotic skill he had acquired—Anando's Dice!
The golden dice slowly dissipated.
But in Colin's heart, two vague directions suddenly emerged.
One pointed towards the place he had just left—Black Castle, the other, towards a nearby familiar castle—the Teaching Castle where he usually attended classes.
Colin felt a slight surprise in his heart.
The effect of the exotic skill, Anando's Dice, was unique—it allowed the detection of the nearest location with valuable items every week.
Its principle was unknown, but its accuracy was extremely high, and it possessed very special characteristics.
According to the information he knew—there were limited people in the whole world who could wield Anando's Dice.
...This undoubtedly further highlighted the rarity of Anando's Dice!
But beyond that, he was unable to obtain any other information... Whom the Crown Ring belonged to, or how someone had acquired such an exotic skill, remained unknown.
However... Colin lifted his head, gazing toward the distant Teaching Castle.
That Black Castle possessed valuable items was, of course, beyond doubt... but could it be that this Teaching Castle, where apprentices frequently came and went, also concealed something valuable?
After pondering for a moment, he changed direction, heading towards the Teaching Castle.
Crossing the wide stone road, entering the path, and then following the path for five minutes, a large, ancient castle came into view.
Colin's steps slightly faltered as he carefully recalled the location informed by Anando's Dice.
But after a moment, he shook his head and continued walking towards the castle.
Perhaps it was because he had just mastered Anando's Dice, and its proficiency was not high enough, that the accuracy of the location provided by Anando's Dice was about fifty meters.
Fifty meters was clearly not a very small range, and now it seemed to encompass at least half of the Teaching Castle's main building.
However, now that he was here, fifty meters was not too large an area to ignore without investigating.
Following the area designated by Anando, he started from the first floor.
At this time, it was still morning, and almost all the classrooms were covered with dense fog or seemed as if shrouded by frosted glass shields, obviously indicating ongoing classes.
"Good day, sir."
A Wizard Apprentice patrolling the corridors of the Teaching Castle greeted him respectfully, eyes filled with a hint of curiosity.
Colin nodded impassively but was inwardly on alert.
For him, walking alone in the hallway was somewhat conspicuous, especially since he was moving up, floor by floor, clearly searching for something.
This was not the first patrolling Apprentice to greet him.
Perhaps the location given by Anando made him more cautious,
Previously, he hadn't thought much of it, assuming the School was just very strict about protecting its knowledge.
But now, the constant presence of patrolling Apprentices in the Teaching Castle seemed somewhat odd.
Just as he was hesitating whether to leave and come back another time for inspection, the fog encapsulating a nearby classroom suddenly dissipated.
In the next second, noisy sounds spilled out.
Colin's eyes flickered, and after a moment's thought, he removed the badge from his chest.
As the crowd of Apprentices dispersed after class, he smoothly blended in among them, and soon relaxed as he continued to observe his surroundings.
In the School, some classes went on straight through till noon, counting as one session for the entire morning, while others had two separate sessions in the morning.
It was the time for those attending the two-session classes to break after the first, so not all students were heading downstairs to leave the Teaching Castle.
Many Apprentices were heading to another classroom, so his presence among them did not stand out.
Some time passed.
"Mulan, congratulations on earning a spot at the Alus Association."
A familiar voice came from behind.
With the enhanced capabilities of the Superbrain, Colin knew without turning that this was the voice of Leva, who had first informed him of the adverse effects when he enrolled.
"Thank you, Leva," came Mulan's voice, filled with poorly disguised pride and vanity.
Although most Advanced Wizard Apprentices could get a chance to participate in the Alus Association at least once,
Some earned this privilege in their first year of reaching Advanced Apprentice, while others might only achieve it in their second year or even several years later.
There was a distinct difference between the two.
Mulan and Leva's conversation continued; generally trivial, seemingly aimed at feeding Mulan's vanity, with Leva constantly offering praise, while Mulan responded with feigned modesty, his words and tone betrayingly proud.
Colin continued his observation while listening to their conversation, using it to pass time.
In fact, Mulan and Leva seemed to be right behind him, rather close, especially Mulan, who didn't bother to lower his voice, making it hard for Colin not to overhear.
But as he listened, Colin frowned slightly.
"That silhouette ahead seems familiar…" said Leva.
"Familiar…"
Luckily, just ahead were the stairs leading to the next floor. Colin quickened his pace and went up the stairs before the pair behind him could react.
"Let's move," Mulan urged impatiently, a scoff escaping him, "Or is that another Colin, Kemu, or someone you knew before?"
"I've seen the list of participants for this Alus event; he's not on it…"
"Let's go," Leva quickly interjected.
In the past few days, she had come to understand Mulan's character well.
Insecure yet arrogant, sensitive and easily jealous, prone to anger...
But none of that mattered to her.
For a Wizard, only talent and potential truly mattered.