Under her guidance, the three of them arrived at the top floor of the ancient castle.
Ascending the stairs, they were met by a small reception area, flanked by deep corridors connecting approximately seven or eight rooms.
"Wait here for me for a moment," Shelley said softly before turning and walking into a room at the far end of the corridor.
Colin watched her receding figure and suddenly thought of something, turning his head to ask Ocasie behind him,
"Ocasie, am I part of the True Knowledge Society just like that? Isn't there any evaluation by other members?"
"No need," Ocasie shook her head, "If it were any other researcher on duty today, perhaps another person's evaluation might be needed, but as a Third Level researcher, Shelley has such authority."
Colin slightly raised his eyebrows, then nodded.
If Shelley's actual age was close to what her appearance suggested, then she was undoubtedly a prodigy, especially in the field of witchcraft.
But he wondered about her strength... would it be First or Second Rank?
Certainly, it couldn't be Third Rank.
Third Rank was a significant threshold; anyone who reached it could be called a High Rank Wizard, and if they weren't intentionally concealing it, it could be directly discerned from their appearance.
Whereas between a First and Second Rank Wizard, without releasing spiritual power or using detection methods, it was not easy to tell them apart.
They didn't have to wait long; Shelley returned carrying a brass badge in the shape of a book.
"Here, bind it simultaneously with spirit and Magic Power."
Colin took the badge and did as told.
Like the School Badges, the binding process for this brass badge of the True Knowledge Society was essentially the same.
Though simple, it was extremely reliable.
Each person's spirit has a unique fluctuation, and so does Magic Power; combining the two as a basis for verification was very difficult to counterfeit.
After binding the True Knowledge Society badge, Shelley led him to the nearby reception.
"Sir, are you sure you want to exchange these spells for True Knowledge Society points?" Shelley confirmed.
"Yes," Colin nodded, and after a thought, added, "Colin Leonard, just call me Colin."
"Shelley Anastasi," Shelley simply replied, then bowed her head to carefully estimate the specific point values of the four First Rank witchcrafts in her hand.
The process took quite a while, about three hours, only concluding after Shelley had compared them with a series of regulations.
Of course, the reason this took so long was that Colin had brought out a new First Rank witchcraft midway through.
Ocasie was already numb to this, her expression unchanged as she found a chair to sit down, carefully adjusted her glasses, and took out the topic she was recently researching to read.
Out of respect and following the instructions of Professor Jonah, she didn't plan on leaving first.
Though she very much wished she could.
In the end, the five witchcrafts together exchanged for 1040 points.
Watching Shelley record it into the True Knowledge Society badge, Colin exhaled softly, a tide of anticipation rising within him.
The method for Second Rank training was finally resolved!
The official name for the large crystal in the basement was actually True Knowledge Library.
However, calling it the large crystal wasn't wrong either because from the outside, the True Knowledge Library appeared as a shuttle-shaped Purple Crystal set in the ground amidst a special apparatus.
Under the misty purple light, Colin, much like previously in his study, quickly located the Tin Saint Meditation Method (Second Rank phase), and after signing the contract, he did not hesitate to choose to exchange!
As Shelley had directed, he released his spirit, and the purple lights surged like flowing water into the center of his forehead, condensing into an ethereal crystal there.
This was the Tin Saint Meditation for the Second Rank stage; he could access it with spiritual power until the crystal completely disappeared.
After exchanging the meditation method, Colin did not rush to leave but continued to check what the remaining 40 points could exchange for.
However, after a look around, essentially everything exchangeable was either knowledge below First Rank or quite common First Rank witchcraft, like the Burst Fireball.
True Knowledge Society points were precious, and using them to exchange for such knowledge was naturally not cost-effective.
This exchange seemed easy, but it was backed by at least half a year of constant effort in the past.
Colin pondered for a moment, disconnected the spiritual link, and turned to walk outside.
At the doorway, Shelley, seeing him come out, waved her hand to close the secret chamber door.
"Any other requirements, Colin… sir?" Shelley hesitated for a moment, not quite used to calling him by his name.
"No more, thank you," Colin replied politely.
Shelley didn't say anything more, nodded, and clutching the thick black book, she went upstairs on her own.
Colin didn't mind; he could tell Shelley was indeed not the type who liked socializing.
"I also thank you, Ocasie, for bringing me into the True Knowledge Society," he turned his head back and continued to thank Ocasie.
This was a sincere thank you; by now, he no longer cared much about the Witch's previous bias against him.
"No... there's no need for thanks," Ocasie was taken aback for a moment, then straightened her hair by her ear and spoke softly.
"Are you planning to go anywhere else next, Mr. Colin?" Ocasie asked as the two of them walked side by side to the ground floor.
"Hmm… I plan to visit my mentor," Colin paused then answered.
"Does your mentor reside at the School?"
"Yes."
Ocasie nodded; she was also heading back to the School, which was on the way.