Dark tides surged.
At this moment, dawn had not yet broken. Colin stood quietly at the spacious balcony of the master bedroom, leaning on the balustrade and gazing into the distance.
Before long, a bright glimmer of gold appeared where the sea met the sky, and the surface of the sea was immediately sprinkled with flecks of shattered gold.
The dark undercurrents of the tide became even more noticeable.
Although he was only watching from afar, the mere sight of the scene seemed to bring the salty, humid sea breeze to his nostrils, and the sound of the surging tides echoed in his ears.
Knock knock knock—
Just then, a gentle knocking sound came from the wooden door of the bedroom.
Colin turned around, re-entered the room, opened the door, and walked out of the bedroom.
"Master," Renee greeted respectfully.
"What's for breakfast this morning?" Colin asked casually as he walked downstairs to the dining room.
"It's the seafood porridge that Master taught me to make last time, with pan-fried fish and mushrooms."
"Mhm," Colin nodded with satisfaction.
Although Renee's talent for knightly training was abysmal, her culinary skills were quite the opposite.
She often got it nearly perfect just by listening to his instructions once and even did better than he could the first time she tried… bear in mind, in his previous life, he had lived alone for several years, and aside from entertainment and work, cooking was what he had devoted most of his time to.
He couldn't say his cooking was exceptional, but being surpassed at first attempt was enough to prove Renee's talent in the culinary arts.
Upon reaching the dining room on the first floor, a bowl of steaming hot seafood porridge was already placed at the head of the square-shaped long dining table, capable of seating eight people. The soup was clearly visible with fish and shrimp meat, far better than the ones from his former life which were only for reference in pictures.
Next to it were two fragrant pan-fried fish fillets, accompanied by mushrooms.
"Go call Arthur to prepare the carriage," Colin instructed Renee after sitting down.
His daily routine typically involved going to bed around two in the morning and waking up at six. Logically, servants like Renee and Arthur should go to bed later and rise earlier than he did.
Indeed, this was how Renee started out.
Such a routine could be managed for one or two days, or even a few days. However, it's quite difficult to sustain over the long term for ordinary people...
For average mortals, serving as a servant to wizards, these Transcendents, is no easy feat…
...
Sigh~
Clip-clop clip-clop~
The pace of the horse pulling the carriage slowed down and gradually came to a stop.
Colin stepped down from the carriage and found himself once again in the familiar street of Wizard Alley.
Inside the alley, there were many shops selling witchcraft knowledge. Colin went straight to the most prominent and largest one of all.
There was no signboard, just a flag on the eave with a red background and gold embroidery, bearing the emblem of the Lap School.
In this shop, one could not only buy but also sell witchcraft knowledge.
Unquestionably, the store was operated by the school, which had similar premises on the mountain outside Wizard Territory.
Besides that, no other shops were opened by the school. After all, the school didn't rely on shops for profit. The primary purpose of setting up a shop for witchcraft knowledge was to collect more information.
A Basic Level Wizard Apprentice, already of a certain age, guarded the shop.
Initially, when new Wizard seeds joined and couldn't reach the Middle Level within ten years, they weren't simply cast out of the school.
Instead, they were assigned to do miscellaneous tasks.
Unfortunately, Blackstone Island wasn't large, and the positions for menial labor at the Lap School were even more limited.
By the time Colin or earlier batches arrived, the positions were already filled. Those who couldn't advance had no choice but to leave the school.
"What does the gentleman require?" The old Wizard Apprentice, already in his sixties, stood up to greet Colin upon seeing the silver badge on his chest.
"I would like to look at some supportive witchcraft related to evasion and speed."
"Very well, sir. If you could wait just a moment."
Soon enough, the old Wizard brought over a sheepskin catalog.
Colin carefully read from the beginning.
Mirror Image Skill: Creates a silent, static optical illusion to confuse enemies.
'Three-dimensional Projector? Looks to be quite versatile and practical. Limit Breaking potential… unknown, perhaps evolving toward more or larger projections, from static to moving, or possibly into real-time projection.
Hm, surely an optical projection can't evolve into an actual clone in the end.'
"Not bad, might be an option," Colin couldn't help pausing and patted his thinning purse before continuing to look down.
But this time he chose to look at the prices first.
Frog Jumping Skill... 35 Magic Stones.
Slippery Soles... 42 Magic Stones.
... 36 Magic Stones
...
As he quickly skimmed the catalog for witchcraft related to evasion and speed, Colin's expression grew increasingly grim.
Perhaps the School's shop only had premium items, but regardless, the cheapest here started at no less than 10 Magic Stones.
He saw several that he longed for... unfortunately, his wallet was embarrassingly empty.
Next, he visited other shops selling witchcraft knowledge, but overall, the story was the same: he couldn't afford what he liked, and he didn't like what he could afford.
Still, it wasn't that he came away with nothing.
Since he was here, though he didn't buy any witchcraft, he had browsed all the evasion and speed-related witchcraft on sale, thereby broadening his horizons.
He already had his eye on the witchcraft he desired; all he needed was to save up enough money to come back and make a direct purchase!
Exiting the last shop, it was already past 11 a.m.
Colin turned and headed towards a store selling witchcraft materials.
Before long, he emerged with 120 pure crystals and headed back home on his carriage.
These pure crystals had cost him 4 Magic Stones in total.
Bright Crystals made from pure crystals were of higher quality than those made from mixed crystals, usually capable of being recharged 60 times, with each lighting lasting about 6 hours. A single crystal could last two months, and with some frugality, even three to four months.
Naturally, the price was also higher than Bright Crystals made from mixed crystals; one Magic Stone could only buy ten.
Therefore, after turning all these pure crystals into Bright Crystals, he expected to make a profit of around 8 Magic Stones.
According to his current gold-level Bright Crystal Making skill, it would take him about two days to process 120 pure crystals.
This was tantamount to an income of 4 Magic Stones per day, already considered very considerable on the island.
At least much higher than the 10 Magic Stones monthly salary from his position at the Patrol Department.
Regrettably... compared to the hundreds, possibly thousands of Limit Breaking Points needed for Intermediate Strong Life, his earnings rate was still too low.
"Perhaps, it's time to try finding some other ways to make money," Colin mused, sighing to himself as he sat in the carriage.
He lifted the cloth curtain from the carriage window and looked out.
By now, they had reached the West City area, where the buildings along the road visibly became more modest, yet there were still exquisitely luxurious homes, like the wealthy street he was now passing.
Most houses here were individual villas with their own large courtyards.
Outside these mansions, Colin noticed a residence not far ahead covered with green climbing vines, surrounded by luxurious carriages parked outside.
"So many carriages at the entrance...
This looks like Regina's house..."
"...It must be the gathering she mentioned yesterday," Colin recalled.
Unexpectedly, this gathering was being held at Regina's home.
Speaking of Regina, she truly possessed exceptional talent. It took only four years for her to transition from Basic Level to Intermediate, and a substantial part of that time was spent learning various foundational knowledge.
And now even more astonishingly, in just six years, she was already preparing to advance to Advanced Apprentice...
"It seems like my own Limit Breaking Circulation Meditation will soon reach its limit again..." Colin thought, rubbing the bag of pure crystals by his side.
In time, the carriage brought him right outside Regina's gate.
For a moment, a mix of bustling sounds—sizzling fat from roasted meats, clinking knives and forks, people's conversations, and laughter—continued to enter his ears.
Without even seeing it with his own eyes, these noises alone allowed him to imagine an exceptionally lively scene inside...
Dropping his hand, the curtain fell back into place under its weight.
Colin's face remained calm as the carriage carried him further and further away.
Those bustling sounds also slowly faded as the distance grew...