CHAPTER 37: CHAPTER 37: TEXTBOOKS

Herag inserted the copper key into the door slot, and once inside, the door activated with a flow of magic, unlocking automatically with a click.

After the door opened, the lights inside the room automatically illuminated, casting a soft yellow glow.

The room was furnished completely with tables, chairs, and other furniture, and there was a stack of wood beside the fireplace.

Some oil paintings hung on the walls, mostly landscapes.

The lamps on the walls resembled those on the ship, but with a more refined design, softer light, and a pale yellow stone inside.

The first floor of the house was a lounge and kitchen, the second floor had three rooms: one bedroom, one study, and one empty.

The third floor was an attic with a lower height, suitable for storing sundries.

The kitchen was equipped with complete dinnerware and various condiments, and Herag also found tea leaves and coffee.

Herag lit the wood to start a fire in the fireplace, then heated a kettle and brewed a cup of coffee for himself.

After a brief rest, Herag began to arrange the subsequent plan.

"Shenlan, provide a suggested study plan."

"The suggested study plan is as follows:"

"1. Study Basic Principles of Meditation."

"2. Study Basic Principles of Spell Model Construction."

"3. Study multiple languages."

"4. Study a Defensive Level 0 Spell."

"5. Study an Attack Magic."

...

Shenlan devised a series of plans, and Herag realized he had a significant amount of work ahead of him as he looked at the schedule.

He checked the timetable through the Talisman Stone; classes at Moonlight Forest were scheduled from 9 AM to 9 PM, each lasting three hours.

This month, almost every single day was packed with different types of classes, including anatomy, necrobiology, shadow studies, etc.

Herag searched and found Loli Aifan’s "Basic Principles of Meditation," which was conveniently starting a new round of classes next Monday.

"This price..." He glanced at the cost of the course, which required fifteen Gold Coins.

Gold Coins were to be paid in person, but Herag had a course voucher; he could simply use the voucher then. Moonlight Forest periodically converted the vouchers into Gold Coins for the teaching Wizards.

The meditation class consisted of three sessions, totaling nine hours.

"Just one course costs fifteen Gold Coins, and it’s only a basic course."

Herag took out his wallet from his Space Ring and counted it, finding only twenty Gold Coins in total.

"Let’s see the tasks." Herag accessed the task section to survey the situation.

"Wanted: herbalism experimental assistant, must possess herbalism knowledge, hired after passing on-site assessment, payment 30 Gold Coins."

"Looking for assistance in slaying a mountain giant, requires at least a Second-Class Apprentice with two or more Attack Magic spells, payment twenty Magic Stones."

"Collect Ghost Valley Walking Grass, 20 Gold Coins per plant."

...

The Talisman Stone could only browse tasks and contact task publishers; posting tasks required going to the affairs hall, filling in the information, and paying a deposit, whereby the task would subsequently update on the Magic Net.

Each Talisman Stone was bound to the corresponding Wizard, and its internal functions varied depending on the Wizard Organization.

The usage distance of the Talisman Stone was also limited; it could only be used within the area where the eight Wizard Organizations were located. Beyond that, it became unusable, though it sufficed for everyday use.

Herag ended up enrolling in "Basic Principles of Meditation," "Basic Principles of Spell Model Construction," and "Basic Introduction to Herbalism."

He calculated that the three courses would normally require seventy Gold Coins.

In herbalism, Larry temporarily had no course plans, so Herag opted for the course of a Female Witch named Yuna.

The three courses would be completed within three weeks, and Herag’s next plan was to borrow books.

The courses here did not provide textbooks, so Wizard Apprentices had to prepare them themselves. They could directly borrow from libraries if a copy was available; otherwise, they could only purchase from other Wizard Apprentices.

The library at Moonlight Forest was the tallest building here, with a full seventeen floors. This library, already over two thousand years old, housed a variety of books.

Herag’s library card privileges were at the lowest level, allowing him to borrow books only from the first floor.

Fortunately, the three books required for his classes were foundational and located on the first floor.

Herag borrowed the textbooks for meditation and herbalism, but the ones for spell model construction were already borrowed out, with none left for now.

"You can check the flea market." The librarian noticed he was a newcomer and suggested helpfully.

"Flea market?"

The library administrator said, "Wizards in the forest sell unneeded items there, everything imaginable. You can go take a look."

Following the librarian’s directions, Herag reached the west side of the town, where the flea market was.

It was not much different from ordinary street markets, except it was quieter, as Wizards generally kept to themselves.

Many Wizard Apprentices manning stalls were absorbed in reading books, putting their studies aside only to conduct business when someone asked.

The stalls offered various oddities, including body parts of unidentified animals, common sights by now. Herag even noticed someone selling dung, labeled as dragon dung.

Oddly enough, the dung seemed fresh, hardly resembling dragon dung.

Herag frowned and hurriedly moved away from the area, toward stalls featuring books.

One stall had several piles of books, and the vendor was a bespectacled, slender boy.

"Do you have the book ’Basic Principles of Spell Model Construction’?" Herag asked.

The boy adjusted his glasses and nodded, "Yes!"

He struggled to search through the pile of books, appearing to have forgotten its location, and after considerable effort, finally found it.

"How much is it?" Herag asked.

"Fifty Silver Coins."

Herag was a bit incredulous: "How much?"

The boy explained, "That’s the going rate; I bought it for fifty Silver Coins as well. You can sell it after the class and recoup your costs. We all do this. Buying these books is merely to break even, not to make a profit."

To be cautious, Herag asked around at other stalls and found that the boy’s claims were true.

While he didn’t entirely believe they weren’t making profits, the market price was indeed thus.

"Here." Herag counted out fifty Silver Coins and took the spell model book.

Once the boy tallied the Silver Coins, he asked, "You’re a newcomer, right? You can add me as a Talisman Stone friend; I have a lot of books."

"Okay." Herag agreed, figuring it would expedite future book searches.

"Hello, I’m Leo Severon," Leo smiled.

"Herag Merlin."

After adding him, Herag’s friend list contained two contacts.

"I wonder what Lillian’s Talisman Stone ID is..." Herag suddenly pondered.

They were unaware of the Talisman Stone’s existence before coming, and they were currently reliant on letters for contact.