Chapter 5 - 5 New Blood_1
Room 3-016 was small.
The arrangement inside was very simple: a bed, a table, and a chair.
There was a pillow and bedding on the bed, and a few booklets were placed on the table.
As for the switch on the wall near the door, the power supply line similar to an electric wire, and the lighting fixture similar to an electric lamp on the ceiling, none of these could surprise Link anymore.
Had he gotten used to them?
No, he had simply adjusted his mindset.
From now on, no matter how sci-fi or magical things appeared in the wizard world, Link could quickly accept them, even if they were similar to Gundam or Transformers.
Link closed the door, sat down at the desk, and opened the package on the desktop.
The items in the package were very simple.
Two sets of clothing without patches, some conveniently stored dry food, and two gold coins along with 63 silver coins wrapped layers of cloth.
For a blacksmith’s family, to take out two gold coins and 63 silver coins without exhausting themselves or affecting their livelihood, it was as if they had emptied their coffers.
Having wrapped up the gold and silver coins again, Link put his right hand on the parcel, and his mind was filled with mixed feelings.
Was this just money?
It was more than that, it was also a deep care and concern.
After a while, Link took several deep breaths, and with the help of the “Mind Closure Technique,” he finally calmed down.
He got up and placed the parcel on the inside of the bed next to the wall, and then sat back at the table, flipping through the booklets.
Link could read and write.
The specific conditions elsewhere were unclear, but in the Viscount Holliday’s territories, there was a strict requirement for children between the ages of six and twelve to receive a literacy education.
When Link first arrived in this world, he did not know the reason for this requirement.
After all, Viscount Holliday was not a public servant serving the people, but rather someone who typically exploited and domineered over his subjects.
Now, Link could somewhat guess the reason, which was definitely related to the annual wizard qualifications examination.
After all, being illiterate was not conducive to receiving a wizard’s education, right?
The language of the Wizard World primarily consisted of pictographic characters, mixed with some ideographic characters and compound ideographs. Though the character shapes were highly similar to oracle bone script, there was a great difference in pronunciation from Chinese.
For instance, an inappropriate example is the character for “mine,” which in modern Chinese is pronounced “kuang,” but in the wizard world, it would be pronounced something like “cow-ong”.
To cite another example that is even more inappropriate, but straightforward, the character for “lamp” is written as “灯,” but pronounced “lamp.”
That’s the general situation.
If not for the previous occupant’s memories and the body’s habits, Link wouldn’t have been able to quickly adapt to the text and pronunciation of the Wizard World.
The first booklet was rather thin, consisting of only five or six pages. The cover had the words “Passenger Information” written on it.
Link carefully read it from the beginning to the end, summarizing the information, really there were only three points to take note of:
First, fighting on the ship was prohibited; second, deliberately destroying items and facilities on the ship was prohibited; third, the dining hall was located on the fourth floor of the cabin, providing round-the-clock service. Food could be taken as needed, but waste was not allowed.
As for the restriction against casting spells or conducting experiments in the room, Link was unaffected as he didn’t even know how to do any such things!
He set aside the “Passenger Information” and picked up the second booklet, the “New Blood Prerequisites.”
After reading it, Link’s emotions weren’t affected by the content inside; he had more or less expected it.
The so-called “New Blood” referred to the young boys and girls with wizard qualifications, collected from numerous islands scattered all over the four seas, by the Wizard Organizations of the main continent.
These young boys and girls had not received relevant education from an early age, and they didn’t possess the common currency of the main continent—the Magic Stone. Without these, they could hardly survive on the main continent.
Therefore, from the moment the New Bloods were selected, they inherently accepted the fact that they would sign an agreement with a wizard organization on the main continent.
The content was mainly about the Wizard Organizations providing the New Blood with transportation fees to the main continent, four years’ worth of tuition and living expenses, and ensuring their basic learning and survival necessities. In return, the New Bloods would need to sign a further agreement with the Wizard Organization four years later, and officially join the organization.
However, there was a great difference between those who successfully became official wizards within four years and those who did not.
Official wizards would sign a ten-year work service agreement, during which they’d retain their personal freedom, receive remuneration for their work, and enjoy good welfare benefits.
Non-official wizards would sign a twenty-year work service agreement, during which they’d lose their personal freedom, receive meager work compensation almost equivalent to slavery.
If a war were to happen, the latter would also be used as cannon fodder!
“As expected, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world, whatever you want, you always have to pay a price.”
Link closed the “New Blood Prerequisites,” placed it under “Passenger Information,” and picked up the last booklet, “Overview of the Tudor Region’s Wizard Organizations on the West Coast.”
This booklet covered the situation of the Wizard Organizations in the last stop of the White Sail’s journey, on the West Coast of the mainland in the Tudor region, but only provided a brief overview.
Each Wizard Organization was described briefly, with only a few strokes. They only mentioned who the founder was, who currently controlled it, what they were good at, and where they were located.
However, after reading, there were some gains.
From the thirty-nine Wizard Organizations, Link found one that was very suitable for him.
Ravensmouth Biological and Medical College.
Although the name was a bit strange, its introduction stated it was very proficient in plant cultivation, animal breeding, extraordinary medical treatment, and life blessings, and was suitable for New Bloods with affinity for water elements, wood elements, earth elements, and light elements.
“Unless something unexpected happens, I’ll choose it.”
Link closed the booklet and made his decision promptly.
Of course, he was not necessarily tied to this decision.
If there were other better options, why not accept them happily?
After organizing the three booklets and placing them in the upper right corner of the table, Link suddenly found that he seemed to have nothing to do for a while.
Wizard Palo was nowhere to be seen.
There wasn’t any valuable information to be gleaned from Jimmy, Chris, Christina, and Jasmine, so there was no need to force himself to mingle with them. Natural interactions would do.
“Passenger Information” had mentioned that they would arrive at the Manheim Harbor on the West Coast of the Tudor region in five days.
“What should I do for these five days?”
Link couldn’t help but ponder deeply.
A moment later, Link made a decision, to practice hard on the “Mind Closure Technique”.
After all, it was the first draw he had managed to exchange after saving up for so long. So he had to make good use of it.
Thus, Link’s life on the ship for the next five days became somewhat more regular.
He would go to the dining hall located on the fourth floor of the cabin to eat at mealtimes, and would chat with Jimmy, Chris, Christina, and Jasmine.
The rest of the time, he would stay in his room by himself, focusing on practicing the “Mind Closure Technique”.
As for social interactions among the New Bloods, he didn’t bother at all.
It has to be said, that although the system was stingy, the effect was good.
The “Mind Closure Technique,” which had a high learning threshold, was as simple as eating and drinking for Link.
Within just five days, Link had practiced the “Mind Closure Technique” to the highest realm. He could maintain it around the clock, preventing others’ spiritual power from invading his mind, and could freely camouflage his memories to confuse others.
Link also made an attempt.
Using the “Hall of Memories Technique” as a theoretical basis, he activated the “Mind Closure Technique,” and built his own Hall of Mind.