From Wizard Apprentice to Conqueror of Myriad Worlds

Six in the morning.

No. 2 Black Tower.

As the headquarters of the *Shining Light of the Black Tower* Witchcraft Research Society, the tower was especially lively today.

Since the journal’s publication day was tomorrow, all the Reviewing Editors-in-Chief and reviewers had arrived at the Society early in the morning, as was customary.

For everyone at the Society, today would be an incredibly busy day.

Finalizing the layout for each paper, conducting the final proofread of every article, typesetting the journal, printing, and distribution—the myriad tasks were like a finely woven net, trapping everyone securely within.

Junior Reviewer Roy was, naturally, no exception.

On top of that, he had an additional duty: dealing with the many Apprentices who were fishing for news.

There was no helping it.

To get into one of the Witchcraft Laboratories, one needed sufficiently deep qualifications, and research papers were the best way to build that kind of record.

Project theses were far too difficult; from choosing a topic to conducting research and writing the paper, the process often took several months, or even a full year.

Journal articles were much less difficult in comparison. All it took was a flash of inspiration, a set of rigorous deductions, and a smoothly written paper to have a chance at being published in the periodical read by countless people.

Therefore, on the day before the journal’s publication, Roy always received a flood of letters from Apprentices, asking if their submitted papers had been selected.

Honestly, it was a very tedious job.

But Roy had to reply to each one conscientiously and with a sincere attitude. Otherwise, who would submit their papers to him in the future?

After all, he wasn’t the only reviewer at the Society; there was fierce competition among them as well.

On the Teleportation Platform to the side.

Letters bearing Apprentice emblems appeared one after another in flashes of light, quickly piling up.

Behind every letter was a heart waiting in anxious anticipation.

These weren’t letters delivered by Witch Spirits, but the work of Messenger Spirits.

Witchcraft Mailboxes had been built in every dormitory area within the academy, and Apprentices could use them for free.

One only had to drop a letter into a mailbox, and a Messenger Spirit would deliver it to the designated address.

Messenger Spirits could only deliver letters to fixed addresses—for example, the various laboratories, the Society, or another mailbox in a dormitory area.

In contrast, Witch Spirits could deliver directly to a person’s hand, at a speed more than ten times faster, arriving almost instantaneously.

However, for personal letters—anything other than papers or official documents—Witch Spirits charged a fee for each delivery. What ordinary Apprentice could bear to spend that kind of money?

Roy took the piled-up letters from the Teleportation Platform, clearing space for the ones to come.

His ears, however, were pricked up, listening to the discussions of his colleagues outside.

"I just passed by the conference room and heard the Editors-in-Chief arguing up a storm." This was the voice of Rex, a Second Level Apprentice.

"What are they arguing about?" another voice chimed in. It was the Junior Reviewer Lily, her tone laced with curiosity.

"What else? It’s about that ’Highway Bridge Technique’ paper by ’The River Flows Eastward.’ Lady Nai Luo wants to put it in the third section of the first area, while Lord Terry thinks it should be in the second."

"There isn’t much difference between the second and third sections, is there? Is something that small worth arguing over?"

Hearing this, Roy thought to himself, ’You’re missing the point. Lady Nai Luo and Lord Terry aren’t arguing about the placement; they’re arguing over the right of first review for the anonymous Apprentice’s paper.’

Without a doubt, from these two papers—especially the one on the Highway Bridge Technique—everyone could see that this First Level Apprentice possessed astonishing talent in the Divination Domain.

The reason the two Wizards were fighting over the right of first review was, to put it plainly, quite simple: both Lady Nai Luo and Lord Terry wanted to pull the anonymous Apprentice into their own Witchcraft Research Laboratory.

Whoever won the right of first review would have more opportunities to contact the anonymous Apprentice and would gain the upper hand in the struggle to recruit them.

’Perhaps it’s not just those two. The other Reviewing Editors-in-Chief have likely taken an interest as well; they just aren’t being as obvious about it as Nai Luo and Terry.’

Roy silently added in his mind.

He was quite shocked that so many Wizards were fighting over a single First Level Apprentice.

And, of course, completely envious.

After all, what Apprentice wouldn’t want that kind of treatment?

Roy suppressed his envy and thought, ’I hope Lord Terry gets the right of first review!’

From his perspective, he was naturally rooting for Lord Terry to win "this battle."

Lady Nai Luo had forcefully snatched his right of first review away from him, an incident that had left him simmering with resentment.

Lord Terry, on the other hand, had always been very kind to Apprentices. He had helped Roy solve quite a few problems in Divination and had even smoothed things over for him when he had almost thrown away his first good paper.

For reasons both personal and professional, Roy hoped Lord Terry would be victorious.

The discussion outside the door soon shifted, moving from the editors’ argument to the paper itself.

"By the way, have you read that ’Highway Bridge Technique’ paper?"

"I did! But I couldn’t understand the derivation process at all. It made me wonder if it was really written by a First Level Apprentice."

Roy silently responded in his mind, ’I’ve read The River Flows Eastward’s first article. Judging by the standard, he really should be a First Level Apprentice.’

He knew, of course, that between last night and now, the ’Highway Bridge Technique’ paper had already begun to circulate throughout the Society.

With a single casting of the Level Zero Witchcraft, [Paper Copying Technique], one could easily make several copies of the paper.

As a result, many Apprentices had already gotten their hands on this legendary paper and were now poring over it at their own workstations.