This wizard only wishes to be a teacher

"Lord Lucien, another second-level Wizard Apprentice died today in an accident, he was a fourth-year..." In Lucien’s office, Gagarin reported the incident from yesterday with a rather solemn expression.

"An accident?" Lucien snorted softly through his nose.

"Yes, it is said that there was an accident during one of Wizard Morgan’s witchcraft simulation experiments. Besides the second-level Wizard Apprentice who unfortunately got hit by an attack meant for Formal Wizards, another third-level Wizard Apprentice also suffered severe injuries from this accident."

Gagarin gave a bitter smile. Although he did not specify, both he and Lucien understood this was essentially a direct demonstration of power by Wizard Morgan.

However, such "experimental accidents" were rather difficult to investigate in depth. Even if everything was done legally and correctly, as long as the Formal Wizards intended to use such means to "disgust" Lucien, it would be hard to find substantial evidence.

After all, Wizard Apprentices differed too much from Formal Wizards. Even if a Formal Wizard played some tricks in front of a Wizard Apprentice, those apprentices couldn’t even notice it, and by the time they realized the danger, it was already too late.

Nevertheless, for a Formal Wizard, such actions were somewhat "beneath them," and killing a Wizard Apprentice with such means didn’t really benefit them. Wizard Morgan’s ultimate goal was merely to express his dissatisfaction to Lucien through these methods.

Lucien remained silent for a moment but eventually, he just nodded slightly, "I understand."

"Those guys... they really are shameless," Carly muttered quietly on the side, feeling extreme outrage at the actions of these Formal Wizards.

"But they are nothing but a bunch of cowards who dare only bully the weak." Lucien shook his head lightly. It was a situation he really couldn’t intervene in, but he believed that as the reforms continued, these high-mortality Formal Wizards would find it increasingly difficult to recruit apprentices, and over time, they would inevitably be phased out by the new order.

...

"Does he think he really is a second-level wizard? Hmph, just a lucky fool who stepped on fortune to advance," Wizard Morgan coldly overlooked several servants cleaning up some bloodstains on the walls of his laboratory at Greybone Academy, his anger not subsiding at all.

Initially, Wizard Morgan felt somewhat envious of Lucien, a suddenly promoted talent who had shown exceptional strength, and he was very interested in the reason behind Lucien’s meteoric rise in strength.

If possible, he really wanted to know the secret to Lucien’s rapid increase in strength, as it might help him break through his spiritual power bottleneck that had been stalling ever since his promotion, allowing him to climb from the lowest tier of Formal Wizards.

However, more than his own strength, Wizard Morgan cared about whether the rights of the Formal Wizards were being infringed upon.

This status and advantage were what he had paid a heavy price to obtain during his Apprentice Rank. To advance to a Formal Wizard, he had even risked his life using a severe Forbidden Technique, surviving by a hair’s breadth. These hard-earned benefits were, to Wizard Morgan, sacred and untouchable.

But now, this bastard named Lucien had touched the tiger’s butt!

For Wizard Morgan, this was an unforgivable action. He felt that the precious things he had always pursued were now being trampled under Lucien’s feet!

Yet, he was no match for Lucien... in fact, he might not even be able to defeat Lucien’s student Carly.

Thinking of this, Wizard Morgan’s mood became even more stifled and angry.

His narrow eyes suddenly glared at the several servants helping him clean, snorting lightly.

Instantly, the servants trembled and prostrated themselves, appearing extremely submissive.

"Isn’t it about time for this year’s new blood to arrive?" Wizard Morgan glanced at the group of submissive servants, his anger subsiding slightly, as killing these servants would only be a loss to his own resources and wouldn’t reach Lucien’s ears anyway.

But in his mind, he thought of a better, more satisfying method.

"Lord Morgan... if we go by previous years, in less than two months, the new batch of blood will arrive at the academy by airship," the leading servant prostrated on the ground, his face pressed tightly to the floor, promptly responded to Wizard Morgan’s question.

"Oh," Wizard Morgan’s eyes gleamed with interest. He waved his hand to dismiss the servants and then sat in his chair, his gaze becoming ice-cold.

He was eager to see if all those weak, cherished nothings that Lucien treasured would die off in droves... That guy would probably go mad, huh?

Moreover, he could take this opportunity to forge a Witch Tool he had long desired but had never had the chance or the right materials to make.

But what could he do about it? He was also a Formal Wizard of Greybone Academy, and according to the contract signed by Formal Wizards, even with high strength, he was merely a First-level Wizard with no rights to attack other First-level Wizards, let alone punish them—maximally, he could only impose a fine of some Magic Stones.

And to actually punish him, either a Grey Bone Wizard needed to preside over it, or it would require the consent of two-thirds of the committee members!

Wizard Morgan believed that Lucien couldn’t possibly complete either of the plans!

At that thought, Wizard Morgan’s body quivered slightly with excitement, as he eagerly anticipated the upcoming time when the new blood was to be delivered.

...

Meanwhile, Lucien was reviewing the assignments of Gagarin and Edison. More specifically, he was contemplating whether to bind both students or keep one slot in reserve.

After all, Gagarin’s malleability was not particularly strong, and unlike Carly and Edison, who were trained by him personally, Gagarin had previously laid his foundations with Lilia. Although Carly’s "devil training" had somewhat made up for it during this time, comparatively, he still appeared mediocre among the Third-level Wizard Apprentices. His greatest advantage, perhaps, was his obedience.

For Lucien, now with a broad range of choices, Gagarin might not be an especially good candidate for a bound student.

"Let’s observe a bit more." Regarding Gagarin, Lucien felt indecisive at the moment. After reviewing Gagarin’s somewhat ordinary assignments, he rubbed his temples and decided to reserve a slot for him temporarily.

In contrast to his indecision about Gagarin, Lucien was very satisfied with Edison’s accomplishments as a Physical Refining Wizard. After awakening his battle spirit, Edison’s appetite had been increasing day by day; however, his body was also transforming into something more and more monstrous.

With his terrifying physical fitness, although Edison’s level as a Physical Refining Wizard had only reached that of a Second-level Wizard Apprentice, his physical quality allowed him to contend head-on with a Third-level Wizard Apprentice. His strength was truly not inferior to that of a Third-level Wizard Apprentice.

If he were in the state of battle spirit awakening, the strength he could display might even compete with top-level Wizard Apprentices and he was the type who couldn’t be beaten or broken.

That was precisely what Lucien needed, for inside him was still sealed a "Hell Blood Serpent" waiting to be expelled.

However, Lucien was also curious about what would happen if he, a wizard with little skill in the school of Physical Refining Wizards, were to teach Edison some of the knowledge of the Physical Refining Wizard faction.

After all, for a Physical Refining Wizard, knowledge sometimes equates to strength. Many of the combat techniques or witchcraft of Physical Refining Wizards require a certain level of physical fitness to perform.

What feedback would he receive if he taught Edison these Body Refining Witchcraft techniques?

Would it be like Carly’s transformation of Bloodline Magic into a witchcraft model? Or simply strengthening one’s own body?

Lucien was very much looking forward to it.

So, after reviewing the progress of the two students, he kept Edison back.

"Teacher Lucien," said Edison as he looked at Lucien, grinning.

"From now on, just like Carly, call me ’mentor’," Lucien said to Edison, smiling and nodding. He quickly boosted Edison’s morale with a physical potion as he followed to bind the Apprentice information.

Unlike Carly’s binding, which was merely as a newbie, Edison was already a Second-level Wizard Apprentice. Thus, after the binding, Lucien quickly received many messages from the system.

[Your student Edison has successfully mastered {Earthfire Body Refining Technique}. Congratulations, you have obtained {Earthfire Body Refining Technique·Modified}!]

[Your student Edison has successfully mastered Body Refining Witchcraft {Pursuit}. Congratulations, you have obtained Body Refining Witchcraft {Pursuit·Modified}!]

...

As message after message popped up, knowledge began to emerge rapidly in Lucien’s mind, and he also gained a clearer understanding of the Physical Refining Wizard school.

A Physical Refining Wizard doesn’t cultivate the Spirit Sea but fixes spiritual power in the form of spiritual runes inside their body using special methods and combines it with their own body to form specific Body Refining Witchcraft techniques.

For example, Edison practiced the [Earthfire Body Refining Technique] and the two Body Refining Witchcrafts he awoke upon reaching the Second-level Wizard Apprentice stage were [High-Speed Healing] and [Pursuit]. Another Wizard Apprentice practicing the same [Earthfire Body Refining Technique] might awake a totally different witchcraft like [Stone Skin Technique].

Generally, the better the physical foundation of a Wizard Apprentice, the higher the likelihood of awakening powerful Body Refining Witchcraft. As an unorthodox Physical Refining Wizard, Lucien’s solution through the system was to "borrow"!

Indeed, just as he could borrow Carly’s Bloodline Power using the Feathered Dragon Transformation, he could also borrow Edison’s strength for a short period and attain physical qualities similar to Edison’s while mastering some of the moves and skills Edison had understood.

This was somewhat similar to the methods of transformation wizards, yet relatively speaking, Lucien’s "transformation" via the system was much more sophisticated.

While he changed into a Physical Refining Wizard with Edison’s power, his spiritual power would also temporarily merge into his body, letting his strength compete with or even surpass that of a genuine First-level Physical Refining Wizard!