This wizard only wishes to be a teacher

Lucien’s current state was definitely what every Third-level Wizard Apprentice dreamed of.

After all, once this step was taken, it would be a world of difference. From that point on, he could leap to become an absolute high-ranking member within the Greybone Academy, and even, after accumulating some time, directly establish a new Wizard family, named after his own surname!

But Lucien hesitated only for a moment before giving up the thought of advancing immediately. Instead, he followed the spiritual power control techniques from the Greybone Meditation Method · modified II, manipulating his spiritual power to start reinforcing and suppressing his Spirit Sea.

Soon, under Lucien’s suppression, a new spiritual rune was reinforced in his Spirit Sea, temporarily binding some of his spiritual power within the Spirit Sea. It was like using a hand to push a buoy that was about to surface back into the water.

Then came the second one, the third one...

With each spiritual rune he condensed, Lucien could feel the faintly suppressed desire for a breakthrough, but these spiritual runes were now being suppressed in the Spirit Sea, relying on this almost self-sealing method to condense more spiritual runes.

"It’s not the time yet," Lucien opened his eyes and said softly to himself.

For a Formal Wizard, the Wizard Apprentice stage is an important time to lay the foundation. During the Wizard Apprentice period, each additional spiritual rune solidified makes the foundation on the path of witchcraft even more robust, allowing one to go further.

Perhaps for the vast majority of Wizard Apprentices at Greybone Academy, advancing to a Formal Wizard was their ultimate goal, for which they would over-suppress their Spirit Sea, deplete part of their life, and even transform themselves into some bizarre beings at any cost.

After all, in the confines of Greybone Academy, a Formal Wizard already represented the pinnacle, and the level of the headmaster, being elusive and intangible, was simply beyond their aspirations. Indeed, many apprentices even doubted whether the so-called headmaster was still alive, given that it had been nearly 100 years since his last public appearance!

A hundred years was a very long span even for a Formal Wizard. Perhaps that legendary headmaster had already turned into a corpse. And in their eyes, the Formal Wizards who loomed high usually and the committee composed of Formal Wizards were already an insurmountable peak.

But Lucien was different; he was not willing to confine himself within the walls of Greybone Academy for a lifetime, nor would he focus solely on the level of Formal Wizard.

On a larger scale, he wanted to live comfortably according to his own ideas, wanted to change the Greybone Academy, and even impact farther regions. For this goal, he needed to possess strength that could overwhelm Formal Wizards, and even more!

Difficult nuts produce great fruits; deep wells must also be thoroughly dug. If Lucien wanted the power to sweep through a group of Formal Wizards, he needed a foundation far beyond the ordinary Formal Wizards!

Moreover, when he sensed that he could advance to a Formal Wizard, Lucien also felt a subtle suppression and rejection from this secret realm.

Clearly, this secret realm did not allow intruders at the level of Formal Wizard. If Lucien disregarded the suppression emanating from within the relic and forced a breakthrough, there was a great likelihood of triggering the internal countermeasures of the secret realm.

By then, Lucien would either be expelled by the secret realm or driven out, perhaps even killed, by the guardian forces within. This was completely unacceptable to Lucien.

"Even if I don’t break through, with my current strength, it should be more than sufficient inside the relic," Lucien clenched his fist lightly, at the same time looking toward the direction where Lilia was.

After the recent transformation of his spiritual power, Lucien’s spiritual strength was now infinitely close to that of a Formal Wizard. Compared to some less solidly founded Formal Wizards, Lucien’s spiritual power might even be more refined. According to Lucien’s own estimation, his spiritual power could now handle certain less demanding formal witchcraft.

With this level of spiritual power alone, Lucien’s combat power had reached the threshold level of a Formal Wizard, not inferior to that Fairy leader who relied on her Bloodline to reach this level, and even slightly stronger in terms of enduring combat.

As for Lilia, who could arm-wrestle the Fairy leader by relying on a special Witch Tool?

Although handling her might be somewhat troublesome, if it really came to a confrontation, perhaps it would be even easier than dealing with that Fairy leader.

After all, Lilia’s own strength was just at the regular Third-level Wizard Apprentice level. Her power entirely depended on that special doll-type Witch Tool named Adeline.

Perhaps the formal Wizard hidden behind that doll was very powerful and troublesome, but since he had not personally entered the relic, merely relying on a little bit of spiritual power residing inside the doll and some pre-arranged methods, it should still be relatively easy to crack.

"Just like you said, that Ritual Badge... just keep it with you for now," Lucien looked at Lilia holding what seemed to be the slightly grown Adeline, then withdrew his gaze, turning to look at "himself" nearby.

Lucien couldn’t help but smile.

This was his sudden inspiration. But now it seemed that the disguise effect of the Transfiguration realized through the spores was exceptionally good.

Although this transformation was more like an advanced "disguise technique" or "blindfold" than the more special "body-changing," it had excellent effects on special occasions.

"It seems I can collect more, and maybe with a slight modification later on, it could have even better effects, like mimicking the spiritual power fluctuations of the transformed object..."

After removing the disguise, Lucien took out a wooden storage box from the storage ring and carefully began to collect some spores as samples for later cultivation.

However, just as he was collecting the samples, a commotion arose nearby. This was followed by the chaotic screams of some half-fairies and even the fluctuations of Magic Essence produced by the activation of witchcraft.

"Hmm?" Lucien turned his head cautiously, only to see two half-fairies currently fighting a giant insect that resembled an ant.

This giant ant was over 1 meter tall, with a body that shone like black metal, and its most striking feature was the pair of blood-red, curved mandibles extending from its head, dotted with irregular spikes, giving it a particularly ferocious appearance.

This type of ant seemed to be the native inhabitant of this giant Mushroom Forest, and its appearance here was to expel Lucien and other unwelcome visitors.

However, this forest’s owner was not gracious in its treatment of "guests."

After all, Lucien had seen one of the half-fairies with blood flowing from their arm, evidently having taken some damage during their initial encounter with the giant ant.

"Judging by the combat strength it’s showing now, it should be at the level of a Second-level Wizard Apprentice." The appearance of this unfamiliar Magic Beast made everyone a bit tense, fearing a repeat of the tragic encounter with the giant frog Cux previously.

However, after careful observation and probing, they discovered that the seemingly vicious giant ant was also at the strength of a Second-level Wizard Apprentice.

Many Wizard Apprentices revealed relaxed smiles on their faces, but the Fairy Leader and Lucien had a more solemn expression. As the two with the most robust spiritual power present, they could perceive more clearly the vibrations emanating from the ground, which made their hearts consider the worst possible scenario.

"Run!" The Fairy Leader waved her hand, releasing wooden spikes that pierced the giant ant’s head and then roared, urging her people to flee towards the exit of the Mushroom Forest.

But by now, there was no need for further explanation, as with many giant cocoons "trembling," several giant ants were already emerging from the hidden channels at the cocoons’ roots onto the surface, converging and starting to chase Lucien and the others.

Even a few giant ants were quickly chewing and devouring the corpse of the one that had been killed by the Fairy Leader.

Ka-ka-ka... The grating sound like metal scraping was chilling. Meanwhile, these seemingly clumsy giant ants were not slow at all, swiftly pursuing.

"Not good, there are many ahead!" A half-fairy, relying on his Bloodline Talent, was the first to see the giant ants blocking ahead and couldn’t help but shout a warning.

"Push through!" The Fairy Leader roared, flipping her hand to take out a wooden staff from her storage equipment, swiftly waving it and summoning four slightly ghostly tree golems to block in front of the numerous half-fairies.

The methods on the Wizard Apprentices’ side were more direct, with attacks of fire, ice, Thunder, and acid witchcraft swiftly killing or severely injuring many of the giant ants blocking the way.

But the number of giant ants was indeed too many! This led to the fact that neither the methods of the half-fairies nor the preemptive attacks of the Wizard Apprentices could completely clear the giant ants blocking the way, and the next moment, the team collided head-on with the swarm of ants.

"Push through!"

"Ah!"

"Help me..."

"Get out of the way!"

In the first instant of the collision, a hapless half-fairy had his thigh firmly trapped by a giant ant. Even though he killed the ant that had bitten his thigh right away, the severed head of the giant ant still clung to his thigh, and its mandibles sank deeply into the flesh, making it difficult for him to walk.

After a few more strained steps, he was bitten again by another giant ant. This time, his thigh was cleanly severed by the sharp mouthparts, exposing a bone that sent chills down the spine.