Selene seemed very interested in this topic and rattled off a lot of related knowledge, everyone listened intently, and many were taking notes.
Duke learned that meditating to absorb a single type of elemental particles indeed allows for faster early-stage cultivation.
But there are also some drawbacks; after becoming an official wizard, the body’s prolonged reception of overly singular elemental particles can cause limitations in researching other types of magic.
Normally, most wizards first engage in learning and researching magic from various fields, and only delve into a specific domain once a certain level of knowledge has been accumulated.
Limiting one’s path from the start is not a good thing and does not benefit long-term development.
This is evident in many other species from different planes, such as forest elves.
They are adept at wood magic and are natural casters but are hardly skilled in other types of magic, making their methods limited and easily countered.
"Thank you, Teacher Selene, for clearing up the confusion." Duke stood up and bowed respectfully.
His mind was already quite clear about this issue and in future meditation, he decided to actively absorb more diverse elemental particles.
He couldn’t just absorb water elemental particles out of convenience.
Otherwise, although the initial speed would be faster, it would not be conducive to expanding his future development space, and he did not want to limit himself to water magic.
However, Duke could leverage his water element talent to master more water magic, while no longer only absorbing water elemental particles during meditation.
After Duke finished asking his question, a few others also raised their questions, which Selene answered one by one.
"That’s it for today’s class, see you next time." Selene said as she tidied up the documents on the desk, then disappeared.
After Selene left, the lecture hall buzzed instantly, with many people starting to discuss various things.
Duke was about to leave when Simon reached out and smiled, "Hi, my name is Simon."
"Duke." Duke extended his hand for a handshake.
Simon smiled warmly, "You’re probably a newcomer here too, right? It’d be nice to get to know each other so we can help each other out in the future. These are my friends, Abel and Anli."
Abel was the round-faced boy from earlier, while Anli was the little girl with some freckles on her face.
"Hello." Duke nodded towards the two.
Before understanding Simon’s intentions, Duke remained cautious yet amicable enough not to make enemies.
"We are also newly joined wizard apprentices of Black Sail; what course are you planning to enroll in after this class ends?" Simon asked.
Duke shook his head, "I’m not too sure yet."
Simon thought for a moment and said, "Then you can enroll with us in Mr. Jode’s ’Magic Basic Theory’. It’s a great course for beginner wizard apprentices."
Many wizard apprentices might use their second free course opportunity to learn a spell, but this is somewhat a waste of the chance to take a free course.
The ’Magic Basic Theory’ course encompasses the foundational knowledge for spellcasting, which proves useful regardless of which spells one later learns to master.
For a wizard, it’s impractical to learn every spell from others; ultimately, one must rely on self-study to learn and master spells.
This course teaches precisely this ability and is more beneficial for future development.
It might be challenging to explore in the beginning, but if one grows through the process, the rewards will be ample.
"Thanks for the information, I’ll check it out later." Duke nodded.
He could see that Simon was intentionally showing goodwill, likely hoping to make more friends.
Such behavior is common in Black Sail, where wizard apprentices band together for warmth, broadening their information channels and making things easier.
Simon is not from any wizard clan; he just has a brother in the Silver Hand, so he knows a bit more about things.
Duke and they chatted while leaving the classroom, getting to know each other a bit.
He wasn’t against banding together with others but wanted to understand them first, so he came across as a bit cautious.
Duke then arrived at the lobby of the learning area and indeed found the ’Magic Basic Theory’ offered by Mr. Jode on the bulletin board, with a fairly high enrollment fee of eight lesser magic stones.
Since this class is divided into two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, the higher price is justified.
These instructing wizards do not earn money from this but seek to gain internal Black Sail contribution. They’re not interested in these few lesser magic stones.
Black Sail offers extra rewards for these actively teaching wizards and evaluates the quality of the courses they offer, so classes can’t be opened casually.
Duke strolled around the lobby, eavesdropping on other people’s course discussions.
After feeling there were no issues, he enrolled in the Magic Basic Theory course, which starts in three days and lasts all day.
Like before, Duke went to buy a second-hand copy of ’Magic Basic Theory’.
This book is particularly heavy, almost twice as thick as Deep Blue Tide Meditation Technique, with a vast amount of content.
Although it’s named ’Basic Theory’, the content is incredibly extensive.
Looking at this tome, Duke estimated it would take some time to get through it; no wonder the course takes an entire day, which seems short compared to the book’s content.
This book is also quite expensive, even as a second-hand book, costing as much as six lesser magic stones—six times the price of the meditation technique.
Duke felt a bit of pain from the expense, but these are necessary expenditures that can’t be saved.
He can only wait until he’s mastered the book’s contents, then sell it to get some money back, as his predecessors did.
...
Late at night, after washing up, Duke sat on his bed, ready to enter a state of meditation, when he heard muffled breathing from the next room.
The sound was actually quite soft, but since it was already late-night and the entire Black Sail Academy Island was quiet,
And because his hearing was much better than usual, he heard it very clearly.
Duke felt a bit helpless; he didn’t expect the room interiors, despite having space magic, to be so sound permeable.
He waited for a while, but as the sound from the next room continued, he had no choice but to leave the bedroom and go to the living room to meditate.
Since he wouldn’t be sleeping, it didn’t matter where he was.
After closing the door and moving to the living room, he could barely hear the sounds from next door.
He sat cross-legged on the sofa, and upon entering a meditative state, began absorbing the surrounding free energy particles.