The courses offered by high-level wizards are generally expensive, and ordinary wizard apprentices cannot afford the tuition.

If you could use the opportunity for free courses on this, it would be a great deal from a cost perspective.

But Duke cannot leave such an opportunity unused, waiting indefinitely for high-level wizards to offer meditation technique courses.

He followed Reela while opening the thick "Black Sail Academy Handbook," the cover was pure black with a prominent skull symbol on it.

This academy handbook recorded some basic rules and precautions of the academy, as well as some introductory knowledge about wizards.

Wizards are divided into two stages: official wizard and wizard apprentice. From low to high, wizard apprentices are classified as third-class, second-class, and first-class wizard apprentices.

After a first-class wizard apprentice, one becomes a level 1 official wizard.

Duke noticed a detail here, which was that after advancing to a level 1 official wizard, one could be considered truly at the first level of life.

There is a small note at the bottom of the page explaining this, with very fine print.

It states that a level 1 life is completely different from ordinary people in terms of life level, and a level 1 wizard generally has a lifespan of five hundred years.

In fact, many level 1 wizards live even longer than five hundred years and can extend this lifespan through various means.

Seeing the number five hundred years, Duke gasped in astonishment.

On the Florence Continent, many kingdoms don't last five hundred years, enough to witness the birth and death of many generations.

"Your residence is in Zone A, room C505, and some basic living supplies have already been prepared inside the room. There is a dining area within the accommodation zone, and basic food is supplied for free. If you want to eat better, you would need to spend money," Reela said.

Reela brought Duke to the accommodation area on Academy Island, which is a large zone divided into a total of seventeen areas.

Each area has a varying number of wooden dormitory buildings, and the entire accommodation district houses about seventy to eighty thousand wizard apprentices.

Hearing this number, Duke was astonished. He knew Academy Island was large but didn't expect so many people to live on it.

Reela led Duke up to the fifth floor of Building C in Zone A, her long legs producing a dull sound on the wooden stairs, clearly showing that the building was very old.

"Place your hand on the doorknob to open it. Your Black Sail Badge is the key," Reela explained from the side.

Duke glanced at the tightly shut doors around him, sensing that most of the rooms inside were empty, with not many people on this floor.

He placed his hand on the doorknob, and with a gentle press and push, the door opened.

The room inside was much larger than Duke had imagined, with three bedrooms and a living room, and a small balcony extending out at the back.

Duke walked around inside the house, finding the beds in each room already made with covers and essentials, complete with everything necessary.

He estimated that the house's area must be over a hundred square meters.

This floor has over a dozen rooms, exceeding this building's space from an area perspective.

Duke recalled the pumpkin carriage he took when he first arrived, and it likely used some kind of spatial magic, similar to this.

Reela was very familiar with the house's layout and, after introducing it to Duke, also prepared to leave, waving at the doorway, "I'm going now. If you have any questions, you can come to Zone D, room B302 to find me. Once you've mastered the Wizard's Mark, it will be much easier to communicate."

"You just arrived at Academy Island, and you will likely encounter many problems later. Feel free to come to me!"

When newcomers arrive at Academy Island, they usually have various needs.

Reela was eager, naturally intending to take the opportunity to earn some magic stones from Duke.

"Thank you, Miss Reela!" Duke expressed his gratitude.

After Reela left, Duke sat on the sofa in the living room, holding the thick academy handbook and continued reading.

Since he had come here, naturally, he needed to understand the rules here first to avoid pitfalls later.

After reading the academy handbook, Duke discovered that Black Sail's management of wizard apprentices on Academy Island was quite relaxed.

Black Sail would not restrict the personal freedom of any wizard apprentice, who could go out and return anytime, with no mandatory fixed-time courses.

All courses are up to the wizard apprentices to choose, with Academy Island itself not arranging any courses for you.

The only thing wizard apprentices need to do is register whenever they advance in strength, such as from a third-class to a second-class wizard apprentice.

Aside from that, Black Sail also conducts assessments of wizard apprentices periodically.

The assessment content and method vary each time, with each assessment weeding out a batch of wizard apprentices.

For those wizard apprentices who aren't strong enough or show little progress, failure in the assessment means they'll be removed.

Black Sail uses this method to clear out slackers internally to prevent them from wasting resources.

To Black Sail, only becoming an official wizard makes you truly a part of the inner force.

For the wizard apprentices, Black Sail is indifferent about what you do.

Everything relies on your own discipline and effort; keeping up is the only way to avoid elimination.

Many wizard apprentices strive daily just to stay here, feeling nervous during each assessment.

A notable number have been mingling here for decades, even dying of old age without becoming an official wizard.

An overwhelming number never manage to take that step, with only a few succeeding.

If you can't become an official wizard, you don't warrant Black Sail's attention.

Such a relaxed and free management style has both pros and cons.

For Duke, the downside is feeling a bit lost, unsure of how to proceed next.

Coming from a common background, he has no wizards guiding his development path and can only explore slowly on his own.

The assessments are irregular, so Duke aims to improve his strength quickly to prepare for future evaluations.

The Thorn Holy Tower wizard organization is more of an academy style, requiring all wizard apprentices to learn according to predetermined routes and courses, a stark contrast to Black Sail's hands-off approach.

Duke considered that for now, mastering a mediation technique was his top priority, with other matters to follow later through gradual exposure and exploration.

Course selection and registration take place in the learning area on Academy Island, with a hall where the course schedule for the next month is posted on the bulletin board.

When Duke arrived here, it was already crowded, with people gathering in small groups discussing, mostly wearing black robes.

He looked up at the large bulletin board, where sheets of parchment were pinned, detailing the course instructors, content, costs, times, and locations.

Scanning around, Duke found five meditation-related courses, all of introductory nature.

He examined the names of these course instructors, recognizing from the skull marks next to their names that they were all level 1 mages.

Ordinarily, the Black Sail Badges for wizard apprentices merely featured a simple skull mark.

Once you become an official wizard, a mark resembling a drop of blood is added under the skull mark. With two drops indicating a level 2 mage, and so on.

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