Wood Affinity

Ethan took the crystal, and his mental power flowed from his palm into it.

The internal patterns of the crystal suddenly lit up, and a golden glow radiated from the center, rippling outward like circles on the surface of a pond.

The light was golden at first, but then it began to shift.

Red, blue, green, yellow, purple...

The colors flashed in rapid succession, accelerating until they finally settled on a brilliant emerald green.

The light permeated through the crystal, tinting the entire counter in a soft green hue.

The old man stared at the green glow, his cloudy eyes darting as his lips curled into an ambiguous smirk.

"Wood Affinity," he said slowly. "A ratio of... 91%?"

The moment the words left his mouth, a heavy, suffocating pressure suddenly erupted from the old man.

Ethan's heart skipped a beat.

The aura weighing down on him was far stronger than those eight losers from Lost Forest combined.

It wasn't just a slight difference; they weren't even on the same level. If that old man wanted to, he could probably crush all eight of them with one hand.

Is he a Third-Tier Wizard Apprentice?

As if realizing something, the old man instantly retracted his aura.

He returned to his half-dead state, leaning back in his chair and muttering, "Tsk, getting old. I get a little excited and can't keep a lid on it. Almost lost control there."

Ethan didn't take the bait. "Is there something special about this 91% ratio?"

The old man lifted an eyelid to look at him. Instead of answering directly, he asked, "What did the energy particles feel like when you were absorbing them during meditation?"

"Uh, I didn't feel anything."

"Hmm? How is that possible?" The old man frowned, leaning forward slightly as his gaze swept over Ethan. "How many runes have you formed?"

"Three."

"Three?" The old man's brow smoothed out, and he leaned back again. "No wonder. Your mental power is too weak right now; you can only vaguely sense energy particles. Once you condense five runes, you'll clearly feel that Wood-element energy particles are much friendlier to you than others."

"How does this affinity affect my ability to learn cantrips?"

The old man pulled the mental power detection crystal back under the counter and said nothing more.

Ethan fished out one magic stone from his ring and placed it on the counter.

The magic stone vanished in the next instant.

"Ahem. Casting is essentially using mental power to construct a wizardry model, filling it with mana, and then releasing it," the old man explained in a measured tone. "What does a 91% Wood Affinity mean?"

He extended a withered finger and drew a circle on the table.

"Let's put it this way. When a normal person learns Fireball, the base power is about 3 degrees."

"But for you, when you learn Wood-element cantrips like Thorn Pierce or Vine Entanglement, the mana cost is cut in half. Furthermore, the power increases. With a 91% base power boost plus the amplification from your runes, the final result..."

He paused, his cloudy eyes shifting.

"It'll be more than double what others can produce."

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

"What about cantrips of other elements?"

"You can still learn them," the old man said, leaning back. "But the results won't be as good. For non-Wood cantrips, you get no bonus and no cost reduction; you'll just be at an average level. As for opposing elements..."

He smacked his lips.

"Fire and water don't mix—you should understand that principle. The opposites of Wood are Metal and Fire. The higher your Wood Affinity, the harder it is for you to manipulate Metal and Fire energy particles."

"So, barring any accidents, I'm destined to major in the Wood element for the rest of my life?"

The old man crossed his arms, his mouth twisting into that mysterious smirk again. "Not necessarily. We Wizard Apprentices aren't limited to the path of Elemental Wizards. There are ten major branches, including Flesh Modification, Body Refinement, Alchemy, Mechanical, and Bloodline Wizards."

"Ten?" Ethan's interest was piqued.

The old man held up a withered finger. "Elemental Wizards are just the most mainstream branch."

"The Flesh Modification branch treats the body as material, replacing arms, legs, or even internal organs. At high levels, the person becomes a living Wizardry Tool."

"The Body Refinement branch is similar to Flesh Modification but takes a different path. They use meditation methods, potions, and secret techniques to temper the physical body, refining it as if it were a Wizardry Tool."

"The Alchemy branch specializes in material transformation and item crafting. Their combat strength is average, but they are the wealthiest."

"The Mechanical branch works with puppets, contraptions, and various mechanical creations."

"Bloodline Wizards excavate their own bloodline potential or transplant the bloodlines of powerful creatures."

He paused, counting on his fingers. "Then there are the Curse, Illusion, Summoning, and Enslavement branches. Elemental Wizards are simply the easiest to start with and the most widespread."

Ethan nodded thoughtfully. "Which branch is the most sought-after?"

"Depends on how you define 'sought-after.'"

"If you mean making money, Alchemy and Mechanical are the best. Just tinker with some gadgets and the magic stones will come pouring in."

"If you mean combat power, Flesh Modification and Body Refinement are incredibly fierce in the early stages; they can essentially dominate their peers."

He paused, his cloudy eyes turning. "But if you're talking about the highest ceiling..."

"Elemental Wizards?"

"Bingo." The old man snapped his fingers.

"The path of the Elemental Wizard is the oldest and most mature, and the path upward is the clearest. Other branches eventually hit their own unique bottlenecks."

"As long as an Elemental Wizard has enough talent and resources, reaching the Third-Tier isn't a dream."

"Our Headmaster is a Third-Tier Elemental Wizard. One person could slaughter an entire small world."

"A whole world?"

"Heh, kid, you can't even imagine it, can you?"

"A Third-Tier Wizard... is that ridiculous? Even if it's a small world, it's still a world."

"Ridiculous?" The old man scoffed. "Kid, you know nothing of power. When you eventually stand at that height and look back at your current self, it will be like looking at an ant."

Ethan's lip twitched, but he didn't respond.

"Anyway, enough talk about useless things." The old man waved a hand and sat up straight. "With your 91% Wood Affinity, you're definitely majoring in Wood-element cantrips. Do you want to buy some?"

"Yes."

Ethan didn't hesitate and selected three from the list.

"Thorn Pierce, Plant Growth, and Wood Shield. Those three."

The old man glanced at him. "The Wood-element trio? You certainly know how to pick 'em."

He turned around, rummaged through the shelves behind him for a moment, and pulled out three knowledge crystals, placing them on the counter.

"Thorn Pierce is thirty, Plant Growth is twenty-five, and Wood Shield is forty-five. That's exactly one hundred."

Ethan winced. "Tsk, that's expensive."

Three cantrips, and a hundred magic stones were gone.

If he hadn't made a windfall from his last mission, he probably could have only afforded one model.

On the third floor of Villa Number 77.

Ethan took the three knowledge crystals from his storage ring and lined them up on the table.

Thorn Pierce, Plant Growth, and Wood Shield.

Three cantrips for a hundred magic stones was outrageously expensive.

But you got what you paid for. With his 91% Wood Affinity, these three cantrips would have double the power and half the cost in his hands. The value was unbeatable.

Ethan picked up the first crystal and pressed it against his forehead.

The moment his mental power permeated it, a massive amount of information flooded into his consciousness like a tide.