Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree

Below the dome, dozens of treehouses of varying designs were spread out amid the sturdy branches; some were the size of a single bedroom, while others spanned several trunks like row houses.

The exteriors of the treehouses were uniformly painted with light green wood paint, and the roofs were covered with a natural waterproof layer made of dried moss and bark sourced from the forest. Each window had light-colored linen curtains, with various potted plants placed on the windowsills—some being ordinary herbs, while others were seedlings of magic potion materials procured by Duke from the Giant Rock Commerce Association.

The treehouses were connected by exquisitely woven vine suspension bridges, with living vine railings on either side.

The vines were still slowly growing, with tender green tendrils climbing upwards along the bridge ropes, occasionally extending playfully onto the bridge deck, which the passing apprentices gently stepped over.

In the center of the clearing was a small square paved with bluestone slabs, with a fountain carved from white marble standing at its core.

The fountain’s water jets were not high, but in the sunlight, they glimmered with a faint golden sheen.

The water was infused with a small amount of leftover magic potions from the Thorn Holy Tower, and while the effect on spiritual power growth was extremely subtle for the apprentices, it was continuously beneficial with long-term consumption.

Scattered around the square were several stone benches and neatly pruned shrub flower beds, with pale purple bellflowers unique to the Florence Continent blooming within, and butterflies flitting gracefully between the flowers.

On the square, ten or so boys and girls in uniform light gray apprentice robes sat cross-legged around the fountain, eyes closed as they practiced meditation techniques, with a thumb-sized elemental crystal suspended before each of them as an aid.

A young witch in a platinum-colored official wizard’s robe from the Thorn Holy Tower was walking slowly among the apprentices, occasionally stopping to help a student adjust their posture or point out minor flaws in their magic power circulation.

On the other side of the square, several apprentices were gathered around a stone table, practicing the drawing of basic magic models, with the textbooks spread open on the table being the batch of beginner manuals Duke had procured from the Giant Rock Commerce Association.

Further away under some large trees, Duke recognized several figures in various casual outfits, one of whom appeared to be the oldest mentor, an official wizard who had come to the Florence Continent years ago through the Thorn Holy Tower’s teaching assistance program.

"Currently, there are seventy-three apprentices, all recruited from various parts of the Florence Continent. Ten Level 1 Official Wizards serve as the resident mentors, all from the Thorn Holy Tower’s teaching assistance program. There are also a few professionals hired by the Giant Rock Commerce Association; although they are not wizards, they are responsible for teaching magic potion material cultivation and the use of basic alchemy tools." She paused, turned her head to look at Duke, the pride in her eyes unreserved, "The first batch of Level 1 Wizards sent for teaching assistance from the Thorn Holy Tower started with only four people, now we have the tenth one. They are willing to come not just for the teaching contribution points, but also because the reputation of Vivian’s Cottage has spread within the Thorn Holy Tower. Teaching here can bring out some promising apprentices, which adds to their own credentials."

As they were speaking, an apprentice practicing magic models noticed them.

She was a girl who looked about eleven or twelve years old, with two braided pigtails and a cooling patch covertly stuck to her forehead due to her nervousness.

She stared wide-eyed at Duke beside Vivian, forgetting to maintain her spell, which dissipated with a puff in the air, drawing chuckles from the surrounding companions.

The girl blushed, quickly lowered her head to re-concentrate on her spell, but couldn’t resist sneaking another glance at Duke.

"Looks like I’m no secret here anymore," Duke turned his head to Vivian and said.

"Of course it’s not a secret." Vivian crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and glanced at him, "You’re the biggest sponsor of Vivian’s Cottage, your portrait hangs in the main treehouse hallway, and the help you’ve provided to Vivian’s Cottage has been substantial."

Vivian suddenly turned to Duke, her tone unintentionally softening a bit: "Let me show you the main treehouse. It’s where the classrooms and library are located, and half of the books in the library are those you purchased from the Giant Rock Commerce Association. Every time I organize the bookshelves, I think, if it weren’t for you, we might not even have enough apprentices to recruit for the first batch. So, thank you, Duke."

As she spoke, she turned to lead the way for Duke, her back straight and elegant. The morning light filtered through the treetops, casting on her golden bun, reflecting a thorn-shaped silver hairpin in radiant brilliance.

The main treehouse was an ancient oak that required more than a dozen people to encircle, its trunk rising straight for dozens of meters, and its crown spreading like a giant open umbrella, shading the entire square and surrounding small treehouses within its broad shadow.

Duke noticed that the bark of this ancient oak was carved with dense rune patterns, forming a highly intricate composite witch array along with the surrounding ancient trees. However, these runes were not artificially carved but naturally grew along the natural cracks and textures of the tree bark, making them difficult to discern even when standing beneath the tree without careful observation.

"The master of witch arrays from the Thorn Holy Tower helped design it." Vivian pushed open the door, stepping aside to let Duke enter first, "Integrating the rune patterns of the witch array with the growth patterns of the ancient tree itself doesn’t require destroying the structure of the tree and won’t be easily detected by outsiders. The entire Vivian’s Cottage is covered by this witch array, which merges defense, alert, and energy convergence into one."

The hall of the main treehouse was even more spacious than it appeared from the outside, the interior space having undergone slight spatial folding treatment.

Suspended from the dome at the center of the main hall was a chandelier driven by multiple wind attribute magic crystals, casting a pale blue light that illuminated the entire hall brightly yet not glaringly.

Against the wall was a row of bookshelves reaching up to the dome, neatly lined with various books.

On the walls along the corridor hung numerous portraits, and as expected, Duke saw his own portrait in the most conspicuous position.

In the painting, he wore the signature robe of Black Sail, his expression stern, with a background of a burning battlefield.

Walking along the corridor, Vivian stopped in front of a slightly open wooden door, tilting her chin toward the inside.

Peering through the door crack, Duke saw a classroom accommodating over twenty people, where a dozen or so apprentices sat at tiered wooden desks. Each had a set of standard basic alchemy tools before them, including an extraction bottle, distiller, balance scale, and a row of labeled magic potion material samples.

On the podium, a Level 1 Witch in a platinum robe was holding a herb emitting a faint blue glow, explaining its identifying features and extraction temperature in a clear and patient tone.

The apprentices were diligently taking notes, and a few bolder ones raised their hands to ask questions. The entire classroom was filled with a rich smell of herbs.

As they exited the main treehouse, the morning mist had completely dissipated.

Instead of taking the vine suspension bridge, the two walked along the bluestone path, crossing the square toward the edge of the ancient forest along the stream.

On both sides of the stream grew pale purple bellflowers unique to the Florence Continent, gently swaying in the morning breeze. Occasionally, a few petals drifted into the water, carried by the stream toward the depths of the forest.

"What news do you have about the plane promotion?" Vivian suddenly asked.

Duke briefly recounted Morgan’s assessment and the Wizard Council’s protection plan.

After listening, Vivian was silent for a moment, then she raised her eyes, her tone calm but serious: "The Florence Continent will certainly receive the least protection. In the eyes of the Wizard Council, this continent has neither strategic resources nor large wizard organizations, and even the only Wizard Academy was only just barely established in recent years.

The help I could secure from the Thorn Holy Tower has already been maximized, but the Thorn Holy Tower itself isn’t a large wizard organization, and resources are limited. Master Grace has already allocated an extra batch of defense magic array materials to me, but relying solely on the Thorn Holy Tower and Vivian’s Cottage to establish a protective system covering all major settlements on this continent is simply impossible."