Richard was naturally not a man without desires.

The reason for his refusal was simple, because he didn't need the vial of energy potion at all. In fact, while the Elixir can be used as an aid to meditation for wizards who have reached the official rank or above, it is not beneficial if taken by an apprentice: too strong a potion can cause damage to the nerves in the brain, like a drunkard who is overly drunk.

Yes, although in the eyes of the first level of dwellers, a young wizard who can be sent as an emissary from the top must be a brilliant genius - and the fact that for young people living in the seventh layer, the minimum requirement for magical talent is to reach the official rank before the age of twenty - with the exception of the young man named Richard Don Abraham.

To date, he was only a mediocre and incompetent apprentice, still at the lowest level 1, at the bottom of the entire wizard tower's strength. He has no noble blood, no God-given talents, and will be brought to the top to live purely by accident.

……

The entrance to the ladder is located in an old tower. On either side of the doorway stood two large metal figures, dressed as heavily armed soldiers with swords in both hands. The greatsword is raised and tilted slightly towards the center, forming an "X", which one must walk underneath the gap in.

Whenever he passed by, Richard would subconsciously hold his breath. The reason was simple, because he knew that the two statues were not for fun, and although they were inanimate dead creatures, they had the ability to move freely under the forging of wizards. As soon as someone enters without permission, the springs are activated by the magic, and the figures will begin to wield their greatswords, giving the intruders a taste of what it is like to smash hundreds of pounds of weapons on people.

- In other words, these are two alchemical golems.

Richard tried to take his eyes off the motionless Colossus and look ahead.

One side of the spiral staircase is opened to reveal an open space. Once you enter it, you will find yourself inside a cube of metal all around. Richard felt that it was more like a collective cage. He looked through the crevices that narrowed to the upper floor of the spiral staircase, which was empty, and the street on the ground floor completely disappeared from view.

With a jolt, a large cube large enough to accommodate fifty people began to move slowly along the ladder tracks. The ascending cube pauses for a few seconds every time it reaches a certain amount of time, indicating that it has reached the previous level, and then the cube is inspected by the circle set up inside.

Richard meditated in his mind six times. After about ten minutes, the cube finally came to a complete stop, and the iron door slowly opened.

He took the suitcase, and as soon as he took a step, he saw a dozen young people gathered in front of him. They came up on another cube. Each of them wore dark brown robes of the same standard.

The man in the lead of them has messy short yellow hair, a loose posture, sharp eyes, and a fierce smile on the corner of his mouth, which can vaguely see his aggressive personality, and looks like an underground gangster. The shamrock on the robes illustrates the identity of the group: a legendary wizard in the field of spells, a member of Steppenwolf, the highest council of the Magic Tower, and a student of wizard leader Rorel Garcia.

Richard sighed to himself.

…… What a terrible encounter, today is really not my lucky day. The man in the lead happened to be known to him, and he was a guy who liked to make trouble and was very difficult to mess with. I just hope that the other party can learn magic well, and don't get bored to trouble yourself.

Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. Richard was about to speed up his pace to leave, but the yellow-haired youth's gaze happened to fall on him. The smile on the man's lips slowly widened, and he walked towards him.

"What a coincidence, see who's coming? Isn't this Mr. Abraham? What are you doing here, are you just back from 'Hunting Hour' like we are? ”

Richard did not answer. He had to stop. Because if you ignore each other here, the rest of the day will definitely be unpeaceful.

As for the so-called "hunting moment", it is one of the customs of the magic tower. As wizards raised from a few chaotic lands on the continent, it is clear that the young people living in the Tower need to hone their magical talents in the laboratory or library, and combat ability is equally important to them.

Every month or two, the Supreme Council organizes a group of promising elite students to leave the Wizard Tower and go to the outside world to complete the tasks they have issued: sometimes to hunt demons in the wilderness, sometimes to collect precious materials that grow in high-risk areas, and sometimes to encircle and suppress the alien enemies of the Demon Tower on the continent.

These missions are quite dangerous, and it is not uncommon for fatalities to occur during hunting moments. But young wizards can gain experience in fighting people and monsters, as well as rewards for completing missions. For the new generation of wizards of the Magic Tower who are ambitious and ambitious, this is the best way to grow into a strong one; They often compete fiercely with each other in the process in order to get rid of their peers, and even kill each other.

…… Of course, none of this made sense to Richard. Since coming to the Black Tower, he has not participated in a single "hunting moment". A Level 1 wizard apprentice can only master a few non-lethal tricks, which are not much different from ordinary people, and participating in them is equivalent to killing themselves.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Seeing that Richard remained silent, the other party laughed rather pleasantly. "A year has passed, and Mr. Abraham is still a poor apprentice, and for the sake of his life, of course he can't go out into the wilderness with us, am I right?"

He didn't deliberately control his voice, and the young man's companions could naturally hear the voice. One by one, they looked at him, their eyes falling on him with mocking expressions.

Although not everyone is as boring as the yellow-haired youth, no one has good intentions towards Richard. To them, this weak and mediocre apprentice was undoubtedly an eyesore in the seventh layer.

Richard was about to say something, but the other party grabbed his shoulder and lowered his voice at the same time.

"Hey, you went to the bottom to collect the 'monthly tax' before, right?"

Richard frowned. I see, he quickly understood that the other party had this idea.

"Don't say you haven't taken anything other than the 'monthly tax.'" The other party's voice was low, "The last messenger is me, don't try to hide it." ”