45: Reserve Talents (I)

Glenn followed Westley all the way to the entrance of a laboratory on the sixth floor of the Wizard Tower.

Westley stood at the door and said, "Give me your identity badge, and I'll activate your access."

"Okay, thank you for the trouble." Glenn handed over his identity badge.

It was done in a moment.

Opening the door, Westley walked and introduced to Glenn, "Glenn, you've now been added to the Academy's Apothecary training roster, becoming a reserve talent for the Academy. Let me tell you about the new requirements and benefits of your current status."

"After all, all your future benefits will come from this reserve talent status."

"You need to understand this status well."

"I'll just briefly explain some of the most important points to note."

"Our Wizard Academy will select a portion of apprentices from each cohort for focused training. Typically, 1-3 geniuses are recruited in advance, and then six more slots are offered through a unified assessment."

"So, my status is the same as yours, both reserve talents; it's just that I joined two years earlier than you, so I've enjoyed the benefits for a longer time."

..."Westley, isn't that different...?"

"The three of you who entered the training roster early are all renowned geniuses."

"How can the benefits you receive be the same as those of us who joined through exams?"

Glenn was a bit confused. Shouldn't the Academy prioritize a large amount of resources for geniuses? Those like Glenn who got in through exams were only at an elite talent level.

They were far from geniuses... Westley glanced at Glenn sideways and said calmly, "I don't know where you got such strange ideas."

"But the fact is, every five years, a batch of Pharmacology apprentices joins this — the Wizard Academy's Apothecary Reserve Talent Training Program..."

"I might be considered a genius in our cohort, but compared to the geniuses from the previous cohort and the one before that, I'm nothing special."

"So, be confident, Glenn. The fact that you can stand here means you're also considered a genius. In the future, you need to broaden your perspective."

"Your future competitors will be the geniuses from past cohorts. They have all joined Grade A Laboratories, enjoying the Academy's best training resources and growing at the fastest pace."

"Cherish every moment, as the requirements for our five-year grand assessment are much higher than those for regular apprentices."

"Although not passing will only reduce your training resources, it will subtly lower the Academy's evaluation of your potential, so I recommend you still try to pass."

..."Ah..."

"They're even raising the standards for the five-year grand assessment?"

"The current standards are already making me suffer immensely. If they're raised further, are they even letting people live?"

Glenn couldn't help but wail, feeling heartbroken over the bleak academic future.

Originally, Glenn thought that once he was on the Academy's training roster, life would get easier, and after escaping the 'poverty sickness,' he could finally relax.

But what was the result?

..."Otherwise, what did you think?"

Westley retorted, "The Academy gives you so many resources; why wouldn't it raise its standards for you?"

"However, you don't need to worry too much. The main increase is in the requirements for your Meditation Technique."

"Our third five-year grand assessment requires us to break through to Intermediate Wizard Apprentice. This way, in the next five years, we can officially start refining Low-level Wizard Potions."

"You should know that formal Low-level Wizard Potions are what truly test an apprentice's talent."

"Those semi-finished magic potions are just appetizers..." Westley commented with a hint of disdain. ..."The Academy's requirements for our fourth five-year grand assessment aren't high either," Westley continued.

"Reaching a two-star Apothecary is enough, but if you're only two-star, you'll only be assigned to the B-grade or C-grade Apothecary Laboratories below."

"You've interned in a C-grade Laboratory before, so you know that B-grade and C-grade Apothecary Laboratories undertake many potion production tasks, refining only a limited number of potions every day... They are merely the Academy's potion production workshops..."

"There's no time or space for experimentation and research at all. If you go there, your future is basically capped."

"You won't even advance a single star in ten or eight years."

..."Truly outstanding Pharmacology geniuses will reach a three-star Apothecary before the fourth five-year grand assessment."

"And I, Westley, my goal is to be a three-star Apothecary!"

Westley declared with soaring ambition and full of fighting spirit. Within his tall, thin frame lay the passionate, infinite possibilities.

Westley's eyes shone with dazzling light; even his thick eye bags and thick glasses couldn't conceal the radiance within. ..."Well, Westley, I wish you success in achieving your goal."

"But you should also pay more attention to rest. Don't wear yourself out."

Glenn advised sympathetically. Although Wizards are powerful extraordinary beings whose bodies have been strengthened by the baptism of elements and magic, making them stronger than ordinary people.

However, the intensity of a Wizard's studies is also incomparable to ordinary people. A Wizard's monthly study volume is equivalent to three to five years for an ordinary person, and there are also various high-consumption experiments and wizardry. Otherwise, the previous Glenn wouldn't have studied himself to death by staying up all night. ..."Glenn, thank you for your blessing."

"Don't worry, my body is very good. I'm just tackling a difficult problem recently and have stayed up a few extra days."

Westley waved his hand indifferently, not taking Glenn's advice to heart. He was a powerful Wizard, and he was about to break through to Intermediate Wizard Apprentice, so his body was unusually strong.

"Let's finish the guidance task quickly. My experiment is still waiting for me."

"I told you all this just now to guide your change in perspective, Glenn."

"You need to quickly adapt to the different positioning and study requirements of a reserve talent."

..."Next up is the resource and benefits issue you're most interested in."

Upon hearing this, Glenn's eyes immediately lit up, staring intently at Westley. ...It made Westley feel a little uneasy. Hadn't Glenn been studying and researching himself to death for this past year precisely for this moment? ...Westley said helplessly, "Glenn, can you rein it in a bit?"

"What's yours won't run away."

"Heh heh, isn't it because I'm used to being poor?"

"Brother, you don't know how poor I am..."

"I want to drink a three-magic-stone bloody mary, but I have to agonize over it for a month or two, and in the end, I resolutely decide — not to drink it!"

Glenn cried poor with a shameless face, carrying seven parts truth and three parts exaggeration, which left Westley a bit bewildered. ...