Chapter 26 Eileen's Excitement

Chapter 26 Eileen's Excitement

Eileen didn’t look like a noble magic apprentice at all. She was dark-skinned and thin, her pristine white apprentice robe frayed from too much washing.

She had very few friends, as most were unwilling to associate with her.

Because her ideas were always too strange.

While everyone at Felix Magic Academy was mocking Ajef, ridiculing the entire academy’s efforts for focusing on cultivating crops, she was the only one who felt joy in her heart.

No one knew that she had chosen to study Wood Spirit Magic not for its versatility or economic value.

But because she wanted to grow crops.

In the academy’s apprentice records, her mother had died of dysentery.

Only she knew the truth—her mother had died of starvation. In her desperation, she had eaten unknown weeds, which ultimately led to her death from dysentery.

For most magic apprentices, hunger was a distant concept.

But she knew it as an agony that haunted countless days and nights.

Her mother had once boiled stones in an empty pot, just to lull her and her younger brother to sleep in their waiting.

After unexpectedly becoming a magic apprentice, she devoted almost all her free time to researching crop cultivation.

Yet, regrettably, her results were meager.

She could make a grain sprout and bear fruit within a day, or produce seeds larger than a fist. She could even graft a fruit tree to yield seven or eight different kinds of fruit.

But what was the use?

Without the support of magic, all of it was nothing but flowers in a mirror, moons reflected in water—illusory and painfully unreal.

She wanted to solve the problem of food scarcity, but she didn’t even know where to direct her efforts.

Lost and wandering in confusion, the image of her mother’s final moments reminded her daily that her life had been bought from the God of Death by her mother’s sacrifice.

So when she learned that the mysterious Ajef was going to cultivate crops, her eyes reddened with excitement.

After the assembly ended, she immediately summoned the Internet and began writing down every insignificant insight and clumsy idea she had gathered over the years.

She wrote late into the night.

When she finally read through her work several times, corrected the typos, and sent it to Ajef, her vision darkened. A wave of dizziness nearly sent her collapsing to the ground.

Prolonged use of the Internet had drained her Soul Power severely.

She quickly sat cross-legged and entered Meditation. Only after a long while did she recover some of her strength.

Ignoring the hunger in her stomach, she hurriedly reopened the Internet—only for disappointment to flash across her face.

Ajef hadn’t replied to her message.

A self-deprecating smile tugged at her lips.

Of course. Her ideas weren’t even acknowledged by her friends—how could she expect a figure of importance to take notice?

Just give up! Admit it! You’re nothing more than a dispensable magic apprentice.

If crop cultivation were truly so simple, would crops still be the way they are after thousands of years?

At this thought, Eileen slumped onto her soft couch, burying her face in the pillow as faint dampness gradually seeped into the fabric.

She tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.

The next day, barely keeping her spirits up through Meditation, Eileen forced herself to attend classes as usual.

After finishing her routine magic lessons, she returned to her private dormitory, secretly using Wood Spirit Magic to grow a few fruits to ease her hunger before resuming her cultivation.

In the afternoon, she headed to the Magic Forest on time.

Ajef stood on the high platform as calmly as yesterday, demanding that all magic apprentices sign a Confidentiality Contract.

For this purpose, he had prepared a giant contract scroll.

One by one, the apprentices stepped onto the platform and signed their names on the scroll. Afterward, he spoke again, "Before officially assigning the experimental tasks, I have one thing to announce."

He paused briefly before continuing, "Who is Eileen?"

Eileen stiffened in shock. Only when her classmates turned to look at her did she hurriedly raise her hand and say, "That's me, A... Ajef, sir."

"Come to the front."

"Yes!"

Under the gaze of countless classmates, Eileen's slightly tanned face flushed red as she quickly walked toward the high platform at the front of the hall.

"Ajef, sir!"

As she approached, Eileen bowed respectfully, her heart pounding wildly. She had no idea why Ajef had called her forward.

"Yesterday, I said that anyone with ideas or suggestions for the experimental topics could send them to me privately, and well-written proposals would be rewarded. So far, Eileen is the only one who submitted one—and it was excellent. Now, it's time for me to fulfill that reward."

With that, Yu Sheng'an reached into the void and pulled out a Magic Wand from his Spatial Ring, then handed it to Eileen. "Here, this is your reward. I read your insights—they were very impressive and full of ideas. Would you be interested in becoming my assistant?"

"Whoa—"

At that moment, the entire hall erupted in murmurs.

Every magic apprentice was instantly captivated by the wand in Yu Sheng'an's hand.

It was a wand made of dark red wood, its natural grain forming exquisite Magic Runes that made it irresistible to hold.

But what truly made them gasp was the dark red gem embedded at the crown of the wand—its interior swirling with dense, smoke-like mana.

This was unmistakably a Purple Snow Wood Advanced Magic Wand!

Even Archmage Ferguson of Felix Magic Academy used a Purple Snow Wood Magic Wand!

Everyone was stunned by Ajef's extravagance.

Though some clever individuals guessed this might be a case of "buying bones with gold" (a show of generosity to attract talent), they still regretted their inaction bitterly.

If they had known Ajef would be this generous, they would have definitely written a proposal!

Even if they couldn't get a Purple Snow Wood Magic Wand, a wand of slightly lower quality would still be priceless!

While the other apprentices were green with envy, Eileen was more focused on the second half of Yu Sheng'an's words.

"Assistant? Ajef, sir, am I... am I really qualified? I-I'm just a magic apprentice..."

"Do you doubt my judgment?" Yu Sheng'an countered.

"No, no!" Eileen's dark, slender face flushed even redder as she hastily bowed. "I accept, Ajef, sir."

"Excellent!"

Yu Sheng'an patted Eileen's shoulder and pressed the wand into her hands.

The smooth, jade-like texture of the wand left Eileen momentarily dazed. This... was probably the first time in her two years at Felix that a high-ranking figure had praised and valued her so highly.

Biting her tongue to hold back the heat in her eyes, she bowed as calmly as she could before standing behind Ajef, listening attentively as he explained the experimental arrangements.

After a while, once Ajef had finished assigning tasks, he led all the apprentices into the basement beneath the Magic Forest.

Unsurprisingly, the moment they entered, the apprentices were all shocked by the bizarrely styled experimental facility.

However, there was no time for astonishment as everyone was immediately assigned their tasks.

Ajef's task was exceedingly simple.

He divided all the magic apprentices into several small groups.

Each group received different crop seeds to plant in microgravity glass containers.

He instructed the apprentices to use Wood Spirit Magic to rapidly catalyze the seeds to maturity, meticulously documenting the growth process and sharing their findings in the group chat.

To be honest, this magic experiment defied all the apprentices' expectations.

It was just... too basic!

How could this even be called an experiment?

It was practically a vacation!

After all, the magic experiments they usually got roped into by their mentors were the real high-difficulty challenges.

Some required them to slice different plants in half and splice them together, attempting to cultivate hybrids with multiple traits.

Others demanded they suppress certain plant functions while forcibly amplifying others.

And in extreme cases, some mentors even went so far as to plant seeds inside living animals to research lethal Wood Spirit Magic.

Compared to those, Ajef's straightforward task of rapidly maturing crops seemed utterly childish.

Yet, when they planted the seeds in the microgravity glass containers and began accelerating the plants' growth, something astonishing happened—leaving everyone stunned.