——By condensing and manipulating the wind element, a variety of effects can be produced. The wind element is the most active of all elements—even a level-one magic apprentice can sense movements within a hundred meters by attuning to the wind element!

——With the wind element, you can guide or deflect arrows shot by enemies. You don’t need to be a full-fledged mage; as long as you reach level nine as a magic apprentice, you can walk through a hail of arrows without a single one touching you!

What a powerful ability this is!

William Carter finally understood why even just being a magic apprentice could grant such high social status, and why a full mage was essentially the equivalent of a major strategic weapon on Earth!

Only a mage can stand against another mage!

A mage’s status comes from a mage’s power!

Having only examined two of the most basic elemental spells, William Carter already felt a deep awe for magic. If this were on Earth, let alone a full mage—even a level-one magic apprentice could cause serious trouble for public security.

Theft, robbery, murder, arson, eavesdropping, evading capture... is there any method more convenient than magic?

Give me a hundred magic apprentices, and I could throw the world into chaos!

At this point, William Carter also finally understood why brawls and armed conflicts were so common in this world. In a society where there are people who can take on ten, a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand opponents, it would actually be abnormal if fights didn’t break out!

You don’t need much—just these two basic elemental spells are enough for William Carter to establish himself in this corner of the world!

With a single thought, the oil lamp by William Carter’s bedside lit up; with another thought, a gentle breeze blew by and the lamp went out.

As easy as moving an arm or a finger—just a thought!

William Carter got out of bed and walked out of the room.

The sky was already bright, though the sun had not yet risen. On this early summer morning, the air outside was fresh, with a biting chill.

William Carter took a few deep breaths, feeling clear-headed and refreshed.

From this moment on, he officially accepted everything from the body’s original owner and became a bona fide level-three magic apprentice!

——He was a transmigrator from the era of the knowledge explosion.

——He was a magic apprentice with both good talent and diligent training.

At this moment, the two identities finally merged into one!

“Rest in peace. I’ll take good care of your body. As for your little fiancée... hmm, I guess she’s probably forgotten about you by now...” At this moment, level-three magic apprentice William Carter thought to himself.

Chapter 5: Agarwood? That stuff is hard to sell, it’s cheap!

From the west side of the front yard came all sorts of crackling sounds. William Carter heard the noise and walked over at a leisurely pace.

This mercenary compound faced south and covered a huge area—at least, to William Carter, who in his previous life was used to every inch of land being precious, this place seemed absurdly large. The compound was roughly divided into four sections; the area he was in now should be the residential zone, which was the back yard.

The front yard was separated by two walls. The eastern side yard was the kitchen area, with wells, stone mills, and the like all located there.

As for the west side yard...

William Carter followed the sound and saw twenty-three people practicing martial arts in the yard, exhaling and shouting, filling the air with “heya!”s.

This must be the so-called training ground.

It seemed they were almost done with their practice. When Owen Smith the captain saw William Carter approaching, he finished his routine, walked over, and greeted him, “Little brother, you’re up?”

“Captain, no need to be so formal, just call me William Carter.” William Carter nodded and said, “Captain, are you all practicing martial arts? Do you train like this every morning?”

“Haha, it’s our livelihood—how could we not practice! What do you think? Any suggestions? Too bad Henry Clark isn’t here right now—he’s our group’s mage. Otherwise, I’d have him keep you company; you two would probably have a lot to talk about.” Owen Smith reached out his big hand and patted William Carter on the shoulder, leading him to sit on a long wooden bench at the side of the yard.

The bench was just a long plank with two legs—the kind that reminded William Carter of the park benches with backrests from his previous life.

This world, or at least this place, didn’t seem to lack wood. Maybe he could find time to make some benches with backrests; they’d look much better than these bare planks, and you wouldn’t have to worry about toppling over if you dozed off on them.

William Carter had fallen off long benches a few times as a child, and the memory was quite vivid.

“Do Dick White and the others start martial arts training this young?”

William Carter saw the chubby Dick White and a few other kids practicing shirtless, following the moves seriously. The routines were simple but bold and forceful. There was even a little one, maybe seven or eight years old, pushing a stone roller made from a big rock.

What was I doing at seven or eight? William Carter thought and thought, but couldn’t remember.

“They’re not that little anymore—the youngest of these rascals is eight. See, that one there, his name is Oscar Carter.” Owen Smith pointed to the child pushing the stone mill.

William Carter nodded, falling silent for a moment.

Seeing all these adults and kids practicing martial arts, William Carter started thinking of things that might be useful for them.