Wizard: Start with Biological Transformation to Grind Experience-Chapter 142 - 017: Time’s Tutor

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What entered his view was a room filled with time.

On the four walls of the room were countless clocks of varying sizes—grandfather clocks, wall clocks, pendulum clocks. The designs were varied, some old, some brand new. At first glance, it seemed as though he had stepped into a clock store.

"Tick-tock! Tick-tock!"

The continuous ticking of the clocks filled the air, creating quite the racket. Lynch looked closely and realized that the times displayed on each clock were all different.

"Come over, don’t waste time."

Just then, an aged voice called out from deeper inside the room. At the farthest end, there was a wooden table, upon which an elderly man sat fiddling with a silver-metal pocket watch.

Lynch hurried over, casting a quick glance at the old man as he moved closer.

As for the first impression the old man gave Lynch... If it could be summarized in one word, that word would be:

Old.

He was incredibly old. His face was covered with wrinkles resembling ancient tree bark, his skin had a dim, greyish-yellow tone dotted with age spots, his hair and beard were white, his deep-set eyes were buried in dark sockets, and every inch of him exuded the wear and tear of countless ages, as if he had weathered an innumerable march of time.

Is this... my mentor?

Lynch was considerably startled. After all, the information he had received stated that Wizard Somda had only been promoted to wizard for a few decades; he should be a relatively young wizard.

It’s important to understand—the time flow of wizards and ordinary people was entirely different. During the apprentice period, each rank advancement brought a substantial replenishment of life force, and upon promotion to wizard, this life force was replenished in even greater magnitude, often leading to rejuvenation.

Even elderly apprentices nearing a hundred years old could experience a return to youth after promoting to wizard, not to mention those talented individuals who ascended early.

Especially for someone like Somda, a fifth-level talent, the records showed he had achieved wizardhood in a mere decade or so. Even without any biological modifications, the life force gained from his promotion should have ensured eternal youth.

Before coming here, Lynch had expected a mentor who might look more like himself—a youthful figure. He truly hadn’t anticipated encountering someone like this old man.

While Lynch was inwardly surprised, the old man began speaking: "Lynch Valen?"

Lynch nodded. "Hello, Master Wizard."

Somda said, "I am your mentor, Somda. From now on, you can simply call me Mentor. I have little regard for formalities."

He’s pretty easygoing.

Lynch felt a spark of goodwill. "Understood, Mentor."

Somda continued, "First, I must apologize to you. I don’t have much time to teach you, so under my tutelage, you won’t often receive guidance. Everything will have to rely on you."

Uh... Well, that was blunt.

Somda added, "However, besides time, I can provide you with whatever resources I am able to offer. You can freely use this laboratory. Likewise, you may collect all the benefits entitled to a Netta apprentice."

"Additionally, if you’re determined to learn something, the room over there contains the books I’ve collected. Feel free to browse them. If you manage to read through all of them, then perhaps we’ll have the opportunity for deeper discussions."

He pointed toward a room not far away.

"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"

At that moment, a wall clock chimed, and a mechanical cuckoo bird popped out.

Somda glanced at the clock, then stood up. "I have to leave."

After saying that, he put away the pocket watch and headed to a room on his left, pulling the door open quickly.

Strangely enough, though the lighting in this place was plenty bright, Lynch could not make out the contents inside that room. It appeared distorted, like some kind of peculiar space.

Standing at the doorway, Somda spoke to Lynch with a serious tone. "I usually stay in this laboratory conducting experiments. You must remember this—this place is extremely dangerous. Unless you see the clocks here stop ticking, otherwise..."

He emphasized with greater force, "Under no circumstances should you approach. Otherwise, you could lose a significant amount of time. Remember this clearly, do you?"

Lynch nodded. "I understand, Mentor."

Somda nodded in return. "Well then, Lynch, my apprentice, I hope I’ll still see you the next time I emerge. Farewell."

With that, he turned and walked into the distorted space.

"Click!" The door closed.

The room returned to its silence, leaving only the persistent ticking of the clocks.

’That felt too casual,’ thought Lynch, momentarily at a loss.

Fortunately, he already had some understanding of his mentor’s temperament, which spared him from dwelling on it. Instead, he wandered around the place on his own.

He wandered through the adjacent laboratory, and upon closer inspection, his mood significantly improved.

Blood Vessel Analyzer, High-Level Microscope, Element Analyzer, Optical Wave Tester... There were countless and incredibly expensive pieces of equipment—items Lynch had only seen in books before, now readily available here and all top-of-the-line.

’I can use all of this freely?’

Lynch couldn’t help but swallow nervously, suddenly feeling that his mentor wasn’t as bad as he had initially thought... No, actually, Somda was fantastic!

With all this equipment, Lynch realized the work he’d planned on repairing Barton could now be completed much earlier than expected.

After touring the laboratory, Lynch moved into the adjacent room—the one where Somda had mentioned the books.

It was a study—a rather large one. Rows upon rows of bookshelves lined the space, each packed full of books without exception. At a glance, it felt like entering an enormous library.

Lynch casually picked up a book from a shelf.

"Time."

As its title suggested, this was a book discussing time, focused on theoretical knowledge.

Lynch grabbed another book.

"A Brief History of Time."

This, too, was a discussion about time.

Raising his eyebrows, Lynch scanned another shelf and discovered—to his surprise—that all the books were about time.

"Measurement of Time Flow."

"From Past to Future."

"Time Measurement and Analysis."

Seriously? All on one subject?

Lynch couldn’t help feeling disappointed. He had originally hoped to find books on magic models—or at the very least something more practical—such material would aid him in constructing models to enhance his abilities.

But now these... They were all theoretical knowledge, and on the abstract topic of time no less.

While this wasn’t necessarily bad, it leaned far too much into theory.

To illustrate, learning fire element theory—such as mechanisms of combustion—could lead to derivative spells, culminating in the creation of models.

But knowledge about time? In the Wizard World, time was an extraordinarily advanced and intricate subject—one that wizards still understood only partially. At least to Lynch’s knowledge, no wizard had successfully constructed a valuable magic model based on time.

In short: it wasn’t functional.

"Should I look through it?" Lynch hesitated, holding the book.

For wizards, learning knowledge fundamentally aimed at enhancing oneself—mastering greater power, prolonging life. Hence why elements and biological modification were in high demand, representing mainstream pursuits in wizard research.

Topics like time were simply too abstract. Beyond raising some pretentious aura, Lynch honestly couldn’t identify its practical use.

"Forget it, I’ll flip through it anyway."

After all, this was his mentor’s research subject. As an apprentice, it wouldn’t be right to completely ignore it.

With that thought, Lynch picked up a book, leaned against a bookshelf, and began reading.

Just then, the system notification rang out:

[Detected knowledge carrier: "Time." Automatically loaded.]

[Time lv0: 0/300.]

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