Two months had passed in a flash.
On one side of the teaching area, there was a spacious target range used for testing spells.
An apprentice dressed in a gray robe, with hair half-brown and half-green, approached the consultation desk outside the range and stood still, causing an invisible oppressive aura that the two people inside sensed from him.
This made them dare not neglect him, and they hurriedly stood up.
“What’s the highest level of the spell target?”
“The maximum is 16 graduated degrees. As long as you don’t use special magic-casting materials or intentionally damage the crystal scale, the spell test target won’t be damaged. You can do whatever you want with the ground; we will clean up afterwards.”
“Set up the strongest spell test target for me.”
“That will be 15 magic stones, we need to register your name.”
After registering, one of them glanced and read — Ivan Marichardon, an unremarkable name. He walked out from behind the desk and led Ivan to the inner testing range.
The spell-testing range was extremely spacious, resembling a stadium, divided into several rooms with no ceilings.
The staff member explained that there were protective membranes above, preventing harmful energy particles or smoke from drifting into other rooms.
Soon, Ivan reached one of the testing booths.
After the staff member left, he began testing his attacks.
“Let’s try the Combat Energy first.”
Ivan drew the longsword from his waist, weighed it in his hand, it was twice as heavy as his previous longsword.
This was a longsword engraved with exquisite patterns, not the sword he used before, nor the Quillen Sword given by his brother Paul, but a low-level magicalized item he had forged recently, with rune lines hidden within the pattern.
The sword, named the ‘Iron Shell Sword,’ possessed sharp properties. Once its runes bundle was activated, it could become even sharper, as well as enlarge and extend, with the blade extending up to six meters.
When he initially purchased the blueprint, there were other swords like the Fiery Flames Sword, Freezing Ice Sword, and Gale Sword among the magicalized items.
He didn’t need those flashy abilities and eventually chose the sharpness of the Iron Shell Sword.
“Boom!”
The next second, he moved swiftly closer, the Iron Shell Sword wrapped in Combat Energy accurately chopped down on the spell test target, accompanied by a dull sound.
The spell test target was two meters high, made entirely of metal; the pole was hard metal, and the one-meter-diameter round target above was soft metal, probably both alchemical creations.
A small crystal was embedded in the metal pole, connected to the circular target above it.
The surface of the crystal had graduated degrees, clearly displaying the test results.
“9 degrees.”
Ivan nodded in satisfaction, this was the strongest attack he could deliver merely with his Combat Energy.
He activated the runes bundle on the Iron Shell Sword and delivered another stroke to the spell test target.
11 degrees.
The effect was good.
There was one downside to low-level magicalized items; they consumed a lot of energy when activated, so it was best to charge them beforehand and keep them ready for use.
“Black Magic Hand”
He casually crushed three low-grade magic stones and sent a palm strike towards the spell test target, creating a transparent hand in mid-air that flickered with a faint black glow, the hand extending more than a meter and faintly displaying a string of runes in its palm, heavily bombarding the test target.
12 degrees.
“Not bad, it only consumed 3 degrees of mental power and 1 degree of Mana.”
Feeling quite satisfied with such force from a casual strike, Ivan appreciated Black Magic Hand’s special effect, which could cause strong mental intimidation to organisms, and even shock the Spirit, causing the body to stiffen.
Black Magic Hand could also be combined with a runes sorcery array, just as he had done inside the Kanda mine.
For this, he had developed another type of Array Plate based on the Raw Stone Array Disc, which was now hanging on his bracelet.
Nowadays, there were several pendants on the bracelet on his wrist, including three square small shields that were the Green Tree Star, and three small round plates that were the circular Array Plates he had researched, all of which could be giantified for use.
He estimated that if he used the Array Plate to deliver the strongest hit of Black Magic Hand, the spell test target might not withstand it, but the consumption would be significantly higher; thus, he wouldn’t use it lightly.
“Thorny Jungle”
He then stomped his foot, unleashing another spell.
At this moment, he was 15 meters away from the spell target. A large number of thorny vines burst from the ground, encompassing the area holding the spell target, the dense thorny vines avoiding the crystal scale and jointly strangling the test target in a true Thorny Jungle assault.
The grating sound of friction was incessant.
He frowned and waved his hand, dispersing the thorny vines, and the crystal scale revealed — 12 degrees.
Consumption: 3 degrees of Spirit, 3 degrees of Mana.
He took out a piece of dead wood and cast ‘Thorny Jungle’ again, but this time the vines were distinctly different, many revealing clear rune patterns, emitting a frosty chill throughout the jungle.
After the strangulation ended, the degrees were revealed — 14 degrees.
The energy consumption of the spell remained the same, which he called ‘Frozen Thorny Forest,’ a further refinement of Thorny Jungle combined with specific runes.
How others improved their spells, he did not know; in any case, his powerful spells all incorporated runes, and he found that runes unexpectedly meshed well with spells.
“Surrounded, this Spell also yields impressive results,” he noted with a slight nod.
In truth, according to his tactics, the greatest effect of the Thorny Jungle was to coordinate with the rapid wood silkworms, allowing swarms of them to move through it, but clearly, this could not be tested here.
Besides these two spells, he had also derived ‘Powerful Immobilization Technique’ and ‘Shadow Eye-Revised Insect Edition,’ both of which were auxiliary spells.
Afterward, Ivan changed his casting mode and tried several more times before he finally left the spell testing room, leaving it a complete mess.
Shortly after his departure, two individuals pushed open the door and entered the testing room. Feeling the residual aura of energy particles and then comparing it to the scale inside the crystal, they exchanged a glance and clicked their tongues in astonishment.
“Look, he’s definitely a sorcerer seed, the kind who’s just waiting for a promotion to sorcerer. I wonder which group he popped out from,” one of them said.
“Lately, there really are talented people everywhere. I wonder when it’ll be our turn to shine.”
The two of them clearly guessed that the person had been at the limit of a 3rd Class apprentice. Such apprentices were a force to be reckoned with—and not just in terms of status. Their strength alone was formidable, let alone considering that any day they might become an official sorcerer.
Meanwhile, Ivan had already left the teaching area.
If he knew of their guess, he would definitely agree, saying, “You’re absolutely right.”
Strength: 4.6, Agility: 6.3, Body Constitution: 5.5, Spirit: 15
His spiritual power had increased from 11 graduated degrees to 15. He had used three bottles of mid-grade magic stone water; the second bottle increased his power by 2.1 degrees, and the third by 1.5 degrees, but after the fourth bottle, which added only 0.4 degrees, his spiritual power hit a wall and advanced no further.
At the sorcerer apprentice stage, fifteen degrees is the limit for spiritual power.
One step further, and he would be an official sorcerer.
The oppressive aura he emitted when standing among other apprentices was simply because he hadn’t fully adapted to his current limit state. His overflowing spiritual power unintentionally caused a dispersion, giving others a sense of oppression.
“Ivan Marichardon, Sorcerer Bernardson wants to see you,” someone announced.
“Please lead the way,” Ivan replied.
A Shadow Ant servant was waiting outside the doorstep of his living quarters.
In another sorcerer tower, Ivan encountered Bernardson, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time. Sorcerer Bernardson, who belonged to the Policing Team, roughly guessed what he was going to say.
“Greetings, Sorcerer Bernardson.”
Upon seeing him, Bernardson clearly paused for a moment before nodding in acknowledgment.
Bernardson remembered clearly that his talent was only 3rd Class, neither good nor bad, yet he had advanced this quickly, which was truly remarkable.
He also knew that becoming a sorcerer was another matter entirely. The chances of a 3rd Class talent apprentice advancing to an official sorcerer weren’t very high; if he failed to become a sorcerer, all would be in vain.
“You came with me from Tidal Island to the Mongna Ant Land Cottage, so I’ll speak frankly,” he said.
“Please go ahead,” Ivan responded.
“I’ve come to discuss three matters with you.”
Ivan tensed inwardly and listened carefully to each word Bernardson was about to say.
“First, your teacher, Sorcerer Toyennes, is indeed alive, but it seems there may be some issues with his mental state. It’s highly probable that he has abandoned the sorcerer’s path, betrayed the academy, and become our enemy,” Bernardson began.
“Second, we haven’t found him in person, and his whereabouts are currently unknown.”
“Third, if he comes looking for you, remember to notify the Policing Team immediately.”
Bernardson stated his points evenly. Their attempt to pursue Toyennes had been fruitless, and they had lost his trail once again. They suspected Toyennes might have sought the support of other forces, gaining the aid of other sorcerers.
The academy would not neglect matters involving any of its sorcerers, good or bad. There had to be a resolution.
Ivan solemnly replied, “I understand.”
He had a strong premonition that Toyennes would likely come looking for him.
Returning to his dormitory from the sorcerer tower, Ivan continued to summarize the gains and losses from the recent period.
[Apothecary Skill: lv6(57/2000)]
[Runes Skill: Lv5(123/1500)]
[Energy Particle Skill: Lv4(35/1000)]
[Meditation Skill: Lv3(102/300)]
These were the subjects on the Academic Prodigy panel that had been upgraded not long ago, allowing him sequential acquisitions of Small Light of Wisdom, Light of Wisdom, and Light of Great Wisdom.
The consumption was also substantial, used in the optimization and development of spells. He had used a total of five 3rd Class Lights of Wisdom.
Fortunately, as much went in as came out, and the final tally on the panel showed remaining Lights of Wisdom: one 3rd Class, two 5th Class, and one 6th Class; and Lights of Great Wisdom: three 4th Class, actually more than before.
He was well aware that some subjects are destined not to climb much higher, such as Linguistics Skill and Biology Expertise. After Level 3, the difficulty of advancement increases substantially, and the ultimate achievement is likely not very high.
“At the moment, the most pressing matter is the promotion,” he murmured to himself. “I need to find ways to increase the success rate of advancement. Once I become a Level 1 Sorcerer, no matter what Toyennes does, he won’t be able to stir up any trouble.”
“A 3rd Class talent has only a 40% success rate for advancement—a truly worrisome figure.”
“I wonder how Pearney is doing; she probably also became a 3rd Class apprentice.”
The primary condition for advancing to official sorcerer is having 15 graduated degrees of spiritual power. Now that Ivan had achieved this, next he needed to prepare for the promotion. He must obtain necessary potions, consider signing any required contracts, and ensure other preparations are well handled.
In summary, to become an official sorcerer, he was determined to give his all and had made the preparations to do so with all his might.