Dodd Magic Stone Mine, on a cavern plaza somewhat toward the inside.
After nearly half a month’s effort, under Ivan’s meticulous operation, a large runes sorcery array with a black base and bronze patterns slowly took shape. At a distance around it, there were also eight subsidiary array dais.
One could see that there were energy pathways interwoven with runes lines between the subsidiary array dais and the main array.
“Boss, is it done?” Only when Ivan snapped out of his deep thoughts did Locke dare to draw near.
“The array is boundless, and there’s still much room for exploration.” Ivan moved his body, which hadn’t been shifted for a long while, and then turned his gaze back to the runes sorcery array. “Do you have another matter?”
“Mhm,” Locke nodded.
“Spit it out.”
“Didn’t you instruct me to clear that spiritual body convergence point? I’ve tried, but there’s no way to completely remove the special force field there. It can regenerate over and over, which is very strange.”
Hearing his words, Ivan was briefly stunned.
However, things related to spiritual bodies were always mysterious, and any kind of situation could arise.
“What could be the reason? Can you think of anything?”
“I don’t know. It feels like, like there’s a spring beneath that keeps the force field continuous.” Locke thought a bit before answering.
“Alright, I understand.” Ivan nodded slightly, not saying anything else, as it seemed the only option was to suppress it with a seal.
“Ah? Oh, right, then I’ll go supervise their mining.” Seeing him fall into contemplation, Locke turned and ran off.
He was well aware of Ivan’s habits—loathing interruptions when thinking and researching. The nuisance would either receive a rebuke or, worse, be played a prank on that would leave them wanting to cry but unable to shed a tear.
“Wait.” Ivan suddenly called out to him, and with a wave of his hand, a number of Black Magic Wind Fire Pearls flew out: “Help me take these pearls to the subsidiary array dais, one Windy Fire Bead for each dais, right at the center.”
“I guarantee I’ll take care of it.”
“Also, watch over them for me. Don’t let them get close, including yourself.”
“No problem.”
Locke hurriedly took away eight smaller Windy Fire Beads.
In the glow of the wall lamp, Ivan continued studying the runes lines. He didn’t rush to elevate his own strength. If there was something that could be improved but wasn’t, it always felt like a small knot in his heart, uncomfortable.
“Hu hu.”
The next moment, the Black Magic Wind Fire Array at the plaza began to operate, the runes lines on its sides lighting up, and tendrils of energy flowed along the runes lines, activating the subsidiary array dais around it.
The main and subsidiary arrays pulsed with black light, pulling the magic stone mine’s unique aura towards them.
Wind stirred, and fire ignited.
The flames of the black magic surged, distorting the air continuously.
It wasn’t long before the magic fire calmed down.
“There truly is room for improvement.”
Time hurried by, and in the blink of an eye, another half a month had passed. With his adjustments, the Black Magic Wind Fire Array underwent several changes in minor details, reaching a degree that satisfied him.
Ivan circled around the Dodd Magic Stone Mine.
After talking with Bic and others outside for a while, he watched the situation as Locke and others mined the magic stones and checked for any safety hazards.
Returning to the plaza within the cavern, he sat at the center of the runes sorcery array.
Activated the Black Magic Wind Fire Array.
Instantly, the unique aura that permeated the magic stone mine and was omnipresent was drawn in, converging into the main and subsidiary arrays, turning into energy, and ultimately focusing within the main runes array.
The distinctive aura peculiar to the magic stone mine, initially difficult to utilize and only effective for nurturing magic stones, could be transformed and refined through the effect of the Black Magic Wind Fire Array, turning into exquisitely wrought mental energy.
Compared to the initial elementary arrays, the intermediate Black Magic Wind Fire Array refines mental energy at a higher level of purity.
Enveloped in the swirling Black Magic Wind Fire, Ivan absorbed those wisps of mental energy into his body, slowly converting them into his spiritual power through the Meditation Method, bit by bit enhancing his strength.
126.6 graduated degrees.
127.5 graduated degrees.
——
He maintained the necessary restraint, but his strength continued to climb irresistibly, giving him a wonderful sense of comfort.
Unintentionally passing most of the day, he suppressed the temptation to continue growing stronger and forced himself not to absorb any more energy from his surroundings.
142.9 graduated degrees.
The results were clearly displayed on the attributes panel.
“A full increase of 16.3 graduated degrees, the Black Magic Wind Fire Array truly suits me.”
Ivan checked himself immediately and, finding no potential bodily risks, couldn’t help but inwardly comment with approval.
That was just the effect of one enhancement; there would be a second, a third, and even a fourth time, by which he imagined the increase in strength would be quite substantial.
His gaze flickered, and the Academic Prodigy panel subsequently emerged, with his gaze falling upon the Enchantment and runes subjects.
“It seems that there’s indeed a cap on the Experience Points brought by reputation.”
He noticed that after the Enchantment Skill reached level 10 and the experience points were over halfway, the growth became sluggish, as if the potential of the experience points gained from this invention had been exhausted.
Perhaps, new breakthroughs were needed.
He expressed that he was already quite content with the situation.
“It’s time for a second elementalization.”
His spiritual power had surpassed 140 graduated degrees, and he needed to increase his strength while using element crystals for a second elementalization, which was the third phase of a Level 2 Sorcerer’s training.
According to his own condition, the element crystals he required were of intermediate quality, encompassing both Plant-type and Fire-type.
After opening the situation with the Black Magic Wind Fire Array, he easily exchanged a batch from the Enchanters Guild, without needing to put in effort to collect them, which could also be considered achieving resource freedom.
…
In the days that followed, Ivan’s thoughts were largely focused on exploring the Black Magic Wind Fire Array.
Days passed by.
One day, Locke walked out of the dim dungeon mine, raising his hand to shield his forehead, looking at the sun he hadn’t seen in many days, feeling as if he were in a different world.
“Big boss really knows how to stay put. Don’t you think so, Silkworm Queen?”
“Ivan has always been like this, which is good.”
“I forgot, you’re just like the boss, preferring stillness over action, uh—sure that’s really good?”
Ivan had instructed him to return to East Capital first, so Locke took the Silkworm Queen and left.
It had been over four months since they left East Capital. Someone needed to go back to check on the Rapid Wood Tower, as there were some matters to handle. For instance, the Pan Iron Root was still thrown near the energy particle pool, and if left too long, it could cause problems.
Secondly, the magic stones and associated ores had been mined in sufficient amounts that they had no place to store them, requiring someone to take them back.
“Hey, fellas, that was hard work.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Just a token of appreciation, to help you feel less tired, take it, a little something.”
“Locke brother, you’re being too polite.”
Passing by the encampment, Locke chatted with members of the combat team for a while, claiming to be Sorcerer Ivan’s kinsman. Seeing the similar faces, no one became suspicious.
This was also how he introduced himself in East Capital.
Before leaving, Locke gave thousands of magic stones to people like Bick as a small token, and they did not decline.
Sorcerers were human, and naturally, they also dealt in human relationships.
Considering the vast magic stone mine, after digging for some time, Ivan found that the number of magic stones was constantly increasing. What he gave to the 7th Combat Team was merely a drop in the ocean.
…
Time flew by, and Locke, who had gone to East Capital, had long since returned to the Dodd Magic Stone Mine, busy dealing with numerous trivial matters for Ivan, his life mundane yet fulfilling.
“Boss, how’s it going?”
The array inside the cave stopped operating for a while before Locke approached lightly on his toes.
Ivan casually dispersed the surrounding Black Magic Wind Fire, allowing the residual miasma from the transformation to fall into the pre-prepared solution, sealing it as a material.
“Not bad, 163.3 graduated degrees.”
Ivan answered; this was his third time enhancing his strength.
The second time, his spiritual power increased from 142.9 to 155.7 graduated degrees and now had reached 163.3, with a clearly diminishing margin of increase.
However, as the endurance capacity of a Level 2 Sorcerer far exceeded that of Level 1, the overall increase in strength was still significant.
“Wow! Then just two more times and you could reach the Level 2 limit of 180, then advance to a Level 3 Sorcerer. Boss oh boss, your rate of power advancement is so thrilling,” Locke exclaimed with an exaggerated tone upon hearing this.
“It won’t happen.” Ivan shook his head slightly, “There’s strong resistance, and it would be better to switch to another method next time.”
Each time he increased his strength, he would perform a self-check immediately. Perhaps the increase this time was too great, resulting in a particularly obvious mental resistance, creating a state akin to a ‘fatigue period.’
He estimated that he would need a long time to adjust.
Regardless, this time’s gains had exceeded his original expectations.
Apart from strength, the Black Magic Wind Fire Array had been deduced to 27 runes bundles by him, with a slight increase in power. During the entire deduction process, he did not use the Light of Wisdom at all.
“You’ll definitely figure it out. It’s not like me; I still don’t have a clear path,” Locke said enviously.
There’s a phenomenon in the growth of living beings: the more it leans towards spiritual power, the harder it is to increase strength. He was undoubtedly a being leaning towards the spiritual, with a complex composition and no clear path forward, temporarily not finding an effective way to improve.
However, beings that lean towards the spiritual side often have a characteristic where their combat ability isn’t easily summarized simply by their strength level.
“Stop with the sentimental talk; your strength is also increasing day by day, nearly as fast as the swamp ants.” Ivan rolled his eyes at him.
Swamp ants were at the pinnacle of Level 3—a ‘mad’ speed for someone on Level 2.
It had to be said, the Space-type ability was indeed unique and enviable.
“Heh heh, I just want to increase my strength rapidly like you all, it’s just too exhilarating,” Locke chuckled.
“Alright, pack up, we’re going back to East Capital,” Ivan declared with a wave of his hand.
Locke’s expression brightened, and he quickly went down to instruct the others. He had had enough of this dreadful place.
Before long, after wrapping things up, the group left Dodd Magic Stone Mine, leaving behind a squad of ant sentinels to guard the inside of the mine, ensuring the safety of the magic stone mine.