"We've been attending classes together for nearly two years now, so I'd say we've built some rapport, right?"
"Don't forget about us when you move to the third floor."
"Senior Roy!"
Everyone chimed in, some even shamelessly addressing him as "senior."
Roy chuckled, "Don't worry, I'll make sure to share any benefits with everyone in the future."
After all, making empty promises cost nothing, so he might as well say something nice.
After chatting for a while, Renien, ever the perceptive one, offered, "You're moving to the third floor, right? Let me help you with the heavy lifting!"
He insisted on helping with tasks that should have been handled by the servants, carrying a large box up to the third floor.
Even the Flower Snake Roy had kept as a pet was brought along.
"Once you've manifested all 24 Willpower Runes, your spiritual power will exceed 3 degrees."
"The spell potency you can unleash should be around 6 degrees."
"At that point, standing next to you might make people tremble in fear!"
On the way, Renien couldn't help but flatter him.
The "unleashing" he mentioned referred to a Spellcaster's technique of harnessing natural magical energy and rules.
The higher the quality of one's spirit, the greater the energy level they could unleash, resulting in a terrifying exponential growth in spell potency!
If the apprentice level was merely the starting point on the path to transcendence, then becoming an official Wizard, or even a second or third-level Wizard…
That would truly elevate one to an inhuman existence!
Trembling in fear? That would be an understatement!
Without proper control over one's Wizardry Energy, the radiation could erupt instantly, killing a large group of mortals!
Even in the unfortunate event of accidental death, the corpse, radiating with such Wizardry Energy, would remain a deadly hazard in the eyes of mortals.
After finishing the moving chores, Roy and Renien agreed to meet again in a few days, and Roy headed to the study room.
He was about to begin learning an important skill—Spiritual Materialization.
This was somewhat similar to the "Magical Tricks" and "Mage Hand" of the Arcane Empire—simple in model but with a certain learning threshold.
Once mastered, it could lead to a range of derivative skills such as telepathy, telekinesis, Arcane Imprint, mental shock, mental scanning, and rapid reading.
Take the most direct and brutal improvement in attack power, for example. One could unleash a Mental Spike at close range, severely injuring or even killing weaker targets.
As long as the target's spirit was below a certain threshold compared to the caster's, it could be done effortlessly.
Moreover, through the Arcane Imprint, one could remotely monitor and punish!
…
A few days later.
In the suite of a senior apprentice.
Roy's gaze locked onto the glass cup in front of him.
His will surged, and a red light flashed in his eyes like a lamp being turned on.
"Snap!"
The glass cup seemed to be struck by an invisible pebble, and a small crack appeared on its surface.
In an instant, the crack spread rapidly, like a spider's web.
Roy tightened his focus, and the glass cup was crushed as if by an invisible hand, shattering into pieces.
But the fragments didn't scatter everywhere. Instead, they were gathered together by a mysterious force, tightly held in place.
After a moment, the glass shards were ground into powder, and the invisible hand finally released them, tossing everything into the trash bin.
"Spiritual Materialization—finally, I've grasped the basics!"
Roy smiled slightly.
From this moment on, he could finally transform his spiritual power of around 3 degrees into tangible offensive and defensive means, and apply it flexibly in various ways.
However, such techniques were easy to learn but difficult to master. Directly outputting spiritual power without leveraging natural magic for amplification was not very efficient.
After a brief understanding, he didn't pay much attention to it and instead began reading the precautions that advanced apprentices needed to be aware of.
"So, the so-called Quasi-Wizard and Elite Apprentice are not strictly defined realms. The Wizard Tower has never had such a sequence.
But materializing spiritual power and projecting all 24 Willpower Runes into the external world in three-dimensional form is indeed a further refinement, worthy of being called elite.
At that point, spiritual power could continue to rise above 5 degrees, leveraging greater magic to unleash even more formidable spell power!
Then, it's about condensing one's own 'Source of Magic' and using the 'Wizard's Maxim' to elevate the body, mind, and soul, achieving the status of a Wizard..."
The 'Source of Magic' is an energy core similar to the crystal core of Magical Beasts but belongs to the intangible. It is the key to advancing to a formal Wizard.
Once successfully condensed, the amplification of 'leveraging magic' would become even more exaggerated, entering a new energy level.
That is also the source of Wizardry Energy radiation.
The 'Wizard's Maxim' is an imprint engraved deep within the soul. According to Roy's understanding, it is equivalent to a creed, vow, or commandment.
Once formed, it cannot be changed.
This will largely determine one's future path.
The 'Precautions' made it sound simple and straightforward. As a former low-level apprentice, he had heard of these things before, and they seemed quite ordinary.
But in reality, countless apprentices spend their entire lives unable to complete the extraordinary path summarized in these few sentences.
"My aptitude isn't particularly good either. I'll have to rely on the Art of Alchemy!"
With a slight thought, Roy remotely controlled the 'Precautions' to the side and walked out the door.
"Next, I should first earn some money to have enough resources to utilize."
The spell model he currently mastered was the 'Animation Art,' from which he derived a series of Animation Wizardry techniques built upon this foundation.
The ongoing enhancement and transformation involved the Hair Demon Physique constructed with free materials provided by the Wizard Tower, as well as the low-level knight enhancement achieved using the Blood Persimmon Potion.
Continuing to improve these would require consuming various resources. Without sufficient resources, even though he had advanced to the high-level stage, he would still be unable to make progress.
"Additionally, the formulas for enhancement potions and healing potions commonly used by advanced apprentices...
I'll have to find a way to learn those as well."
As he pondered, Celine approached from the other side of the circular tower corridor and said to him, "Roy, Lord Sophia is looking for you."
Roy's heart stirred slightly, and he followed her to Sophia.
Currently, Sophia wasn't at her residence but was instead spending all her time in her long-term rented laboratory, deeply immersed in her own Wizardry research.
When Roy entered, he saw her standing with her back to him, facing an object resembling a large glass tank, deep in thought.
Following her gaze, Roy focused his attention and saw that the 'glass tank' was filled with a pale red liquid, resembling blood.
In the center was a small girl with golden hair and pale skin, less than a meter tall, fl
oating curled up like a stripped doll.
Her navel and the center of her back were connected by vine-like flesh tubes, from which a powerful radiation of Wizardry Energy faintly emanated.
(End of Chapter)