CHAPTER 116.

Amber spent about three days immersed in books, or as much as she could handle while also trying to meditate on the side. Her schedule consisted of about 14 hours of studying and 10 hours of meditation, forgoing sleep. Her core itself was about a third into its level up at this point, partly because of the meager Essence she got from the Saints of Truth and also because of the meditation she had done on the side during her travels and also since arriving.

She had asked Asil for help, but aside from a special meditation chamber that was being prepared by his family there wasn’t all that much he could do other than tell her to practice. At the end of the day, the goal was being able to do it semi-passively while doing other things. And she had been practicing that but hadn’t gotten very far with it. And well, Asil had also advised her to continue with her magic studies, since apparently they had also helped him.

And that’s what she was doing. She learned a lot about basic magic, namely that magic would interact with runes accordingly, and runes had different meanings; a lot of them in fact. In her opinion it almost felt close to language and coding but not quite. There were qualifiers such as ‘strong’, ‘constant’, ‘flaring’, and one could use them to bring the desired result. In fact, storage rings were made that way⁠— except they had thousands upon thousands of lines and quite a lot of them interconnected, which eluded Amber.

She shook her head walking on the halls of the Magic Association, she was somewhere on the east wing of it. Orange light was pouring from the windows lining the hall, the dust particles ebbed and flowed with a beautiful and relaxing sight. And yet, a sigh left her.

“Studying seriously sucks…”

Moreover, the association had a rule of only taking three books at a time, so it wasn’t like she could take every single one. There was also something else…

She passed two elves by the hall who frowned at her, staring as she passed.

The elves in the association were classist, but in a different way.

She shook her head, and stared at the ceiling where she saw lines of beautiful scriptures running and interweaving with each other. They were all mostly linear, and the reason was rather simple: it was due to the way the runes had initially been created. They were shaped as if mana was flowing water and the rune was the channel it had to pass through. Some had cut off points, almost indicating it was a valve, others made the strokes thinner⁠— in a way it was also an art.

Initially, Amber had thought learning them was quite pointless, she wasn’t going to be enchanting things, or doing anything like that. Except… they actually were used in general magic too.

Generally speaking, magic circles were made to interconnect runes and enhance existing spells or create spells. And they could either be drawn into the air, or drawn on the staff itself⁠— the medium used to cast her magic. Though that wouldn’t have been enough for her to be motivated to learn, but there was something that she found interesting.

Amber moved her finger in the air, using Essence she drew a line, at its bottom it was thick and then it suddenly became paper thin⁠ ⁠— it was the rune for “precision” ⁠— and then she ignited an Essence flame. And it became a blue blowtorch radiating abnormal heat.

Runes interacted with Essence.

Sadly, they wouldn’t modify an already existing skill, but rather, runes would aid the raw elements of Essence; technically aiding her on creating a new Essence skill.

She shook her hand, dispersing the flame before anyone could see it.

It was all really complicated and if she had to dissect spells with runes she would literally die. Thankfully, there were two schools of thought for rune usage in magic, one was the Analyst; where the spell had to be meticulously broken down in order to be made, but that way also anyone could do the spell. And then, there was the school she was following, the Instinctual school. Which boiled down to getting a sense of what runes to use in order to make the spell, and plugging in the gaps.

It sounded really stupid, but statistics back on Earth also had two main schools of thought, Frequentists and Bayesians. The Frequentists essentially assigned probability to data only, being entirely objective. Whereas Bayesian, essentially took one’s existing knowledge to assign a probability to an unknown thing; essentially making it at its core a subjective school. Much like the Instinctual one in magic.

“Never thought studying finance would give me a frame of reference in another world…” She tilted her head. “Though I guess I’m technically a college dropout.”

A chuckle left her as she stepped into a large hall, one filled to the brim with books. There were elves milling about, sitting in the different chairs. It was a public library. Amber quickly and briskly put the books she had borrowed back and then moved to search for the new ones Maxwell had told her to read.

She was ⁠— at the moment ⁠— reading close to ten books a day, and if information retention wasn’t a problem she would be doing way more. Turns out, having the insane amount of body enhancements she had helped her brain work faster, surprisingly enough. There was also the fact that she was the top honors student in her university⁠; pushing her limits with studying had been a rather miserable time.

“And here I thought I was free of that,” Amber murmured, grabbing a black book from the bookshelf.

“Hey, isn’t that the 7th book she grabs today?” an elf whispered from behind.

“Maybe her barbarian brain is struggling to find one that she comprehends… she’s always swapping them out,” another answered.

In the end, as a warrior she was discriminated against for being a meathead even though she was likely more competent at studying than these assholes. In fact, if she didn’t need to understand the content and just remember it she could probably do 30 books a day at this point, if not more.

Magic studying has been hard, but fulfilling so far. And the occasional Silvette visit also made her day better; turns out the elven girl had taken a liking to her.

“You think she’s listening to us?” one asked.

“Nah, she’s way too low leveled for that. But I can commend she went past the level 150 barrier,” the other acknowledged.

Amber ignored the classist elves and instead focused on gathering her books. She had things to look forward to, one was today and it was the meditation chamber, and the other was Maxwell’s arrangement which had no set date yet.

After pestering him for almost two days, and showing him she was indeed learning everything she read ⁠— which terrified him a bit ⁠— he ended up agreeing to having one of the stronger mages show off a lightning spell to her. Attacking her with it was out of the question apparently. But it still excited her.

Amber quickly grabbed the other two books she needed and made herself scarce, she didn’t care enough to prove the elves wrong after all. It didn’t take long before she reached Maxwell’s lab, a familiar scene. A wide array of tables, a desk full of magic tools, and multiple white-boards lining the wall, however Amber just sat on the desk that was graciously emptied out for her and began studying.

She made notes on one of the many notebooks she had looted, and quickly finished the book in just over an hour. Then, she moved to the next one and immersed herself in it. Not all books were purely technical knowledge, some covered hypotheses in magic and some the history of magic itself. This time, the second book was about history, which was a nice break from constantly using her brain.

However, about halfway through, Maxwell came, and he coughed getting her attention.

“I see you’re still studying,” he said with a weird look. “Do you ever consider taking a break?”

Amber tilted her head. “I don’t really need rest at this point so I don’t see the point.”

“Are you not going to get burned out?” he asked, concerned.

She pondered over his comment, and then after thinking about it, she had her answer.

“If I don’t learn anything useful maybe in a month, assuming I keep learning useful things, maybe months to a few years, dunno how long I can go without leveling up and all that,” she said honestly.

Maxwell was more like a teacher to her, and her relationship with him was as such. Yet, the man genuinely looked concerned for her, which she supposed was normal; just not three days into teaching.

“I see…”

“Did something happen?” Amber asked, raising her brow.

And at that, a smile settled onto his face. “After hearing of how hard you’re studying, Scholar Lubaum has agreed to show off his lightning spells to you.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t expected that. “That’s great.”

Maxwell nodded. “Indeed, at first he heard rumors about you and thought that you hadn’t been learning, but after showing him your tests he changed his tune completely.”

“Right…”

“In fact, he says he may consider turning you into his disciple if all goes well,” Maxwell said with pride in his voice. “An incredibly rare opportunity, if I say so, he’s one of the few Grand Mages in the academy.

“Oh huh.” Amber didn’t know how to feel about that.

For starters; she didn’t even know who Scholar Lubaum was, other than some strong lightning mage. He was a Grand Mage, which signified he was above level 250. After that, came Great Mage for 300, and⁠— Archmage for 400, she didn’t bother to remember too much, but interestingly enough Frei was considered one of the few Archmages to have come from the Sacred Forest; all because she had made a spell that touched upon that realm. So she was barely one.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“So when will I be seeing him?” she finally decided to ask.

Maxwell hesitated. “About that… I don’t want to interrupt your studies but he said today, so if it’s okay⁠—”

Amber stored the book into her storage ring, hopping off her chair. “Let’s go then, studying is boring.”

At that, the blonde elf blinked. “I thought you liked it.”

“Nope it sucks.”

The man paused from her statement, and Amber walked past him and into the hallway before looking back.

“Are you not coming?”

Maxwell jolted for a moment. “Oh huh, right away…”

And with that, they went to see the Lightning Grand Mage, aka: the level 250 lightning mage. That said, Maxwell seemed to be acting weird after hearing her, saying things like ‘that doesn’t make any sense’, and ‘is she a masochist?’, though Amber pretended to not hear him.

* * *

With Maxwell’s guidance, Amber reached the testing room where the lightning mage was waiting. And to her surprise, the runes outside the room were active, and they moved like a dynamic thing that changed the flow of mana and interconnected it with other channels occasionally. She hadn’t noticed it in the past, but now she could appreciate it; it almost felt mechanical, like an arrangement of moving parts.

And from what she understood in the different runes, they all had one thing in common: sturdiness and durability. Meaning the room was enchanted to the brim to resist things, which she found interesting. Though she didn’t just stand there and stare, rather she immediately went into the room along with Maxwell.

The room itself was akin to a large rectangular chamber of concrete, and near them there was an elf standing, looking into the distance.

He was tall, easily two meters tall, and he had a rather broad yet slender build. He had white combed back hair and a rather chunky staff with what looked to be copper chunks inserted into it haphazardly. His robe looked to be tailored for his body, not having much loose cloth at all. And he was smiling when he turned to greet them.

[Lightning Mage. Lvl. ???]

“Maxwell told me a lot about you,” he said. “Quite the high praise if I say so.”

“Really?” Amber was surprised to hear that. “What did he say?”

The mage grinned. “He said that you love studying, that you’re the most diligent person he’s ever come across and that your passion for magic is like no other, never heard him say that before.”

She paused, “Oh, about that…”

“Yeah?”

“Nevermind.”

Amber didn’t want to crush this mage’s hopes and dreams for her as well. Maxwell already looked awkward as hell from the conversation. So, Amber decided to spare him. The white-haired mage before her laughed.

“No matter, I’m the Grand Mage Lubaum, as you’ve heard.”

“Yeah, and you said you’re willing to show me your strongest lightning spells?” Amber asked, curiously, masking her excitement.

“Yes, indeed I am.” He placed a hand on his chest with pride before thinking. “Though Maxwell informed me of a rather weird request of yours.”

“Did he?”

He nodded, though slightly confused. “He said that you wanted to be hit by them? Can you confirm?”

Amber blinked, taken aback by the Lubaum’s curious look. It wasn’t judgmental, just curious.

“Yes,” she finally said. “I indeed would like to experience their impact myself.”

“You’ll die,” he said simply. “But even if you won’t, I’d be imprisoned for unjust violence even if it is at your behest. So unfortunately, I have to decline your request.”

Unfortunately? It seemed that otherwise he would’ve gladly agreed.

“Still, I’m glad that you’re that eager to learn,” he said. “While I’ve yet to achieve the 3rd Tier of lightning magic I’ll do my best to show you an inspirational performance. I look forward to seeing how you contribute to magic as a whole. When will you be doing your class change?”

“Class change?” Amber asked, confused.

“Yes, becoming a mage. While I heard you’re researching curses it is clear to me that you have a passion for this subject. Losing half of your levels isn’t that bad,” he said.

Amber blinked. I didn’t even know that was possible. Still, the mere thought of him wanting her to become a mage made her angry, though she tried to mask her frown as a pensive one.

“For now I’m committed to my own research,” she finally said.

“Commendable indeed.”

She didn’t even want to bother asking him about it. Sure she was curious, but the mere thought that it would imply she truly wanted to become a mage disgusted her to no extent. She had nothing against mages, but her class was everything she wanted out of life ⁠— the man was quite literally implying that she wanted to forsake herself; that thought disgusted her.

“Well, let’s not waste any more of our time,” Lubaum said, gesturing to the end of the room where a metal mannequin stood. “That puppet is about as durable as a level 300 monster and shall be serving as our testing subject.”

“Right.” Amber lost half of the excitement from the earlier comment but she still paid attention.

“And today, I’ll be showing you three spells, from weaker to stronger,” he said simply.

Amber nodded, and they all stood behind the mage. Maxwell had chosen to remain quiet the entire time, simply acting as a mere spectator.

“First spell is a level 200 one…”

The level 250 mage pulled back, raising his staff into the air and Amber felt the mana in the air change, gathering at its tip. He pulled it as far back before he swung it forward⁠—

“Lighting Discharge.”

And a thunder bolt struck the mannequin from above with a loud bang, and smoke billowed in all directions. Then it slowly cleared. The target had surface level scratches and lines running along it but nothing more. Then, the mage turned to her with a smile.

“What do you think?”

“It’s impressive,” Amber, of course, lied through her teeth.

“It’s quite average,” Maxwell said from behind.

Lubaum laughed. “Well yes it is, but I’m glad our newcomer has enthusiasm. It means she’s yet to broaden her horizons.”

Amber ignored the comment and watched as the lightning mage turned around and pointed his staff.

“Next is a level 250 spell,” he said, mana flowing into his staff as crackling began to resound around the mannequin. Then, he whipped. “Lightning Implosion.”

And the spot exploded, an arm of the mannequin went flying and more brick was blasted, but Amber didn’t find it all that interesting. This time, at least, mage Lubaum didn’t turn for feedback, instead he repositioned his staff and spoke.

“And this is my strongest spell, a creation of mine.”

He began to write runes into the air, “divide”, “constant”, “burst”, “precision” ⁠— a myriad of them that quickly ended in an intricate circle, and Amber blinked as the light within the room flickered. He then pointed his staff forward as the copper on it crackled.

“Lightning Storm.”

The circle dissipated and a single bolt of lightning struck the mannequin with an explosion, and then⁠, another, and another⁠— and another. Amber’s eyes grew wide as hundreds of explosive bolts hit the target, they were about level 200 in strength but there were so many of them that the mannequin itself was torn instantly.

Chunks of the target went flying, the ground was torn asunder and the light within the room flickered non stop as flashes of blue light went off multiple times a second. A chain of explosions that was sure to kill even the chimera she had fought.

And watching it, gave her an odd feeling, one she hadn’t quite expected outright. She had expected something lame, something that wouldn’t interest her that much, but she was wrong. Deeply wrong.

She wanted that spell. She wanted her Essence to be able to use it. Lightning crackled between her fingers just from the thought.

Before, she had thought about using lightning to force faster responses from her limbs and even brain, but now, this is what excited her. Such destructiveness was what she wanted. And maybe, she could copy it with fire. Maybe.

And then, it ended as the mage almost collapsed to the ground.

“So?”

“Actually impressive,” Amber said, still staring at the destroyed part of the room.

He smirked. “I knew you were lying the first time.”

Maxwell went to help the mage, and for sometime no words were spoken, they simply allowed her to keep looking into the distance. Though that didn’t last long, as she turned to the mage to thank him. But paused as he was holding towards her. A book with seemingly no pages.

“What is this?” Amber blinked.

And Lebaum smiled, pushing it towards her. “That my dear, are the schematics to the spell I just showed you ‘Lightning Storm’ it is incomplete to this day hence the System not acknowledging it and me needing runes, but I think it’s a great gift towards a promising youth like you.”

She received, and opened it only to be rather shocked. Before her eyes laid a spell circle with all the detailed runes as well as notes and explanations on each part of the spell in just a few pieces of paper.

“Not only should it motivate you but I hope that one day you can complete it,” he said simply.

Amber slowly nodded. “Thank you.”

It did more than motivate her, it made her excited to no end. The man had basically handed him the hint to making a spell that is just as strong as Primordial Blazing Bolt. And that was basically the highlight of her day.

After leaving Grand Mage Lubaum, Maxwell told her he could help her study the spell on the side and to continue her studies, but Amber thought otherwise and decided that aside from continuing her rune studies she’d devote all her time towards learning Lighting Storm.

And so she did.

* * *

Amber ended up in the cultivation spot that had been prepared for her at the end of the day. It was a grotto one with water and trees, and it was tucked away deep into the mansion. The Essence in the air was thick, and yet even though she had tried to get excited for meditation, she wasn’t at all.

“In spite of the fact that I asked Asil about things, I still can’t think of anything but the spell,” she sighed.

And then, she sat down in a lotus position hearing the sound of flowing water, it was a relaxing atmosphere all things considered.

She had learned a lot from her elven companion. Not only had she gotten even more guidance on passive meditation, he had also explained to her how core advancements worked. Apparently, her core would take about two level ups before each advancement at this point. And also it was going to become increasingly harder to level it up⁠— or rather shattering it would require a greater challenge.

However…

“However, if you were to do something extraordinary, there is a chance you can skip an entire level up and go to advancement.”

Or so he said. Apparently that was what had happened during her class advancement and why she immediately had a core advancement ready.

And even though that knowledge should’ve motivated her to meditate, she found it hard. However, Amber wasn’t any other person, so she bit down her excitement and forced herself to the task; gathering Essence into her core at good efficiency.

But a few hours in, she couldn’t contain her excitement anymore, and she forced herself to take a look at the schematics of Lightning Storm, all while trying to keep her meditation up. At first, it was hard but it became increasingly easy. By the end of the day, she was able to read a sentence without losing too much concentration.

* * *

And soon, the days passed, and she got the hang of passive meditation in a semi-competent manner, and she also devoted most of her time towards rune learning and learning the spell. All while progressing her Essence.

Normally rune learning would’ve been quite boring and a task that she would struggle to focus on with everything that was going on, but finding out she could technically carve them into her flesh removed any boredom the process could’ve had.

Of course, Maxwell had been dissatisfied but after some days he changed his tune and began to help. He probably thought it was just her curiosity so it would die down, but he was unfortunately, damn wrong.

And as Amber settled into everything, the first week of being in the Sacred Forest came to an end, marking the halfway point before Remmel’s operation, and in it she…

Made a breakthrough with magic.