Chapter 35: Characteristics of Rank-1

A few minutes later, Ain returned to the training field and began studying his two new spells.

The spells he chose were Shield and Spirit Blast—two of the most essential Rank-1 core spells that every spirit tamer learned.

Unlike before, these spells were not free. With the student discount, it cost Ain 77,000 star coins for Shield and 83,000 star coins for Spirit Blast, bringing his account down to 270,000 star coins.

Ain didn’t think it was a pity. If he wasn’t planning on accumulating to purchase more techniques, he would’ve spent the rest as well.

Shield was a defensive spell. True to its name, the spell conjured a spirit energy shield for protection. Ain specifically chose it for defense. Even with armor on, he didn’t wish to use his body to withstand attacks.

On the other hand, Spirit Blast was an offensive spell. It condensed a ball of spirit energy and launched it towards the enemy, exploding on impact. Ain personally experienced this spell—not casting it but getting hit with it. This was the spell Bruce used against him when Ain was ambushed.

Bruce weakened the spell at the last moment, but Ain vividly remembered the experience.

Of course, that wasn’t the reason he chose this spell. Spirit Blast was a ranged spell, which resolved one of his shortcomings.

With these two spells, he could make up for his lack of defense and ranged attacks.

After taking a seat, Ain used Analysis on the spells.

In just half an hour, he already understood their core concepts. But before he began practicing, Ain used Deduction as usual, slightly tweaking the spells according to better suit him. These modifications were minute, only improving his casting speed and control.

After reaching Intermediate Rank-1, the spirit energy consumption to use Analysis and Deduction on Rank-1 spells decreased. Furthermore, as his knowledge on different spells expanded, their performance when analyzing and deducing spells was enhanced.

Now that he was ready, Ain took a deep breath and focused his mind.

He thought of the spell rune for Spirit Blast he just memorized and tried to visualize it. Ain’s pace was slow and steady, with no hint of haste on his first attempt.

His spirit energy, like a serpent, traced the spell rune accurately. But as he reached a quarter of the way, his control faltered slightly, and the partially visualized spell rune collapsed.

Ain opened his eyes and breathed out. This failure didn’t discourage him.

‘I’ve clearly improved. It took me much longer to reach this stage when I began practicing Spirit Impact,’ Ain thought to himself.

After learning a few spells, Ain’s familiarity with spells and spirit energy control was increasing.

His spirit energy was still abundant, but there was still the mental fatigue to consider. Ain didn’t want to tire himself out, reducing his training efficiency, so he took a quick break and glanced around the training hall.

Compared to before, the training field was much livelier. Only a few students were seated for meditation. The others either practicing their spells or training with their spirit pets. There was even a pair that started sparring with their spirit pets.

Ain also spotted Hugo practicing Spirit Blast. Ace, his spirit pet, was acting as his target. It hadn’t been long since Hugo learned the spell, so he missed every attack—or rather, Ace gracefully dodged them all.

Hugo redeemed Spirit Blast as his free spell last week. After a week of practice, he was able to cast it proficiently.

After a short break, Ain continued practicing.

He made rapid progress with each successive attempt until finally, he completed the visualization of the spell rune.

Ain sensed the completed spell rune and opened his eyes. Floating on his fingertip was a concentrated bundle of spirit energy. It resembled Illumination, as both were radiant sphere of spirit energy. But unlike Illumination, which was akin to an empty shell, this sphere contained concentrated power, ready to explode. The spell lasted for seconds before dissipating.

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“Success,” Ain breathed in relief as he looked at the tiny dissipating light particles, the remnants of Spirit Blast.

Although it was only a preliminary success, at least he knew that his visualization was correct.

With this momentum, Ain continued to train until the morning training session ended.

The rest of the day continued as usual, and it was time for physical training.

Today marked the start of the fourth week. Ain remembered today onwards, this class’s focus would shift to body tempering, and Teacher Hayes would demonstrate the Prowling Tiger Technique.

Ain received the technique earlier, but the rest of the students had yet to learn it. They were completely focused on reaching Rank-1.

Ain was in his seat, listening to Teacher Hayes.

“Congratulations to all of you for reaching Beginner Rank-1. Now, I will start teaching you about body tempering.”

“A common misconception you fledglings have is that spirit tamers only use their spirit pets and spells in combat. But that is incorrect!”

“Spirit tamers use everything that is available —whether it be their spirit pets, spells, or their own bodies.”

“Now that you’ve reached Rank-1, I’ll clarify something for you: Every rank has its own unique characteristics. For Rank-1, that characteristic is your body!”

“Awakening your innate talent grants you the ability to wield spirit energy. And the conduit for spirit energy is your body. Although you can wield spirit energy now, how can a mortal’s body adapt to spirit energy? To do so, your body needs to be forged and tempered, which will make it more compatible with spirit energy. This is the characteristic of Rank-1!”

“In fact, your body is constantly improving with each rank. But that foundation starts at Rank-1. Your future advancements will heavily depend on this foundation.”

“Although it is not a body tempering technique, the Basic Meditation Technique has a characteristic of slowly improving your physique. And today, I’ll teach you the Prowling Tiger Technique, which is our academy’s model body tempering technique.”

Hearing this, some of Ain’s doubts were finally cleared away. He already noticed that the Basic Meditation Technique could also improve his physique, even though the effects were incomparable to the body tempering technique.

With a powerful physique, he adapted to spirit energy much faster. This played a crucial role in his advancement speed.

This made Ain think of his mentor. His superior physique was a result of his mentor’s guidance. It seemed that his mentor had always been building a foundation for Ain’s future.

As Teacher Hayes spoke, he passed out booklets to the students. Seeing the familiar booklet, Ain passed it on to the next student; he already had a copy.

“Today, I’ll teach this technique personally, and we’ll move on to practice tomorrow. I’ll guide you along and correct your mistakes as we go.”

After that, the lecture finally began.

Ain was completely focused, comparing his understanding with Teacher Hayes’ explanations.

Time passed quickly, and the class unknowingly ended.

The students were all contemplating what they had just heard. Ain was also quietly seated and looked thoughtful.

He realized that his understanding of the Prowling Tiger Technique exceeded Teacher Hayes’.

Teacher Hayes didn’t make any mistakes. His comprehension of the technique just wasn’t as in-depth as Ain’s, which Ain attributed to Analysis.

This once more reassured Ain of Wisdom Root’s abilities. Every single ability had the potential to propel Ain to unreachable heights. Scan, Analysis, Deduction, and Premonition had already displayed their might on multiple occasions.

And there was still Writ, which Ain had yet to experiment with.

Writ produced consumable writs, allowing Ain to ask the Heavens for an answer. This was the description he innately understood.

When he awakened, Ain had one writ. With each successive rank, he received one more writ.

At this moment, there were three writs available for Ain to use. The other two writs were obtained after reaching Rank-0 and Rank-1. Due to Writ’s vague description and immense potential, he was hesitant to waste the consumable writs.

Although he had a few ideas in mind, Ain still decided to wait.

Soon, Teacher Turner arrived and began the afternoon training session. Ain pushed all his previous thoughts away and focused.

After exchanging some thoughts with Hugo, Ain began to practice Spirit Blast again.

By the time the training session ended, Ain felt more confident in casting the spell. Now, just a little bit of practice was needed before he completely mastered it.

As Ain was cleaning up, Hugo approached him from the side.

“Ain, do you want to spar today? I think I’m ready for some combat training,” Hugo asked with a smile.

Both of them had agreed the week before to spar.

Ain gave it some thought and replied, “Sure, let’s head to the large training field.”

After Ain finished speaking, they both made their way to the large training field.

The large training field was an open-air training field available for students to practice and train after school. It was also the venue for some events and competitions.

After a quick walk, the two arrived at their destination.

There were already some unfamiliar students training in the field. Most of them were practicing spells, while a few were actually sparring. Some students were also practicing martial arts.

“There are also students from the other classes here. Let’s find an open space.” Upon seeing this sight, Hugo explained to Ain as they walked toward an empty area.

“Alright, here should be fine. Are you ready, Ain?” Hugo tapped his foot to indicate the location and asked Ain with a grin.

“I’m ready. What are the rules?” Ain replied with a smile.

“Only our spirit pets will fight. We won’t interfere. We can admit defeat at any time.” Hugo stated the simple rules.

“Sure,” Ain agreed without much thought.