183. Student Promotion
A group of teachers is currently having a meeting and at the center of the round table, an old man with a long white beard is currently looking at a folder containing profiles of some of the newly admitted Apprentices this year. He is the current hallmaster of Erindal’s Outer Circle.
“They don’t look special to me.” With a disappointed look, the old man placed the folder on the table then looked at Mage Kendricks then continued, “I’m rather curious of that girl from Viscount Von Weiss. In only seven days, she managed to Inscribe Level 2 Inscriptions. Is there a reason she is not being recommended?”
“Headmaster, talents alone, she is indeed gifted. Even with little support, she managed to figure it all out by herself. Unfortunately though, I don’t have a good impression of her. Like all other nobles I’ve interacted with, all she cares is their noble status.”
“I assume you’ve made arrangements to change her upbringing?”
“Yes, hallmaster.”
“Have your recommended Apprentices come visit me later. I will personally test them. If you don’t have anything else, this meeting is adjourned. “
The surrounding teachers looked at each other in silence but before one of them stood up to leave, Kendricks spoke.
“Hallmaster, what about the boy with low foreign mana resistance? I believe he is better than everyone else in terms of mana control. I don’t mind spe…”
“You were able to judge that Agatha has half-baked dedication yet you’re making an exemption to a naïve little boy who exchanged his merits for three spatial rings thinking he could nurture his own Beast Essence. We have overflowing and enough number of curious mages in the midlands. For someone whose chances of upgrading his Spirit Essence is infinitesimally low, what guarantee do we have he won’t repeat the same mistake?”
“I understand, hallmaster.” Kendricks stood up and left the chamber. He wanted to raise the issue of the upcoming Master’s Trial opening but he is confident the hallmaster is already aware they are lacking of Inscriptionists. If his guess is correct, the hallmaster will send him someone to train later.
Meanwhile, Clay is looking at the complex runic circles floating above his hand and after a few breaths, he cancelled the spell.
*Huh
*Huh
He dropped on the floor and tried to catch his breath.
A few days ago, Dirk was hinted of what he was doing and gained the courage to warn Clay that creating terrarium-like space inside a spatial ring and nurture a Beast Spirit Essence is ridiculous and will not work. But despite the stern reminder, all the more he did it.
For a normal mage, it was indeed ambitious and idiotic but since his Godly Eyes worked and confirmed similarities of this world’s cultivation when compared to his previous lives, he was certain creating a Mana Vein Models is possible.
And it actually did when he extracted the circulation circuits of the docile rabbits delivered to him. The only problem is that, it did not produce any blue mist that would cause him to acquire Dao.
But he was not disappointed as he had an interesting discovery.
When he participated with Vidri’s experiment during his past life(Chapter 167), he was sent to a Negative Subspace where time flows at a ratio of 1 minute to 22 years. And comparing that to when he transported himself to the Soulspace dimension using a human circulation circuit(Chapter 93). As the observer, only less than a minute and 6,000 years passed on the other side.
And with this data, he attempted to perform test on the hole at the center of the Mana Vein Model and found out that the flow of time from the real world when compared to the subspace is a ratio of 1 minute to almost 1,000 years.
His next action was obvious. He will use that space to nurture his own Spirit Beast Essence.
After creating the floating island within his spatial rings, he planted the first Spirit Beast called Manticore Orchid. It is Floral Category Magic Beast that can reside on any tree and maintain a symbiotic relationship on its host, a type of Beast which does not move unless its host is experiencing distress.
On the second day, he had been able to successfully transport his ring into the Negative Subspace and only after a few minutes, the Manticore Orchid had already formed an Essence and when he used his Godly Eyes to inspect the magic beast, it had already formed 9 Mana Nodes.
At first, he was excited as the Mana Nodes from his first experiment has produced better result than what Mage Kendricks has integrated with however, he got curious and allowed the Beast to be transported into the Negative Subspace a dozen more times.
From his estimate, the Beast had lived more than 200,000 years already before showing signs of decadence and more importantly, the Mana Nodes accumulated in the Beast Essence had reached a number of 97. And one thing he noticed are the 3 Sub-Mana nodes branching along the main Nodes for a total of 291. What he is curious though is that the Sub-Mana Nodes are not lit up.
Not satisfied, he sent another sample into the Negative Subspace however, the second experiment ended with the same result.
Finally on the third day, he settled on integrating on the third sample and pretended he broke through to 1ST Circle Mage using the Hortus potion. Originally, he wanted to hold on to the Spirit Essence until he has a bit of understanding about Low Foreign Mana Resistance but upon learning from Dirk that he must become a Warrior first before he can integrate with an Essence, he immediately understood what caused his allergic reaction.
A Warrior is just their term for someone who is circulating Spiritual Qi instead of Mana.
At that time when the headmaster of Lacra opened his Mana Nodes, there are still residues of unrefined Spiritual Qi within his body because of the medicine they feed him at Elifar City. And the reason he needed to become a Warrior is to guide the Spiritual Qi within his body to be sealed during the Essence integration process.
Or the other alternative is just ensure there are no residues of Spiritual Qi in his body when he integrates with an Essence and it did work just like he predicted. As for how Mages had not been able to figure this out, he guessed it is to do with outdated knowledge.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Clay set aside the issue and decided to study on it later.
Since he had a few more days to spare, he attempted to break through to 2ND Circle. Clay is not new to cultivation so when he drank the Elevated Hortus Potion, reaching the next stage was a breeze. The following days, he had been practicing casting spells.
Clay thought that having integrated with a Spirit Essence 97 Nodes would give him superior advantage but he was utterly disappointed with the result. Not that he had not become stronger but comparing it to Dao, he can tell the level of destructiveness is not the same.
After a few days of practice, he realized that the maximum level he can cast is Level 7 and it took him ten minutes to prepare it. For Level one to four spells, he could almost cast them instantaneously even without a wand but beginning the 5TH level, it needed time to prepare and the higher spell he casted, the more mentally draining and exhausting it becomes. And that is already considering that the spell he casted is a simple variation derived from Air Bullet. If it was an actual Level 7 Spell, it probably was ten times more difficult and he knew the reason is his growing body. He could technically nurture beasts for consumption but if someone finds out the changes in his body, then might bring him troubles.
Right now, his only advantage to his peers is the mana pool brought about by the difference of Mana Nodes he integrated. He may have a hundred or one thousand times more mana but during combat, what determines the outcome will be the ability to cast more powerful spells with the least possible time.
Having recovered from the exhaustion brought by his Level 7 spell today, Clay got to his feet and went to his bedroom. He did not immediately lie on the bed and closed his eyes to observe the set of extra Mana Nodes surrounding his heart. While everything had been smooth sailing, he still needed to make sure there are no hidden dangers of integrating with a 200,000 year old Beast Essence.
He is still baffled by the structure formed around his heart.
On earth, a tetrahedron or triangular pyramid has four sides, pentahedron for six sides, hexahedron for six, heptahedron for seven, and as the number of side increases, the weirder it will be called. For a 24 Nodes with sides that look like a kite, the structure is called Deltoidal Icositetrahedron and Clay has no idea what the geometric figure that formed around his mana heart.
Had he known these terms would be useful to him on his next lives, he would have had put effort in learning them. Too bad, he was only a poultry farmer and he found no meaning in remembering terms that did not relate to selling chickens.
*Exhale
Clay sighed and let his body lay on the bed.
“Tomorrow, I’ll start searching about Beast Spirit Manifestation and Awakening. Maybe I can come across information about Dao.” Clay muttered to himself as he recalled Kendricks’ suggestion.
The following day, Clay stepped out of his residence and unlike the previous mornings, Dirk was no longer present to greet him. Starting today, he will move on his own.
As he walked around the hallway, he can’t help but notice how little their population is as students. Based on the number of souls reflected on his Godly Eyes, there are about nine hundred people and that is considering that some of them are not students.
“When people say 8 o’clock, it means you have to be at least 20 minutes early. Do you understand, kid?”
As soon as Clay reached the entrance of the Training Hall, he was greeted by an unknown female teacher.
“May this teacher forgive this lowly one’s ignorance.”
“Move along.”
When Clay entered the gymnasium, the sight of more than 41 students greeted him and they are all gathered in front of a platform where eight teachers are seated on a row. Among them is Kendricks and the bald man seven days ago..
“Now that everyone is here, let us begin.” The bald man stood up and imbued his voice with mana. “My name is Clyde. Since everyone has already used up all their merits, I will only discuss options available for you guys to keep your status as students after six months.”
Clay stood at the back and listened to the murmurs and observed everyone. Unlike everyone, all his peers had already integrated with Mutated Nivella Worms as Beast Essences.
“Yes, you heard that right. Those who will not pass will be kicked out in six months.” Clyde spoke again. “There are currently four options left for you guys. First, complete at least three Class E Missions from the Trade Hall, two if Class D and one if Class C. Whether you do it in groups or carried by upper class students, it is all up to you.
Next, join a class. As you can see, behind me are fellow teachers. Those with greenish robes are Brewers, Dark Robes are Inscriptionists, and Silver Robes like me are Combat Mages. You can select your teacher and we will decide if you pass in six months.
And lastly, break through to 3RD Circle. Again, however you want. Now, if you don’t have any questions, we teachers will step out and while you make a decision. You have ten minutes to make your decision.”
“But teacher, you only said three options. May we ask the fourth?” A random kid in front asked.
“The fourth option is for people who likes to take shortcuts. Look behind you.” Clyde smirked as everyone turned towards their back.” They are warriors with strength similar to you guys. If you manage to defeat one of them, then you are guaranteed to stay here at Erindal for two years. You can use whatever methods you have in your arsenal so long as you come out victorious. In fact, as a reward, if you manage to defeat one, you get to enjoy any resources as long as it is available, including a Spirit Essence. Sadly, you’ve already spent all your merits.”
“Can we attend class and attempt a duel later?”
“Unfortunately, no! You can only select one from these four options. Rest assured and to make it fair, while they are 1ST Circle Mages, they have not integrated with Spirit Essence. Any more questions?” Clyde look at the crowd and since no one is raising their hand, he said, “Anyone daring enough, stay and I will facilitate the duel and for those who would like to be my student, wait for me outside”
Murmurs echoed the hall but none raised their hand and started to from groups.
Clay stood motionless as everyone stepped out.
If possible, he will follow Kendricks and become his student and lie low for six months until he gets expelled but after learning that being a normal student would not give him access to information regarding Dao, he was left with one option. While it would make him stand out, he believes that it will not change the results of him being kicked out as according to Dirk, not a single student with Zero Elemental Affinity and low foreign mana resistance had made it after six months no matter their talents.
So to get access to the higher floors in the library containing information about Beast Spirit Manifestation, he must take advantage of his limited time and earn his right by defeating a warrior on a duel during initiation.
Clay looked at the three men at the back and observed them. For one, he knew Teacher Clyde was lying as he can tell all three of them are 1ST Circle Mages integrated with low level Beast Essence just like his fellow classmates. But what is unique about them is that they have all their secondary circulation circuit lit up.
A year ago, when he was brought to Lacra Branch School, the retired Frontliner who accompanied him was a Late Peak Qi Condensation.
Recalling the aura emitted by the old man, Clay is positive he can easily overpower him now that he had become a 2ND Circle Mage. On the other hand though, the three warriors at the back are real dual cultivators.
However, one thing is clear. Judging from their auras, their powers are functioning separately. Unlike the dual cultivating Goblin he encountered during his past life, these people are not emitting that baleful and repulsive aura.
Clay would immediately back down if these three are capable of combining Mana and Spiritual Qi to form Boosted Powers but from his assessment, he can easily win this with the Tier 3 Wand he crafted using the Basic Inscription Package and he got from his merits.
The only problem is pretending that he has not integrated with an Essence.
Clay closed his eyes and concentrated on limiting his mana usage without using his Spirit Essence.
“Listen to me, kid. You are young and I will not blame you for extravagantly using your merits but if you continue making foolish choices, you will only have yourself to blame.” Seeing that Clay had not left, Teacher Clyde assumed the boy is up for the challenge.
Clay opened his eyes and turned towards Clyde who approached him seeing that only he stayed. Meanwhile, the three warriors had already released their auras in order to intimidate Clay.
Clay inwardly smiled.
He did not mind being expelled but sooner or later, he may wander across continents to search for Beast Spirit Manifestation and Awakening. His choice is obvious. It is not like he will lose anything if he shows off.
“I humbly ask teacher Clyde to oversee my attempt to duel one of the warriors.”