Victor didn’t know how much time had passed since he started his meditation as he sat cross-legged in the center of the stone-walled basement. The faint mana being emitted by the mana crystals surrounding him was being absorbed at an alarming rate.
Just a little more… The base of the sigil has been formed…
Victor had reached the final stage of his breakthrough — infused mana was surging within him, responding to his will as he slowly channeled it to his left hand. His body trembled slightly as the energy swirled and coalesced, forming the shape of his first sigil. It was a complex design, intricate and glowing with a soft, ethereal purple light. He could feel the sigil etching itself into his very being, becoming a permanent mark of his advancement.
Suddenly, there was a burst of light, and Victor gasped as the sigil fully formed. The energy flowed through him, filling every fiber of his being. He felt a profound qualitative change in his infused mana; it was purer, more potent than ever before. The power coursed through his veins, and he could sense his combat abilities enhancing dramatically. Not only that, but he could also now precisely control the Cosmo elemental energy like never before.
“It’s a success,” he muttered to himself, marveling at the sensation.
The basement seemed to tremble under the new energy pulsating from him. As he slowly stood up, Victor felt his senses were sharper, his reflexes quicker. He flexed his fingers and conjured small orbs of void, watching in awe as they threatened to rip the fabric of space around them. A stunned expression formed on his face. This power… it’s incredible.
Upon inspecting the sigil, Victor was taken aback. Sigil, unlike Primordial Sigil, was typically elementless and possessed only low levels of elemental properties. Usually, it required channeling the necessary elemental energy to activate the infused mana stored in it. However, Victor’s sigil seemed to possess high-quality Cosmo properties. This meant that using the sigil as a conduit to cast Cosmo-elemental spells would amplify their power manifold. Tens of times, even!
“Great. With this, my chance of winning is all but guaranteed,” said Victor with full confidence. This sigil… it’s a game-changer.
But he couldn’t get complacent yet.
What would be the use of his newfound power if he didn’t have an arsenal of powerful offensive spells to go along with it? That would be like using a nuclear power plant to charge up your phone. Completely absurd.
[Mission Accomplished!]
[Congratulations on passing the mission. You have successfully formed your first sigil.]
[The reward (Bet-tier {Blink} spell book) has been issued.]
Victor Asteriscus
HP: 100%
MP: 651/651
Power Rank: First-sigil Elemental Adept Magus
Elemental Affinity: Cosmo (95% → 96%) | Anemo (82%) | Pyro (57%)
Mana Aptitude: Intermediate bright grade
Meditation Technique: Omni-Elemental Fusion Method (first sub-level, 0%)
Status: Healthy
Strength: (32 → 33)
Agility: (32 → 34)
Vitality: (32 → 33)
Magical Power: (43 → 45)
Infused Mana (total): (507 → 651)
Spell Repertoire:
* Aleph: {Blink Step}, {Spatial Mirage}, {Slicing Wind}, {Zephyr Dash}, {Tempest Burst}, {Wind Guard}, {Flame Whip}, {Flame Dart}, {Flame Prison}, {Ember Shield}, {Heat Wave}, {Demonic Eye}, {Mind Programming}
* Bet: {Warpblade}, {Volcanic Spear}, {Tempest Gale}, {Blazing Burst}
Victor looked up at his improved stats through his Master Shadowlink Mark with wide eyes. Currently, he had mastered four Bet-tier spells, which were focused fully on offensives. Now that he acquired a new spell called {Blink}, he wouldn’t be completely defenseless. According to the book’s description, this new spell was like an improved version of the old {Blink Step} spell. The difference was that it could be cast almost instantaneously, and its range now covered a distance of one hundred meters — five times the limit of its predecessor. Still, this alone was not enough.
Luckily, he had anticipated his weakness. While he was focused on forming his first sigil, the one hundred or so high-end computers with the Spell Generator program on Earth weren’t left dormant. By inputting his improved understanding of the Cosmo element, he was able to create two more Bet-tier spell models: {Gap Hole} and {Ethereal State}. In addition, the process should have finished by now, and he should be able to test their potency as soon as possible.
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Nothing beats testing my new spells on magical beasts! Victor thought as he took a deep breath and moved to exit the basement. However, just as he was about to leave, he realized something.
“Hang on a sec, did my elemental affinity for Cosmo increase by 1 percent?” He rechecked his stats and found that it was true. “Holy shit!”
You must know that it was next to impossible to increase elemental affinity under normal circumstances. It could be said that unless you incorporated a powerful magical beast bloodline into your body or changed your race entirely, then it would’ve been much easier to increase mana aptitude instead. Cosmo element was one of the two most esoteric and extremely rare elements. Forget about increasing elemental affinity — possessing it at all was a one-in-a-million chance.
If I can form more sigils, can my elemental affinity increase to 100 percent? Victor wondered.
An increase of 1 percent might not sound like much, but the difference of each percent above 90 percent would exponentially enhance his control over the Cosmo element. Perhaps even by an order of magnitude, if he dared to stretch his expectations. Still, Victor had never heard of anyone possessing 100 percent elemental affinity, so he had no clue what such an achievement would entail.
Not letting such a pompous thought wander in his mind, Victor shook his head. At any rate, he would discover whether this was possible when he formed all the required sigils and eventually his Primordial Sigil. A distant dream, but one he was now more determined than ever to pursue.
***
Victor ventured into the depths of the forest, filled with trees covered in thorns on their branches and barks. Learning that the academy’s state was progressing finely from his trusted fairy, he wasted no time and jumped straight to practice his new power and magic spells. Of course, ordinary magical beasts weren’t worthy to be his practice targets, so he went deep to find stronger ones.
Because of the strict requirement, not a single player had tried challenging the dungeon just yet. They were more inclined to explore the vicinity of the academy and uncover previously undiscovered resources as well as hunting grounds, as well as mapping out any magical beast nests and determining their difficulty levels. Lizbeth had integrated all the information gathered into the map feature embedded inside Victor and the players’ Shadowlink Marks. How convenient.
“Thinking about this forest reminds me of Lumen. I wonder what she is doing right now?” Victor’s mind wandered to his magical beast companion — the Celestial Moonhowler. Because of the magic contract that had formed between them, he could sense her general direction and vice versa. However, there was no way to know exactly what she was doing.
Well, her habitat was in the wild. Keeping her in the academy doing nothing would waste her full potential, akin to a lion in a zoo. Only by fighting other strong magical beasts and consuming them could she achieve her full potential.
After several minutes of flying above the forest, Victor sensed a strong aura ahead, about as powerful as the queen spider. He soon stumbled upon a clearing. In the center was a large den made of twigs, bones, and other forest debris. Under it, a huge creature with dense black fur and scales on its head slept soundly. Upon closer inspection, it was an oversized bear.
A party of hapless players had once unknowingly stumbled upon this area. And as happy-go-lucky as they were, three of the Initiate Attunement players were killed, whereas the rest, who were trailing behind, barely escaped with grave injuries. With such a lineup, they shouldn’t have suffered such disastrous casualties. Thus, this marked the area as a forbidden zone among the players.
This was Victor’s target: an Abyssal Bear. As far as Victor knew, Abyssal Bears were magical beasts with the bloodline of Abyssal Dragons, which was native to the Abyssal Realm. Ancient Magi must have brought an Abyssal Dragon to Seraphia a long, long time ago…
“Interesting… If I can extract its bloodline and use the Bloodline Transmuter…” Victor squinted his eyes. Although the bloodline of the Abyssal Bear was no longer pure, it was still a treasure worth having. If he could extract it, he could perhaps give it to one of the players or even use it himself if he could purify it.
Nah, I don’t want to be limited by the bloodline shackle. Unless there was no other way to advance, Victor wouldn’t consider turning himself into a Bloodline Magus or a Warlock.
Moments later, as if noticing his presence as an enemy, the Abyssal Bear woke from its slumber and stared daggers at Victor.
“GRRAAA!!” it roared, sending shockwaves through the surroundings. The force was powerful enough to shake the trees tens of meters away.
“Tch, such a loud roar. Why don’t you quiet down a bit.” Victor cast {Warpblade} at the Abyssal Bear to test the waters, sending several ethereal blades slicing through the air toward it.
In response, the bear launched a powerful dark purple fireball from its mouth, which collided with the ethereal blades head-on. From a distance, it appeared as though the massive fireball should easily vanquish Victor’s spell and continue its path toward him.
Boom!
Unfortunately for the Abyssal Bear, the ethereal blades were composed of Cosmo elemental particles, which gave them their esoteric nature. This unique composition rendered them almost entirely unaffected by the fireball, allowing their momentum to remain unimpeded. The blades struck the Abyssal Bear as it attempted to deflect them futilely.
Hmm, it’s not as powerful as I thought. Victor creased his eyebrows as he witnessed the magical beast being injured by his spell. Still, there shouldn't be any better target practice than this bear within a radius of ten kilometers.
However, Victor’s perception was proven wrong. As soon after that, the Abyssal Bear stimulated its bloodline and began to grow in size, becoming three times larger. This transformation was just like the {Gigantification} innate ability that Lumen possessed. Now, the bear appeared even more vicious, its eyes glowing crimson red, thirsting for carnage and blood.
“Perfect.” A wicked grin spread on Victor’s lips as the feeling of the sigil on his left-hand pulse with energy. “Let’s see how you can fare against my new power.”