Chapter 52

Foldo chuckled. "Well, it's quite simple. Firstly, only Adept mages can use such a powerful teleportation spell. Even to use the basic blink spell, most Journeyman mages would struggle, unless perhaps they were awakened in tune with the space element."

Foldo raised a hand to stop Darius who was about to speak. "But fine, for argument's sake, let's assume you have awakened in tune with the space element and that you were only using the most basic Blink spell."

"It still doesn't change the fact that you would have to be at least an Adept mage." Foldo poured some more tea into his cup and blew over it.

Darius tapped his elbows as he crossed his arms and questioned, though he already knew the answer. "What makes me an Adept mage?"

Foldo sipped from his cup and smiled at Darius. "Why your Mind Power, Good Sir. Most non-awakened would not be able to sense it, but I can see the tendrils of your Mind Power stretching out, trying to interact with the world around you."

Darius nodded. In the library of Shanks, he had learned what the obvious signs of someone at each stage would display that made it easier for others to confirm their strength outside of life level.

Amateurs were all apprentices who could only use cantrips. Journeymen were beginner mages who could use a variety of spells, but were weak in terms of Mind Power. Adepts had the beginnings of Mind Power that interacted with the world around them.

In fact, Scrolls of Awakening required Mind Power to write, which was why only Adepts and above could write them. Master-level mages had full Mind Power that could connect with the world around them, granting them the power over levitation, teleportation, telekinesis, and other psychic abilities.

As for Grandmasters, they were obvious enough to tell. Their Mind Power was so strong that they could visualize avatars of themselves to interact with the world, so they hardly left their abodes at that stage.

Darius at 50 points of Intellect had allowed him to unlock Mind Power in its early stages. Despite being in the Amateur stage under the rules of the Supreme System, he already had the abilities of an Adept mage under the system of power in Faust.

This revealed one important fact to Darius. The Supreme System's mechanics took priority over that of Faust's in this world. If the universal laws were like prime ministers, then the Supreme System was the King!

As such, this bizarre anomaly existed. Darius was unsure if he could learn Journeyman or Adept spells, but he had Mind Power that surpassed these two stages.

This also led to the current misunderstanding. Darius pondered silently for a bit, whether to roll with this venture or to cut it off and kill everyone here. It didn't take him long to make the pragmatic decision.

"I have never before taken in someone as an apprentice. Is there any ceremony between a master and his Unofficial Apprentice we need to perform?" Darius asked playfully.

Foldo sighed with relief and smiled as well, sweat dripping down his forehead. "None that you need to bother with, Master. Henceforth, I, Foldo Garison, and my group pledge to support Master in all his endeavors!"

Foldo made a deep bow which Darius accepted as he rose to his feet. After that, he began to explain the basics of phase 3 and 4 of his plan.

Foldo who had been smiling before, quickly lost his amusement as his face became graver and graver. The more he listened on, the more he shuddered as he realized he had pledged himself to a very, very dangerous person.

After Darius was done, he simply ended the discussion with: "See to it that the plan is carried out to perfection. Also, show me your store of spells as well as magical materials, and let me see how far you've come."

Foldo rose to his feet and nodded servilely. He was too shaken by Darius' train of thought to notice how strange his request was.

In truth, Darius was also still finding his way through Faust. He had no idea how to train an apprentice except taking them in through the System Brand. He almost did for Foldo, but decided against it because he needed a mobile helper, not one who worked in the shadows.

As such, Darius figured that if he could see what Foldo possessed, he would be able to figure something out. Because of how Analyze worked, Darius could not see the skills and spells of neutral and friendly parties.

When he first arrived, Foldo had been treated as neutral, but now he had moved to friendly. If he had been an enemy party as deduced by the system, things would have been much easier.

Darius and Foldo passed through a secret entrance at the back of the pantry and headed down. In this secret room that was as large as the entire mansion's first floor, Darius saw many shelves with tomes, a lounge for reading, and even some alchemical equipment for experimentation.

Foldo would be an upper-tier apprentice, one who had enough money to stock up on everything needed while others had to struggle or be spoonfed by their masters.

In consequence, his talent with magic was sub-par despite his Intellect being high, hence the reason he had chosen to become an Unofficial Apprentice to Darius, which was not exactly a comfortable choice.

Darius looked around idly and walked over to the spell tomes Foldo had collected. He picked one at random and inspected it.

[Cleanse Spell - Manual

Durability: 2/5

Description: This manual was written by a hedgemage of questionable intelligence. It is a spell designed to cleanse the outer appearance of any target, be it their body or their clothes, but 55% of what is written inside is false.]

Darius's face became heavy. He had learned that every spell above Amateur was created by a mage and not some droppings from heaven, but he didn't think that there could be half-baked spells like this.

No wonder many Amateurs struggled to climb without proper mentors. Without a true mage guiding their apprentices on how to use the Magical Method and how to cast spells, people like Foldo had to rely on these questionable tomes in order to progress, which - ironically - was exactly what held them back.