family emergency

Advancing in mage apprentice grades is easy.

Just fill the root mana pool in the area under the stomach.

Once it's full, breaking through is a given.

There are two kinds of mana within the body of a mage apprentice.

One is root mana, which is not used when casting spells and will always remain in the body of mage apprentices, pooling just under the stomach in an area called Aperture.

The other is leaves mana.

Leaves mana is derived from root mana.

Mage apprentices cast spells by utilizing leaves mana.

As for where root mana is coming from?

Pure energy naturally exists everywhere in the world, and mages gather this energy with their meditation techniques.

When this pure energy enters the mana pool, it turns into root mana.

Pure energy around the world is neutral and without an owner.

Mages will become its owner When they gather it in their mana pool.

Every creature can use pure energy.

For example, demons can use pure energy to create the dark element, which they can use to advance.

Angels can turn pure energy into light element and use it to advance in their path.

The pure energy of the world can be turned into anything, but once it's transformed, it can no longer be converted back to pure energy.

Mages have a massive advantage in this regard.

The mana that mages use is still pure energy, which can be turned into dark and light elements.

It is not neutral energy, as mages control it, but it's still pure without any element.

This is why mages can turn into demons or angels, but demons and angels can't turn into mages.

...

Luther closed the books and signed with disappointment.

Before breaking through, he wanted to increase his knowledge of mana, but this book wasn't quite what he needed, so he stopped reading.

It's too complicated for a third-grade mage apprentice that barely can use leaves mana!

"Now, I have enough root mana in my mana pool to break through, and with all my preparations, there shouldn't be any problem."

He waited until night and then started the process.

Last night was a full moon, and if he is lucky, tonight would also be a full moon.

Nobody Luther knows can predict when the full moon will appear, but after so many years, some data have been collected.

The Academy offered some free lectures from official mages when he first entered the Academy.

In one of those lectures, a rank two mage once said that, on average, the full moon appears every 33 days and lasts five days.

For this reason, he was optimistic that tonight would also have a full moon.

Then he started thinking about second-grade mage apprentices.

The difference between low-grade and high-grade mage apprentices is only one thing, the size of their mana pool.

A third-grade mage apprentice can only hold a small amount of root mana, so their leaves mana recovers very slowly.

As the total amount of leaves mana depends on root mana in the mana pool, the leaves mana total is also meager for third-grade mage apprentices.

As a result, they can only cast very simple spells and can't even defeat one knight with their spells.

2nd-grade mage apprentices have a much larger root mana pool, so killing knights for them should be easy.

That is, if they know good offensive spells.

The process of breaking through is to fill the root mana pool in the Aperture and then try to expand the pool.

As long as there isn't any problem, everyone with at least rank one talent will succeed.

...

A few hours later, the full moon appeared!

Luther's mana pool was filled with root mana.

He took a deep breath and swallowed two ranks 0 root mana pills without hesitation!

A lot of root mana rushed to his meridians, which led to his root mana pool in his Aperture.

It was already full, so the root mana began to surround the mana pool.

After a few minutes, more and more root mana surrounded the mana pool and slowly began to solidify!

After a full hour passed, Luther felt his root mana was insufficient, so he took another rank 0 root mana pill.

This time, it was enough.

The root mana around his mana pool solidified completely and formed a new pool.

This new pool had a much higher capacity.

Only second-grade mage apprentices can have mana pools this big!

He smiled and thought," Now, I can finally start learning a few spells I bought."

The Academy gave him a few simple spell books, but he could only use some of the spells in them because he was only a third-grade mage apprentice.

Now he can learn defensive spells, like a light shield, and offensive, like air strike.

"it should take around 300 pills to fill the mana pool of a 2nd-grade apprentice. So less than a year later, I should be able to reach 1st-grade mage apprentice!" he felt very excited!

First-grade mage apprentices are highly respected; knights are nothing before them. Even legendary knights like count cherry must be careful when facing them.

As Luther was excited, Rachel was also very excited!

Because when Luther broke through, she also felt that she could now make the pills stronger.

"I thought I only get stronger when he breaks through rank 1, but it looks like I was wrong."

She got promoted from rank 0 initial stage magic treasure, to the middle stage.

The difference between the two was small.

It was most noticeable when she looked at one of the essential skills.

'improving pill quality slightly' skill.

This skill was useless before, as she was rank 0 initial stage magic treasure.

But now, she can be considered a rank 0 middle-stage treasure, so her quality is higher, and with her begin higher quality, she can improve pills slightly from rank 0 initial-stage pills to rank 0 middle-stage pills.

Pills, like mages, have ten ranks.

But even within each rank, the quality might differ.

A rank 0 peak pill stage is much purer than a rank 0 initial stage pill.

However, no matter how pure, a rank 0 pill can never be more potent than its rank 1 version.

That is a difference in the quality of ingredients.

Rachel decided to improve pills so Luther could break through faster.

After all, rank 1 was a massive attraction for her.

The skill of 'talking to the host' would unlock when she reaches rank 1!

…

Luther sat down, took out the pill container, and opened it.

There were quite a few pills inside.

He saved them in case he needed more when breaking through.

Fortunately, he only used three when breaking through, so now he had a lot of pills to use.

"Now, I'm a second-grade apprentice, so this pill should have a smaller effect on me, and I may be able to absorb it sooner."

One reason that it takes him so long to absorb the pills is his talent.

Those geniuses can absorb the pills much sooner.

Luther swallowed the pill and closed his eyes, beginning to absorb it.

Ten hours later, he opened his eyes with astonishment!

"Why did the pill get stronger the day after I advanced? Could it be it also advanced with me?"

The pill container was already a priceless treasure, but if it could even get stronger …

"This thing… where did it come from? Maybe a rank nine mage or someone like that made it? It's so powerful that it makes people suspicious."

The thought that it might be a trap crossed his mind

But then he thought," Why would a rank nine mage want to trick me? Even a rank one mage can kill me with a simple spell; I am overthinking it. With more potent pills, I can advance to rank one apprentice mage sooner!"

He was excited and was looking forward to the future.

…

The twenty-ninth day of the first month of year 989956

The blue light Academy had a complex system.

To remain a member of the Academy, people with or below rank four talent would have to pay, according to their talent's rank.

A rank four naturally pays less than a rank three.

If one can't pay, they will be expelled from the Academy.

Nobody would chase them, and nothing would happen to them; after all, blue light is a righteous academy, and many people do indeed leave the Academy when they see that they have no chance of further improvement.

Off course, once any member advances to rank one official mage, they will no longer have to pay anything and instead would receive a salary if they chose to remain in the Academy.

It's just that they have to sign an oath of loyalty, and for this reason, some official mages choose to leave.

Again, the blue light Academy is very permissive and has a good reputation, so nothing will happen to those who leave before signing an oath.

Once they sign oaths, they become part of the Academy.

They may be appointed to managerial roles in the Academy, get important positions at the Academy, learn secrets of the Academy, etc.

At that point, nobody can leave, and if they try, they will be hunted down.

There are other choices, such as becoming a 'guest mage.'

Guest mages wouldn't receive any salary and wouldn't get any position within the Academy, but they may use labs and such. It's like a contract that benefits both sides.

Those with talents of 5th rank and higher would not have to pay anything to the Academy, and the Academy would meet all their needs.

Off course, there is a price for that.

After they reach the official mage level, they can't just leave.

If they wanted to leave, they would have to pay back all the investment by the Academy on them, with interest!

The pay usually takes the form of working for the Academy.

Although if one is rich, they can just pay magic crystal.

An oath would not be forced on anyone.

But many would still swear the oath of loyalty as being a member of blue light Academy is hugely prestigious.

As this Academy is very peaceful, there is usually no danger.

Luther was a rank two talent, so he had to pay magic crystals annually.

Naturally, he didn't have any magic crystal, so he got a loan on credit and swore an oath that he would pay it back.

Rank 1 talents can't get this loan because the chances for them are too slim.

...

Luther was sitting in a meditation position!

A few years have passed since he arrived here, and he is already a first-grade mage apprentice!

During this time, nothing significant happened. Everything went smoothly, and he naturally wasn't going anywhere willingly, so he remained here.

He was smiling as he checked his root mana pool.

It was packed, with no space for any further progress!

"Now, I have a chance at the official mage."

Of course, conditions are harsh, and many resources are needed.

It isn't just getting enough root mana and breaking through!

Many people are stuck in first-grade mage apprentice their entire lives!

"I have to start my preparations, but how am I supposed to explain my advancement to first-grade apprentice mage?" he talked loudly to himself.

Sometimes, he got so lonely that he developed a habit of talking to himself.

Having a big secret was a huge burden.

He never dared to let anyone get close to him.

Luther was generally not social, but the last few years took its toll on him!

"I need a vacation; otherwise, I may go insane before reaching rank one mage!"

As he was thinking about that, unknown energy came from the pill container and suppressed his aura to that of a third-grade mage apprentice!

Naturally, it was Rachel who used another one of the 'essential skills' named 'host's rank perception downward manipulation.'

It allowed her to make the host look weaker.

"What?" he took out the pill container and looked in astonishment.

"Just what are you?" Luther asked.

"Did it sense that I needed concealment? Does it have wisdom?"

He was extremely curious about the pill container, but wasn't worried.

He would be dead if it were hostile, as he had eaten its pills more than 1000 times.

And just now, it protected him by concealing his aura, so it probably liked him.

Luther didn't know Rachel was protecting herself, as Luther getting exposed meant she getting exposed.

So she used the skill to conceal Luther's level.

Luther smiled, gripped the pill container tightly, and went to earl cherry.

The earl had already found another mage outside of the Academy.

Now, he no longer needed Luther to operate the formation; as a result, Luther had no choice but to leave.

Soon, Luther reached earl cherry's office and greeted him.

The earl showed his daughters to him so many times that only morons don't get his intentions.

But Luther wasn't interested, so he played dumb, and after bidding farewell, he prepared his stuff and waited for the airship.

A few days later, an airship landed in the cherry city.

Earl Cherry was looking as the airship left.

Dale said, "I don't get it! A marriage between us is good for both sides! Why he didn't even consider it?"

Earl Cherry said, "There is something wrong with him. I have already researched everything about him. With his current situation, he must be desperate to find backing. But he is so carefree. he must be relying on something."

Dale said, "What is it? Can it be that he knows some official mage?"

Earl said, "No. He would have never wasted his time working on our formation if he had that sort of support. Now that he is gone, we will never know."

Earl continued, " With you as my heir, I'm worried about our future!"

Dale dropped his head and gritted his teeth.

He had no mage talent and couldn't even practice knight training!

He said, "Father, don't be so unfair! I can't practice knight training because of the injury my mother suffered when I was in the womb. Also, I'm trying hard to excel in other areas!"

Earl said, "Like what? Literature? Everything depends on power! You can't win wars with poems! If you want me to be happy, use your skills to find mage husbands for your sisters that are getting old!"

The earl hired an old mage recently, but the mage was a woman who wasn't interested in other women, so marriage wasn't an option.

Dale said, "Sure, I will do that! You'll see poems aren't that useless!"

Then he turned around and left.

The earl sighed deeply and stared at the sky.

Then, a servant came and delivered a sealed letter to him.

It was from a spy he placed in Duke Robles's territory!

The earl read and was stunned!

"follow this matter closely; I want to know every detail!"

The servant bowed and left.

...

Luther paid one magic crystal as fare and left the airship.

After less than a day, he was back!

He greeted his few friends who still remembered him and started researching ways to reach the official mage.

An official mage used root mana when casting spells, so their spells were far, far more powerful than apprentice mages' spells.

To reach an official mage, you must condense all the root mana in the mana pool and form the mana core.

Mana is usually like air, invisible to naked air, but it can be condensed to a liquid and crystal.

To reach the official mage, one has to learn the rank one spell' mana crystal' and then use all of their root mana with a unique method to cast it.

Casting a rank one spell as a mage apprentice is difficult!

Just this step stopped many people from reaching the official mage stage.

The spell is extraordinary, and its only function is to create a mana crystal within the Aperture.

When the crystal formed, that apprentice mage became an official mage!

But it's more complex than it seems.

Though the Academy does sell the spell and the special method, they are expensive, and the person has to swear an oath not to leak the information in any way.

Luther cannot pay his admission fee right now, so don't think about the tens of thousands of magic crystals needed to buy those.

The Academy would give them for free as long as he swore loyalty to the Academy, but for now, he isn't willing to do that.

Also, it is a secret that he is even a first-grade apprentice mage, so he can't rely on the Academy!

After a few days of researching deeply in the library and reading many free books, he thought of everything, including selling pills he had saved.

However, on this day, shocking news reached him.

His father, Duke Cameron Robles, has died!