Phantasm

"Six months?" Kyle ruminated over her words.

He didn't find it very surprising since if it was that easy to tread the Arcane Path, there would be plenty of people studying it.

"Alright… Let me share a few of my experiences on how I entered that state. You might get some inspiration." Denise said as she started telling her story again.

Kyle listened to her words and would attempt to enter that state from time to time.

His training lasted for seven days before he managed to briefly enter the Phantasm State.

'Is this the Phantasm State?' Kyle muttered to himself as soon as his surroundings suddenly changed.

No, it wasn't his surroundings that had changed but his vision. During this state, he realized that he was standing on a dome with a radius of 9 meters!

Inside this dome, he may not sense everything that is happening, but he has the power that allows him to observe everything or everyone inside it if he wills it. Perhaps, he just needed some time to get used to it so he could completely grasp everything in it!

'This must be the magic zone… Does it mean that I can cast spells in this 9-meter range?' Kyle immediately had an idea but he can't test it out since he doesn't know any spells at all. He also doesn't know whether this range is big or small for a newbie like him.

Anyway, the Introduction to Dark Spells only mentioned the descriptions of each spell. This includes their strength, cooldown, negative effects, and various requirements to learn them… There is a brief instruction on how to form this spell but not a step-by-step guide that he wanted to see. It feels like he was reading a riddle instead of a guide.

He then noticed four lights glowing in his body around his chest but he couldn't tell what it was. Having no clues about it, he decided to ignore it for now.

He then thought of stepping forward to check whether the dome or the magic zone would move as he walked. However, before he can even take a step, he finds out that the Phantasm State is about to end!

This feeling is natural and he didn't miss it.

In addition to that, he can also feel that if he tried to concentrate and put all of his attention on it, he could somehow make it last longer. Nevertheless, he knows that he has to be careful doing that experiment since Denise already warned him not to do such a thing…

"Phew… It was only about 10 seconds…" Kyle helplessly smiled as the magical state he was previously in had disappeared. Of course, he wasn't too disappointed since he finally learned how to enter the Phantasm State.

Just like what Denise said, after being able to enter once, he was now able to grasp how to do it the next time.

'It's about three minutes before I can enter the Phantasm State again. It's so long…' Kyle mused as he sat on the nearby stone.

He wanted to rest for a while but he suddenly heard a buzzing noise in the Academy Castle and realized that some students were about to go out.

Kyle heard that there is a dormitory in the eastern part of the academy but the students would still leave the academy from time to time to head towards other places.

'It's time to leave…' Kyle said in his mind as he swiftly left the open field near the factory.

He had to hide from that crazy Lesley if he didn't want to get captured and be experimented on.

"Hey! Are you going to leave now? I was just about to watch you…" Denise asked as she held a few dirty cleaning tools. It seems that she was planning to wash them while watching Kyle manifest his Phantasm State.

Kyle was about to brag that he already manifested it but he felt that it was better to keep it a secret for now since he hadn't learned any spells yet.

In any case, he's not planning to learn Dark Spells from her since she's only self-learned. It would be better to learn them from Mr. Heinz himself so there wouldn't be any flaws.

He also read that there could be side effects while learning spells, so he had to be careful about it.

"Yes, I'm done for today."

As soon as Kyle said this, he turned his back on her and went to his master's laboratory.

He didn't mind Denise's grumble behind him as he wanted to ask Mr. Heinz about learning spells. In any case, he had already read 15 or so books after being here for more than a week.

Most of them were related to alchemy. Obviously, Mr. Heinz learned Dark Alchemy and it was quite easily guessed after seeing his laboratory and the potions he made.

He learned plenty of mystical materials, herbs, or any ingredients that can be used for creating potions or mystical items. Of course, learning how to make a potion is a different story, as he had to enter the academy for that to learn.

Creak.

As he entered the laboratory, he noticed that Mr. Heinz was busy on his workbench… He wasn't concocting any potions but he was studying a few materials that are emitting a weird vibe.

He also noticed that there was a naked female corpse just outside the door leading to the furnace. It seems to have been delivered just recently.

This is the first time this has happened after the delivery of the corpses from the recruitment site.

Kyle wasn't in a hurry to extract it and ignored it for now. He wanted to find a book first. Anyways, he knows that Heinz has already made an invisible wall of energy that isolates him from any disturbances.

Even if he made any noise, Mr. Heinz wouldn't be affected at all.

Of course, if someone uninvited entered the laboratory while Heinz was in this state, a hidden Tier 2 Variant would take care of them. He only learned all of this after Denise prattled on and tried showing how she knew more about Mr. Heinz than him.

'Do I have to wait until he's done with his study? I just want to get a book about forming spells…' Kyle thought for a moment as he looked at the shelf.

He still has plenty of books he needs to read.

In the end, he decided to select a couple of books. One of them is titled Compendium of Mystical Artifacts: First Edition and the other is The Great Dark Spells…

As he was planning to return to his room and read them there, he suddenly heard Mr. Heinz's words with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Ohh… I can feel that you've improved once more. The last potion is also fully digested… It's faster than I expected. You can now drink the second potion. Is that alright?"