Meeting

The vengeful spirit's shrieks and wails echoed through the lab. She couldn't move her arms or legs. She was trapped, and her anger boiled inside of her. But with Leylin's demonic powers holding her in place, there was nothing she could do.

She continued to scream and thrash, but it only made Leylin's smirk grow larger. He knew that the spirit's cries were simply a testament to her impotence, and it gave him great satisfaction to know that she was completely at his mercy.

The spirit kept struggling against Leylin's tendrils. They held her tight, and she could feel the power of Leylin's demonic aura. She hated that she was at his mercy. She felt hopeless and helpless, and she knew that Leylin enjoyed it. He was a sadistic monster, enjoying the suffering of others to further his own selfish ambitions.

The spirit continued to scream and thrash, but there was no escape from Leylin's grasp. She could only watch helplessly as he moved closer to her, his demonic aura growing thicker and heavier around her.

"I wish to seize the opportunity to drain a Mysterious Entity of its lifeforce. Originally, I had believed it to be impossible due to the restrictions set upon me by the difficult process of breaking through in acolyte level." -The Farlier heir whispered as he grabbed the spirit by her head after covering his hand in dark magic, causing the spirit to cry in anguish.

"Now, however… I feel as if I could absorb the living essence out of a purified vengeful spirit like you without suffering any backlash… What are your thoughts on this?" -He nonchalantly mocked.

"FUCK YOU!" The spirit's eyes flashed red, and her twisted visage began to change into the face of a mutated wolf.

"That's it. Your emotional energies are the perfect catalyst to activate the other ingredients in my elixir, increasing the vigor of my Spiritual Force…" -Leylin's face was adorned with a sadistic expression, as he mentally sent an order to his dark tendrils.

"I can't help but wonder what you'll taste like!"

The vengeful spirit screamed loudly as she was slowly consumed by Leylin. Her anguish became Leylin's delight as he harvested the spirit's lifeforce for his own. He was hungry for more, and would not stop until the spirit was completely drained.

He would not allow anything to stand in the way of his desire to grow stronger and become more powerful. His ambition was absolute, and he would not be satisfied until he had consumed all that he desired.

Leylin's dark powers were like a well-oiled machine of death, relentlessly consuming the vengeful spirit's lifeforce until it was all gone. He was overcome with a desire to gain more power, and he would not stop until he had consumed all of it. He was truly a demon amongst men.

When the vengeful spirit was finally drained of its lifeforce, Leylin felt unstoppable. He was a force of nature now. This was his world, and he would one day rule it as he saw fit.

At that moment, Leylin was seemingly brought out from an illusion, and he looked around at his surroundings.

The experiment lab was the same as before, with all apparatus lying neatly in their original position. As for the pentagon formation, it had lost all of its light, and the vengeful spirit was nowhere to be found.

On Leylin, there were no traces of his aura or his demonic tendrils. Yet, he was not the same as before.

Examining his hand in awe, he smirked. "Aralis, show me my current status."

[At once.]

//

Dr. Fang Ming (Leylin Farlier's body)

<Power Scaling>

Level 3 acolyte || Grand Knight

<Physical Stats>

Strength - 7.51

Agility - 9.42

Vitality - 12.95

<Mystical Stats>

Spiritual Force - 21.4/21.4 (ENHANCED by 3.3 points)

Mana Energy - 21.4/21.4

<Innate Abilities>

Mitotic Regeneration || Lesser Dark Absorption || Seductive Aura

<Perks>

Enhanced Plant & Dark elements affinities || Boosted illusion resistance || Reptile-class Mysterious Entities of ≤ power are positively biased

<General Skills>

Hybrid Farlier-Jackson Blade Technique (master) || Potioneering (master) || Neela's Secret Skill (+AGI -STR) || Jackson's Secret Skill (+STR -AGI) || Various Rank 0 spells

//

[The effects of your optimized Tears of Mary variant – Blood Vengeance Potion – is a flat increase in your Spiritual Force. Additionally, having absorbed the spirit's lifeforce only served to further enhance it, which can be traduced into a better ratio of Mana consumption per spell.] -Aralis dutifully reported.

'As expected, not even modifying an ancient potion formula is a daunting task for me.' -Leylin could not contain a terribly arrogant smirk from appearing on his handsome countenance.

Leylin shut his eyes, feeling the difference this increase brought him.

Under his control, the Spiritual Force seemed to be a silver thread as it swept past every item in the room. Moreover, each of the item's physical shapes was perceived within Leylin's mind.

For regular acolytes, this was an extremely fresh feeling. However, Leylin saw that after a certain standard was achieved in Spiritual Force, it had a scanning effect similar to that of Aralis.

'This effect, if mastered properly and used in conjunction with my assistant's capabilities, could discover a majority of ambushes, never having to fear another sneak attack.' -Leylin appreciated the wondrous use of the Spiritual Force.

In his sea of consciousness, waves of Spiritual Force constantly surged at the borders, continuously expanding the area of the sea.

'Unfortunately, the external change in my body is too obvious. I'll have to hide it with a slightly more advanced Shapeshifting Spell.'

Leylin picked up a mirror. On it, a brown-haired youthful countenance was reflected. However, a pair of gleaming eyes flashed like green torches in the dead of night.

Normally, the upper limits of Spiritual Force for level 3 acolytes were 15. Yet, Leylin far exceeded this figure. Moreover, when level 3 acolytes were about to breakthrough into an official Magus, their eyes would often show unusual signs of attraction. That was the result of the boundless expansion in their massive sea of consciousness.

However, for Leylin, this was not good news. To others, he was just a newly advanced level 3 acolyte, but now he exceeded those limits. This would bring about curiosity and suspicion from others.

If it was some regular acolyte, Leylin wasn't too afraid. But if an official Magus required him to cooperate for questioning, then Leylin would meet with some trouble.

After all, Leylin had no confidence against official Magus since Aralis could not detect them.

'I can only conceal this for the time being.' -Leylin chanted a short incantation.

Creaking and cracking noises resounded on his face and his eyes dimmed, no longer radiating light. This was a simple use of the Shapeshifting spell — the ability to modify facial features.

Many female official Magus would obtain such a spell and cast it on their faces, achieving a beautification effect.

'I can only hope this can conceal my presence for the time being…' -Leylin was not that confident regarding this matter.

After several modifications of the Shapeshifting spell by Aralis, level 3 acolytes would not be able to discover this.

[It won't keep the upper echelons of the faculty from noticing the change though. They'll see right through you with ease.]

'Indeed…'

Leylin was completely unsure if he could deceive an official Magus like this. If they just walked past him, they may not notice his concealment. As long as they did not use any detection spells, he should be able to mask it.

Deep down in his heart, Leylin had already decided. After traveling around the Poolfield Kingdom and discovering the vestige traces, he would set off to Zither Moon Mountain Plains in search of the remnants of the great Magus Serholm.

In any case, Leylin had expressed his interest to Kroft for wanting to travel, so suggesting it not did not seem too abrupt.

After making some arrangements and cleaning the private lab of any trace of his experiments, Leylin gave a wry smile. His work had already extended over a day's worth of time.

|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|

Once Leylin returned to the dorms, he opened his door with the intention of gathering some documents Kroft had asked for.

Just then, he noticed a white letter on the ground. It seemed like someone paid Leylin a visit earlier. However, after seeing he was gone, they did not dare intrude, hence leaving a simple note.

'Who could it be? Bicky? Nyssa? Or someone else…?' -Leylin opened the letter in curiosity.

After seeing the signature, Leylin's expression was mildly curious. 'Merlin… who would've thought…'

As a fifth-grade genius acolyte of the previous generation, Merlin was somewhat of a lone wolf, seldom interacting with other acolytes.

But now, Merlin actually took the initiative to meet with Leylin, his former junior, and a person whom he currently envied and despised for his achievements in the Potioneering Tournament and subsequent Bloodbath.

'Since he's bothered to walk all the way to my apartments, I guess the least I could do is pay him a visit. I wonder how I can exploit this to my advantage…" Leylin smirked.

[It may be a trap, Doctor.] -Aralis warned.

'Oh, I highly doubt it. Merlin is a weakling and a craven. But even if he did try anything, I am more than prepared for it.'

After thinking for a while, Leylin raised his pale finger, directly scribbling on the white note using magic.

Every time his finger drew across, red characters would be left on the note.

There was a simple spell cast on this paper note by Merlin, which could transmit some simple information. Of course, it was only usable in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, and it was widely loved by its acolytes.

The recipient's reply was extremely quick. Very soon, Leylin met up with Merlin inside in the privacy of a VIP table on the second level of the Dining Hall.

Merlin now seemed to be gloomier. Looking at the area of his severed limb, Leylin noticed that a slim tiny arm had regrown and could not help but stifle a chuckle.

It seemed that his Flourishing Flower had been given to Merlin by Dorotte. What Leylin did not know though, was the promise Merlin had to make in exchange for the Flourishing Flower.

"Dear Leylin, I have not properly thanked you for the Flourishing Flower." -Merlin sat on the white chair, raising his cup to Leylin.

This gesture was seen by Leylin as poorly acted camaraderie. He internally mocked the man in front of him, but did not outwardly speak about it.

After looking for a chair to sit down, he ignored the delicacy and aroma displayed in front of him. Leylin smiled in fake sincerity. "Regarding the valuable information that Professor Dorotte had exchanged with me, I should be the one expressing my thanks."

Naturally, Leylin had no clue that Dorotte had this information about advancing into a Branded Swordsman.

It was Merlin who had actually leaked the news to him. As for the reason why — it was probably due to Leylin 'accidentally' letting Merlin know that he had the Flourishing Flower.

For Leylin, he would reap the largest benefit from Merlin, who desperately needed the Flourishing Flower to regrow his missing limb.

Merlin's expression turned softer. "No matter what, we are both acolytes who learned the art of potion brewing under Professor Kroft. So it's well within reason to help each other."

Leylin too gave him some superficial replies, before Merlin finally revealed his motive for seeking Leylin today.

"Leylin... Professor Dorotte had long since told me that the information he had given you, a major portion of it was missing. There is no way that it could be reliable for advancing into an official Magus. It is because you mean to unearth more lost knowledge that you are eager to go exploring, isn't it?"

Leylin interlocked his fingers. "Of course. No matter if it's the academy or the Magi Houses, their conditions are too restrictive for someone such as myself."

This notion was considered by many level 3 acolytes. Only when the adventure for the remnants was unfruitful and acknowledging that the golden period of advancement was almost over, would they then consider signing a spiritual contract with the academy or the families.