Chapter 5: Magic Reflux

"Ellie, what time is it now?"

"Eight o'clock, and breakfast will be served soon."

It was eight o'clock, and Richard had begun his meditation at around five. This meant that even though Richard felt like he had only stayed in the Sea of Souls for a short while, he had actually been meditating for three hours.

"It seems meditation distorts my sense of time."

Richard thought to himself as his stomach growled again.

"Richard, aren't you scared?"

Ellie's voice came from the lower bunk, sounding more composed now.

"Scared?"

Richard lay on the bed, curling up to ease his hunger, recalling the past month's experiences.

He had spent the month engulfed in fear, dealing with a frail body, scarce food, and an irritable drunkard. Each morning when Richard woke, he hoped it was all a dream.

But the current situation was far better than the previous month in ways he couldn't measure.

"I've faced worse things than this. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"…"

The room fell silent.

Before being chosen, Ellie was a wealthy merchant's daughter, and the pressure of survival was as distant to her as the clouds in the sky—visible but almost untouchable.

She found it hard to imagine what Richard had gone through to remain so calm in the face of potential slaughter.

Even though he was as fragile as a leaf in the wind.

"So, what do you plan to do? We can't beat those nobles."

Ellie recalled the knights she had seen before—those armored monsters who could pierce through a hundred-man phalanx with just a few squire knights.

If faced with such people, Ellie couldn't imagine how she would cope.

"Ellie, who do you think is stronger, a wizard apprentice or a knight?"

"Of course, it's…"

Ellie instinctively wanted to say wizard apprentice. Even as apprentices, wizards wielded magical powers that knights couldn't resist.

But before she spoke, she remembered the book in her bag—"How to Become a Wizard Apprentice."

Fear had clouded her mind, making her forget that the academy had provided them with tools for resistance.

"Richard, you're a genius!"

Ellie threw off the covers, jumping out of bed to grab the Wizard Language Dictionary and "How to Become a Wizard Apprentice" before rushing to the desk.

While she hadn't trained in martial arts like the nobles, she was confident that in reading, those nobles couldn't match her.

Richard didn't pay attention to Ellie's reaction; he just wanted to eat breakfast quickly.

After a while, there was a knock at the door.

Hearing the sound, Richard quickly got out of bed.

Breakfast had arrived!

Opening the door, Richard saw a puppet-like figure pushing a food cart with dozens of neatly arranged breakfast servings.

"Room 225, two servings of breakfast."

A strange, sharp voice emanated from within the puppet.

Richard took the two trays into the room and handed the previous night's trays to the puppet.

The puppet accepted the trays and wobbled to the next room with the cart.

"This is magic."

Richard watched the puppet, a glint of excitement in his eyes.

Inside the room, Ellie was engrossed in her translation, with the dictionary in one hand and the book in the other.

"Ellie, your breakfast."

"You can have it."

Ellie replied without looking up, fully immersed in the sea of knowledge and completely uninterested in eating.

Richard scratched his head, thinking how youthful energy could ignore meals.

However, his current body wasn't much older than Ellie's, after all.

...

Richard sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed.

At the moment, his mental power was replacing his eyes to perceive the world.

It was now the seventh day since he had connected to the Sea of Souls.

During this week, the airship had sailed smoothly.

Richard, following the book's instructions, methodically constructed his magic reflux. Unlike connecting to the Sea of Souls, this process wasn't as swift but was virtually effortless.

In these seven days, Ellie, who shared the room with Richard, had been tirelessly translating "How to Become a Wizard Apprentice," her diligence surprising Richard.

Indeed, in facing life-and-death crises, everyone could unleash their inner potential.

Connecting to the Sea of Souls liberated a wizard apprentice's mental power, enabling them to sense the magic that permeated the world.

In Richard's perception, the magic in the air resembled fireflies, flickering brightly yet faintly.

Richard's mental power transformed into tendrils, attracting all the magic light points he passed.

With a swift contraction, he absorbed those magic points into his body.

If connecting to the Sea of Souls was the foundation for becoming a wizard apprentice, then constructing magic reflux was the walls and roof.

Casting spells required a wizard to use mental power to control magic. Relying on mental power to manipulate ambient magic was not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also highly inefficient.

Magic reflux allowed wizards to store magic in their bodies and stabilize it with mental power, enabling them to cast spells without relying on ambient magic.

However, the magic stored via reflux wasn't unlimited. A wizard's magic reflux capacity depended on their mental power limit. If a spell demanded more magic than the reflux could supply, the wizard would have to revert to basics or find another solution.

As the last magic point was absorbed, the accumulated magic within Richard transformed into a gentle stream, starting from his heart, flowing through his organs, and returning to form a complete reflux.

"It's done."

Richard opened his eyes, excitement unmistakable.

The construction of magic reflux meant he could now quickly cast the zero-ring spells documented in the book.

Zero-ring spells were basic spells that didn't require establishing a spell mark in the soul and could be used directly.

Some wizards didn't even consider these as true magic but merely as applications of magical techniques.

The editor of "How to Become a Wizard Apprentice" had thoughtfully prepared four zero-ring spells for apprentices who had completed magic reflux construction.

These spells were: Magic Missile, Force Field Barrier, Lighten, and Silence.

Comprehensive, covering offense, defense, escape, and stealth.

Richard was no longer a weakling unable to defend himself!

As Richard reveled in his achievement, Ellie, who had been tirelessly translating, suddenly slammed the dictionary shut.

"Fed up with translating?" Richard wondered.

"Haha, Richard, come down and take a look. I've finished translating!"

Ellie stood up, stretching as her joints cracked audibly.

After seven days of tireless translation, she had completed translating the entire "How to Become a Wizard Apprentice" and had nearly mastered the Wizard language in the process.

"Congratulations, congratulations. It seems you've got one foot through the exam already."

Richard climbed down from his bunk, offering her a congratulatory gesture.

"Hehe."

Ellie walked over, giving Richard a hearty pat on the back.

Over these days, Richard and Ellie had grown quite familiar. Richard learned that Ellie was the pampered daughter of a wealthy merchant. Ellie learned that Richard was a farmer with a deceased alcoholic father.

Despite their different backgrounds, they faced the future with starkly contrasting attitudes.

Richard's calm and hopeful outlook intrigued Ellie. Whenever she felt like giving up, Richard's words would always lift her spirits.

Now it was her turn to repay him.

"Learn the Wizard language with me over the next couple of days, and you can become a wizard apprentice."

"Huh?" Richard was taken aback, but then felt a warmth in his heart.

"Don't worry, the Wizard language is easy to learn. Many of its words are similar to ours. With serious study, you'll be able to understand 'How to Become a Wizard Apprentice' in no time..."

"Ellie," Richard interrupted, smiling wryly.

"Have you considered that if I become a wizard apprentice, you'll have one more competitor in the exam?"

"More competition means more danger. Aren't you afraid I might stab you in the back?"

Richard's tone was calm, but his words made Ellie uneasy.

One more wizard apprentice meant one more adversary, and in this deadly exam, every opponent was a potential threat.

Did she really want to teach Richard?

"Well…"

Ellie's voice wavered at first, but then grew firm, as if she'd found a loophole in Richard's argument.

"Richard, you wouldn't do that. If you intended to, you wouldn't be telling me this now."

Richard rubbed his chin.

"Generally speaking, I wouldn't backstab. But there's always a chance..."

"But there's also a 9,999 out of 10,000 chance you won't."

Ellie suddenly punched Richard hard with her left hand.

"You're such a weirdo. I'm trying to help you, and you push back. Keep talking like this, and I'll really not teach you."