Last Minute Test

Inside the luxuriously-decorated foyer of a certain mansion, several pairs of heavy armor boots gave off a thudding noise on the floorboards with each step they took. It was already past 12 am, but the oil lamps in this estate were still lit.

Upon Leylin's arrival, six maids who were standing next to the dual staircase hurriedly bowed and said in unison: "Welcome home, my Lord."

Each of them wore a black french maid-style ensemble that showed off their alluring curves beneath the delicate fabric, especially their snowy white thighs, which were seductively enclosed in cotton stockings. Leylin had instructed Old Welker to hire only the prettiest and smartest girls for the maid positions in his villa. The reasons why he chose to do so were obvious.

When the Farlier Baron waltzed right past the welcoming committee of his beautiful female servants without even sparing them a glance, they immediately noticed that something very important was on his mind, since he usually waved them away or even greeted them.

This was particularly true for the Farlier residence's head maid and financial administrator, Anna. She was the most typical focus of Leylin's sexual attentions, given her status as a (formerly) virgin slave brainwashed to be, among other things, a living toy for her owner.

That being said, Leylin never engaged in romantic behavior with any of the girls and did not endeavor to please them at all. He treated Anna and the rest of the maids like objects for his personal use whenever sex was involved. And they were more than fine with it. The pay was 10 times what they would get working for even a Count, so getting banged every now and then was an acceptable deal for them.

"Is everything alright?" -Anna questioned, her head still lowered and concern evident in her words. By this point, Leylin had disappeared from view and was opening the reinforced steel door to his lab.

Right now, Anna acted as one of Leylin's main subordinates, while at the same time she had control over his mortal finances. This would be considered as maintaining a high authority, and she demonstrated this as she basically ordered Welker and Fayern around in her Master's name. However, in the presence of Leylin, she was as gentle and obedient as a little pussycat. If there was anything she could do to help him, she would do it.

"The Master is in a hurry to conduct sensitive research, and will not receive any visits or letters throughout the morning. Until further orders are given, he will not tolerate interruptions of any kind. Furthermore, he has dismissed his service staff for the night." -Fraser spoke with a deep voice making sure every servant had acknowledged the meaning of that sentence, as he and Greem followed Leylin up the stairs.

"Understood, Knight Fraser." -Was Anna's response, as she and the rest of the maids dispersed out of the manor and went to their dorms in the building opposite to the Roran Hawks barracks.

They had a relaxed look adorning their young features as they took off. All except for Anna. She knew her place was with her Master, and would not be getting any sleep tonight. She would pass the hours trying to come up with an explanation as to why he had sent her away.

Meanwhile, on the other of the steel door that separated the manor from Leylin's lab, he began to get rid of his enchanted black armor and golden cross blade. He organized them neatly in a display rack within his small armory.

There, one could see the advanced repeating crossbow he had bought in the academy Trading Post, a few cross blades, assassin daggers, and also a stand loaded with all kinds of mysterious combat potions. With a faint white glow, they were seemingly waiting to be used.

Leylin kept the gray acolyte robes that he wore underneath at all times, and just put a black leather tool apron on top. He also put on a black facemask he had built using enchanted materials. Finally, a pair of color-matching hardened leather gloves went into each of his hands, and he immediately went to recite an incantation in front of a wall.

Since he had gotten back on the road, he had entered into deep thought regarding his current goal. Presently, his Spiritual Force had long since reached 7 points. The Reactive Elixirs he had already brewed and were safely stored in one of his various magic vaults hidden in the lab.

Advancing to level 3 acolyte did not pose any complications for him, and he had returned to his mansion with the sole intention of finally taking his cultivation to the next level.

However, Leylin still knew nothing about how to advance to official Magus from level 3 acolyte. Even though Leylin was authorized to access the academy's library, he had not found any hint of the process. It seemed like the academy had forbidden all information pertaining to this topic.

'Whether the academy or a magic market, I have always paid special attention to information related to official Magi. Until now, I could not unearth even a single clue...'

The higher-ups in the Magus World kept a tight lid on all information regarding how to advance to official Magus. More so for Leylin, who was an acolyte from the other side of the world. He had to fulfill certain requirements and run a lot of errands before he would be granted a peek at the advancement methods to study them.

[This is something outside of your control. Maybe Alfonse's experiment lab has something that you can profit from? In his words, he was close to becoming a full-fledged Magus. And his stats were nothing to laugh at either. I think he was telling the truth about that, instead of just bragging.]

Leylin thought again of the Magus base concealed near the withering woods.

'Yes, perhaps there is something worth my time down there. This is why I need to get this level 3 business over with as soon as possible. I can't take any chances. Even if there's a 0.1% possibility that someone discovered the underground lab and got there before me, I have to see for myself what's in there...'

After his previous visit to the sealed hideout, in the brief time he spent there, Leylin could already confirm that Alfonse had not lied when he told him the location of his base of operations. The only real question was if he could even find something useful inside.

The wall in front of Leylin opened to reveal a small compartment divided by a glass door. He put his hand on the glass, and released a bit of his Dark element energy, creating a tiny vortex that erased the door altogether.

Behind it, there laid three clear expensive-looking bottles filled with a viscous orange compound. It was then that Leylin stopped for a moment to contemplate what entering this new stage of an acolyte meant.

Level 3 acolyte. The final step before a magician can ascend to official Magus... For acolytes with first-grade and second-grade magical aptitudes, level 3 has always been hailed as the peak of their stunted cultivations.

A level 1 acolyte can barely detect and use energy particles, but can not cast any spells yet, and their Spiritual Force tends to be rough and immature. Their fighting capabilities are roughly equivalent to those of a run-of-the-mill Knight.

As for level 2 acolytes, they are able to cast Rank 0 spells. Though these are quite basic in relation to the higher ranks, they still bolster their combat abilities to such an extent that they surpass mortal Knights, and break into the realm of a Mysterious Entity. An arcane being capable of performing miracles... or heralding calamity.

Level 3 acolytes, on the other hand, have exponentially greater Spiritual Force than regular magical creatures. They generally hold a more profound understanding of spell theory as well as its practical usage, and are furthermore able to handle the more complex models of certain Rank 1 spells. They are masters of techniques like the widely feared Phrase Casting, which enables nigh-instantaneous conjuration of prepared spells. Even Grand Knights could not measure up to their grand abilities, and a simple turn of the acolyte's palm would mean their deaths.

In conclusion, the third level of an acolyte had always been considered the preparatory stage to becoming an official Magus. The faster one advanced as a level 3 acolyte, the higher their chances of eventually becoming an official Magus.

Among the numerous magic academies and factions, the number of official Magi was extremely small. Level 3 acolytes were universally considered the backbone of any faction's battle strength.

Every level 3 acolyte, young or old, was counted as a valuable asset. These institutions were leaned towards dedicating resources to nurture them, hoping that these seeds would sprout, directing the lower generations to grow beyond an acolyte in the future.

Nevertheless, and despite all the laws that confined the arcane beings of the Magus World, a particular existence had defied the status quo and begun to carve a path ahead of him unlike what any forgotten Great Magus could've predicted.

This taboo existence was none other than Leylin.

Ever since he was a level 1 acolyte, he had laughed in the face of his limitations as a third-grade potential. He possessed, among other fortes, a cheat like no other. Aralis granted him an advantage that put him far above what the sons and daughters of lower mortal Houses, and maybe even the Magi ones, could ever hope to reach.

He gradually bent or broke the rules of this world, and made his own. And he did so without a second thought.

Leylin didn't care if he had to forsake his humanity to get more powerful; he was actually looking forward to it. He wouldn't mind exterminating the occasional hundred thousand innocents or sacrificing a truck-load of babies to an evil god just to see his ambitions through. If anything, he would do so with a casual smile.

The reincarnated Leylin was not a human, to begin with. He belonged to a whole different category. A much more perverse one...

'Acquiring the next power echelon demands proficiency with at least two spell models, a Spiritual Force of 7, and the consumption of 500 grams of Reactive Elixirs.'

Leylin picked up the tiniest vial with the orange potion out of the three before him.

'Currently, I have mastery over a dozen of Rank 0 spells. With the help of the Azure Potion, I have also met the Spiritual Force requirements. All of this has been achieved within a few months. My growth speed had already surpassed Jayden's fifth-grade talent.' -Leylin smirked under his facemask as he thought of it.

Even if they were genius acolytes of the fifth grade, the minimum time span they would spend crossing the huge gulf between level 2 and level 3 would be of at least three years.

However, after obtaining the modified ancient formula and brewing it, Leylin's progress made that of his most gifted peers seem bleak when put into perspective. With minimum costs, he had attained the standard needed to advance.

[As long as your Spiritual Force gets enhanced, even if the refinement of your soul fails, you can always make another attempt later.] -Aralis noted with a courteous voice.

'Nonsense. I will be successful on the first try. I am not inclined to withstand even the slightest damage to my body or setback to my plans caused by a failed breakthrough...'

For the final time, Leylin mentally reviewed all information regarding advancement to a level 3 acolyte. After confirming that he had not left anything out, he walked to the other side of his lab and pulled a metal lever.

'Which is why I have prepared the necessary... means to test my prototype Reactive Elixir formula.' -Leylin's smirk grew darker, as he took the vial into the depths of his dungeon.

As he descended the stone steps, a foul stench met his nose. It smelled like rotten flesh and spilled chemicals.

Leylin approached a surgeon table he had built with makeshift parts and admired the individual chained to it. Naming it an abomination would be a more suitable term, however.

The person on the table had dark green and black tumors running across his skin, his eye sockets were empty, his hair had fallen off, and he was missing the jaw along with the tongue. He made no sounds or gave out any signs of life whatsoever. If one were to analyze his condition, the most likely deduction would be that his brain had stopped functioning a couple of days ago.

"Dear Alfonse, how are you today? I just went bto your place, but it was locked. Turns out you were smarter than the average chimp... No worries though. I am here to correct that. And you get the privilege of helping me."

Back when he had finished his mission in the cave of the snake beast, Leylin had been pleasantly surprised when he discovered that Alfonse had survived the flaying session without him having to spend any medicines or potions.

Alfonse's mind was broken, and his soul had been weakened to the point where he was no longer an acolyte. He was but a ghost of his former self. Yet, there were still Spiritual Force remnants in his tissues. Leylin thought that he might as well take the opportunity and use Alfonse's husk as an experiment subject for the breakthrough.

The malformed individual was presently connected to a strange metal apparatus that pumped an orangish liquid into his veins. Leylin immediately removed the tubes, and then put a small quantity of a transparent potion he took from his satchel onto the small vial.

Finally, he used a needle to extract the viscous liquid from the bottle and injected it into Alfonse's neck. Or what was left of it.

"You had better not grow a tail now. This is my purest batch of Mankestre Snake heart and Giant Tree Demon heart Reactive Elixir!" -Leylin exclaimed, as he put away the tools in a metal tray next to the table.

Shifting his hands to rest behind his back, he prepared himself to observe the reactions of his subject's body to the dose he had administered.