Special Runes, Advancing to Third-grade Star Talent

"Mental Power Impact has broken through to Master Level. Talent +3."

"Talent: 130 → 133"

The notification rang out alongside the sound of trees bursting apart, and Ian snapped awake in an instant.

"My talent increased by three points?"

Ian stared at the Trick Wizardry, his face alight with delight.

Before advancing, what he had feared most was that even zero-ring Wizardry would only increase his talent by a single point.

That had been his greatest concern.

After all, if all knowledge were capped at one point, the rate at which his talent increased would only grow slower and slower.

That was not something he wanted to see.

But that worry vanished in an instant.

It was just a pity that three points still felt a little too few.

"If other people found out that learning a single zero-ring Wizardry could raise my talent by three points, I'd probably be drowned in spit."

Ian teased himself.

The ability to raise his talent without any restrictions was simply heaven-defying.

At the very least, according to the books, resources capable of increasing talent were incomparably precious.

Forget the Academies within the Schools—even Official Wizards rarely got to see them.

Yet all he needed to do was quietly study all kinds of extraordinary knowledge.

It just cost more money.

But it was all worth it.

Ian sensed the changes within himself, only to discover something strange.

Inside the Mental Power Space.

Not far from the two Mental Power Runes, another rune had appeared.

Its structure was simple, and it was very small.

"What's this?"

Ian examined it carefully, then froze. Wasn't this the rune of Mental Power Impact?

Normally, it had to be condensed through a process. Why had it appeared directly this time?

His mental power touched it.

The rune lit up instantly, and that natural, effortless feeling emerged once more.

"Is this...?"

His mental power focused.

The air before him rippled again.

Boom!

A great tree came crashing down.

"Is this... instant casting?"

Ian's throat moved.

There was no incantation, no process. Aside from preparing and feeding in mental power, it could practically be called instant casting.

"When zero-ring Wizardry reaches Master Level, a Wizardry Rune appears, and the Wizardry can be cast instantly?"

Ian pressed his lips together.

It seemed he had received another astonishing surprise.

There was no need to explain the usefulness of instant-cast Wizardry. In battle, even the tiniest sliver of time could determine victory or defeat.

This was even more true for low-level wizards.

Without the time needed to chant an incantation, he could cast several more times.

When the last three months of Wizardry classes arrived and battles became necessary, this alone would create an enormous gap between him and the others.

A gap that was almost impossible to erase.

"I just wonder what will happen with Wizardry that requires materials?"

Ian pressed his lips together.

Everything he was learning now was the most basic Wizardry, but later on, some Wizardry might require materials to cast.

If those could also be cast instantly, that would be interesting.

Just as he was sighing to himself, the sound of someone stomping across the ground suddenly rang out.

"Someone's coming."

Before Ian could even react, his body had already instinctively started running toward the School.

After only a few meters, he slowly came to a stop, because several figures were already walking over from the direction of the School.

They wore black Witch Robes bearing the patrol team's insignia.

The patrol team had noticed him.

Then it should be fine.

"Ian?"

A startled voice rang out. Ian looked up and saw that the person leading the patrol team was Charles.

His Wizardry course Instructor.

"Instructor Charles."

Ian relaxed.

"You did this?"

Charles turned to look at the two fallen trees in the distance, then looked back at Ian.

Judging by the trunks' diameter, the power of that attack was already close to three Energy Intensity.

Even he, after practicing Mental Power Impact for over a decade, could never achieve that with the same amount of mental power.

"Ian, join the Combat Department. I can recommend you to several core wizard squads, or you can join my wizard squad. We're a core team too."

Charles could not help saying.

The several wizards behind him were all stunned as well.

Many of the Combat Department's core divisions existed in the form of squads, but their members were all selected with the utmost care.

Vice-Captain Charles was actually inviting Ian?

"Really, don't go to the potionmaker department. What's the point of cooping yourself up in a laboratory all day brewing potions? Fighting is so much better."

Charles looked at Ian fervently, gritting his teeth.

Ian's lips twitched. He had not expected this to lead to such a thing.

The Combat Department's core divisions were naturally excellent.

But he needed a large number of Magic Stones, and that was something only the Potions Department might be able to provide.

Still, it could be considered a way out.

If he truly failed in the end, joining a core Combat Department division would work too. The difference between core divisions and peripheral divisions was not just resources.

There were also all kinds of privileges.

That was what he had learned after Lucy spoke with him that day.

Wizardry above the outstanding grade could only be purchased once a year by ordinary divisions, while core divisions were allowed three times that number.

Ordinary wizardry also came with a twenty percent discount.

He truly could not refuse that.

"I'll consider it, Instructor," Ian said seriously.

"Think it over carefully."

Charles patted him on the shoulder, then turned and left.

They had originally come to inspect the situation. Since everything was normal, they had to return to their post.

Ten minutes later.

Ian returned home.

He relaxed at once.

"I definitely need to move somewhere else in the future."

Lying on his bed and looking at the cramped room before him, Ian thought silently.

Maple Leaf Avenue, where Kris lived, was where high-ranking wizards resided. The environment there was as different from this place as heaven and earth.

They even had maids.

That was the kind of living environment wizards ought to have.

And without question, he could reach it faster in a core division.

"Keep it up. I'm about to break through to Third-grade Talent. Once that happens, everything will be fine!"

Ian imagined the future.

The sun rose and set through eight cycles.

The improvement in his talent wasn't limited to changes in wizardry.

The slight increase in his meditation talent had raised his number of meditation sessions by one again, with a modest increase in effectiveness as well.

His cantrips had also gone from producing one formal spell every four days to one every three days.

This was the most outrageous part of the system.

An increase in talent brought an increase in the system along with it.

Like a snowball rolling down from a mountaintop, the farther it went, the faster its volume would grow.

Of course, he was still only at the starting stage.

Still, over these eight days, there had been one piece of bad news and one piece of good news.

"The bad news is that my talent didn't increase today."

Ian looked at the Dust Spell, which had reached Master Level today, but his talent had not changed.

Thinking about it carefully, perhaps this cantrip shared a similar core with the Breeze Spell.

That prevented him from wildly farming talent points by improving wizardry.

Of course, there was good news too.

"The Knight Method reached Master Level and raised my talent by five."

Ian looked at the 140 talent points on the panel.

Aside from the two cantrips, the other five had come from the Knight Method reaching Master Level.

That was two more talent points than Mental Power Impact had given him.

It made sense. Though the Knight Method was not as powerful as wizardry, it did seem to hold greater value when it came to evolving the human body.

With the Knight Method reaching Master Level, he estimated that he would reach the peak of knighthood within a month or two.

"It's a pity there's no Great Knight section."

Ian thought knights were quite good, though they were probably simply slow for most people to improve.

He would see if he had a chance to buy a Great Knight Method in the future.

There should be one at the market.

But Ian was not going.

Although the School had said the roads had already been cleared and safety could be guaranteed, and Logan from the Mutual Aid Society had even gone once already, he would not gamble.

What if something happened?

He was better off lying low in the School.

"Compared to that, it's more reliable to wait for the Meditation Method to break through."

Ian's Meditation Method progress had already reached 340.

This time, it should have taken around ten days, but the increase in his talent had also improved his comprehension and the like, so he needed only seven or eight days.

In the blink of an eye, eight days passed.

His talent had now reached 143.

At the same time, another cycle of the Meditation Method was completed.

"Basic Meditation Method has broken through to Master Level. Talent +10."

"Talent: 143 → 153"

"Talent: Fourth-grade Star → Third-grade Star"