Metamorphosis, Master Level Wind Blade Spell

"Starting tomorrow, the materials allotment will be changed to twenty batches."

Victor merely said it calmly, then slowly returned to brewing potions.

It was as though there was a serene, dreamlike haze in the air!

Ian, meanwhile, was delighted by the twenty brewing attempts. Under normal circumstances, that many attempts would have cost him at least a dozen or so Magic Stones.

In other words, it was all thanks to Victor.

"No, under normal circumstances, the Potions Department might not even have so many opportunities. It's only because of the pre-war preparations that so much is needed."

Ian sighed with feeling.

It was said that the two Schools outside had begun to clash on a small scale.

Only the Academy remained peaceful within.

Ian's days gradually settled into calm.

In the blink of an eye.

Ten days passed.

Inside the laboratory.

Victor watched Ian brewing potions in the distance, his eyelids twitching.

Everything flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water.

He was practically like an old hand with years of experience.

In just fifteen minutes, he had brewed a bottle of potion.

There was still a gap between him and Victor, but Victor could only achieve his speed by relying on his greater mental power.

In terms of proficiency alone, Ian's skill with Minor Hemostatic Potions was no worse than Victor's.

"Finally, Expert!"

Ian looked at the panel. Seeing that his Hemostatic Potion had finally reached Expert rank, he revealed a satisfied smile.

A full ten days—nearly two hundred attempts at practice.

Converted into the usual cost in Magic Stones, he would have needed to spend more than a hundred Magic Stones to reach the same level.

"Ian, this batch of Hemostatic Potions can be considered complete as well. There shouldn't be any need for them in the near future. After today, you don't need to come anymore."

Victor walked over.

Thanks to Ian, he had completed the scheduled task ten days ahead of time.

"Thank you, Instructor."

Ian thanked him sincerely.

Without Victor, it could be said that he would never have gotten where he was today.

"How many runes have you imprinted?" Victor asked.

"Still five. I should be able to reach six very soon." Ian did not hide it.

"It seems your Talent assessment really was mistaken."

Victor nodded.

Later, he had checked and found that Ian's Talent had only been rated fifth-grade. Clearly, there had been a problem during the test.

It should have been Third-grade Talent.

That was decent enough.

"Do you still want to join the Potions Department now?" Victor asked.

"Yes."

Ian was very resolute.

He needed Magic Stones.

"Good. The Potions Department values Talent most highly—especially mental power and aptitude as a potion maker. That is why your grades in Meditation and Fundamentals of Potioncraft are the most important.

"You have no problems at all with Fundamentals of Potioncraft. So for the time ahead, you need to invest all your Magic Stones into raising your mental power. Do you understand?"

Victor spoke calmly.

"I understand. Thank you for your guidance, Instructor."

Ian understood that this was indeed the case.

If there was still one weak link for him, it could only be his mental power.

"But Mental Power Potions aren't cheap!"

Ian sighed inwardly.

Not a single potion related to mental power was cheap. Even the most basic Minor Energy Potion cost three Magic Stones.

It could slowly increase the recovery speed of his Mental Power over three days.

Roughly enough to let him meditate one or two extra times each day.

That came to thirty Magic Stones a month.

He currently had the twenty-three Magic Stones from the reward, plus eight Magic Stones from the Silver Moon Lake Family, for a total of thirty-one Magic Stones.

Adding next month's reward, it would barely be enough.

"Next comes the final sprint."

Ian's gaze gradually turned resolute.

He still had one chance left at the sparring ground.

He should make a trip there.

Training Ground!

Ian first began by practicing on his own.

He had devoted all ten days of daily practice to the Wind Blade Spell. At this point, the Wind Blade Spell had already reached the Expert Level.

Only one step remained before Master Level.

"Hekamoise!"

A three-meter-long wind blade appeared before him and flew toward the distant Alchemy Puppet.

Bang!

The puppet was sent flying, and a deep crack appeared in the gelatinous layer on its surface.

"Wind Blade Spell has broken through to Master Level. Talent +5."

"Talent: 168→173."

Ian's eyes lit up.

As expected of an excellent-grade Wizardry.

It had raised his Talent by a full five points.

But that was not the only surprise.

Ian looked toward the distant Alchemy Puppet. The displayed number had reached a full 4—4 Energy Intensity.

"Four."

Ian smiled.

Among Zero-ring Lower Grade Wizardry, ordinary-grade spells generally had an Energy Intensity of around one.

Excellent-grade spells could reach two to three, while exceptional-grade ones were even higher.

As for proficiency, generally speaking, Proficient mastery could fully unleash a spell's power, Expert Level could reach 1.2 times its power, and Master Level could reach 1.5 times.

The Wind Blade Spell was fairly good even among excellent-grade spells. It should have had an Energy Intensity of three, and with his proficiency, it had reached four points of Energy Intensity.

Of course, that was based on using one standard unit of Mental Power.

"Six runes can reach 24 standard Energy Intensity."

Ian pondered this.

Of course, that was impossible. If he directly mobilized all his Mental Power, leaving aside whether he could control it, even if he could, he would probably collapse onto the ground the moment he finished casting.

Generally speaking, Wizardry could mobilize at most one-third of one's Mental Power. Even then, it would still have an Energy Intensity of eight.

Ian was momentarily dazed.

That was enough to blast a massive boulder to pieces.

And this was only something he, a First-class Wizard Apprentice, could do.

Then what about Second-class and Third-class Wizards?

"That's why I need to hide in the Academy. If a real war breaks out and I run into people like that, I probably wouldn't even know how I died."

Ian clicked his tongue.

At this moment, the sparring partner he had summoned in advance had also arrived.

"That rookie Wizard from that day?"

The sparring partner was the very Wizard who had practiced with Ian on his first day. He had not run into Ian over the past few days.

"Today will be easy again."

He waved a hand, signaling Ian to make his move.

Ian nodded.

Without an incantation, a three-meter-long wind blade gradually condensed before him.

The wind radiating from the blade carved streak after streak into the ground. It was exceptionally sharp.

In the distance, the Wizard apprentice stood there dumbly.

"Wait, something's not right here."

His eyes widened.

Hadn't it only been a few dozen centimeters large ten days ago?

How had it become three meters tall in the blink of an eye?

And that intensity?

Even from more than ten meters away, he could feel the biting wind element radiating from it.

"Help!"

The apprentice even forgot that he was wearing protective gear. He turned and ran toward the nearby shelter.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Amid the howling wind, the apprentice felt the shelter before his eyes vanish in an instant as a wind blade viciously tore across his body.

Several seconds later, he slowly opened his eyes.

"I almost forgot I have protective gear. This can withstand an Energy Intensity of ten."

He let out a breath of relief.

But when he looked down, he saw that a crack had already appeared across the surface of his protective gear.

Its intensity really wasn't enough.

But its sharpness was terrifyingly strong!

"Is he really a newcomer?"

His lips twitched. This was damage that only an old apprentice with several years of experience could inflict, wasn't it?

But he had indeed seen him ten days ago.

Could he really have improved to this extent in just ten days?

"Damn it!"

Watching Ian approach from afar, he felt a chill run through him.

Just what kind of people were the apprentices in this batch competing against?!

After returning home, Ian first returned the Magic Stones to everyone in the Mutual Aid Society, then asked them to help him purchase some Mental Power Potions.

The next day, Ian received the Minor Energy Potion.

Light blue, four Magic Stones per bottle.

That was right. With the war drawing closer, the damned potions had gone up in price too.

After getting it, Ian did not drink it immediately. Instead, he began meditating. When his mental power gradually neared its limit, he opened the bottle and swallowed it in one gulp.

Gulp!

In an instant, he felt his mental power recovering much faster, while the sense of exhaustion was no longer so intense. He estimated that he could meditate two or three more times.

And this state would last a full three days.

Three days later, Ian took another bottle of potion right on schedule.

In the blink of an eye, The fifth assessment arrived.

This was also the last test before the final assessment.