Second Level, Failure

According to Soraya, when they were hunting the third-tier Cold Scale Python, two second-tier smaller ones also sprang out, and each of them had awakened a trace of the bloodline of the Ancient Ice Crystal Magic Serpent to varying degrees.

I thought it would take more effort, but the process went surprisingly smoothly.

All three Cold Scale Python were depleted of their qi and blood, their strength less than a third of what it should be, as if they had just experienced a major battle.

The four Third Level Wizard easily ended the battle; one of the three-headed Cold Scale Python died, and two were captured alive.

The three great wizard families of White Stone Fortress were quite pleased, as the harvest was even greater than they had anticipated. They were probably now figuring out how to replenish the depleted essence blood of the two captured Cold Scale Python, and were also arguing about how to distribute the two Cold Scale Python.

However, this result was not good for Soraya.

Soraya took the essence blood from the three Cold Scale Python, but the one with the strongest bloodline aura was still quite different from what she had expected.

"We will not be performing the Bloodline Transplant for you for the time being."

Soraya said to Ronan, "Let's complete the Talent Transplant first. We can talk about the Bloodline Transplant after the three major wizard families figure out a way to restore the bloodline concentration of the two Cold Scale Python."

The Ancient Ice Crystal Magic Serpent Bloodline aura contained within this essence blood is far too weak, almost indistinguishable from that of an ordinary Cold Scale Python. It's not worth the risk. Bloodline Transplant doesn't require being stuck at the point of Spiritual Power Crystal.

Ronan nodded, looking at the blood clot in Soraya's hand. It would be a lie to say he wasn't disappointed, after all, he had almost made preparations for the Bloodline Transplant.

Now that I've told him I can't do it, I inevitably feel a little empty inside.

However, this outcome wasn't entirely bad; Ronan had no intention of revealing the secret of the "Saint Blood Tree" to Soraya.

After leaving White Stone Fortress, he might be able to find a suitable bloodline for purification and transplantation on his own. He had already obtained the core technology of Bloodline Transplant from Soraya.

Could the abnormality of the Cold Scale Python be related to the group of Black Robe Wizard who suddenly broke in?

Ronan thought of the unexpected encounter with Anglie and his group.

He remembered that Basil of the Silver Magic Ring had told him that after the destruction of the Hoddam Academy, the Whispering Forest, which was vying for the Nefa Key, was also crushed by the behemoth of the Crimson Tower, the Black Wizard Land.

Anglie escaped from the Whispering Forest, even killing two level-two wizards in the process.

Judging from his current appearance, it seems that he has joined another Black Robe Wizard faction and is doing quite well there, holding a rather prestigious position.

"I don't think so."

Soraya shook her head and said calmly, "Those insects from the Black Nightmare Swamp were watching us from the sidelines while we were hunting the Cold Scale Python, but they didn't seem to be there for the Cold Scale Python."

They probably didn't expect us to be there.

I suspect... it might be related to the ancient ruins near the Serpent Nest... but we four Third Level Wizard carefully examined the inside and outside of the Serpent Nest several times afterward, and found no clues. The ruins had been destroyed by the Cold Scale Python; perhaps that's why they were injured..."

"Black Nightmare Swamp..."

Ronan heard Soraya mention this word, made a mental note of it, nodded, and said nothing more.

"Alright, get ready to advance to level two."

Soraya stopped talking to Ronan and told him to get ready.

At this moment, there are two Rune Array arranged on the floor of the room, one large and one small, nested inside each other.

Ronan walked to the center of the magic circle and sat down, taking off his magic robe to reveal his smooth and perfect upper body.

The outermost magic circle is the Crystallization Array necessary for advancing from level one to level two, while the innermost circle is the Rune Array for Talent Transplant. Everything has been prepared in advance, with only a little preparation work remaining.

Soraya divided the third-tier Cold Scale Python's essence blood into several portions, performed a series of complex adjustments on each portion, and then stepped into the magic array. Using the adjusted Cold Scale Python's essence blood as material, she began to paint on Ronan's body as if she were painting.

The process didn't take long; Soraya spent half an hour covering Ronan's body with various teardrop-shaped, twisted runes.

Including his neck and cheeks, all the lines pointed directly to the center of his brow.

As the last stroke was completed, Soraya withdrew from the magic circle. With her right hand, she drew a mysterious magical symbol in the air in front of her. A faint spiritual power surged from her fingertips, transforming into a beam of light along with the invisible symbol and shooting into the magic circle on the ground.

Guided by spiritual power, the outer Crystallization Array began to activate, emitting streaks of light, like a complex and precise machine starting to operate.

Ronan, who was in the center of the magic circle, suddenly felt an invisible pressure quietly forming.

This pressure did not act on his body, but rather fell upon his mental energy in a rather peculiar way.

It was similar to the pressure he felt when he first faced Soraya, Third Level Wizard, with her full mental power, but of course much gentler.

As the magic array operated, the pressure gradually increased. Ronan closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Within his Consciousness Space, Ronan "saw" his solid-liquid sphere of mental energy trembling slightly under the pressure released by the magic array. Under normal circumstances, the transformation of his mental energy would have already begun at this point.

However, Ronan's mental energy purity is far higher than that of an ordinary late-stage level one wizard, so the current pressure is far from enough for him.

He also took this opportunity to bring out his [Frozen Earth] rune and began to improve and upgrade it in the direction of [Tundra Frozen Earth] according to the inheritance given by Soraya.

The pressure from the Crystallization Array needed a period of "warm-up" before it could reach the level required for Ronan's mental energy to crystallize further, so he was quite relaxed during the process of upgrading the runes.

Ronan had long been familiar with the [Tundra Frozen Earth] rune, and with careful "sculpting," he easily completed the upgrade of the entire rune.

Then, he took the solidification agent he was about to use in his hand, waiting for the pressure of the Crystallization Array to rise sharply. "Crack—"

Finally, the mental energy cluster in his mind began to collapse inward, just like a fluffy snowball being squeezed into an ice cube little by little.

Ronan also felt a slight tremor in his soul.

He summoned the [Tundra Frozen Earth] seal that had already been condensed in his Consciousness Space and imprinted it into the shrinking mental energy cluster.

This is another important point about why a level two wizard is stronger than First Level Wizard.

The Soul Rune of a level two wizard will exist within Spiritual Power Crystal, thus the connection between the imprint and spiritual power will become closer, the activation speed of the imprint will be faster, and the effect it can exert will be far greater than that of a level one wizard.

"Linas! Get ready..."

As the [Tundra Frozen Earth] seal was fully imprinted into the mental energy cluster, the mental energy cluster, which was originally a mixture of solid and liquid, almost completely crystallized, shrinking to less than one-tenth of its original size. Soraya's voice reminded Ronan.

Ronan took a deep breath and clearly sensed something rapidly entering his body and then rushing into his mind.

From an outsider's perspective, Ronan, sitting cross-legged on the floor, had activated the second Rune Array around his body. Countless runic lights pierced into his body, and the numerous runic patterns on his skin began to melt rapidly like damp paint, slowly seeping into his flesh. The special medicinal liquid mixed with the essence blood of the third-tier Cold Scale Python was re-condensing in Ronan's mind. What Ronan needed to do now was to use this medicinal liquid to condense the [Icy Soul] before his mental power completely crystallized, and then seize the opportunity to embed it into the crystallized body.

It's like two runes being fused into a single Spiritual Power Crystal.

However, the [Icy Soul] talisman, which is condensed from the essence of magical beasts, will consume some of its power each time it is activated. When all the magical beast blood in it is consumed, the talisman will disappear.

After Soraya's previous series of adjustments and treatments, the essence blood of magical beasts will automatically carry away most of the impurities after the rune is completely consumed, and will have little impact on mental and Soul Power.

If a regular wizard were to perform a "Talent Transplant," this step would be omitted, and the problem of spiritual and soul contamination would be much more severe.

This is also a technique that many wizarding families in White Stone Fortress do not disclose to the public.

Despite the throbbing pain in his soul, Ronan quickly used the demonic beast blood that had seeped into his mind to condense the [Icy Soul] seal. Just as he had just imprinted the [Tundra Frozen Earth] seal, he also imprinted the [Icy Soul] into his Spiritual Power Crystal body, which was almost completely unfinished.

He immediately opened the solidification agent he had prepared beforehand and quickly drank it down. In an instant, a flash of light appeared in Ronan's mind.

As if a clear and melodious sound rang out, a nearly transparent crystal finally formed.

Within the crystal-clear interior, the Soul Rune belonging to the [Tundra Frozen Earth] appears as a mysterious pattern, growing naturally within it. Invisible, tiny veins extend from the edges of the imprint, intricately connected to the entire Spiritual Power Crystal. "Whoosh—"

As the Spiritual Power Crystal fully took shape, the air around Ronan seemed to sink, and a powerful pressure emanated from his body, stirring up [Rage] gusts of air in the silent room.

Soraya, standing at the edge of the magic circle, slightly raised her hand, and all the air currents immediately disappeared, and the room returned to calm. Only Ronan, sitting in the center of the room, seemed to be "shining" and had become the biggest "source of light" in the room.

Meanwhile, new changes are taking place in Ronan's mind.

The [Icy Soul] rune that he had successfully embedded into the crystal body shattered silently after the Spiritual Power Crystal was formed, then turned into a pool of turbidity and was quickly squeezed out.

Only a tiny, pale blue glow remained on the surface of the crystal, melting away rapidly like snow.

In a daze, Ronan seemed to see a vaguely large, dark blue snake shadow, but it vanished in a flash.

Immediately following, a surge of inspiration and insights into ice magic inexplicably welled up within him, and his understanding of ice magic seemed to instantly ascend to another level! "Buzz—"

Silent energy fluctuations emanated from his body, and countless mysterious auras surged forth, forming three different Extraordinary Magic Domain powers that intertwined with each other, seemingly merging into one. "Linas!"

Seeing this scene and sensing the aura of those three Extraordinary Magic Domain, Soraya, who was standing to the side, showed a look of shock for the first time on her weathered and beautiful face.

Immediately afterwards, a strong gleam appeared in her eyes, and she became slightly excited.

"Linas, I am the exceptional Linas."

She called out softly, her face beaming with indescribable joy and happiness.

The strange phenomenon of intertwined and merged Dharma realms only lasted for a few breaths before abruptly ceasing.

Immediately afterwards, Ronan, shirtless and sitting cross-legged within the two Rune Array, suddenly opened his eyes. The not-so-bright room was instantly illuminated by a brilliant azure light, which slowly faded away after a long time.

Ronan slowly stood up from the center of the magic circle. His long, white hair, draped over his shoulders, danced without wind. He was enveloped in a strange radiance, and a vast and invisible force field rolled around him. He was like a top-grade gem that had been carefully polished with silk, radiating unparalleled brilliance.

I finally reached level two.

Ronan exhaled a breath of stale air, and the revitalized Neumann Metal transformed back into a gray robe with silver trim, draped over his body.

At this moment, Ronan felt as if the whole world before him had become much clearer, and the free energy particles active around his body were closer to him than he had ever been before.

This is the most direct change brought about by the improvement of mental and Soul Power.

Name: Ronan Damien

[Strength: Second Level Formal Wizard (1%)]

On the Character Panel, his strength had increased from level one (150%) to level two (1%), bringing him one step closer to stepping out of the fog. Ronan roughly sensed that his current total mental energy was about ten times that of before.

His original mental strength was three times that of an ordinary late-stage level one wizard, which means that now his mental strength is at least thirty times stronger in "quantity" than that of an ordinary late-stage level one wizard! This does not even take into account the bonus in "quality".

At this moment, Ronan had already tried his best to suppress his mental power, but the mental power fluctuations that naturally emanated from his body still caused the surrounding air and light to collapse and distort in waves, which was something that ordinary second-level wizards could not achieve.

"Those spells from before, now released with the power of level two mental energy, have probably undergone a complete transformation in power."

Ronan was even a little impatient, wanting to quickly summon a spell to test it out and compare the difference with his level 1 late-game self.

Linas

A soft call pulled Ronan back to reality from his self-reflection.

"Aunt Soraya."

He responded respectfully.

At this moment, Soraya was looking him up and down with the same gaze she would give a rare treasure, a smile playing on her lips and her eyes sparkling with admiration. The affection and concern she felt for him seemed several times stronger than before Ronan's breakthrough.

"Good boy"

Soraya beckoned him over, gently stroking his long hair, and whispered, "You are destined to be a member of the Lanster family. The 'Ice Flame Iris' totem emblem will shine even brighter because of you."

Ronan listened to Soraya's soft whispers in his ear, pondered for a moment, and then raised his right hand.

A dark red liquid rapidly seeped from under the skin of his right palm. It was the specially processed essence blood of the Cold Scale Python that he had absorbed earlier, but it was now being expelled from his body like waste.

"It failed."

Ronan gave a wry smile and said with some shame, "What a waste of this essence blood. Perhaps the Cold Scale Python's talent really isn't suited to me."

Yes.

Ronan's "Talent Transplant" ultimately failed.

Ronan guessed that it might be related to the fact that his mental energy had undergone a purification process, making it too pure.

After crystallization, the spiritual power does not allow any impurities to remain inside, so it actively expelled the already condensed [Icy Soul] seal as an impurity.