After two days and two nights.
When Saine emerged from that side room again, he was already an Intermediate Apprentice with both Mental Strength and magic power exceeding 30 points.
Two days and two nights of meditation left the newly advanced Saine feeling deeply exhausted.
Although meditation could sometimes replace part of the benefits of sleep, it was not real sleep after all.
Over the past two days, Saine had only taken the two Nutrient Potions Senior Sister Fei'er had once given him to replenish his strength. By now, he was exhausted in both body and mind.
The first thing to greet Saine as he stepped out of the side room was the Alchemy Puppet crafted by his mentor, Moxidu.
The Alchemy Puppet held a broom that gave off faint magical fluctuations.
The red light in its head flickered slightly, then it entered the side room Saine had just left and began cleaning.
Looking around, Saine found that neither his mentor Moxidu nor his two senior fellow disciples were in the first-floor living room.
If he rashly pushed open the laboratory door, he would likely disturb them while they were conducting experiments or magical research.
So Saine tidied up his clothes a little and left his mentor's residence.
An Intermediate Apprentice could be considered something of an expert in the Black Wizard Academy of the City of Mozhsuobula.
Judging by the proportion of apprentices at each level within the academy, Intermediate Apprentices stood above roughly eighty percent of all apprentices.
Stronger magic and greater magic power signified that Intermediate Apprentices had gained a certain ability to protect themselves in the Underground World.
Moreover, once they reached the level of Intermediate Apprentice or above, the Black Magicians within the academy would no longer casually kill them at the drop of a hat.
Of course, with greater strength and access to more academy resources, apprentices above the Intermediate level also had to shoulder corresponding obligations.
Every two months, the academy assigned mandatory tasks.
The simple and relatively safe ones included guarding the gates atop the City of Mozhsuobula's walls.
But such jobs could only be snatched up with the right backing and connections.
Some were more dangerous, requiring them to venture deeper into the Underground World to gather certain magical materials, or kill designated magical beasts.
The mandatory academy tasks for Low-Level Apprentices only came once a year.
Intermediate Apprentices had one every two months, and their average level of danger was even higher.
This made the academy's mandatory tasks the chief culprit behind casualties among the Black Wizard Academy's Intermediate Apprentices.
In return, Intermediate Apprentices also received more Academy Points after each task.
Only with enough points credited to their accounts could Intermediate Apprentices afford to visit the Public Library to consult materials or exchange them for urgently needed magical materials.
On the second day after becoming an Intermediate Apprentice, Saine returned to his mentor Moxidu's place and finally received permission to enter the laboratory where his mentor and the others usually worked.
"Take these magic notebooks back and study them carefully."
"Today, help your Senior Sister observe and record the energy data from that laboratory table first."
Mentor Moxidu first stuffed five thick Magic Books into Saine's hands, then pointed to a small laboratory table in the corner of the laboratory.
In terms of thickness, these five Magic Books were at least twice as thick as the Basic Knowledge of Fire Element and Introduction to Alchemy Saine had received before.
They were Shaping Characteristics of Fire Element, On the Combination of Alchemy and Elemental Power, Ankeda Annotations, The Essence of Magic Power, and General Introduction to Basic Knowledge of the Wizard World's Continents.
Each of the five Magic Books was more outrageously thick than the last.
The final volume in particular was nearly half a meter long, and its height almost reached Saine's shoulder.
Was this the weight of knowledge?
Saine also noticed a detail: when his mentor took out these books, they simply appeared in front of him out of thin air.
Having helped other Formal Magicians conduct experiments in the Public Classroom before, Saine knew that this was extremely rare Space Equipment.
These five Magic Books were only a tiny fraction of the knowledge Saine needed to read thoroughly and master on his path as an Intermediate Apprentice.
Even someone as talented as Lina had spent nearly fifteen years at the Intermediate Apprentice level before accumulating enough foundations to challenge the Advanced Apprentice realm.
Saine had also discussed this with Lina in bed.
According to Lina, the process of transforming from an Intermediate Apprentice into an Advanced Apprentice was not merely a matter of increasing Mental Strength and magic power. It also required continuously acquiring more knowledge.
Only after truly creating and constructing a complete advanced spell within their own minds did Intermediate Apprentices have the capital to launch a charge toward the Advanced Apprentice realm.
Given the complexity of advanced magic, the system of knowledge required to outline one with one's own Mental Strength was not only vast but also intricate.
Simply memorizing an advanced Spell Model did not mean one could become an Advanced Apprentice.
If one knew only that it was so, but not why it was so, the most likely outcome would be a magic power backlash. A severe blow to one's spiritual sea of consciousness would be the lesser problem; losing one's life would be the truly ruinous outcome.
Lina had only begun constructing her Spell Model after so many years of accumulation and study.
For Intermediate Apprentices, they must never become blindly arrogant and rashly dabble in higher-level spells.
They had to understand that diligence and the accumulation of knowledge were the staircase to their advancement and growth.
Under normal circumstances, entering the Advanced Apprentice level at thirty could absolutely be called genius.
Among the apprentices of the Black Wizard Academy, however, the average age of reaching Advanced Apprentice was between forty and fifty.
Saine had never asked exactly how old his Senior Sister was. Magicians always had ways to extend their lifespans or preserve their youth.
Female Magic Apprentices, in particular, cared especially deeply about such matters.
Saine laboriously carried the five Magic Books to a corner of the laboratory, intending to move them back to his dormitory only after helping his mentor finish the experiment.
Senior Sister Fei'er had long been waiting beside the small laboratory table in the corner.
A complex apparatus sat on the small laboratory table. According to Senior Sister Fei'er's explanation, their main task was to observe a semitransparent round crystal on the table and record the specific energy values fed back by the complex apparatus.
This small laboratory table was only one part of Mentor Moxidu's experiment. The truly important component was actually the large laboratory table in the center of the laboratory.
There were three laboratory tables in this laboratory. Aside from the one occupied by their mentor and the one where Saine and Fei'er were stationed, Senior Sister Fei'er said the final medium-sized laboratory table was controlled by Senior Brother.
Special magical radiance then rippled through every corner of the sealed laboratory.
When Saine saw Mentor Moxidu, his eyelids twitching wildly, embed a dazzling Energy Crystal comparable to the one Master Feilunna had used to bribe the Vice Dean, into the main laboratory table, he could not help asking his Senior Sister beside him in a low voice.
"Senior Sister, what experiment are we actually conducting?"
"Mm... according to Senior Brother, we're making four Element Fission Generators."
"The one before us is almost finished. It seems to be a task the academy assigned to our mentor," Senior Sister Fei'er replied softly.
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