Entry-Level

Contemplation Method,

Initiated!

In the Mental Sea, where distracting thoughts surged, Karl's consciousness was like a little boat, rising and falling amid the waves.

Though it seemed liable to capsize at any moment, it fought the waves relentlessly through sheer perseverance.

As time passed, it not only stayed afloat but grew steadier and steadier.

"Phew..."

Karl opened his eyes, and they gleamed faintly.

The world before him seemed as if a veil had been lifted. Everything he saw was clearer than ever.

It wasn't that his eyesight had improved; rather, the refinement of his mental strength had made him more perceptive of his surroundings.

"Finally..."

Karl held his hands out, loosely cupped.

"I can cultivate the Contemplation Method in the real world now, too."

Mastering the Contemplation Method and constructing a Zero-ring Witchcraft in the Mental Sea made one a junior Wizard Apprentice.

Karl had now accomplished both.

In other words,

in less than a month, he had already become a formal junior Wizard Apprentice.

Even a Level One Talent might not be able to do better.

No!

A Level One Talent probably couldn't progress this quickly, either.

"Keep a low profile. Keep a low profile."

"'A tree that towers above the forest will be brought down by the wind; a bank that rises above the river will be eroded by the current; a man who stands above others will be resented by all.' I should remember the lessons of those who came before."

After a few deep breaths, the excitement on Karl's face gradually subsided.

"According to the Wizard Apprentice rankings, learning one Zero-ring Witchcraft makes you a junior Wizard Apprentice."

"Learning three Zero-ring Witchcrafts makes you an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice."

"Learning six Zero-ring Witchcrafts makes you a Senior Wizard Apprentice."

"And only when you master a First-Ring Sorcery and break through the limits of your mental strength can you be considered a true wizard."

Of course,

cantrips didn't count.

Karl took out his notebook and wrote down the numbers with a quill.

Physique: 0.77

Mental strength: 0.96

The figures provided by the Divine Domain Fragment were reliable. As a Knight Squire, his physique was 0.77. By that standard, an ordinary person's physique should be around 0.5.

As for a knight,

they probably had a physique of over 1.

The difference of a few tenths might not seem like much, but in practice it was like night and day.

It was certainly no simple matter of one plus one equaling two.

Karl's mental strength was noticeably greater than his physique. Hibel had mentioned this, too, and the reason might have been his transmigration.

Just before his predecessor died, his consciousness had fused with the one that had transmigrated into this world. The two combined, so it was only natural that his mental strength exceeded that of an ordinary person.

That was why, once he had initiated the Meditation Method and refined his mental strength, he naturally possessed the foundation of a junior Wizard Apprentice.

"Constructing the Lesser Force Field model consumes 0.7 mental strength. By that reckoning, three Zero-ring Witchcrafts would require at least 2.1 mental strength. That means 2.1 is the standard for an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice."

"No!"

Karl shook his head slightly.

"The Lesser Force Field is one of the more complex Zero-ring Witchcrafts, so it consumes more mental strength."

"Stun Technique might only need 0.5 or 0.6. By the lowest standard, 1.8 mental strength should be enough to advance to Intermediate Wizard Apprentice."

Once a Spell Model was fully constructed, it would permanently occupy a portion of one's mental strength. In other words, to construct a second Spell Model, one needed spare mental strength—unless one erased the first Spell Model.

Likewise,

though Wizard Apprentices wielded extraordinary powers, they only knew a handful of Witchcrafts. If all of them became known to an enemy, it would be easy for that enemy to devise a specific counter.

That was why every wizard tried to conceal the Witchcrafts they knew or kept other trump cards hidden.

If all your cards were exposed...

you might as well be asking for death!

"Let's see if the Witchcraft's power has changed."

Karl set down his pen and, with a thought, activated the Lesser Force Field model in his Mental Sea.

An invisible force field appeared.

Unlike before, now that he had initiated the Meditation Method, he had finer control over the Lesser Force Field.

With the same amount of power, he could now expand or shrink its range, though its strength changed accordingly.

"Whoosh!"

A metal ball flew up from Karl's hand and dropped into the force field from above. Under the influence of the invisible field, it traced an arc and fell to the ground.

"The power hasn't increased much, but my control is more precise. I can also unleash it in a sudden burst, enough to distort an attack from a Knight Squire."

"And it lasts considerably longer than before."

After a series of tests, Karl looked satisfied.

"Not bad!"

"Now that I have the force field protecting me, I have a good chance of winning against anyone who isn't a peak-level Knight Squire like Dina."

"Hmm."

"And there's Light Spell, too!"

Light Spell might not seem useful, but if he cast it suddenly in a fight, he might dazzle his opponent for a moment.

Then,

it would come in handy.

The next day, Karl returned the remaining Necromancer Dust to the manor and, on credit, took two lessons in medicinal studies.

Several days later.

Bedroom.

Karl opened his eyes, his expression grim.

"With a Level Four Talent, why is my mental strength increasing so slowly?"

With the Data Panel, he could clearly see his progress—and just how slow it was.

"At this rate, it'll take ten days, maybe half a month, to gain 0.01 mental strength."

"One full point of mental strength would take at least three to five years!"

And that was with the help of the Divine Domain Fragment.

Three to five years to reach the mental strength of an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice was actually not bad.

Even a Level Three Talent might not progress that quickly.

But that was only the time required to cultivate the Meditation Method.

If he also counted the time spent constructing Spell Models...

Besides, Karl couldn't devote all his time to this. He couldn't afford to neglect his martial skills, either.

It would probably take more than ten years to truly reach the level of an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice.

"Forget it!"

Karl shook his head and went over to the Divine Domain Fragment.

"I'm not waiting for the Day of the Burning Moon. I'll go explore another world first."

"Snow?"

Standing at the doorway, Karl reached out and caught a snowflake falling from the sky, a puzzled look in his eyes.

Snow itself wasn't strange.

What was strange was that the snow in his hand was mixed with a little black.

And unlike the light snowflakes in his memories, which melted as soon as they touched his hand, this snow had weight and was gray.

It was less like snow

and more like ash.

Gray flakes fell from the sky, blanketing all of Black City. Even the roads were covered in a thick layer.

"Creak... creak..."

Karl's leather boots crunched across the snow, and the bitter cold grew even more intense in the wintry weather.

Laka Market.

The market was sparsely populated—not only was it nowhere near as busy as on the Day of the Burning Moon, there were fewer than half as many people as usual.

The stallholders, bundled in thick coats, huddled behind their stalls and waited for customers.

"Uncle!"

Aya looked up with delight.

"You're here."

"Mm." Karl nodded faintly.

"I didn't expect you'd still be running this stall."

Since he'd last seen her, Aya had grown even thinner. Emaciated was the perfect word for her, and her cheeks were visibly bruised. Her clothes were in tatters, too.

She'd kept working her stall in such bitter cold that her hands and feet were cracked and oozing pus. It was a pitiful sight.

"I don't have a choice."

Aya grinned.

"I took over the stall from Uncle Kolong and spent all my savings on it. If I can't make money..."

"I still have to make a living."

A trace of sorrow flashed in her eyes, then vanished.

She was a remarkably strong girl. She'd paid a steep price for the stall and still had to pay the stall fee every month.

Unfortunately,

business wasn't very good.

Aya had spent all her savings on the stall because she wanted to take a chance and make a living for herself. Now it seemed the road ahead wasn't easy.

It was no small thing that she'd managed to hold on this long.

Karl crouched and pinched up a small amount of soul powder from the stall.

"How much?"

"Two Black Stones a portion." Seeing a customer, Aya hurriedly replied, "If you want some, Uncle, I can give you a discount."

Two Black Stones.

About the same price as elsewhere.

Even with a discount, it probably wouldn't be much cheaper.

"The price is fair." Karl didn't haggle.

"But you don't have much soul powder here."

"Not much?"

Aya's breath caught, and her face flushed.

"Uncle, how much do you want?"

"As much as you have." Karl stood up, his voice calm.

"Money isn't a problem."