Preparations for the Trial

Nighttime, in Fran's house, in the basement.

Fran used Wind Blade against the wall. An invisible attack shot out from Fran's hand, whistling through the air, and disappeared just before it hit the wall.

[You have mastered the Wind Blade Art. With your long practice, your Wind Blade Art proficiency has increased by 5.]

[Wind Blade Art proficiency maxed out, level increased.]

Fran let out a soft breath, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted from her heart.

She has been practicing this Wind Blade Art for the past few days, all in order to bring this spell, which is closest to the Extraordinary level, to the Extraordinary Level.

After she canceled the Wind Blade Art, a flood of knowledge suddenly appeared in her mind, leaving her somewhat confused.

Because this knowledge pertains to the First Order spell "Howling Gale," and wasn't she practicing Wind Blade Art? How did a First Order spell suddenly appear?

After carefully examining its contents, she realized that it was more of an upgraded version of the Wind Blade Art spell than a First Order spell.

The only difference between it and Wind Blade Art seems to be that it is more powerful and has a higher potential.

Its spell structure is very similar to the Wind Blade Art, except that the structure of the Wind Blade Art is repeated and superimposed several times to obtain this First Order spell.

Fran's initial excitement diminished considerably; she knew it wouldn't be that easy to obtain First Order spell.

However, Fran was quite satisfied with understanding the mechanism. Even though it was so simple to create a First Order spell, Fran didn't know that this could be considered a First Order spell.

Knowing this mechanism, Fran can then imitate it and create First Order versions of other spells.

She silently read the Panel and checked her status.

[Name: Fran

Profession: Mage (Forge, Modifier, Sword Song School, Elementalist) (1 star), Rune Warrior (half a star), Apothecary (half a star), Artisan (half a star)

Attributes: Constitution 3.0, Spirit 12.2

Arts: Wind Blade Art (Exceptional): You have grasped the essence of this spell and can now unleash higher-level spells.

Blood of the Furnace (Beginner): The most powerful spell you have learned, but it seems to consume most of your Mental Power when cast.

Hard Scale Armor (Mastery): Your spells gain some spell resistance, allowing them to withstand spell damage.

Light Prayer (Mastered) (Proficiency: 600/1000)

...(slightly)

Trait: Elemental Spell Feat (Increases spell power when casting elemental spells)... (omitted)

This is her current Panel. After flipping through nearly twenty books, she finally met the advancement requirements for the Elemental School, gaining an upgrade in her expertise and mental attributes.

It's becoming increasingly difficult for her to improve her mental attributes. Originally, the improvement would be nearly 2 points, but now the amount is getting smaller and smaller.

However, Fran was satisfied; she felt that her Mental Power now surpassed that of most First Order Mage.

In other words, against First Order Mage, as long as the opponent has no resistance skills, Fran can kill a First Order Mage instantly by getting close and casting a Chaos Control spell.

However, she also has some weaknesses. Although she knows many spells, she lacks true First Order spells.

Although she now knows that after mastering a spell to an extraordinary level, she will obtain First Order enhanced version of it, it still takes time to hone her proficiency.

Strictly speaking, the only First Order spells she currently knows seem to be the newly acquired Howling Gale and the Blood of the Furnace.

Speaking of Blood of the Furnace, she has truly mastered this spell, but its effect is much weaker than when cast through the ring.

Her casting range is only half a meter, and during the casting process, she directly drains most of her Mental Power, leaving her with basically only the Mental Power for movement.

However, she felt that the destructive power was similar to that released through the ring; both directly turned the surrounding matter into red liquid and then restored it.

Of course, it's also possible that she hasn't been exposed to more substances that are difficult to convert, so she can't compare the differences between the two.

As for more First Order spells, she estimated that Harbos would give her a few, but she didn't want to go to Harbos right now.

It was a bit frightening that she could be promoted directly based on her Mental Power; she planned to talk to Harbos about it later.

Although the renewed increase in Mental Power is somewhat alarming, it can also be explained by the fact that one's long-term practice of Mental Power has led to this increase.

Otherwise, if your Mental Power is clearly below the standard, it's hard to explain why it suddenly surges to the standard level.

Allowing more time for her to practice magic and increase her Mental Power would make her efforts seem more convincing.

Then there's the Spirit Realm Trial. To be honest, after she got the key, she actually wanted to give up.

After all, it's a bit frightening that the magic learned in the Material Realm can't be increased, and there's also the possibility, as Teacher Ichi said, that if you're unlucky, you might never find the Trial Key.

So she just casually put the key in a drawer; she only found it yesterday after searching for a while.

After learning about some attempts to participate in the Spirit Realm Trial at the Formal Rank, she decided to try her luck.

Although she might not be able to obtain the Talent bestowed upon her by the Spirit Realm, she has her own ideas.

According to Ichi's description, those mages successfully passed the Trial, but the Talent was not something they could necessarily obtain.

So here's the problem: her Panel also shows the conditions for forming Profession, and the only thing she's currently missing is passing the Trial in the Spirit Realm.

If she passes the Trial of the Spirit Realm like those mages, will she ultimately be able to obtain the Spirit Realm's Talent?

She felt that she could at least add a term (Spirit Realm) to her mage Profession, further enhancing her spiritual attributes.

Perhaps the Profession formed by the Panel can be recognized by the Spirit Realm, so that she doesn't have to rely on luck to acquire Talent.

Anyway, there's no harm in giving it a try. She didn't advance to Formal Rank in the Spirit Realm Spirit Realm, so dying there wouldn't affect her.

She gripped the key, a line of sentences flashing through her mind.

[The Trial will take place in the Brilliant Dream. The countdown to the start time is 0:3:8:46. Trial are requested to enter the Trial one hour in advance. Entry will be stopped five minutes before the Trial begins. The use of any spells or Combat Technique is unrestricted.]

Three days later at Fran's house.

Fran placed magical traps on all the doors and windows to prevent anyone from disturbing her, and also informed everyone she knew that she would be unavailable for the next few days.

The time allotted for the Spirit Realm Trial is equal to the number of days that pass in the Spirit Realm, so preparation is necessary.

After checking again, Fran lay down on the bed and silently recited the incantation. This time, she felt her consciousness rising more slowly, so she quickly recited it several more times before her consciousness finally rose.