An ordinary Wizard Apprentice in the midst of advancement, with success all but assured at this stage, might have had his progress disrupted by this sudden change, rendering all his preparations useless and ending in outright failure.
Fortunately, Ruger was just a little stronger than an ordinary apprentice, and that little difference kept all his previous efforts from going to waste.
Even so, it slowed his advancement. In that instant of disruption, every inch of his flesh cried out, as though answering the discontent in his subconscious. Or perhaps they were his subconscious, its constituent parts-the cries of life itself. Nothing and no one could halt their progress. It was the loftiest yet most primal desire, rooted in the deepest recesses of every living being. Fury surged, and life instinctively yearned for a transformation that would carry it higher.
The yearning and fury erupting from his powerful vitality made even his Mental Power Space tremble. This was not the shaking caused by injury, but a resonance encompassing both mind and flesh, an upsurge throughout his entire being.
Life was colorful, and life was complex. Some Wizards could survive after abandoning their flesh, but the wizarding world had always regarded that as an inferior method-something deficient and imperfect.
At that moment, Ruger gained a preliminary understanding of that view.
His momentum, which had faltered slightly after the disruption, gradually stabilized, then began to surge, rising even higher than before.
In that instant, Ruger knew that today's breakthrough was assured.
From this day forward, people could address him as a Wizard-Wizard Ruger.
The clearly perceptible boundary was breaking apart just as clearly. He broke through his original biological limits, reaching a realm he should never normally have been able to touch. His mind seethed, his life pulsed, and an unseen power was