Dark Faith Wizard Apprentice

"Recovering elemental energy with seventh-level meditation talent really is fast!"

More than half an hour later, Lohr woke from meditation, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from rising.

Back when he recovered elemental energy in the Wizard Tower, even with magic crystals, it took half an hour to restore just ten percent.

Now, without magic crystals, he had recovered eighty-five percent of his elemental energy in less than an hour.

The difference was as vast as heaven and earth.

"Too bad magic crystals aren't allowed in here. Otherwise, I could use them to stay at full elemental energy all the time."

Lohr felt somewhat regretful, but he also understood that the Divine Kingdom Trial was essentially a trial meant to temper wizard apprentices.

If magic crystals were truly allowed, apprentices like him, with high meditation talent and powerful spells, could sweep the battlefield without restraint.

It would serve no tempering purpose for the other apprentices, and the trial would lose its meaning.

"I wonder if there are still any bold fools who dare come over?"

He raised his head and glanced around outside. Through the Adaptive Rock Barrier, he saw that everything beyond was utterly silent.

The circle of Lava Eruption Spell magic formations he had set up beforehand also showed no signs of having been triggered.

"They've all learned their lesson." Lohr smiled.

So what if sheep became wolves?

When they encountered an Azure Dragon soaring through the skies, they still had to lie trembling obediently in a corner.

Lohr shifted his gaze to the large bundle beside him and began taking stock of his spoils.

First were the Divine Power Crystals. Including the final harvest, he had a total of 462 grams.

At a price of 1,000 Contribution Points per gram, that amount of Divine Power Crystals could be exchanged for more than 460,000 Contribution Points.

If he bought those lousy spatial tools with only one cubic meter of storage, he could buy nine of them!

Converted into Charge Points, it was more than 4.6 million.

Just because Lohr had gained so much did not mean the Wizard Alliance's upper ranks were excessively generous.

In truth, he had crushed the competition and seized the shares that tens of thousands of Third-Level Apprentices should have received. That was how he had obtained these Contribution Points.

If divided evenly, a Third-Level Apprentice would not even receive twenty Contribution Points, despite having fought for them with their lives.

Of course, whether the Wizard Alliance's upper ranks were generous or not, Lohr had undeniably become enormously wealthy this time, without the slightest exaggeration.

"I need to return fifty grams of Divine Power Crystals to my mentor, leaving 412 grams."

Lohr pondered. "After I return, I can start looking into how many Contribution Points a Third-Circle Wizard needs to take me there..."

"No, I don't necessarily need a Third-Circle Wizard to take me." Lohr shook his head. "With this many Divine Power Crystals, I can buy a powerful small flying vessel and cross the sea on my own."

He would continue seizing more Divine Power Crystals later. Once exchanged for Contribution Points, it would amount to an enormous sum.

Those Contribution Points might be nothing to the Wizard Alliance's true rulers, the fourth- and fifth-circle wizards, but they were enough to make a Third-Circle Archwizard take desperate risks.

"It's better to keep my life in my own hands. After all, I only have one."

Having made up his mind, Lohr stuffed the pile of Divine Power Crystals into the bottom of his bundle, then began pulling out the special Potions that could improve aptitude.

Ten vials...

Twenty vials...

Thirty vials...

After pulling out the last vial of Potion, Lohr counted them. There were thirty-seven in total.

Every one of these Potions could change the fate of a wizard apprentice with first-level talent, turning them into a third-level talent apprentice and giving them hope of becoming a formal wizard.

Taking out even a single vial would drive apprentices mad with desire.

"I'll drink one first and see what it's like."

Lohr did not hesitate. He picked up a vial of Potion, pulled out the stopper, and poured it into his mouth.

It tasted faintly spicy upon entering his mouth.

Once swallowed, his Sea of Consciousness became clear.

He felt a cool current surge from his throat straight into his Sea of Consciousness, making an imperceptible adjustment to his affinity with the elemental domain.

Lohr sent his awareness into his Sea of Consciousness but found nothing unusual, so he simply opened his panel and looked at the meditation talent entry.

[Meditation Talent: Level 7 (Modifying)]

About three minutes later, the cool sensation in his Sea of Consciousness vanished.

The words "Modifying" after his meditation talent disappeared as well.

His talent was still level seven. There had been no change.

"It works, but the effect is weak." A realization arose in Lohr's heart.

Rather than immediately drinking more Potion, he stood and carefully sensed the locations where the fluctuations of other Divine Power Crystals were intense.

If he had the chance, it would only make sense to loot another batch.

However, this time, he discovered that every place with intense divine power fluctuations was far away from him, and most of them were moving.

Lohr sighed. "It'll probably be difficult to get more Divine Power Crystals from here on."

Other than the Levitation Spell, he had not learned any spells that could increase his speed.

Even the 0.9-circle Levitation Spell only increased his speed by a little.

With others able to spot him from dozens of kilometers away, it would be difficult to catch anyone.

"Forget it. I'll finish the Potions first and see if I can improve my talent."

Lohr shook his head, sat down again, picked up another special Potion, and drank it in one gulp.

Five vials...

Ten vials...

After drinking the twenty-third vial, he stopped.

It was not because his talent level had changed, but because someone had come looking for trouble.

Rumble—

The Lava Eruption Spell magic formation he had arranged around the perimeter activated automatically, completely engulfing the ground within a thousand meters of the Adaptive Rock Barrier.

Lohr stood and looked in the direction that had triggered the Lava Eruption Spell magic formation.

A pitch-black shadow was engulfed by magma. The thin black shield around its body seemed on the verge of collapse, yet the magma could not burn through it.

In an instant, the shadow leaped beyond the range of the Lava Eruption Spell magic formation and vanished into the surrounding black night.

"Humanoid, no elemental fluctuations, dense dark energy... Interesting."

The corners of Lohr's mouth lifted. "Could this guy... be a Faith Apprentice from inside that Dark Wizard Tower?"

He truly feared that madman who would one day become a Five-Circle Dark Faith Wizard, but this apprentice was different.

Ignoring everything else, Lohr stomped toward where the black shadow had vanished, then cast another Adaptive Rock Barrier around himself.

Rumble—

A stream of magma spanning 1,300 meters erupted from the ground a hundred meters away from Lohr, engulfing an area with a radius of 1,300 meters centered on where the shadow had disappeared.

The black shadow revealed itself eight hundred meters from the center of the magma, completely engulfed within it.

This time, it could no longer escape as cleanly as before. The black curtain around its body melted rapidly in the magma.

After running two hundred meters toward the edge of the magma, the black curtain around it could no longer hold and melted away completely.

"Aah~"

The black figure let out a shrill scream, yet it was not burned to ashes by the magma, because another fresh layer of black curtain emerged around its body.

Apparently realizing this would not work, the black figure raised an arm.

A beam of dark energy filled with a terrifying aura appeared and shot straight toward Lohr.

A trace of coldness filled Lohr's eyes as he silently activated the High-Temperature Amplitude model in his Sea of Consciousness, which he had never used before, and lightly pointed at the still-erupting magma.

Sizzle—

The dark energy beam had barely been fired before it was swallowed whole by the magma, whose temperature had increased by more than double.

At that same instant, the black figure was melted by the magma.

The black curtain around its body offered not the slightest protection.

"I hadn't even planned to hunt anyone, yet you came after me first?"

Lohr was somewhat speechless, though he also felt a small thrill of satisfaction.

Ever since arriving in this world, he had been forced by that self-taught Dark Faith Wizard to never let down his guard.

Now that he had killed a talented apprentice from their faction, it counted as a small measure of revenge.

And he had incidentally gained a few... many spoils.

Sensing the dense divine power fluctuations nearby, he truly could not bring himself to belittle this enthusiastic friend any further.