"Seventh-Level Meditation Talent restores elemental energy absurdly fast!"
More than half an hour later, Lohr awoke from meditation, unable to suppress the upward curl of his lips.
In the past, when he restored elemental energy in the Wizard Tower, even with the aid of Magic Crystals, it took half an hour to recover just ten percent.
Now, things were different. Without using 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.
"What a pity Magic Crystals aren't allowed inside. Otherwise, I could rely on them to keep my elemental energy full at all times."
Lohr felt somewhat regretful, but he also understood that the Divine Kingdom Trial was, at its core, a trial meant to temper wizard apprentices.
If Magic Crystals were allowed, apprentices like him, with high meditation talent and powerful spells, could sweep across the battlefield without restraint.
That would provide no tempering whatsoever for the other apprentices, and the trial would lose its meaning.
"I wonder if there are still any fools bold enough to come over?"
He raised his head and scanned the outside world. Through the Adaptive Rock Barrier, he saw only complete silence beyond it.
The Lava Eruption Spell magic circle he had set up in advance outside showed no signs of having been triggered.
"They've all learned their lesson." Lohr smiled.
So what if they had changed from sheep into wolves?
When they encountered an Azure Dragon soaring through the skies, they still had to crouch obediently in a corner and tremble.
Lohr shifted his gaze toward 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 rate of 1,000 Contribution Points per gram, this much Divine Power Crystal could be exchanged for more than 460,000 Contribution Points.
If he bought those pathetic spatial storage items with only one cubic meter of space, he could buy nine of them!
Converted into Charge Points, it was even more than 4.6 million.
Just because Lohr had gained so much did not mean the Wizard Alliance higher-ups were overly generous.
In truth, he had crushed and plundered 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 single Third-Level Apprentice might not even receive twenty Contribution Points, despite having fought for them with their life.
Of course, regardless of whether the Wizard Alliance higher-ups were generous or not, Lohr had undeniably become rich from this haul—truly rich, without the slightest exaggeration.
"I need to return fifty grams of Divine Power Crystal to my mentor, leaving 412 grams."
Lohr pondered. "After I return, I can start asking how many Contribution Points a Third-Circle Wizard would need to take me there..."
"No, I don't necessarily have to rely on a Third-Circle Wizard to take me." Lohr shook his head. "With this much Divine Power Crystal, I can buy a powerful small airship and cross the sea on my own."
He would continue seizing more Divine Power Crystals later. Once exchanged for Contribution Points, it would become an enormous sum.
These Contribution Points were nothing to the Wizard Alliance's true controllers, the Fourth- and Fifth-Circle Wizards, but they would be enough to make a Third-Circle Archwizard take a desperate risk.
"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 at the very bottom of the bundle, then began pulling out the Special Potions that could improve aptitude.
Ten tubes...
Twenty tubes...
Thirty tubes...
After taking out the final tube, 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 an Official Wizard.
Taking out any one of them would drive apprentices mad.
"I'll drink one first and see how it tastes."
Lohr did not hesitate. He picked up a tube, pulled out the stopper, and poured it into his mouth.
It was slightly spicy at first taste.
Once it went down his throat, his Sea of Consciousness cleared.
He felt a chill rush from his throat straight into his Sea of Consciousness, making an imperceptible adjustment to his Elemental Domain.
Lohr sent his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness but found nothing unusual. He simply opened his panel and looked at the meditation talent entry.
[Meditation Talent: Level 7 (Changing)]
About three minutes later, the cool sensation in his Sea of Consciousness vanished.
The words "Changing" after Meditation Talent disappeared as well.
His talent remained at Level 7, unchanged.
"It works, but the effect is weak." A realization arose in Lohr's heart.
Without rushing to drink another potion, he stood up and carefully sensed the locations where the fluctuations of other Divine Power Crystals were intense.
If there was an opportunity, the proper thing would be to loot another round.
However, this time, he discovered that every location with intense divine power fluctuations was far away from him, and most were moving.
Lohr sighed. "It'll probably be difficult to get any more Divine Power Crystals from here on."
Aside from 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.
When others could spot him from dozens of kilometers away, it would be difficult to catch up with anyone.
"Forget it. I'll finish drinking the Potions first and see if I can raise my talent."
Lohr shook his head, sat down again, picked up another Special Potion, and drained it in one gulp.
Five tubes...
Ten tubes...
After drinking the twenty-third tube, 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 circle he had set around the perimeter activated automatically, completely engulfing the ground within a thousand meters of the Adaptive Rock Barrier.
Lohr stood up and looked toward the direction that had triggered the Lava Eruption Spell magic circle.
A pitch-black shadow was engulfed by magma. The faint black barrier around its body appeared on the verge of collapse, yet the magma could not burn through it.
In an instant, the shadow leapt beyond the range covered by the Lava Eruption Spell magic circle and vanished into the pitch-black night around it.
"Humanoid, no elemental fluctuations, and dense dark energy. Interesting."
A smile tugged at Lohr's lips. "Could this guy... be a Faith Apprentice from 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 his foot toward the spot where the black shadow had vanished, then cast an Adaptive Rock Barrier over himself.
Rumble—
A stretch of magma spanning 1,300 meters surged from the ground a hundred meters away from Lohr, swallowing the entire area within a radius of 1,300 meters centered on where the black 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 was rapidly melted by 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 miserable scream, yet it was not burned to ash by the magma, because another fresh black curtain appeared around its body.
Seemingly realizing that this would not work, the black figure raised an arm.
A beam of dark energy brimming with terrifying aura appeared and shot straight toward Lohr.
A trace of coldness appeared in Lohr's eyes. 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 was swallowed whole by the magma, whose temperature had increased by more than double, the instant it was fired.
And the black figure was melted by the magma in that same instant.
The black curtain around its body provided no protection whatsoever.
"I hadn't even thought about hunting yet, and you were already setting your sights on me?"
Lohr felt somewhat speechless, yet also a small sense of satisfaction.
Ever since arriving in this world, he had been forced by that halfway-trained Dark Faith Wizard to never let his guard down for even a moment.
Now that he had killed a genius apprentice from their faction, it counted as a small act of revenge.
And he had even gained some... quite a lot of spoils in the process.
Sensing the dense divine power fluctuations nearby, he truly could not bring himself to belittle this enthusiastic friend any further.
Before you continue