The secrets of Tirisfal Glades

He finally turned his attention to the Incantation. In fact, he had considered starting with it long ago, but even after years of study, he still did not understand how it increased mental power. All he knew was that it had something to do with the soul, yet he did not even know what a soul was, let alone how to study it. He had never seen a real soul, nor had he found any research on souls in Dalaran. Without any reference material, everything he knew about souls was pure conjecture, and he had no idea whether any of it was correct.

Dalaran had no material on the subject, and even if it did, he had no way to access it. His only option was to research it himself, but he had no material to work with. Where could he find a soul to study? He had even visited the graves of the dead to see whether ghosts or anything of the sort existed. Unfortunately, he had found nothing.

In the end, he went to the Library, hoping to find relevant accounts in its books. He had not expected much, but his search actually turned up a few things.

A travelogue he found on the Library's first floor recounted an adventurer's experiences. Its opening was much like those of other books, with some parts even identical, making him wonder whether it had been plagiarized. But none of that mattered. In one of its stories, he found a passage describing how the protagonist and his companions entered an unknown tomb, where a horde of terrifying monsters emerged, striking fear into their hearts. The description of one kind of monster sounded like evil spirits to Allen. He immediately flipped back to the beginning. It was an adventure story set in Tirisfal Glades.

The place immediately reminded him of Joey, who was already dead. Back then, Joey had also told Allen about rumors that Tirisfal Glades was haunted. This gave him an instinctive feeling that something might truly be wrong there. He immediately began searching the Library for every account related to Tirisfal Glades. At first, he found nothing particularly unusual, until a week later, when he discovered an important clue in an autobiography written by a High Elf on the second floor.

The High Elf mentioned in the autobiography that when the High Elves first arrived in Lordaeron, they had originally intended to settle in Tirisfal Glades. But, perhaps because they had disturbed something terrifying, the High Elves inexplicably went mad. The writer did not mention the specific cause, but judging by the tone of that passage, the High Elves must have been deeply frightened at the time.

Perhaps the High Elves did not know the cause either, for only the unknown inspired fear. But he was now fairly certain that the reason the High Elves left Tirisfal Glades must have had something to do with the rumors of hauntings. He was already beginning to consider going to Tirisfal Glades to take a look. He could also visit his parents and Old Jack while he was there.

But now was not the time. He was still too weak and probably could not handle those dangers. He would have to set aside the matter of increasing his mental power for now. What he needed to do was learn as many useful spells as possible and obtain his second-tier mage certification.

In fact, when his mental power underwent its qualitative change, he had already become considerably stronger than an ordinary first-tier mage. With the further increase in his mental power during this time, he should be able to scrape through the second-tier mage certification.

Most importantly, once he had that certification, he could consider taking a position at the Association. In particular, instructors at the Apprentice Academy had to be third-tier mages or above. Although Allen believed his level of ability was sufficient, strength was a firm requirement. Since he could not become an instructor, he could apply to be a teaching assistant instead.

Although teaching assistants could not compare to instructors, they still enjoyed many generous benefits as members of the Apprentice Academy. Not only did they receive substantial pay, but they could also read books unavailable in the Library. This was particularly important, because an open institution like the Library could never hold advanced magical knowledge. Such knowledge was held by the Archmages of the various towers.

The Apprentice Academy, however, was a special place. It was not merely an institution for training mages, but also the equivalent of a Mage Tower. The master of this Mage Tower was naturally its dean, who was also an Archmage. Thus, joining the Apprentice Academy would certainly give him an opportunity to encounter that advanced knowledge.

That was his primary goal. His secondary goal was to meet many higher-tier mages. These mages were completely different from those at the previous gatherings. They took magical research more seriously, and a great many magical theories came from the Apprentice Academy's instructors.

That day, he straightened his clothes and went to the Association, where he could buy the spells he wanted. Before long, a receptionist led him to a room in the back. An elderly mage sat inside. Allen could not gauge his strength at all; he was probably an Archmage.

He respectfully explained his purpose to the Archmage, but the mage did not even glance at him. After tossing him a list, he went back to reading his book.

Allen carefully examined the spells on the list. These were all second-tier spellbooks, with detailed descriptions of each spell, including its price, power, and mana requirements. He was most familiar with wind magic, but there were few spells of that type listed. Many were fire, water, and frost magic spells, along with some lightning magic and earth magic spells.

These spells were also extremely expensive. Even the cheapest cost several hundred gold coins, while the expensive ones cost over ten thousand. With his current finances, he could hardly afford them unless he did nothing but brew potions for a year or two. No wonder those Hedge Wizards only pursued powerful spells. They could not possibly afford the spells here, so their only option was to research their own.

In the end, he left the Association without buying a single spell. It seemed he could only create his own. To be honest, ever since discovering that new spell rune, he had already had some ideas about developing new spells himself, but he had been far too busy lately to find the time. Next, he drew up a schedule for himself.

From morning until noon, he would brew potions. In the afternoon, he would research new spells and conduct experiments. His evenings would generally be spent practicing the Incantation to increase his mental power as much as possible.

He no longer even delivered the potions himself. Instead, the merchant George came to collect them, all to save time. At each scheduled pickup, George would come in person, bringing potion ingredients and some daily necessities with him. As a result, Allen now hardly ever left home, and even when he did, it was to handle matters at the Association.

Another month passed like this. Over that month, he had made some progress in researching his new spell, but he was still trying to find ways to reduce its mental power consumption. The new spell used mana to create a whirlwind filled with wind blades. He had developed it based on the principles behind tornado formation in his previous life. Its power could even be said to exceed the scope of second-tier spells, surpassing the second tier without quite reaching the third.

Unfortunately, it consumed far too much mental power. With his current reserves, he could cast it twice at most before his mental power was completely exhausted, unless he replenished it with the mental power stored in the Soul Book.

In fact, he had already reduced the mental power output as much as he could. He did not even use runes to create the whirlwind directly. Instead, he created the conditions needed for a whirlwind to form, allowing it to arise naturally.

As everyone knew, tornadoes formed when an excessive temperature difference between the air above and below caused the upper air to descend rapidly and the lower air to rise rapidly, creating a vortex. Once formed, the vortex drew the surrounding air currents along with it, producing tremendous destructive force. Thus, he used runes indirectly to create a temperature difference between the upper and lower air, which then produced a vortex.

If he had used the mages' theories to construct the rune array, he probably could not have cast the spell even if he drained all his mental power. This showed that an understanding of this world directly determined a mage's ability to create spells. It was also why he held an advantage over Dalaran's mages.

In the end, he adjusted the spell's power slightly, changing it from its previous form. Instead, he placed its killing power in the wind blades that spun along with the whirlwind. After all, these wind blades were the most important part of forming the spell. Hidden within the whirlwind, they would be all but impossible for an enemy to guard against.

Even so, this still increased his mental power output, so he reduced the number of wind blades to half the original amount and increased the whirlwind's size. He would use the whirlwind's inherent destructive force to attack enemies, then use the hidden wind blades for targeted attacks. Although this reduced its power somewhat, it made the spell more focused and lowered its mental power consumption.

In any case, once his mental power increased, he could simply make a few adjustments to the spell. Finally, after testing it many times, he officially named the spell Whirlwind and recorded it in the Soul Book that same day. This meant he could cast it entirely with the mental power stored in the book, though only once.

After finishing all this, he checked the time and found that it was just when George was due to collect his goods. He washed his face, changed his clothes, and went out to receive him.

"Allen, I've come to see you! Guess what I brought you? Your favorite roast duck, and Chris's Tavern's latest creation, 'Blaze.' One sip, and I guarantee you'll be drunk!" Carrying a great pile of things, George walked straight into the hall. Ever since Allen advanced to Full Mage, George had been very warm toward him, even bringing him food from time to time to curry favor, saying that he had high hopes for him. Naturally, Allen had accepted it all without ceremony.

"George, leave those things there for now. Come in and take a look at your goods first." Allen was in a good mood today, so he intended to sell him some higher-quality potions. "This is a Medium Purification Potion. Oh, heavens, this is a Greater Healing Potion! Allen, don't tell me you've already become a fully qualified Alchemist?" George stared at Allen in surprise, excitement showing in his eyes.

"How could that be? I only know three potion formulas at most. I'm still a long way from five." Allen waved a hand at him. But his words did not disappoint George at all. Instead, George said to him in puzzlement, "Allen, the five-formula requirement is for ordinary Alchemy Apprentices. They can only brew inferior potions. You're different. You're a genius, and you can already brew high-quality potions. With your ability, you could absolutely give it a try. As long as you're lucky and brew a high-quality potion, you'll be a fully qualified Alchemist."