The one thing that illuminated Greem's consciousness space was the consciousness core he had formed when he had advanced to adept.
It floated like a miniature sun there, as the rich fire elementium in the surroundings continually flew towards it like birds returning to their nests. This phenomenon coated it with a layer of brilliant red light. From a distance, it looked both beautiful and magnificent.
When Greem's mental consciousness appeared in this space, his consciousness core immediately became connected with him. In a split second, Greem felt like he had suddenly appeared in the inside of his consciousness core. He was looking over this boundless space from the perspective of the consciousness core. He experienced the place from the angle of the core and with the senses that it used to feel.
The surrounding fire elementium was so rich that it didn't even require Greem to guide it. The red spots of light ceaselessly surged into his mental consciousness like a downpour. Every speck of red light provided Greem's Spirit with a trace of comfort and warmth as they made contact with his mental consciousness.
Greem 'opened' his eyes and used his consciousness appendages to feel his surroundings slowly.
Not far away, an overwhelming torrent of fire elementium slowly but surely flowed past him. The red and hot sensation felt the same as the sea of lava in reality.
Greem hesitated for a moment before extending his mental appendage out of his consciousness core. He gradually reached towards that torrent of fire elementium.
Weng.
At the instant his mental appendage made contact with the fire elementium, Greem felt his mental consciousness go completely numb. A hot swell of flame split off from the torrent of elementium and flowed up the thread. It rushed towards his consciousness core with ferocious momentum as if it would crush anything in its way.
Strangely enough, while Greem was shocked and feared that he was in great trouble, his consciousness core suddenly vibrated. A weird golden rune formed within the core.
Golden light shone upon Greem's mental consciousness the moment the rune was born. He quickly, yet vaguely, felt as if something different and new had been added to his mind. The untouchable stream of flames turned into a warm summer's breeze, allowing his entire 'body' to bask relaxingly in that golden radiance. Greem was so comfortable that he didn't want to move even a bit.
At the same time, Greem's mental consciousness could sense gray and black spots of light continuously spilling out from his Spirit. These spots of light slowly dispersed in this strange psychic space.
Greem, in his usual state, might have been scared out of his wits at this point. He might have hurriedly broken out of this weird state. However, Greem was able to rely on the information he had gathered in the past. He was able to realize that this was the tempering process of his Spirit that he had been so painstakingly searching for.
Those spots of light that were being expunged from his Spirit was the parts of his Spirit that weren't entirely compatible with fire elementium.
While this meant that his total Spirit was slowly decreasing, the remaining Spirit was now undoubtedly more suited to supporting and absorbing fire elementium.
His spirit consciousness sank into this strange state, silently enduring the pain of blazing jets of pain enveloping his Spirit, and the discomfort of having it tempered. The golden rune emitted golden light every time Greem was at his limits. The radiance would merge into his mental consciousness and help him sooth the damage from the violent flames.
This golden radiance possessed knowledge fragments that had a trace of the fire laws. It allowed his mind to suddenly gain missing knowledge that it previously hadn't understood.
It was like a massive puzzle of knowledge suddenly had one or two inconspicuous spots illuminated and solved. This process of tempering his Spirit had allowed Greem to understand and comprehend the existence of the fire laws finally.
After four whole hours of meditation, Greem reluctantly retreated from his state of meditation. It wasn't that he didn't want to continue. Rather, his mental consciousness was at its limit.
Greem received multiple notifications from the chip when he finally came out of the meditation space.
It seemed these notifications had temporarily been blocked while he was in the meditation space. They were only flooding in now.
"Detecting unique mental consciousness space."
"Detecting unknown change happening to host's mental consciousness. Request instructions from host? Stop this process?"
"Detecting unknown change happening to host's mental consciousness. Request instructions from host? Stop this process?"
……
"Host's mental consciousness changing. Mental space shrunk by 11%. Mental strength increased by 4%. Elementium concentration within body increased by 1%.”
"Host has completed one instance of Spirit tempering."
Chapter 434 Path of an Apprentice
"Chip, display the changes to my Spirit after tempering!"
"Beep. Host's attributes are as follows: Strength 2.8 | Agility 1.3 | Physique 3.9 | Spirit 6.”
Greem narrowed his eyes when he saw these numbers.
He distinctly remembered that his Spirit used to be at seven points. Didn't this mean that his Spirit had decreased rather than increased after one instance of tempering? Not to mention, this was one entire point of reduction in his Spirit. This…
The chip's notification continued while Greem considered.
"Host's mental limits increased. Mental strength increased. Fire affinity increased. Disharmony between current psychological state and body compatibility detected. This phenomenon is expected to end in 127 hours 36 minutes and 54 seconds. During this time, the host has to continuously release fire elementium to stimulate change in the host's body.
"It is estimated that Spirit will be increased by 1.17 points after mental state has reached the same frequency as body compatibility."
A reduction of 1 point and then an increase of 1.17 points? Didn't this mean that his Spirit would have a decent net growth? The most significant change to Greem wasn't the increase to his Spirit. Rather, it was the improvement of his fire affinity.
That was indirectly improving his innate potential! It was a massive development that would make Greem smile even in his sleep!
After all, his Spirit only decided how many spells he could cast at the moment and the how fast his magical powers would recover. However, his potential determined how far he could go in the future. That was the determining factor in his attempt to advance to Second Grade.
That was also what he prioritized the most!
However, the change this time wasn't all that much. Greem had to continue his efforts to see a noticeable difference. What Greem needed to do now was properly manage Fire Throne. As long as he persevered, there would come a day when he broke out of his cocoon.
…………
Greem received a request for an audience not long after he returned to the tower. The person who requested the audience was Kodar, who had just returned to Feidnan City not long ago.
Greem met Kodar in his room on the fourth floor.
Kodar's purpose on his trip here was to deliver a handwritten letter by Meryl. The letter pointed out that the Sarubo Clan had started becoming vigilant of Greem's faction. Not only was the allocation of resources vaguely biased against them, but even the compulsory missions assigned to them were also becoming more and more dangerous.
Moreover, the clan had also started tense confrontations with a mid-sized group from the east over the death of a pseudo-adept. They were the Aki Clan, and several of the advanced apprentices in Greem's factions had been sent there. The friction between the two clans was incredibly intense, and it was very likely that it would escalate into a clan war.
The information that Meryl had obtained through hidden means suggested that Greem was likely to be reassigned to the clan resource site closest to the center of the conflict.
When that happened, Greem would unavoid
ably be dragged into a clan war!
Greem pondered as he read the letter.
After a long delay, Greem placed the letter on the wooden table. He tapped the table and turned to look at Kodar.
"Is this all?" Greem asked doubtfully, "Meryl wouldn't ask you to come all the way here if this was everything. Is there something else you need to tell me?"
The magical facilities within Fire Throne were now reasonably complete. If something remarkable happened in Feidnan City, Meryl would most definitely use magical means to contact Greem. There was no need to send a pseudo-adept like Kodar all the way here just to deliver a letter.
"Teacher, I intend to try again sometime soon." Kodar finally spoke hesitatingly.
Greem's tapping finger paused.
"Have you completed your preparations?"
"Yes, sir! My family has already prepared all the resources required for the ceremony. It is very likely that I will attempt to advance again next week."
Greem fell silent for a moment. Blue light flashed in his black eyes as he instantly obtained all of Kodar's attributes.
Kodar, Human Pseudo-Adept, Male.
Innate affinity: dark elementium.
Attributes: Strength 0.3 | Agility 0.4 | Physique 0.4 | Spirit 0.9.
Kodar was the eldest of all of Greem's disciples. He was also the one who behaved the most like a noble. He had an impressive background. His family owned a lavish territory that spanned over fifty kilometers somewhere in the center of the continent. He was a royal noble of a small kingdom.
The Sarubo Clan had picked up on the wealth of this family and recruited many apprentices with potential from Kodar's family back then. His family was considered one of the subordinate forces to the Sarubo Clan.
However, his excellent background did not provide him with the same excellent fortune.
It had been thirteen years since Kodar had become a pseudo-adept. During that time, he had already attempted the advancement ceremony once. Sadly, he failed!
That was why his attributes appeared to have reached the necessary requirements to host the adept advancement ceremony, but Greem realized that his life aura was a dull gray color, reflected by the chip's scan. It meant that the life force lost from the previous ceremony hadn't completely recovered. The chip estimated that Kodar would have no more than a 16% chance to succeed if he attempted advancement in his current state.
Greem knew very well what it meant to advance, having experienced it himself. Advancement was to gather a consciousness core within the consciousness space using the laws one was most familiar with. This process would exhaust most of the body's energy reserves!
The process of forming a consciousness core was notably long. Massive consumption of energy would occur throughout the duration. The initial consumption of energy drew upon the subject's energy reserves, and if the energy reserves were insufficient, then the ceremony would start drawing upon the subject's innate potential. If even the innate potential still weren't enough, then the life force was the next to be burned.
That was why Kodar had lost tremendous potential during the last failure, along with a lot of his life force.
If he exercised proper care and maintenance, he would have no problem living another seventy or eighty years. However, if he were to attempt advancement to adept in such a state, then the likeliest possibility was him exhausting all of his life force and dying during the ceremony.
A 16% success rate!
That was the result that the chip had calculated after analyzing every single aspect. Even Kodar himself might not know his success rate with such accuracy. He would only have a vague idea that he was likely to fail. However, he wouldn't know how bad his chances were.
Of course, the highest possibility was Kodar himself willing to attempt the advancement regardless of how bad his chances were.
After all, in this world where adepts ruled the rest of the people, the pseudo-adepts were still far too inferior to real adepts!
In truth, this was the only determination for all apprentices that stepped upon the path of an adept.
They gritted their teeth and broke through barrier after barrier, or they died on the road, tragic and broken.
Greem hesitated for a moment and didn't tell Kodar of his estimations.
Kodar choosing to visit him before he held his advancement ceremony carried with it an intention to bid 'farewell.' It didn't matter whether it was his choice or one that his family pressured him into making; this was a step that Kodar had to take.
If that were the case, anything that Greem had to say would only weaken his will. Why not let him fight for that 16% with all he had?
Greem lowered his head and thought for a moment before taking out a jade green potion from his pouch. He handed it over to Kodar.
"Take it; this is a vial of high-quality Potion of Life. Drink it during the advancement ceremony if you feel like you cannot hold on any longer. It might help you!"
High-quality potions like this were worth thousands of magical crystals each. They were healing potions exclusively used by adepts. In fact, they hardly ever surfaced on the market. Even an ordinary adept would preserve and keep a medicine like that if they came into possession of one. This item was something that could save their lives during a dangerous moment.
If it weren't for Greem having a qualified potions master subordinate like Gargamel, even he would have trouble purchasing a life-saving potion like this one.
Gratitude surfaced on Kodar's face. He silently accepted the gift and bowed to Greem before slowly walking out of the room.
Greem had a feeling as the doors of his room slowly closed. This moment was probably the last time he would see Kodar!
…………
The Tower of Fate.
The large doors slowly opened as Alice strode through the corridor in her long purple and starry robe. Magic Fairy Helen was like a nagging housewife, constantly flying around Alice's ears and reporting things.
Clusters of starry radiance dragged behind Alice as she walked, forming a beautiful belt of stars.
All the apprentices that met her on the way made way and bowed to her. They all held magical tomes in their hands. It was apparent that they were hurrying to a magical hall for lessons.
"Who is giving the lecture today? Snowlotus or Katrina?" Alice suddenly pointed at a young apprentice and asked loudly.
This apprentice was only nine-years-old. She had a young face, a short white robe, and she held a surprisingly thick tome in her hands. The words 'Basic Discussions on Astrology' were written on the side of the hardcover book in beautiful and large Aliduan characters.
The apprentice was too young and too petite. That was why the sight of her walking through the corridor with a book half her size had been so eye-catching.
"Lady Alice, Miss Katrina is the one giving the lecture today!" The little apprentice's face flushed red, perhaps because it was the first time she was speaking to someone as famous as the Witch of Fate herself. One could see tiny beads of sweat on her slightly freckled nose.
Witch Katrina was a wandering witch that had come to join after the Tower of Fate had activated. Even though her abilities were pretty average, she still had rock-solid foundations for a First Grade witch. Alice didn't have the luxury of choosing at the moment either. She accepted everyone who came to join her cause, regardless of who they were, and assigned them duties within the Tower of Fate.
"What is your name?" Alice was suddenly interested in this nervous little witch apprentice.
"I'm called Tiffany!"
Chapter 435 Battle in the Woods
Tiffany had been born in the Verne Region.
Verne was one of the traditional territories of the Coldwinter Witches.
As one of the first witch apprentices sent to the Tower of Fate, Tiffany was like all the other apprentices sent there. She possessed poor potential and was simply too young.
In doing so, the Tower of Fate would require a much longer time to train these apprentic
es before they were could be sent out to manage resource sites and assets. In doing so, those lands and resource sites would remain within the hands of the various witch branches. That indirectly hindered the speed at which the Fate branch could expand.
Of course, this was what was known as an open conspiracy.
There was nothing Alice could do in response to this situation, even when she knew precisely what was happening.
She had no influence or power, or even someone strong to back her. She only had her title as leader of the Witches of Fate. Apart from a single tower and two companions that had gone through life and death along with her, Alice had nothing.
Perhaps this was one of the main reasons the laws of fate had chosen her!
"Follow me, Tiffany!" Alice bent down and caressed the little girl's smooth face, "I might have a mission waiting for you here."
Alice walked off on her own.
The girl stared with wide-open eyes for a bit before starting as if just woken up from a dream. She grabbed the dense tome in her hand tightly as she shouted and chased after Alice's slowly shrinking silhouette.
…………
The 'danger' surrounding Fire Throne continued to escalate with each passing day.
The mercenaries and adventurers had grown much more cautious ever since someone spotted signs of magical creatures gathering in the forests to the north.
Even though Fire Throne had issued several high-bounty missions to investigate the activity of the magical creatures, few dared to venture deep into the north.
More and more adepts and apprentices were also lured to Fire Throne by the numerous missions since it had become one of Zhentarim's mission sites. They formed apprentice parties of three to five men and were often active in the northern woods, where the activity of magical creatures was becoming increasingly frequent. They would occasionally bring back unsettling news.
They had essentially confirmed that there were approximately seven magical creatures who were active near Fire Throne. In particular, the Three-Headed Demon Hound, Medusa, and the Wyvern King were veteran magical creatures that had lived in this land for over a hundred years. The Flaming Tigers, Gigant Brutelephants, Two-headed Ogres, and the Aba Beemen were new tribes that had migrated over from the depths of the Black Forest.
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