CH391 - CH392

CH391

Helag said, “But the outcome was good, so there’s no reason to punish me, right?”

Pruis nodded, “Exactly. That’s why, along with our strong arguments, you weren’t punished and even received some rewards. However, due to these factors, your reward was relatively small. A thousand contribution points may seem like a lot, but it doesn’t match your actual contribution.”

“Mainly, when your signal suddenly disappeared, we all thought you’d met with misfortune. So naturally, there was no punishment, as you wouldn’t have received the points anyway.”

“Since you were believed to have sacrificed for Silvermoon City, punishing you would dishearten others.”

“But who would have thought you’d return on your own a few months later?”

Helag chuckled, quickly signing the parchment with a quill, eager to secure the points.

If the higher-ups reconsidered, he might lose them, so he signed immediately.

“Alright, you’ll receive them soon,” Pruis said, putting away the parchment.

Helag mentioned, “My communication stone was destroyed by Eye of the Storm people.”

He felt it necessary to inform Pruis, as it involved another wizard organization.

“Eye of the Storm? I heard you smuggled from their North Slope City; Brad mentioned it. Tell me about your time in the polluted zone,” Pruis prompted.

Helag recounted his experiences, omitting many details.

He didn’t mention the murals or stone tablets, keeping those secrets.

He focused on his encounters with Eye of the Storm explorers, describing the conflicts and escapes.

Pruis nodded, “I see. Don’t worry, now that you’re back, they can’t touch you. Even if you killed some of their people, they attacked first.”

“I’ll report this. You won’t be punished; you’ll likely be rewarded. When dealing with Eye of the Storm, this is how to handle it.”

Seranthiel and Eye of the Storm had frequent conflicts, with long-standing grudges.

Helag’s issue was minor, unlikely to cause further trouble.

He asked Pruis to monitor the two second-level wizards he encountered, for future reference.

If they survived, he needed to prepare for possible encounters.

Helag remembered them, planning to confront them once he advanced to a second-level wizard.

He and Pruis talked for a long time, even having dinner together before parting.

***

Back home, Helag began planning his next steps.

His primary goal was advancing to a crystallized wizard, a lengthy process.

For most wizards, this stage took 20-30 years, even for those with good aptitude.

Wizards with poor aptitude might never complete this step, unable to advance.

Helag estimated he’d need only 3-4 years to compress his mental power.

He decided to focus entirely on this goal for the next few years.

Helag settled into a routine of training.

He spent his days compressing mental power, eating, sleeping, and occasionally going out with Reese.

Reese managed household affairs, allowing Helag to concentrate on training.

To avoid distractions, Helag took no missions and declined social activities.

Until he advanced, he planned to do nothing else.

Reese was happiest, spending every day with Helag.

Previously, Helag was often busy, rarely home, with little time for Reese.

Helag felt like a scholar preparing for exams, with Reese as his supportive wife.

Sometimes, Helag thought such a life was pleasant, with high happiness.

But reality urged him forward; Helag knew he couldn’t indulge in comfort.

To endure, he needed strength, until he could control his fate.

***

Three years later.

Helag sat in his meditation room, eyes closed, on a velvet cushion.

Reese had prepared the room for his training.

It was equipped with magical arrays, shielding Helag from distractions.

In his mind, the liquefied mental power had vanished, replaced by a gel-like substance.

This transparent, pale blue gel was the result of three years of compression.

Over three years, his mental power transformed into this gel.

This was the final step before becoming a crystallized wizard, needing refinement into a crystal.

Helag reached this stage a year ago, each refinement causing intense pain.

When pain struck, his bloodline imprint released a cooling sensation, easing the pain and refining the gel.

The Divine Core’s energy seemed endless, still not depleted after three years.

Helag felt it was vast, like an ocean, inexhaustible.

His rapid progress was thanks to the Divine Core’s energy.

His mental power had been gel-like for a year, seemingly ready to crystallize, but always just short.

Helag remained patient, methodically refining his mental power.



CH392


Each time Helag refined his gel-like mental power, its shape changed slightly.

It was as if he was using a hammer to continuously forge the gel-like mental power.

Over the past year, Helag had lost count of how many times he had refined it, a process of countless repetitions.

With a calm mind, Helag repeated the refining process over and over, patient and unhurried.

This time, like always, he continued refining.

But this time, something changed.

After one refinement, a cooling sensation from his bloodline imprint spread to his mind, causing the gel-like mental power to transform.

The gel-like mental power began to change on its own, its surface rippling like water.

The previously amorphous gel slowly developed edges, forming into a more structured shape.

During this process, each transformation of the gel-like mental power was accompanied by energy from the Divine Core in his bloodline imprint, refining it further.

Helag observed the changes without interfering, allowing the transformation to continue.

Though the process seemed long, it was actually brief, though it felt prolonged in Helag’s perception.

Half an hour later, the gel-like mental power transformed into a crystalline form.

As the mental power crystal formed, Helag opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

He examined the mental power crystal in his mind, sensing its solidity, a product of highly condensed mental power.

From now on, both his meditation and spellcasting speeds would significantly increase.

Compared to before, Helag now had a much more powerful engine.

“Deep Blue, show me my current body data.”

[Helag Merlin:

Strength 31.6,
Agility 31.6,
Constitution 33.2,
Mental Power 75,
Magic 30%.]

His strength, agility, and constitution hadn’t increased much, but his mental power had risen by ten points, a notable improvement.

However, the key aspect of advancing to a crystallized wizard wasn’t just the increase in mental power, but the enhanced growth potential.

Helag’s magic showed only 30% because his capacity had expanded, but the amount hadn’t changed, reducing the percentage.

As a crystallized wizard, he could now continue to grow his mental power through meditation.

At this stage, mental power growth was theoretically limitless.

In practice, growth slowed significantly over time.

After reaching a certain point, growth became extremely slow, potentially taking centuries for a slight increase.

This phase was known as the bottleneck period for crystallized wizards, where further mental power growth was inefficient.

At this point, the focus should shift to opportunities for advancing to a second-level wizard.

Advancing to a second-level wizard would not only eliminate the bottleneck but also greatly enhance power, elevating one’s life tier.

Helag contemplated the changes from his advancement, then resumed meditation, restoring magic and planning his next steps.

His magic quickly replenished, now several times greater than before, with two reserve sources ensuring he wouldn’t run out.

Helag continued meditating, aiming to reach the crystallized wizard bottleneck.

Next, he needed to accumulate contribution points to acquire items containing rule power.

These items, known as Rule Keys, helped crystallized wizards unlock the door to rule power.

Simultaneously, Helag needed to prepare a second-level spell, ensuring its rule power matched the Rule Key for successful spell model construction.

The mental power crystal in a crystallized wizard’s mind served as the vessel for a second-level spell during advancement.

To advance, a crystallized wizard must place the second-level spell model in the mental power crystal, unlike first or zero-level spells placed directly in the mind.

Without the ability to control rule power, placing a second-level spell model directly in the mind would result in catastrophic failure.

However, the mental power crystal’s stable structure could safely house the spell model.

Successfully constructing the model within the crystal opened the path to rule power, completing the advancement.

After advancing, the wizard could place the spell model in the mind.

At that point, the wizard would have ascended a life tier, able to perceive and use rule power, unlike ordinary people.

For wizards, the ability to use rule power marked a qualitative leap.

Helag understood this well, recalling his entrapment by the Eye of the Storm’s second-level wizard.

Even with the World Tree Bow, escaping was nearly impossible without external intervention.

Rule power distinguished first and second-level wizards, creating a vast power gap.

Helag’s next task was finding a suitable second-level spell and its corresponding Rule Key.

The spell and Rule Key had to match; a mismatch, like using a fire Rule Key for an earth spell, was useless.

In the Land of Dawn, Helag, supported by Seranthiel, had a chance to find both.

In the Barren Lands, this step was nearly impossible, leaving crystallized wizards in despair.

Even if they found a second-level spell, matching it with a Rule Key was exceedingly difficult.