Chapter 23: Within The Academy Compounds
“Tick Tock! Tick Tock!”
The hands of the bronze clock in the room swivelled around once more, as another hour passed.
“Has it finally been analysed? Begin transmission!”
In this period of time, Leylin had also been studying the blueprints of the meditation technique, but it was to no avail.
The mind rune appeared as a 3D image and the patterns inside were extremely complicated, with no room for errors.
To display this image in book form, not only would the author need to have outstanding training in the fine arts, but the reader’s comprehension skills would also be put to the test.
Leylin estimated that regular acolytes would need to spend a good number of days to even begin to understand a single mind rune, before starting to construct them in their brains. However, with the A.I. Chip, it was done in a matter of hours.
“This pace may very well be comparable to a fourth or fifth-grade acolyte!” Leylin estimated.
After the A.I. Chip’s transmission, Leylin had already completely comprehended the structure of the first mind rune. It was in the shape of an ‘A’, without the horizontal line in the middle, and was filled with patterns and helixes, making one dizzy the more they looked at it.
“To begin the meditation, I must first have peace of mind and imagine a serene lake……”
Leylin slowly closed his eyes.
In the dimly lit room, the youth sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, as if he was in a slumber.
After an unknown period of time, there were a few spots of lights flickering in the youth’s surroundings. They entered the body of the youth, and very soon they disappeared.
Leylin’s eyelids fluttered, and he opened his eyes.
“So tiring! It seems like the meditation technique and a Knight’s breathing technique is the same, there is a time limit! A.I. Chip! Check my body’s status!”
“The spiritual force affects my stats! After practicing the meditation technique, my vitality has actually started to exceed my previous limit!” Leylin’s expression was complex, and there was an indescribable joy in his heart.
“According to the introduction in the data, sleeping right after meditation will provide the most optimal effects!”
Leylin stripped his outer robes, laid on the bed, and then entered into a deep sleep.
“It is already the time that I set my alarm for, time really passes quickly!” Leylin stretched lazily and saw that the clock showed the time as 5:30.
“I’d better hurry up and tidy up! I still need to see mentor Kroft!” Leylin washed up quickly, went to the dining hall and gobbled down a bread for his breakfast, and then rushed to the experiment lab from yesterday.
“Good morning Sir!” Leylin greeted.
He noticed a female acolyte beside the white haired Kroft. She had fine curves and looked beautiful, and seemed to be another apprentice of the professor.
“Hm? You attempted the meditation technique?” Kroft furrowed his brows, “How did it feel?”
“My head ached, and I felt a little dizzy!”
“This is a common aftereffect of the transmission from the memory crystal ball; you just need to get more rest during this period!” Kroft said.
“Come, let me introduce you! This is Bicky, my other apprentice. This is Leylin, the new acolyte from yesterday!”
“Hi!” Bicky bowed, giving a virtuous greeting.
“Hello!” Leylin placed his right arm on his chest and displayed the elegance of a noble.
“Bicky is your senior, besides her, you also have another senior called Merlin. His Potioneering skills are excellent!” Kroft said to Leylin.
“Merlin has been called a once-in-a-century genius of Potioneering, and is regarded as the most likely successor of our mentor!” Bicky added.
“Haha! Indeed! Merlin has shown outstanding talent in Potioneering! If there is anything you don’t understand, you may seek his help!” Once he mentioned Merlin, Kroft’s face revealed a smile, and he seemed extremely satisfied with that student of his.
“So Leylin, are you familiar with my rules?”
“I have seen them when going through the professor requirements during the selection of mentors!” Leylin nodded.
“Okay! From now on, you have to come here every day and help with the cleaning up, but you may go listen to the free lessons during breaks! As for the benefit of being under me, which is receiving information on a topic, you can choose and ask me after learning the basics!”
Kroft said.
“Thank you, Sir!” Leylin hurriedly bowed. Right now, he had no inkling whatsoever about the Magus world, so even if Kroft wanted him to choose, he would not know which was best. It was only right to choose at a later time when he could reap the most benefits.
“Right now, I will give both of you half a day’s break. Let Bicky accompany and show you around the academy. Bicky, tell him about the few restrictions!”
“Yes!” Leylin and Bicky nodded their heads and left the laboratory.
“This is the residence of the professors, acolytes usually aren’t allowed to enter……This is the trading post, where acolytes can make transactions with others. And here, we have the mission area. The different missions and levels will be written on this stone wall. acolytes can complete these missions and obtain contribution points and magic crystals!”
Bicky’s voice was extremely pleasing to the ears, and she was beautiful too. Her personality was also lively. Leylin’s mood improved a lot by spending time with her.
The two of them strolled through the academy. It was mostly Bicky leading Leylin around, as she spoke of a few places and restrictions along the way.
Unknowingly, the two of them walked into a garden.
“Fayle, well done!” “Good, once more!”
The sound of voices caught Leylin’s attention. In the middle of the garden, a group of acolytes were standing around a large, sturdily-built youth and chatting continuously.
In the centre of the crowd was a youth with a bright silver hair, with dark green eyes, and he seemed to have some sort of strange charisma.
“That is senior Fayle. He’s a genius; he became a level 2 acolyte just half a year after entering the academy!” Bicky’s eyes were widened, and her face shone radiantly as she muttered.
“This expression? It seems like Bicky has a good impression of this Fayle!” Leylin rubbed his nose.
“Bicky! Bicky!”
“Ah……What is it?” Only after Leylin called out to her several times did Bicky avert her gaze. At this moment, her face was a little flushed.
“Oh! I wanted to ask, why are there so many plants here underground!”
Leylin sniffed a red flower; the flower had a strong fragrance.
“There are huge patches of sunlight moss on the roof of the gardens, and these mosses can emit a light similar to sunrays, hence plants can also grow underground in here.”
Bicky explained.
“Oh!” Leylin nodded his head and wondered if he should come here more often in the future to bask in the sunlight since being exposed to more sunlight was not bad for a person after all.
Seeing Bicky’s reluctance to leave, Leylin purposely pretended to have a strong interest in the garden, until Fayle and the others left.
Only, Bicky would only glance at Fayle secretly, although she did not muster any courage to walk up to greet him even after such a long while. This made Leylin roll his eyes, as Bicky’s attitude towards romance can be considered rare in this academy.
“The academic area will often post the following day’s class schedule, and there are many free and public lessons to choose from. As a newbie, you cannot afford to miss these!”
After leaving the garden, Bicky brought Leylin to the academic area, and pointed to a large wooden board. In front of it were many other acolytes who were taking down notes.
“Free public lessons? That means there are lessons which one must pay for?” Leylin asked.
“That’s right! There are lessons which have fees, and many advanced topics charge 1 magic crystal for 10 lessons. Although they are much better than public lessons, they are still somewhat inferior to the knowledge given by our own mentors!”
Bicky smiled a little bitterly, “I’m afraid the only advantage is them being less expensive!”
Leylin nodded. On one side, there was a professor teaching dozens of students, while the other was an individual lesson, the advantages between the two are definitely different.
However, he had the A.I. Chip, so his learning capability was outstanding. He was confident that he would do well even in a large class.
“With this method, I can definitely save some magic crystals!” Leylin stroked his chin.
He only had two magic crystals left. Earlier, when he was in the mission area, he saw that the missions that awarded magic crystals generally had more troublesome tasks and required one to be a level 1 acolyte at least. Right now, Leylin did not meet the requirements.
“As for the cleaning tasks, they are all done by those spell slaves, and the rest are all snatched by others. There is simply no place for me!”
Leylin was a little frustrated. magic crystals were the currency among Magi and were also the most common way to obtain greater knowledge in the academy. Without magic crystals, his studies would be hindered.
“Hm…… I had better attend those public classes first and advance to a level 1 acolyte. After that, I’ll consider taking up missions to earn some magic crystals!”
Leylin sighed.
“A.I. Chip, how is the mapping of the academy?”
The A.I. Chip replied. In front of Leylin was a blue image, each layer of the buildings was displayed and divided into multiple parts, and it looked like a beehive.
Some areas even had names attached, with Bicky’s explanation for them on the side.
The areas that could be entered freely were marked in green, while the dangerous areas were in yellow. As for the areas that even Bicky did not dare enter, the A.I. Chip indicated them in red, representing extreme danger.
For those red coloured danger zones, Leylin decided to walk around them. He even decided not to ask about them before becoming a level 3 acolyte.
“The mapping has been recorded!” Leylin nodded his head and said farewell to Bicky, “Bicky, thank you for accompanying me for a day, I remember most of the important areas of the academy now!”
“That’s great!” Bicky played with the little white flower in her hands, “If there are any things that you don’t understand, you can ask me!”
“Of course!” Leylin gave a small smile.
After bidding farewell to Bicky, Leylin ate his dinner and went back into his room. He began to practice the meditation technique.
A Magus’s meditation is a continuous journey, only with daily devotion and perseverance, can one achieve enough spiritual force to become a being that can control mysterious powers.
“The A.I. Chip is only useful for analysing the meditation technique. As for the creation of the mind runes, it was completely dependent on my own spiritual force, and it also relied a little on my comprehension and aptitude. In these areas, the A.I. Chip was not much help!”
After meditating, Leylin felt his spiritual force increase by another tiny sliver, and then he entered into a deep slumber.
Chapter 24: Level 1 Acolyte
“A level 1 acolyte is actually someone with a stronger spiritual force than an average person’s. At the same time, he is able to move energy particles and store them inside their body and is a newbie at conceptualising the creation of magic power. Only a level 2 acolyte will be able to access a magic spell’s formula and cast the spell in its complete form.
But once their body creates magic power, their stats can be strengthened through constant radiation as their body resists the poisoning from the external radiation.
Leylin made his judgment on the levels separating the acolytes based on the data on the meditation technique.
“A.I. Chip! Retrieve all the data I have gathered today, and begin analysing!”
This is what Leylin had been doing all this time. He would do his best to collect data from other people without drawing their attention, and store the data in folders.
He created a folder with the data regarding spiritual force and how to transform them, a lesson which Leylin learnt yesterday. The information required was too much, and the process may be measured in years.
“As I expected! There are no regular human beings in the whole of this academy because of the environmental effects that the Magi and acolytes bring about. As for these effects, only a Magus can resist against it. A regular human would most likely have a lifespan of a few years in this environment!”
Leylin’s face darkened, and conjured up the images of a few people, including Bicky and Kroft.
“According to the readings of the radiation emitted by them, a Magus is actually a moving source of radiation. Each one of them is like a minuscule nuclear reactor, or, could they have made use of the radiation to advance??”
Leylin furrowed his brows.
“No matter what, I must hurry up and become a level 1 acolyte. The longer I take, the greater the damage my body will receive.
Leylin was resolved.
In the next two weeks, Leylin would report to where Kroft was every day, assist in the cleaning of the experiment lab, and sort out a few insignificant experiment resources.
In this period, he had seen Kroft’s genius apprentice Merlin, who was also his senior. Merlin was extremely tall and had a very taciturn personality. He constantly poured over his experiments. Besides Kroft, his interactions with Bicky and Leylin were minimal. This could be one factor attributing to his success in Potioneering.
In the remaining time, he spent them in the free public lessons.
The free lessons in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy were not many, and they only consisted of the history of Magi, the basics of the ancient Byron language, the principles of Magi spells, basic Potioneering, anatomy, and basic magic spell theory.
The professors of the public lessons always had dark expressions, and they hurriedly left right after the period ended. Not only did they not answer the acolytes’ questions, it seemed like everyone owed them magic crystals.
“It was a public lesson, after all, being able to listen is already not too bad!” Leylin comforted himself. He had the A.I. Chip and could record the lessons completely. In the future, he could always take them out for reference when he revises. As for the other acolytes, they were in a worse state. If they did not understand, there was always a price to pay to obtain information from the professors or other acolytes. Leylin was even prepared to earn some magic crystals by giving away information from these public lessons.
“Today’s topic was really difficult! The image of that Barren Lizard’s anatomy was only shown for a few seconds. I did not even have time to look at it clearly!” Bill complained.
“There’s no choice! The study of anatomy is a very broad topic, and the images are aplenty, classes will not end if they’re not taught fast enough!” Leylin replied by his side. He was neighbours with Bill, and both of them were fresh acolytes, so they often attended classes together. Their friendship considered pretty well.
As for Kaliweir and the others, because they were designated to various mentors and lived rather far away, they barely maintained their relationships.
“Professor Marlene’s anatomy classes are prerequisites for more advanced topics, so we have to learn it!” Bill was a little frustrated.
“Leylin, did you remember everything from earlier?”
“To memorise everything is impossible, but I have taken notes on most of the diagrams and the images depicting the vital body parts!” Leylin concealed his trump card.
“So awesome! Could you tutor me after classes? I will fork out one magic crystal!” Bill made up his mind,
“I want to major in Transfiguration, so I must excel in anatomy!”
“No problem!” Leylin smiled and nodded his head.
The information of the few paid lessons in the academy was not allowed to be traded in private. But as for the public lessons, there were no such restrictions.
Leylin had asked around, and it seemed that the higher level acolytes did not think much of these measly wages, while the lower level acolytes did not have much confidence to teach and failed to meet the requirements. Hence, this benefitted him greatly.
“However, you know that I have to undergo meditation at night, so let’s schedule the lessons right after dinner. 1-hour lessons for a week. How is it?”
Leylin asked.
“No problem!” Bill answered. This amount of time was similar to that of the paid public lessons, but the tutoring was done one-on-one, so it was a fair price.
After dinner, Leylin went to Bill’s room and tutored him on the topic of anatomy. After an hour, he returned to his dorm.
Playing with the magic crystal in his hand, Leylin nodded his head, “Bill knows how to conduct himself, and he has already paid the fees upfront!”
Placing the black crystallised object onto the bed, Leylin took out the black sack hanging from his waist and poured the contents out on the bed.
A total of four black magic crystals were dropped onto the bed, bouncing slightly.
“I am a new acolyte and have only studied for half a month. Apart from Bill and some others, no one believes in my abilities. I have only earned 2 magic crystals so far!”
“Ai! It’s hard to earn money through tutoring, and it takes up a lot of time. Senior Merlin can brew a random potion and earn ten times faster than me by selling it!”
Potioneering Masters are rather rare amongst Magi, and a huge investment is needed to become one. However, after succeeding, one can make money at a terrifying pace.
“Almost there! I have a feeling that I will become a level 1 acolyte tonight!” After reaching level 1 acolyte, I will be able to move the energy particles in the air. Not only will I be able to resist the radiation from the academy’s buildings, I will also be able to attempt to experiment with basic potion brewing!”
Leylin’s eyes flashed with excitement, but very soon he recovered the magic crystals on the bed properly, exercising restraint. He then sat cross-legged on the bed and began the meditation for the day.
The air in the room quietened down, and only the faint sounds of Leylin’s breathing could be heard.
Leylin’s chest moved with an undulating pattern and his expression was serene, with only some restless movements beneath his eyelids.
After about an hour, several black spots of light radiated from Leylin’s forehead, just like fireflies.
These light spots hovered around Leylin and finally entered his orifices. It looked a little eerie.
“Hu……”
After the black coloured spots of light entered Leylin’s body, he felt his whole body shudder. The muscles on his face twitched, and large beads of sweat rolled down. Very soon, he returned back to having a peaceful state.
After some time, Leylin opened his eyes.
“I have finally advanced to a level 1 acolyte! This speed of half of a month is slightly inferior to a regular fourth-grade acolyte’s.”
“Originally, I could have advanced five days ago, but I stopped to stabilise my spiritual force. There were few difficulties in advancing this time, which may be attributed to that!”
The one reason for prolonging the date of advancement was to stable the spiritual force, and another was to keep a low profile.
A regular third-grade acolyte must take around a month’s time to turn into a level 1 acolyte after receiving the meditation technique.
As for half a month’s time, that was the measure of a fourth-grade acolyte. Leylin did not want to undergo any tests caused by suspicions of him having the wrong aptitude. If the A.I. Chip was discovered in the end, not only would it be lost, his life might also be in danger!
After all, the A.I. Chip now has undergone changes after transcending dimensions. It has already fused together with his soul and cannot be separated at all.
“According to the estimations of the A.I. Chip, a level 1 acolyte’s spiritual force is roughly double that of an average adult. Moreover, spiritual force seems to have a life of its own, strongly attracting the energy particles in the air towards it!”
Leylin stretched his hands, and a layer of black coloured light wrapped around his arm, like a layer of cotton candy. It also felt a little cooling.
“I have the highest elemental affinity with the Dark element, and will choose to cultivate on the path of the Dark element. This was the plan that I set for myself since long ago. As for the energy particles of Fire and the other elements, I shall just keep a few of them to use it to my advantage in future!”
“Pa!!”
Leylin snapped his fingers several times, and a layer of faint blue light lit up on his body.
What followed next was a layer of steam, which made Leylin’s clothes wet.
“This is similar to taking a shower!” Leylin smiled, and then a layer of red light shone.
As Leylin’s body was enveloped by the red light, water vapour emitted from his body. Very soon the water was all evaporated, and the room seemed to be a little humid.
“After becoming an acolyte, I am able to use these energy particles for simple daily activities, this is really convenient!”
Leylin exclaimed again, and asked, “A.I. Chip, have you recorded the processes earlier?”
“Simple usage of Water element and Fire elemental energy particles!]
[Beep! The renaming is done, storing in data bank]
With the help of the A.I. Chip, Leylin had one of the best comprehension abilities for the usage of energy particles amongst the level 1 acolyte.
Leylin smiled, but as he was about to stand, he suddenly felt giddy.
“I overspent my spiritual force earlier!” Leylin realised the reason and smiled bitterly, “The spiritual force of a level 1 acolyte is still too minuscule. To properly use the energy particles on a daily basis, I must only do it when I am a level 3 acolyte at least.
Leylin rubbed his temples, “I already meditated earlier, so now I can only sleep to replenish my spiritual force!’
He hurriedly straightened out the room and entered into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Leylin was filled with vigour as he got off the bed and headed to Mentor Kroft’s experiment lab.
“Oh? This energy movement?”
The white haired Kroft was startled, and immediately looked at Leylin who had walked in, “Leylin, you have broken through!”
“Yes!” Leylin humbly lowered his head.
“It has only been twenty odd days since you started meditating, it seems like your aptitude amongst the third-grade acolytes is outstanding, and it almost reaches that of the fourth-grade acolytes!”
Kroft smiled with gratification.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
28 Power
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