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.
Chapter 25: Elementary Potioneering
“Professor! I have already become a level 1 acolyte and have understood the basics from the public lessons……”
Leylin said softly.
“I know, you wish to choose the subject for the knowledge I am providing!” Kroft interrupted Leylin’s speech.
“I heard that you have already been teaching other acolytes information from the public lessons that you’ve attended to earn magic crystals. It seems like your learning and memorising abilities are rather outstanding. From what I see now, you have the capability to learn an information of a higher tier!”
“Thank you!” Leylin bowed deeply.
Leylin had some understanding towards the paid lessons in the academy. Although professors have information on a higher level, it was only their own findings.
As for the other cutting-edge research, including the results of various personal experiments, information was only traded at the professors’ level.
This information was deemed the best, and can even be transferred directly into an acolyte’s memory so they will never forget it.
However, the fees were also the most expensive, each subject required at least ten magic crystals and Leylin simply could not afford it right now.
The only thing he could hope for was the one free subject that Kroft promised at the start.
Kroft nodded his head and moved the apparatus on his table aside. He then retrieved some strange items from god-knows-where and placed them on the table.
There was a huge book with a yellow cover, a crystal ball, and a test tube filled with yellowish liquid.
“These three items represent my 3 areas of specialisation: The book on the left represents the Neutralisation of Energy, the crystal ball represents Herbalism, and the test tube represents Potioneering. Make your choice!” Kroft said.
“I choose Potioneering!” The reason Leylin chose Kroft as his mentor was to advance in Potioneering and then rely on selling potions to earn money for his studies, so naturally he chose this.
Elementary Potioneering is an advanced course stemming from the public Potioneering Basics course. In theory, it is possible to start brewing potions after fully understanding these two lessons.
“I knew you would choose this!” The middle-aged Kroft revealed a smile.
“The art of potion brewing is extremely complex and complicated, the slightest mistake will result in a failure. All of the Potion Masters have spent a vast amount of resources to accumulate their experience. Are you ready for this?”
“Yes, Sir! I believe in this saying: You may not be rewarded for hard work, but without hard work, there will definitely be no reward!”
“Indeed! A very good mindset. One needs to have this philosophy on the road to truth!” Kroft nodded and handed the yellow test tube to Leylin.
“This is yours now!”
“This? How do I use it?” Leylin looked at the test tube in his hands.
“Just drink from it directly!”
Leylin opened the wooden plug and poured the yellowish liquid into his mouth.
An obnoxious sewer stench infiltrated his senses, and the smell lingered in his nose. Leylin’s face turned red, and tears even came out.
He barely managed to swallow it as he gasped for air.
“I swear, I have never drunk such a smelly thing before!!!”
Smelly!!! An unimaginable stench constantly shocked Leylin’s nerves, making him feel like fainting.
Under the stimulation of the extreme smell, the surroundings appeared blurry to Leylin, and the items in the vicinity all seemed to be distorted.
“You……It feels……Not so……”
Leylin looked at Kroft, and at this moment, the professor looked like a noodle, twisting and distorting. The professor’s lips opened and closed and he spoke sporadically, which brought about a lot of noise. It sounded like the friction produced between two metals, or some broken radio with poor signal.
Leylin raised his hand, his smooth palms seemed to be filled with folds, and even melted like a candle, falling down one drop at a time.
And finally, Leylin’s entire body turned into a puddle of liquid and disappeared completely into the darkness……
“How do you feel?”
Kroft’s voice rang, and Leylin was startled. He touched his head, the hard sensation bringing along warmth and a little moisture.
The surroundings turned back to normal, and Kroft stood there smiling.
“I don’t feel too good!” Large amounts of sweat trickled down from Leylin’s head.
“Was what I saw earlier an illusion? It felt too real!”
“That is a normal occurrence, the illusionary spells of Magi seem like reality to acolytes, and some acolytes have even experienced their whole life inside the illusions and died of old age!”
Kroft’s voice sounded.
“The information has already been transferred into your brain, do some more meditation after you go back!”
At this moment, Leylin discovered a block of new information inside his brain. A phrase appeared on the right side of the text, saying: “Elementary Potioneering”
“Alright! Today your task is to sweep Area 3, and also freeze all the Fire Ant Grass……”
Kroft handed out the tasks.
Leylin nodded his head and picked up the tools lying in the corner of the lab, and then headed to Area 3.
“Congratulations, Leylin!” During Leylin’s break time, Bicky came before Leylin.
“I was just lucky!” Leylin smiled lightly.
Bicky had come here a year earlier than him and was also a level 1 acolyte.
“Once you are a level 2 acolyte, you will be able to use rank 0 spells! Also, the mind runes will only get increasingly difficult. I still have to persevere for at least another year of meditation before I have a chance at advancing.”
With the A.I. Chip, Leylin was fully aware of the situation he was in.
On the other side, Merlin, who was boring over his experiments, raised his head and forced a smile that was uglier than crying.
Leylin nodded his head in acknowledgement. He knew that this senior of his had burnt the muscles of his face in an experiment and was now unable to make any facial expressions.
“Magi experiments are really treacherous!” Leylin shook his head.
Leylin was rather efficient and normally finished the task Kroft gave him by noon. If there was spare time in the afternoon, he would go listen to the public lessons.
“Goodbye!” After saying goodbye to Bicky and Merlin, Leylin did not go to the academic area but instead went to the trading post.
The trading post was huge and was located beside the Mission Area. However, it was rather chaotic; many grey-robed acolytes set up stalls, with an erect signboard stating the items and conditions that they wished to sell or trade.
Once in awhile, a few acolytes would engage in haggling, it was extremely bustling.
“It seems like only acolytes are around. As for the Magi, they should have another area to trade in!” Leylin looked on and only saw grey robes, not a single white or black robed Magus was present.
Leylin browsed through the stalls. Some of them were set up on the floor, similar to the previous world’s street vendors, and looked to be a little dirty.
The floor stalls’ items belonged to the miscellaneous category; most of them were bows, knives, darts and so on. There were also the fur, livers, and eyes of living organisms, and some still had traces of blood. The rest were some other items that Leylin could not identify.
As for potions, every stall with ‘Potions’ on its signboard had acolytes clamouring over them. The stall owners all had calm expressions and radiated strong energy waves.
According to the estimation of the A.I. Chip, most of these acolytes were level 3 acolytes!
“As expected, the rarity of potions is above my imagination, not to mention magic artifacts, not a single one is on sale!
Leylin thought of Jayden, who previously used the green coloured badge. That was a low-grade magic artifact, similar to the ring he had before.
A level 1 acolyte could not use any spells, but Jayden had previously subdued Kaliweir through the green badge magic artifact.
“Now it seems like the magic artifact was given to Jayden by Dorotte!”
Leylin could not help but be a little envious. He previously owned a magic artifact too, but unfortunately, it had been broken and was used in the transaction for applying to the academy. With these conditions now, it would be extremely difficult to obtain another one.
Leylin looked at the goods on display as he walked towards the centre of the trading post.
There were a few wooden huts here, and they seemed to have higher standards compared to the surroundings. The acolytes who occasionally walked in and out radiated strong energy waves.
Leylin casually walked into a shop selling potions.
“What do you need?” The shop owner was a fatty and wore a grey robe. He looked to be a little lazy. According to the readings of the A.I. Chip, he was also a level 3 acolyte and even carried a magic artifact.
“I need a set of equipment so that I can practice brewing potions!” Leylin said unhurriedly.
“Another one who is dreaming! And it’s actually a level 1 acolyte who wants to try brewing potions! You think you’re Merlin?” The fatty scolded him.
“Excuse me, Merlin is my senior and we have the same mentor!” Leylin replied.
“So it’s like this! It turns out you’re Kroft’s apprentice, so already brewing potions at this stage is understandable, it is understandable!” The fatty’s face seemed to be filled with spirit, “So you’re Merlin’s junior, hello, I am Woox!”
The fatty introduced himself, and there was a cunning expression on his face, “Rather than potion brewing, if you are able to get me some of Merlin’s potions, I will give a good price for them. Of course, if they were made by Professor Kroft, it would be even better……”
“My apologies! Professor Kroft’s potions are impossible! As for Merlin’s, I’ll give it a try!” Leylin rolled his eyes, but he did not reject him outrightly.
“Now, can you give me an introduction of the apparatus?”
“Oh! Of course! Of course!” The fatty rubbed his hands and placed a few sets of glass apparatus on the wooden table.
“There is all of this! They are second hand, but they are still usable. I recommend this set; it’s from a level 3 acolyte that did not want it anymore!”
The fatty took out an apparatus set which included beakers, a glass rod, a petri dish, test tubes, and a set of pale yellow tools. It seemed rather complete.
Leylin examined the equipment with his hands.
According to the analysis of the A.I. Chip, the quality of this apparatus set was average, but it was enough for him to use.
“I’ll take this one then! How many magic crystals?” Leylin asked.
“Two pieces!” The fatty replied.
“Wrap it well for me!” Leylin handed the two magic crystals over to the fatty. Fatty received them and packaged the set before handing it over to Leylin.
“Do you have any elementary potion formulas?” Leylin placed the bundle on his back and asked again.
“Yes! I have formulas for strength potions, hemostatic Potions, and bug removal potions, which one do you want?”
“The strength potion!” These were all elementary potion formulas, so Leylin simply picked one.
“Give me a set of ingredients as well!”
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
27 Power
stone 
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