บท 61: Chapter 61
"Sorry, about that." Bessita said, as they were out of the range of the office, that she had a pinkish blush on her face.
"Is that really what you want?" Harry asked calmly, "While we have a contract that ensures your loyalty, I don't want to force you into a situation where you feel uncomfortable. I already know that I will profit from having you around, and I have no problem backing your family. There is no need to throw yourself at myself."
"I know. But I still feel I am taking advantage of you. At least I can take care of your dormitory for you. And anything else you need... She said it with a red face.
And what about my consent? Harry wanted to say, but realized how stupid that sounded in a world like this. Modern world problems that often get abused don't matter here in a world that is somehow advanced and still so medieval.
"I see. Well, now it's done." He said as they kept following the Shadow Slave.
It wasn't like the situation didn't have its advantages.
This would make his plans even more believable.
From time to time, they passed Acolytes as they walked, before Bessita asked, "Are you sure Alchemy and Potioneering are a good choice for us?"
Harry had considered sending Bessita to another professor to get his free lessons through her, but in the end, if his Legilimency worked on Acolytes, he wouldn't need it. It had worked on Jayden, who had reached the level of a rank 1 acolyte during the journey.
And if not, it wasn't a big loss. One or two free lessons didn't matter in the larger picture compared to the additional revenue she could bring him by acting as his intermediary.
He had chosen Potion Master Kroft as Professor, so he could use his AI chip to easily learn the art and create potions that he could sell. Even though he was planning to be known as a potion genius, the success rate with his AI chip was too high.
Bessita would sell a part of his Potions for him, so they would generate more revenue without awakening any suspicion.
"The combined amount of magic crystals we have is quite high for an acolyte starting just out without any real backing. Trust me, we have a good chance to make more through Potions without problems." He said it without revealing too much of his actual plans.
You never knew who was listening in.
They kept following the Shadow Slave through several corridors, two large halls, and a garden. It then stopped in front of an area designed for experimental laboratories.
It turned translucent and passed through a door, while Bessita and Harry waited in front of it. Not daring to even knock on the door.
"Two new students? Bessita and Harry, huh? Enter!" A middle-aged male voice came from behind it.
Harry pushed the door for Bessita open before following her inside into a room that could only be described as a laboratory.
Not one of these modern, white, and clean ones, but rather what you would expect of a medieval alchemist, but still with more advanced tools. The whole technological level of this world was strange; in some ways, they advanced by using their magic, but their building and architectural style seemed to be more medival.
The room was filled with strange aromatics, some sweet and spicy, others more reeking or even biting.
A huge table in the center of the room, bustling with various test tubes, flasks, and beakers, as well as different apparatus, took up almost half of the room.
In front of it stood a white-haired yet clearly middle-aged man, dressed in white robes. His collar was embroidered with golden patterns, and his eyes emitted a golden light, resembling two golden gems.
"My name is Kroft. So the two of you want to become my students?" Asked Kroft while putting a test tube he had held back onto the table.
"Yes, sir!" "I am willing!"
"Good. Since the school requires me to take on students, I will accept the two of you." Kroft stroked his Beard, observing them studiously, his gaze landing on Harry. "But are you really sure, with your Grade 5 talent, that alchemy is the correct path for you?"
Harry nodded, already fed up with the question that everyone seemed to ask him.
"So be it. Then let's give the two of you your initiation." Kroft decided, "We won't be bothered here."
"What kind of initiation?" Bessita asked with interest. She seemed relieved, and Harry guessed she had feared their professor would be as strange-looking as Dorotte.
"Your initiation as Magus! So tell me. What is a magus?"
"A powerful person able to use mystical abilities, commanding fire, summoning storms, and similar powers of nature." Bessita started.
Harry was calmer: "A person pursuing knowledge and always searching for truth, able to harness and manipulate different energies."
"Impressive. Both of you have the right idea. Harry is very close." Kroft nodded approvingly. "Magus is a title that has been given to a specific group of people. These people had learned to harness and manipulate the principles and energies of the world.
Always in a never-ending pursuit for knowledge and truth."
"Doesn't that mean that a magus isn't necessarily human?"
"Exactly. Any intelligent being can be a magus." Kroft nodded. "Neither does that mean a magus remains human."
"Now let us begin with your initiation ritual. No need to be scared; it's quite simple." Kroft said as the ground changed and spell formations bustling with energy formed.
A dark flame appeared in the center.
"Give me your hands!" Kroft ordered and grasped both of their outstretched hands.
"Following the ancient rites, I will now guide you, Harry Potter and Bessita Nightfang, onto the path of becoming a magus!" Kroft chanted, "Recite after me!"
Following their professor's lead, both spoke after him, "I swear! I will forever be in pursuit of the truth! Without the permission of my mentor, I swear that I will not reveal any of the information my mentor passes on to me.
Their voices strangely combined into one as they recited more and more, the flame in the center growing brighter and blazing stronger until...
"Congratulations on formally becoming an Acolyte!" Kroft gratulated them.
[ An anomaly has been detected in your Sea of Consciousness and Magical Core! ]
This notification of the AI chip had not been completely unexpected. Since then, that part about a change in his magical core has been.
As far as he could tell, this ritual had been akin to an awakening, allowing the acolyte to actually harness and control his sea of consciousness. His guess is that one could accomplish it in a much longer time through intense meditation.
But he was unsure why it had affected his magical core too. He could already manipulate it.
"Both of you have already received your starting package, right? Take a look at that crystal ball inside; you are now able to absorb its information." Kroft explained, "Be here tomorrow at six in the morning! You may leave now, but remember, don't wander around!"
Luckily, they had passed the Dormitories earlier, or they would have no idea where they had to go. The AI Chip was always creating a map of his surroundings, so he would never get lost as long as he had been somewhere before.
Harry led Bessita back to the dorms, knowing that he shouldn't look around as long as he didn't know the area. There could be a dangerous experiment going on, or he could accidentally piss off a magus.
The key in their sacks had the same number, '103'; it was more in the center of the dormitory area.
"There it is!" Bessita said as she found their room and put her key inside, opening the door.
On the other side was quite a spacey dorm—you could call it an apartment—and the moment they entered, it got lit up by some enchantments.
A bedroom, a living room, a washroom, and two additional empty rooms for their private use. It seemed bigger than what he had read Leylin get.
If his memories served right, then Leylin's room was more on the simple side. This one was nicely decorated.
The only complaint he had was the bed. It was the only one, a double bed.
Still, it doesn't seem to bother Bessita.
"I hope you are fine with this, because I am not planning on annoying the professors for this." Harry said it dryly as he dropped his things onto a table and sat down on the bed.
"No problem; I didn't expect anything else." Bessita smiled. Harry simply didn't get this girl before asking with a finger on her chin, "So what is our plan for tonight?"
"Checking our stuff, getting settled, then meditation, and lastly, getting some rest after the long journey." Harry replied with a deadpan.
"Haha, if you say so." Pouted Bessita, making Harry have doubts about his own plans once again.
Besides the keys, the sack they received from the academy also contained a set of acolyte robes that had been strengthened with some defensive spells. Even though it was cloth, it had similar defenses to leather armor.
Then there was a badge that acted as an ID for the academy and also had some communication functions for the academy to contact their acolytes, as far as Harry remembers from the original story.
Lastly, the sack contained a crystal ball with the elementary meditation technique that every acolyte needed to practice to cultivate their spiritual force.
Another description of spiritual force could be mental power. It was basically how much magic power a mage could control and store.
Magic Power was the fuel of any spell; other words for it were Mana, Ethernano, Magicka, and so on, with slight differences between worlds.
An elementary meditation technique is just the most rudimentary meditation technique there is. At most, it could carry you to the level of an official magus.
Only people without an advanced meditation technique would practice it, since the latter was far faster.
Unfortunately, right now Harry is such a person; it would also be troublesome if he had one at this moment because he most likely didn't have the strength to protect it. Advanced Mediation Techniques were restricted in the South Coast; after all, the people in power kept them in their families.
First, he and Bessita went to the dining hall for some food. An older acolyte was nice enough to show them the way before they returned to their room.
Harry already knew the meditation technique; he had stolen it from Jayden's and the Gotham Sage Hut's apperentice brains. There were slight differences between the two Academies versions, but over all, they came down to the same.
He had already cross-referenced it with the help of the AI chip and cut it down to the most efficient version.
One thing he had noticed was that the efficiency and speed of the AI chip were much faster than they had been for Leylin at this stage. For him, the analysis had been completed instantly, while for Leylins, it had taken an hour or so.
And Harry already had a theory about it, which would be hopefully confirmed soon.
"Are you ready?" He asked Bessita as she sat in a relaxed position on the bed and nodded, "Just relax your mind and don't resist."
[Initiating Data Transfer? ]
'Yes.' Harry ordered, and the AI Chip began to use Harry's legitimacy to carefully plant the data about the meditation technique into Bessita's mind.
This way, it was more efficient; a normal acolyte would take a while to truly remember the technique, and even with the direct transfer from that crystal ball, it would take several attempts. Especially since the crystal ball contained quite a lot of clutter.
While the time cost doesn't make much difference for a Grade 5 talent who could become a Rank 1 acolyte in five to six days, a Grade 4 takes already around 15 to 20 days, a Grade 3 about a month, a Grade 2 half a year, and worst of all, a Grade 1 several years.
Taking a few days to understand the most basic meditation technique was costly.
Especially since it was nothing else but a glorified magical version of mind training. The acolytes meditate on a set of specific runs to raise their spiritual power and their mental power, which allows them to store and control more magic power.
The more runes one can form during mediation at once, the more spiritual power the acolyte gains, but the more he has, the less efficient each rune itself becomes.
A highly talented acolyte is able to form the runes quicker and easier than a less talented one. Before becoming a rank 1 acolyte, an acolyte can at most form 8 runs at once; a grade 5 talent may already have done this on day one, while a grade 1 talent would take years to be able to form 8 runs.
That is the cause of the massive difference in mediation speed and why he directly helped Bessita learn the technique. That way, she would cut down on the amount of time it requires of her.
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