Nine hundred and ninety-nine magic crystals. In magic stones, that was nine million, nine hundred and ninety thousand.
For any First-Tier Wizard of a Three Rings Academy, a sum like this was enough to bankrupt them and leave them drowning in debt.
Ethan pulled out a large bag and took a magic crystal from inside. “Alright, care to count them?”
Lina took the bag, swept her mental power over it, and fell silent for a long moment.
She stood up and pushed her chair back.
“Please wait a moment. The four hundred and eight First-Tier spells are each sealed in an individual knowledge crystal, so I have to retrieve them from the back warehouse. The cantrips, however, can be directly imprinted onto bulk knowledge crystals, which is much faster.”
She turned, pushed open the door to the back room, and disappeared behind it.
From the back room came the sounds of rummaging, the scraping of wooden crates being dragged, the crisp clinking of crystals bumping together, and Lina's lowered voice speaking to someone.
The words “bought them all” could be faintly heard, followed by another voice drawing in a sharp breath.
About two and a half hours later, Lina emerged from the back room, carrying a massive, dark grey metal case in her hand.
The surface of the case was densely carved with sealing runes, their lines shimmering with a faint silver luster under the lights.
She set the case on the counter. The moment the lid opened, a rich wave of energy surged out.
Four hundred and eight knowledge crystals were neatly lined up inside, each secured in its own individual cork slot.
The crystals were crystal clear, with various colored light patterns swirling inside. Emerald green, crimson, deep blue, dark purple, silver-white, and pitch black—the light of every attribute interweaved, painting the area around the window in a kaleidoscope of colors.
Lina then pulled out a ring and handed it to Ethan. “In here are the knowledge crystals for the seven thousand two hundred and sixteen cantrips. Consider the ring a free gift.”
Ethan nodded, storing both the knowledge crystals from the ring and the dark grey metal case into his storage ring.
“Do you need anything else?”
“No, that's all.”
Ethan turned and walked away from the window.
...
He pushed open the door to his meditation room.
Ethan sat cross-legged on a cushion and took out a crystal from his storage ring.
As for learning them all at once?
Only a lunatic would do that.
This was knowledge bought with cold, hard cash—nine hundred and ninety-nine magic crystals.
Which translated to nine million, nine hundred and ninety thousand magic stones.
Even with his current vast wealth, this sum was no small pocket change.
More importantly, every single spell model sealed within these knowledge crystals had been polished and optimized over generations of wizards. The energy circulation methods, mental power guidance paths, and runic node distributions were all hard-earned experiences paid for by his predecessors through countless experiments and battles.
Wasting even a single one would break his heart.
An emerald green light swirled inside the crystal. It was the template for the First-Tier wood-attribute spell, Thorn Jungle. He pressed the crystal to his forehead, letting his mental power seep inside.
A massive influx of information flooded his consciousness.
The construction of the spell model, the arrangement rules of energy particles, the precise path of mental power guidance, precautions during casting, common mistakes and their corrections, and techniques for linking it with other wood-attribute spells.
His brow furrowed slightly.
The energy particle arrangement of this spell was far more complex than any cantrip he had learned before.
The base model alone had thirty-seven critical nodes, and the energy particle density, rotation speed, and coordination with other nodes for each node had strict requirements.
Three of these nodes required his mental power to simultaneously guide two streams of energy particles of different densities to converge, and the deviation of the angle of convergence could not exceed 0.3 degrees.
Three minutes later, Ethan opened his eyes.
The knowledge crystal in his hand crumbled into ash.
Tracing a half-circle in front of him with his index finger, the floor of the meditation room suddenly cracked open.
A dark green vine crawled out from the crevice, growing, branching, and intertwining at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Densely packed thorns emerged on the surface of the vine, their tips secreting a dark green, toxic sap.
The vines climbed along the walls, spreading from the floor to the ceiling and covering every corner. Within just a few breaths, the entire meditation room was woven into an airtight net of vines.
With a crook of his finger, the vines exploded simultaneously. Before the shattered fragments could even hit the ground, they dissolved into fine motes of light and vanished.
“Not bad,” he muttered, pulling a second knowledge crystal from the ring.
This one was the fire-attribute cantrip, Ring of Fire.
He pressed the crystal to his forehead, opened his eyes a few seconds later, and splayed the fingers of his right hand.
A circle of blazing white fire erupted from his palm, condensing into a spinning ring of fire around his body.
The ring of fire was two meters in diameter, its heat so intense that the surrounding air warped violently.
With a flick of his finger, the ring of fire abruptly shrank into a fist-sized fireball, then silently went out.
The third was the water-attribute spell, Ice Mirror.
He pressed the crystal to his forehead, and after learning it, wiped his hand in front of him.
A mirror condensed from ice appeared out of thin air, its surface smooth as glass, reflecting his own face.
With another wipe, the ice mirror shattered, the shards turning into water vapor before they even hit the floor.
Ethan learned them one by one, practicing each as he went.
He made sure he could cast every newly learned cantrip or spell perfectly without any hitches before moving on to the next.
His Fireball had to accurately hit a target a hundred meters away; his Wind Bind had to bind a flying target midair until it couldn't budge; his Shadow Step had to allow him to move silently in the shadows for at least ten meters.
He cast each cantrip seven or eight times, only moving on to the next once he was absolutely certain he had mastered it.
Days slipped by in a blur of studying and practicing.
The light of the crystals in the meditation room remained lit at all times.
He had no need for sleep, food, or water.
Tired?
With his current constitution, meditating and studying for ten days to half a month straight wouldn't cause him even a shred of fatigue.
The stacking effects of his Sub-Saint's Gaze and Archmage passives allowed him to fully comprehend a cantrip model in minutes, whereas others would need several days.
Spells that others had to practice dozens of times to cast proficiently could be cast instantaneously by him after just three to five tries.
But with four hundred and eight First-Tier spells and seven thousand two hundred and sixteen cantrips, the sheer volume was staggering.
It was a massive number that would drive any ordinary First-Tier Wizard to despair.
One year later.
The identity plaque at his waist suddenly vibrated.
Then, Blood Fury's voice boomed from the plaque.
“Hey, hey, hey! Ethan, Ethan, respond if you hear me, respond if you hear me!”
The voice was so loud it felt like someone was shouting directly into his ear. The transmission array built into the plaque buzzed from the vibration.
Speechless, Ethan stopped meditating and picked up the plaque.
“Dean, aren't you tired of playing with that yet?”
Blood Fury's hearty laughter echoed from the other side of the plaque.
Even through the plaque, Ethan could easily picture the smug expression on his face.
“Haha, this new technology distributed by the Council is incredibly convenient. Tsk, the technology from some of those technological worlds is really useful and handy.”
Ethan held the plaque up, staring at the palm-sized piece of bone, and sighed.
Ever since the Wizard Council distributed the new technology six months ago, the wizards of Blood Bone Tower could use their identity plaques to communicate directly.
For a Second-Tier Wizard and a dean of a Three Rings Academy, why did Blood Fury suddenly start acting like a child?
He was truly speechless.
“Dean, what is it exactly?”
“It's time. You get me?”
Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Oh, it's time to head to the Seven Rings Wizard Academy, right?”
“If you know, then get over here already!”
“I'm on my way.”
Rate on N.U.
