192 Ninth-circle Mage
The thought of not increasing one’s power was not something Arthur enjoyed. It had been quite some time since the last time he was with his wives, and in his weakened state, the celestial energy that increased his attributes was not working.
He sat inside the laboratory area of his villa, practicing the new skill he got from George, the first time he had ever meditated.
[Monlog Meditation Technique: A meditation technique from the Giant Clan, derived from the bloodline of the Monlog Giant, a creature said to have reached the apex of the magus world.
Effects: Absorbs the mana from the atmosphere to strengthen the mana core and condense the mana into Spiritual Force.]
“Well, let’s give it a try then.”
The moment Arthur practiced the meditation technique cross-legged inside his lab, a dark-type substance enveloped his body and the lab’s interiors.
pan-da-n0vel.com It was similar to the black substance from when he transformed into that demon-like creature, but this time it was not driving him mad; in fact, a refreshing feeling passed through his entire body.
Although Arthur could use spells up to the 7 tier, his strength without the aid of his essences lay on the five-circle rank. There was a problem, though.
George could not understand how Arthur cast spells without Spiritual Force, as it was required even for the first-tier spells.
Arthur guessed it had something to do with his system, but now he would start anew, condensing his mana into Spiritual Force, making him able to reach greater heights.
“I messed it up. Just because I have a strange system does not mean I don’t need to train properly.”
He did not know, but without condensing his mana, there was no way Arthur would ever reach the rank one official mage status. Perhaps he would be able to keep leveling up and gain attributes, but it would not matter when one can’t cast the higher tier spells.
Arthur had a total of 27000 points in mana, and as he started to practice his meditation technique, that amount started to diminish, but a more refined type of mana was shown on the status screen, and that was the Spiritual Force.
[Name: Arthur Willians]
[Draconic Name: Placidusax, the Eater of Worlds]
[Rank: ???]
[Level: 58]
[Health: 12300/12300]
[Mana: 26700/26700]
[Spiritual Force: 1]
Attributes:
[Strength: 212]
[Agility: 139]
[Vigor: 134]
[Wisdom: 236]
[Charm: 143]
[Free points: 0]
With quick math, Arthur noticed that 300 points in mana would equal 1 in Spiritual Force, so by the end of his condensing, he would have 90 points in Spiritual Force.
Also, the once weakened attributes vanished after he started practicing that meditation technique. The reason was the astonishing healing speed of the Monlog Giant, which instantly took effect as it was the first time Arthur had ever used the method.
George had shared with him that each circle would be equal to 10 points in Spiritual Force, and one would have 100 points in the tenth circle but would have to get more than that somehow to pass the rank, finally reaching the official mage.
Arthur already had 90 points, equal to a ninth circle mage, an extraordinary power in his region; indeed, he would be the strongest mage there.
“Reaching nine circles, not bad. Most mages leave this place in the seventh circle to find more resources in the central continent.” Arthur thought.
A feeling of excitement rose within his body and an urge to condense all the mana as quickly as possible. With that thought in mind, Arthur stayed in the capital of the dark lands for three months.
During this time, Arthur spent most of his time inside the lab, and Deulara was still living in his villa.
She had opened up a shop, but the place still needed to get traction for the money to start coming in, and Arthur did not mind her living with him.
“Akhur, I made breakfast,” Deulara said in front of the lab’s door.
It was tasty fried eggs with meat from a timber deer.
“Why are you smiling, Akhur?”
Deulara noticed the happy mood Arthur had after getting out of the laboratory, and that was because he had finally finished the condensation of his Spiritual Force.
[Name: Arthur Willians]
[Draconic Name: Placidusax, the Eater of Worlds]
[Rank: ???]
[Level: 58]
[Health: 12300/12300]
[Mana: 0/0]
[Spiritual Force: 90]
Attributes:
[Strength: 212]
[Agility: 139]
[Vigor: 134]
[Wisdom: 236]
[Charm: 143]
[Free points: 0]
All the spells that used mana before now used Spiritual Force, as it was the same thing but more condensed and refined.
Also, Arthur improved all the spells he knew up to the 9 tier, which made sense, considering he was now a ninth-circle mage.
He and Deulara got closer to each other during this time and could be considered good friends, so Arthur did not keep it secret and said, “I finally reached the ninth-circle stage, he he.”
She almost choked with the breakfast, “what? This is impossible.”
Deulara knew Arthur was someone extraordinary, but reaching the ninth circle? In her mind, it was impossible and only achievable in ancient times, but that was not true.
She thought that way because she lacked knowledge about how this and the other worlds worked. All mages in the seventh circle would leave this place, going to the central continent using a way only known by a few, which made the majority of the population think the seventh circle was their limit.
Arthur would still think that way if George had not shared everything with him.
“I am awesome. Anyway, how’s your shop going?”
“Not that great. I mainly sell normal weapons, but the demand right now is enchanted weapons, and I am only starting on the enchanting path now,” Deulara said, visibly sad with the situation.
“Maybe I can help? I don’t know how to enchant, but with my strength of the ninth circle, making a few decent weapons will not be that hard.”
“You would do that?”
“Of course, but I assume until you get enough money to hire an enchanting master to work under you, which will not take that long.”
Deulara’s mood improved, and she happily ate the breakfast, excited to see Arthur enchant a few weapons for her shop.
Before leaving, Arthur used his connection with Sully to talk with him, but it did not work.
“They all probably returned to Slyvian, which is why I can’t talk to him. Not a problem, as I can easily reach Slyvian now.” Arthur thought.
Now that he was in a new realm of power, his tier 9 teleport and tier 9 flight skills would make the journey much easier. Arthur guessed that instead of days to reach Slyvian, he could reach it in one hour or less.
The thought of it made him gasp in astonishment. It seemed that the difference in ranks got bigger as one climbed the ladder, and now he was even stronger than before.
After seeing that the connection with Sully would not work, Arthur left his villa with Deulara. Their destination was the shop.
“Akhur! Good morning!” Jhazaken said.
It was the dark elf Arthur met the moment he moved to that villa. During the past three months, he barely went outside his lab but still tried his best to get new connections, and Jhazaken, being a comrade dark elf, helped him in that regard.
“Good morning!” Arthur said.
The two shared greeting daily but did not speak further as both understood they had things to do.
Everyone inside the capital had calmed down after these three months, and the heavy atmosphere of it had vanished. For them, that elf who killed their entire army did not appear to end their lives, which was already a win for them.
It was a sense of peace, but more than anyone, Arthur knew it would not last. Now that he reached that level of power, he wanted to talk with the leader of the dark lands and make them flee this piece of land, going towards the central continent.
“I don’t think this plan will work, though. Why would they trust my words? Also, sharing the way of leaving this place might be a dumb idea. Hum, what else can I do? Right, how did I not think of it earlier?”
Arthur could do that, or he could subdue the leader of the dark races, making him obey his commands, or he would die. Not only that, but commanding their children as well, as the family in charge of the dark lands, never changed.
Arthur would kill them if they did not collaborate, crushing their life force. He even had the idea of using all of his essences to implant a mighty spell, maybe at tier 10 or even tier 11, which was equivalent to a rank-one official mage.
That is why the spell would also detonate, destroying the entire dark lands and everyone in it. Arthur hoped it would not reach that point, but one that had to be done was a wrong move.
“Here, this is my shop! Did you like it?”