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 judgement 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.
[Beep! Analysis completed. Result: The entire surroundings of Abyssal Bone Forest Academy is contaminated with traces of radiation. The biggest sources of contamination are Magi, and a few experimental setups and materials. The Host is suggested to stay away from these sources, or to increase the resistance of the body!]
“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?”
[Beep! Recording done, please provide a name!]
“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.