The library, following what seemed to be a trend among the academy’s most important locations, was grandiose to maybe an exaggerated degree. From the ground to the top floor, bookcases extended over the walls. Diffused sunlight poured through a dome of frosted glass on the ceiling. Its circular metal supports coincided with a mosaic on the floor, the Phoenix Academy's sigil at its center.

It housed millions of books, and that wasn’t just an estimation on Jon’s part. According to the register, there were exactly 18,952,284 items accessible to the students. Even if he spent his whole seven years at the library, he still wouldn’t be able to go through a fraction of it all.

This was one of the reasons why he planned on often visiting the place, the other being the silence. His roommates were simply too chaotic for comfort. If he hoped to do well at the academy, and he did, then he required a calm and quiet place to study and review his notes from class.

A thin old man in orange and green robes approached Jon, a thick leather-bound tome in hands. “Here you go, student,” he said, a wrinkled nose above his long gray mustache. “Please be aware that any damage to the academy’s property will result in a punishment. Repeated offenses are grounds for expulsion.”

Jon nodded as he took the book from the librarian’s hands. Having skimmed through The History of Modern Cultivation, he found no mentions regarding how to become an Archmage. But there were some good leads on where he might find the answers he wanted. For starters, Professor Ludwig Weinberg’s Findings on Spell Cultivation should shed some light on why he’d been stuck as a Mage for so long. Hopefully.

The ground floor was taken by oak tables and upholstered chairs, a few of them occupied by students gossiping in whispers. Jon found himself a seat by the edge of the room, near the bookcase wall and far away from anybody else. He had no obligations to socialize with anyone other than his roommates and Bella, the upside of being a social pariah.

My name is… path of spell cultivation… manipulate mana…

Jon skimmed through the introduction chapter, instead of focusing his attention on any information even remotely related to how to breakthrough.

Compared to body cultivation, the breakthrough on the path of spell cultivation is much more uncertain. When the time finally comes, the breakthrough can last anywhere from minutes to days. Either complete loss of consciousness or remaining completely aware of one’s surroundings. Some will suffer through excruciating pain while others will instead breakthrough peacefully in their sleep.

I myself, regrettably, fit with the former at this last category, being forced to endure a most terrible pain for hours. Though don’t be mistaken; it seemed to last much longer than just that. If you, dear reader, find yourself in such a situation, then I can only say that I’m sorry.

As for the reasons for such discrepancies, it hasn’t been discovered as of the time of this writing, 7,698 AU. There’s nothing in common that could help explain this phenomenon, be it elemental affinities, age, gender, or even social class. Any reasoning I try to come up with will be as valid as throwing a dice, tossing a coin, or whichever other gambling method the reader prefers. And for all we know, this might very well be how the gods decide it.

Jon turned the page. That wasn’t reassuring at all, he thought.

But regardless of how the breakthrough goes, every recently advanced Archmage seems to equal one another in power, same for Warlocks. So after this short commentary on the breakthrough process, we’ll next talk about cultivation.

Cultivation is, plain and simple, the accumulation of mana. Body cultivators achieve it through a combination of physical exertion and mana absorption. Spell cultivation follows a similar principle, with the exertion coming from the repeated use of magic.

Although age and social class have no impact on the breakthrough itself, it does heavily affect the chances of getting to that point. Cultivation speed peaks around twenty years of age, after which begins a slow and steady decline as time passes. As for the social class, peasants rarely have access to the same resources as nobles. The more cultivation resources one has access to, the easier it will be to absorb mana. The war academies can shorten this distance somewhat, but only for a short seven years and to a select minority.

Other than effort, resources, and the ever immutable talent, there are no other factors that can affect cultivation speed.

Don’t follow those who speak of shortcuts, secret techniques, or even ancient items. They are either trying to fool you for profit, are fool themselves, or, worse of all, treacherous demons.

Attempting to force a breakthrough, be it on the path of spells or body, will always result in lasting damage and possibly death.

Jon paused. That was his first time even hearing of a way to force a breakthrough. If that were to be true, then he would have a last resort in case he remained a Mage up to the end of the year.

Sure, it might hinder his ability to cultivate in the future and make it much harder to achieve the Secret Realm’s requirements. But if he failed to become an Archmage before the end of the year, he’d lose access to half of what the academy had to offer, making it impossible to become a Paladin and a Warlock before his thirties.

Hard beats impossible, and a low chance is better than none at all.