Chapter 72

Advancing To Level 3 Acolyte

An itch!

An unbearable itch!

Leylin felt that his bones had split open and many ants came crawling out from within. An extremely itching sensation was coursing through his body at this moment.

"Damn it! And I actually have to enter a deep meditative state under this condition and remodel the mind runes."

Leylin's face turned red. He clenched his teeth and resisted the urge to scratch his body as he closed his eyes.

Due to the adverse yet intense effect on his body, Leylin spent several more times longer to enter a meditative state.

Inside the meditation, Leylin seemed to have come to a place.

The surroundings were a grayish blur. Up in the air, there were many lights which seemed like stars, illuminating this place.

Leylin lifted his head. In the air were 24 mysterious runes- glowing with a fluorescent light- which gathered to form a circle.

These were the mind runes that he had painstakingly constructed during the past few years.

Although these mind runes were all constructed through various special means, each and every one of the construction required a huge amount of effort and time. Previously, Leylin had spent more than a year before he could finally construct them in his mind.

"The mind runes of a level 2 acolyte cannot be considered to have fully consolidated. A level 3 acolyte has to integrate the mind runes together based on the foundation set in level 2 acolyte. Moreover, there needs to be a reinforcement of the sea of consciousness!"

Leylin was extremely curious towards that state too.

Right now, he was in a completely 'conscious' state. The sea of consciousness did not appear in any parts of his body. At least, the A.I. Chip had already used a microscopic scan at the atomic level on his body but yet could not find anything.

"The cultivation of Magi spiritual force, may very well have crossed over into the aspect of souls!"

Leylin let out a sigh from the bottom of his heart. And at this moment, the sea of consciousness had a phenomenon.

A layer of tangerine-yellow light continuously permeated over the blurry, grayish mist. Not long after, the whole of the sea of consciousness turned into a bright tangerine-yellow.

"This is the effect of the Reactive Elixir! It was only with a potion that can be smeared on the body, and I also know of the ingredients it is made up of, but that it can actually affect my sea of consciousness, that is really mysterious...."

Before Leylin could gasp again, the tangerine-yellow light immediately rushed up into the sky, as if it wanted to dye the 24 mind runes into a tangerine-yellow colour too.

* Bang! *

The mind runes let off a glow and rejected the contamination of a foreign object, A huge force of impact travelled over. Leylin's vision darkened, and he almost fainted.

"Suppress it!" Leylin hurriedly borrowed the strength of his spiritual force, to suppress the resistance of the mind runes.

* Pop! *

Towards the mind runes that he constructed, Leylin's mastery over them was not little. A few seconds later, the 24 mind runes all stopped resisting, and they were dyed a tangerine-yellow

Under the contamination of the light, the many mysterious patterns appeared on the surface of the mind runes.

These patterns continuously kept extending till they had completely covered the surface of all the mind runes.

* Bang! * The 24 mind runes finally stuck together, forming into an even greater rune.

In Leylin's sea of consciousness, many patterns also appeared. And after the presence of these patterns, the sea of consciousness turned even more resplendent and transparent, as if it were being reinforced.

After the reinforcement, as if listening to some command, the tangerine-yellow light hurriedly retreated, immediately vanishing in the sea of consciousness.

The large mysterious rune let off a glow, and Leylin's consciousness was pushed out from it.

"Where is this place?"

Leylin grew confused; suddenly releasing that he was in a mysterious place. The area was pitch-black, with no light whatsoever.

He wanted to reach out, but there was no concept of "hands" as if he never had any hands before.

In this manner, he floated in the air with no concept of time, yet he couldn't move.

To Leylin, in this space, every minute was like a dozen years.

This feeling could completely drive a sane person over the cliff.

Leylin was somewhat frustrated, "Haven't I advanced into a level 3 acolyte yet? Why would I come to this space? How long has the time passed?"

Suddenly, Leylin's heart jumped, "A.I. Chip!"

[Beep!] A bright blue screen was projected in front of Leylin and although it could not illuminate the darkness, still it made him feel much better.

[Scans have picked up that the Host's spiritual force is in an abnormal state. Under this circumstance, the Host will fail the breakthrough to a level 3 acolyte in 5 Minutes 23 Seconds! 13 Hours 45 Minutes later, due to the failure of all organs death will ensue! Whether to use magic power to get rid of the status? Yes/No?]

"Yes!" Right now Leylin completely did not feel any magic power left in his body, but the A.I. Chip could still circulate it, which made him elated.

[Obtained Host's confirmation and now transferring magic power. In the process of getting rid of the abnormal status....] Along with the A.I. Chip's voice intonation, there was suddenly a strange movement in the pitch-black space.

Leylin's eyes flashed open. He realised that he was still in the secret lab and that not much time had passed since he began.

"During the advancing to a level 3 acolyte, there are actually such strange scenarios!"

Leylin's expression was solemn. His degree of progress was too quick, most of his knowledge had been obtained from the library and also from the simulations and conjectures of the A.I. Chip.

He had no info about some scenarios of advancing into level 3 acolyte.

"Normally speaking, when many level 2 acolytes are in the midst of advancing, they all have their Professors to explain in detail to them... but I'm unfortunate! Even Professor Kroft wouldn't have expected that I would face a breakthrough this quickly!"

Leylin held onto many secrets and would never tell the truth. In Kroft's eyes, he was just a newly advanced level 2 acolyte, so why would he tell him about some notes to pay attention regarding the advancement to a level 3 acolyte?

Furthermore, the books in the library were available commonly. Many things in it had vague explanations. Even if Leylin had the A.I. Chip and was able to erase the false information, together with his experiments, he wouldn't be able to obtain the perfect results.

This caused Leylin to encounter a phenomenon that occurred during his advancement and he was at a complete loss.

"Luckily I had the A.I. Chip this time, if not I will be finished! The road to becoming a Magus is indeed very precarious!"

There was some lingering fear in Leylin's heart.

But this, too, confirmed his deductions. The A.I. Chip had been with him when he was transported and for some unknown reason, it had merged into his soul.

Hence, when his soul met with an abnormality and was isolated and without help, he could still activate the A.I. Chip to get rid of the inner influences from the outside.

"So, advancing to a level 3 acolyte is not about the combination of the mind runes nor reinforcing the sea of consciousness, but about the space of darkness that comes after!"

Leylin suddenly understood much more. All these were usually precious information secrets that were not announced by professors or the academy, many factionless acolytes usually died during this aspect.

[Beep! The Host's spiritual force has some change and is more lively. The Host has advanced into a level 3 acolyte! spiritual force increasing....] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

Following which, Leylin felt dizzy, and his spiritual force increased at a rapid speed.

7.2

7.3

7.5

......

9.7

10.1

The spiritual force which seemed to ride on a rocket had continuously increased. When the final number jumped, it turned into 10.1, and finally stabilising itself.

"My head hurts!"

With the sudden increase of the spiritual force, right now Leylin's body could still not adapt to the change. He had a runny nose and when he touched the area, he realised that he was bleeding from his nostrils!

"The increase in spiritual force is too fast, and the body could not take it!"

Leylin smiled wryly but very soon his expression changed and cracking noises came from within his body. At the same time, intense pain travelled from all parts of his body continuously.

Leylin's facial muscles contorted and he fell flat on the bed, like a shrivelled up shrimp.

"Damn it! Damn it! The Reactive Elixir's effect is up and the backlash from the potion has started!"

Leylin howled, "A.I. Chip! Begin to coordinate with the magic power and get rid of the remnants from the elixir!"

A layer of a grayish-black halo of light appeared and floated on his body, enveloping his whole body. Along with the flickering of the halo, much of the yellowish-black pus was expunged from Leylin's pores, releasing a very acute stench.

A dozen minutes later, Leylin struggled to get up. He took out a red-coloured potion from the bag lying beside him and drank it fully before his expression changed for the better.

At this moment his body was drenched in sweat and pus, bringing about an acidic stench, as if he had just been scooped out from the sewers.

Leylin tried to pick himself up. His face was pale stricken and he was weak in the knees. His eyes were sunk in as if having been bedridden with an illness for many months.

After pushing open the door of the secret lab, Leylin jingled the bell placed beside the door.

* Ding Ling Ling! *

A crisp yet penetrating sound rang, and it travelled far after a while.

"Young Master! You..." A few minutes later, Anna brought two maids as she rushed over. It seemed like Leylin's lips were covered by his hands.

"It's fine! Send me to the bathroom! I wish to take a shower!"

"Do you want me to call the herbalist or doctor over?"

"No need!"

......

Half an hour later, Leylin lay in a pool that was constructed from marble. The warm water flowed over his body, bringing away the dirt and grime from him.

Anna was buck-naked as she nestled up against Leylin. She used a white towel to scrub his body.

"Mi....Milord! Your deer blood soup and steak!"

On the other side, Trixy too was stark naked, and her delightful curves were all exposed in front of Leylin eyes. She blushed, as she carried a propped up tray over.

The ray was made of wood and floated on the pool. Leylin picked up his utensils and ate voraciously.

Some time later, Leylin wore a loose bathrobe and reclined on a nearby chair. His back leaned against Anna's chest and enjoyed the sensational perky abundance.

And at his side, Trixy and another beautiful were giving a massage to Leylin.

They had only donned some clothes, which were smaller than a palm. The private areas weren't covered, only faintly discernible at times. This made it even more embarrassing yet alluring.

Trixy and the other maid were only daughters of farmers and they had toiled in the farms since they were young. They had a layer of calluses on their hands even. However, they were extremely young and their slender figures were beautiful. Their bodies radiated the vibrancy of youthfulness. Compared to Anna, it was a kind of wild flavour.

However, right now Leylin completely did not have any interest to engage in an intense bout with them. Instead, he felt somewhat traumatic about the advancement today.

Chapter 73

Reexamination

"A.I. Chip! Bring forth my current stats!" Leylin commanded inwardly.

[Beep! Leylin Farlier, level 3 acolyte. Strength: 3.1, Agility: 3.3, Vitality: 3.5, Spiritual force: 10.1, Magic power: 10 - (magic power is in synchronisation with spiritual force). Status: Healthy]

The A.I. Chip projected the data in front of Leylin's eyes. Apart from him, nobody else could see it.

Leylin closed his eyes, yet his mind was rapidly processing and thinking.

"En! My vitality has increased by 0.3, which should be related to the use of the Reactive Elixir. Also, not only did my spiritual force increase to 10.1, I can feel that my spiritual force is brimming with more energy as compared to before. My perception towards energy particles in the air has increased too, so casting rank 0 spells should now be easier!"

"The realm of a level 3 acolyte is indeed not something a level 2 acolyte can compare to. However, the process of advancing is too perilous!"

Leylin put on an expression of lingering fear. No matter if it was his consciousness being trapped in the black space, or the backlash from the Reactive Elixir, they were all developments which he had not expected.

To Leylin, all the data and information he had garnered was still too little. Although the A.I. Chip's calculation abilities were extremely tremendous, if the basic information was not there, being able to simulate the correct advancement technique was already considered to be not bad.

As for the setback met during the advancement, due to the various differences in vitality between people adding on to the shortage of information, even the A.I. Chip was unable to predict them.

"After all, in the library that Abyssal Bone Forest Academy opened for its students, much information had been restricted. Some high levelled information was not even released to be read by the acolytes!"

"Also, even if the A.I. Chip's calculation abilities are comparable to 10 supercomputers, the Magus World has, at least, tens of thousands of years of history. With all of the hundreds of thousands of acolytes experiments, the results and models will surpass the A.I. Chip's calculation abilities!"

"The advancement, this time, was indeed rather lucky, and luck played an important factor in it!"

Leylin's face turn solemn, "I cannot go on like this next time! This is only for advancing to a level 3 acolyte! In the future, when I advance into an official Magus, I won't be so lucky if something like this happens again!"

The difficulty of the advancement from a level 3 acolyte to an official Magus far exceeded that of advancing from a regular human to a level 3 acolyte,

And if at that time there were some mistakes or oversights due to negligence, even if Leylin had a few lives, it wouldn't be enough to save him.

"After returning, I must inquire greatly about all the details pertaining to advancement into an official Magus, and not try to break through blindly again!"

Leylin gave himself this mission for the future.

"What's next is to wait until my body has adapted to the sudden increase in spiritual force, and muster the few rank 0 spells that only level 3 acolytes can learn, then go back to reexamine that lab!"

Leylin opened his eyes and sent Anna and the other two maids away. After setting up a circle of warning with a spell formation, he dragged his weary body onto the bed on the other side and entered into slumber.

......

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed like that.

Night and the splendor of moonlight shone upon the ground. It was another full moon night.

Nearby the withering woods, beside that same large black granite boulder, Leylin muttered an incantation and repeated the same procedure as before.

Seeing the same dark hole of the cave, Leylin smiled and walked in.

After the observation of his previous exploration, he had already roughly understood the rules that were governing the spell formation. Moreover, he recorded all the danger inside there and had a way to counter them.

Furthermore, he had already advanced to a level 3 acolyte and had more confidence to break the defensive mechanisms laid by the unknown Magus.

The black tunnel passage was very short, and the surface was extremely shiny, reflecting Leylin's black robed figure. It was even projected at multiple angles on the wall behind Leylin.

The villa that Leylin had seen previously was at the back of the tunnel. The Devil Vines and Bone Eating Flowers still littered the floor. There were even grey slates on the floor, and within it resided the Gnawing Slate.

On the door of the villa, there was a circular hole. At the side of it was a corpse and a black diary which brought lustre lay beside the corpse. Seeing this book that had records of Alchemy, Leylin's heart began to palpitate faster.

In Leylin's eyes, the exterior of the villa was set up with a dangerous halo of light coming from magic spells, and it was unknown how many traps were concealed under the brilliant light.

* Hehe! Haha! *

Just as Leylin's right foot stepped on the stone slate, a childish laughter sounded. The slates on the floor twisted open and revealed a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, snapping viciously at Leylin!

"The first defense! Gnawing Slate!" Leylin smiled and tossed a gob of black stuff into the huge mouth.

* Ka-Cha! * The huge mouth gobbled up the black mass.

* Pu! * The grey mouth chewed, and immediately spit the black residue out. A red tongue continuously flickered outwards, and spat a yellowish green spittle.

This scene looked very much like a regular human eating something disgusting and spitting it out.

"With Stinky Stench Flower, Faeces Carapace Mantis, and the Rotten Stemmed Grass as the components of this vomiting powder! It is indeed the bane of the Gnawing Slate!" Leylin looked at the grey slate vomiting again, which immediately grew two small legs as it ran away, and the sight made Leylin laugh.

"To the unknown Magus, this should be a temporary lab since the spell leaned towards concealment. As for its resistance, there should only be 3 layers! Moreover, using the Gnawing Slate, Devil Vines and Bone Eating Flowers combination, this is the trademark defensive measures of the Michael School of Thought!"

Leylin walked towards the front door, and immediately grabbed the black diary with his hands.

It was extremely heavy, and carrying it felt like carrying a brick. It was probably made with special materials.

Leylin kept the diary in his robes and walked towards the large door.

A layer of blackish green vine immediately wrapped around the door, and on it, many red petals bloomed. The petals assembled, and actually formed the face of a female.

"Intruder! This is somewhere that you shouldn't have come!" The petals formed the opening and closing of the lips as the female talked.

"The Magus in there is already dead, I will inherit his fortune! As for you, I will keep your existence alive, and give you all the nourishment you require for evolving, how is it?"

Leylin took a red coloured fruit from his sack, "To you, the whole experiment lab cannot even be compared with this ingredient in my hand!"

"With it, you may even leave in the future, and regain your freedom, returning back to the woods where you came from...." Leylin spoke softly, with a tinge of beguilement.