Alex finished drawing the circle and placing the materials, then sat at its center.
The circle forced his core to absorb purer mana, pushing it over its natural limit, expanding the core and purifying the mana inside it. That was thanks to the mana crystals.
And the monster cores were there to aid Alex in stabilizing the core during the process of ascension, so it wouldn't break down, and to strengthen it for the following tier.
All the remaining Ingredients would turn into strength.
He closed his eyes and began his mana-gathering exercise. He chose water, the element he had progressed further in. As he focused, his awareness slipped away from the room entirely—so he didn't notice when two people quietly entered.
"He really started without notifying any of us. How rude," Vanessa whispered.
"Yeah, this guy is unbelievable," Sylvana agreed.
She wanted to measure the exact strength of the kid, and this process was a good opportunity, since depending on accomplishments, it showed one thing or another.
Vanessa, on the other hand, hasn't witnessed any mage advancing in her life, so she was curious.
"Pay attention to the way the magic circle reacts," Sylvana explained. "The circle the magic crystals are in can turn in three colours depending on how many elements he has at the advanced level. White means none, green means one, and blue means two." Sylvana explained to Vanessa.
And Vanessa nodded thoughtfully.
The circle brightened—then turned a deep, vivid blue.
"He has two elements at intermediate, around twenty-five percent each," Sylvana analyzed, visibly pleased. "A very good achievement."
"Now pay attention to the monster cores. How many get consumed and what quality of mana flows out depends on his mana control training, if he has any. You can also tell the exact level of his control by the rings that appear around the triangle—each half-circle represents one level, and how full they are shows the percentage."
"If the advancement reveals everything, shouldn't this be private?" Vanessa asked softly. She didn't want to trigger Alex's anger once again.
"It should," Sylvana replied, "It should, but you are bound by contract to him, and I am here to supervise that everything is going well. Besides, it's not like we are going to tell anyone,"
Moments later, the triangle lit up, and three circles—each slightly more than half full—formed around it.
"Oh?" Sylvana's eyebrows rose.
"What?" Vanessa asked.
"He has master-level mana control. Over halfway mastered," Sylvana said, genuinely surprised. "He's hiding far deeper secrets than he lets on."
"Couldn't he have learned it before helping you?" Vanessa tried.
"Not really, for a tier 1 practitioner, master level mana controls take a very long time to master, around ten years, so he had it probably for around five."
"So… he had a master control training at fifteen?" Vanessa asked, stunned.
"It appears so."
Alex didn't know that his privacy was being violated; he kept going onto his training, and besides the pain that accompanied forcefully expanding his core, he felt himself growing stronger by the minute.
After a while, he finally finished and opened his eyes.
Two nearly identical beauties stared at him with the same expression.
"Are you sure you're not her actual mom?" Alex asked, deadpan.
Sylvana laughed softly. "Quite amusing. But no—I was poisoned when she was born." Then, smiling, she added, "Congratulations, by the way, your potential took away my annoyance of the fact that you didn't call me when you came, you know, keeping his word is a man's greatest virtue."
"I know you're busy. I didn't want to bother you," Alex said.
"It's thoughtful of you, but you'll soon learn that for cultivators, life is slower than for commoners. Events that feel slow to you are nothing to us. In the cultivator world, things can take years or even decades to happen, and they would feel like days." Sylvana explained.
Alex found that reasonable and nodded. Then her earlier comment resurfaced.
"What do you mean by my potential?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
Sylvana repeated everything she'd explained to Vanessa—how the circle revealed his accomplishments, how abnormal they were.
Alex turned his gaze to Vanessa, disappointed; his look clearly said, Really? Again?
Sylvana noticed and added quickly, "Don't worry. We know these things are personal—we won't ask questions. I only checked to ensure nothing went wrong, and I brought Vanessa to learn. She even showed concern for your privacy."
Alex returned his sight to her and kept it, thinking about what she had said.
After a moment, he sighed and said, "Okay, I'll let it slip as long as you don't ask questions, but a heads up would have been nice," Alex said.
"Now that you are finished, we'll leave you be, check your status, and adapt yourself to your newfound power while you are here," Sylvana said.
Before exiting, Vanessa finally spoke.
"The trial will be held next week. Also, in a month and a half, we have a party to attend. You need to come two weeks early to get measured for your attire."
"Okay, I'll be here," Alex replied, though internally he wished he wouldn't have to.
Once the women were gone, he opened his status window.
—STATUS—
Name: Alexander
Intermediate Mage (0.01%)
Age: 20
Mana: 5678 / 8000
Mana Gathering: Wind Meditation (Novice), Water Meditation (Novice)
Mana Control: Senturion Control (Master — 57.25436%)
Mana Sense: Water Bending (Beginner)
Elements:
Wind (Intermediate — 18%)
Water (Intermediate — 27%)
Empty
Empty
Empty
Staring at the empty slots, he pulled out the elemental books he had purchased.
He trained through the rest of the morning. At one point, he even had to ask a maid to inform his mother that he wouldn't be home for lunch.
Hours later, he opened the status window again.
Elements:
Wind (Intermediate — 18%)
Water (Intermediate — 27%)
Space (Beginner — 15%)
Lightning (Apprentice — 11%)
Healing (Novice — 36%)
Healing had shot up quickly thanks to his deep anatomical knowledge, and it seemed that his years of suffering from the first dream boosted his knowledge of lightning, since it was the element the soldier used the most.
He stood up and rolled his shoulders, feeling the power coursing through him.
He was finally a tier-2 mage. His true path had only just begun.