"The reason more geniuses awaken before the age of sixteen."
"It's because their Spirituality is strong. Powerful Spirituality attracts more gazes, and a gaze is almost equivalent to a blessing."
"The more gazes you receive, the more blessings you will get."
"Little Lu Cang."
"The gazes upon you are so dense they're almost tangible..."
"You must have received a great deal of favor from the Root Source."
Lu Cang's eyes snapped open.
This was the first time he had been startled awake from a dream since coming to this world.
Yesterday, after Kumironi had cleansed the pollution of the gazes and repaired his body, his consciousness had felt light and floaty.
His body felt groggy and heavy.
He couldn't even remember how he got back to his room or how he fell asleep.
This feeling of a muddled mind seemed to have started after he upgraded yesterday.
It was so bad that after advancing to a Level 2 Mage, he had forgotten to even check what had changed about himself.
He sat up in bed.
It was still dark outside. He looked up at the clock on the wall.
4:30 in the morning.
「Everlasting Lamp (Tier One) (Level: 101) — When activated, consumes Magic Power to exist for an extended period, illuminating a vast area. The gentle light leaves no blind spots within its Range. When not activated, your vision possesses an equally bright field of view.」
The Beyond Magic of the Tier One Lighting Technique—Everlasting Lamp.
He no longer needed to suspend a light source himself.
Even without activating this Magic, Lu Cang could easily see things in the dark.
He usually only activated it so his teammates could see clearly as well.
His mind should be completely clear now.
Lu Cang assessed the changes in himself.
If his Magic Power Value before advancing was 10,000, it was now 700,000.
That was a lot.
The normal Magic Power range for a Level 2 Mage was apparently only 100 to 500.
But Magic Power Value wasn't that important.
Whether it was 700,000 or 200,000, there was no way he would run out of Magic Power at his current stage.
A little more or a little less made no real difference.
The important thing was...
After he advanced to a Level 2 Mage...
The Skill Proficiency of his Beyond Magic had started to increase again.
Previously, after a Magic reached Level 101, using it no longer increased its Skill Proficiency.
Lu Cang had thought that was the true limit.
But now it seemed it was just because his own Level hadn't broken through.
Besides his Magic's Skill Level being able to increase again...
...he seemed to have also received a unique blessing.
「Mage Mastery - Transcender (Exclusive): Casting any Magic with a Skill Level greater than Level 100 will grant increased Skill Proficiency. All Magic with a Skill Level over 100 will receive a significant boost to its magical Effect.」
'Transcender.'
Lu Cang lightly raised a hand, and Ice Shuttles condensed around him.
The Magic Power consumption was almost nil, even less than the Mana he needed before advancing.
And the number of Ice Shuttles he could condense had become 14.
The quantity had doubled.
Their flight speed...
Lu Cang tried controlling them for a moment.
They were faster than before, by nearly 50%.
As for their Power, it was difficult to test in the inn, but he imagined it had increased significantly as well.
If he were to fight that Giant Snake now, it would probably be an instant kill.
「Mage Mastery - Fount of Magic Power (Limit-Break): Accommodate more Magic Power, extremely fast Magic Power recovery Speed.」
After upgrading, he had received two Mage Masteries in total. One corresponded to Beyond Magic, and the other to Magic Power...
'So, this is the so-called reward.'
And the "Transcender" Mage Mastery had an "Exclusive" tag, which probably meant he was the only one who possessed it.
'Does the first pioneer to show results get an exclusive Mastery?'
If so, when Iz advanced to a Level 2 Mage, he must have also obtained an exclusive Mastery related to Magic Power.
Besides these two...
...a second peculiar symbol, one he didn't recognize, had lit up within his body.
This gave him a second Talent.
[Current—Mage: Level 2]
[Talent Acquired: Two-Handed Casting —> 「Divine Level·Multiple Spellcasting」]
「Divine Level·Multiple Spellcasting」
「Allows the simultaneous Casting of any number of different Magic. Furthermore, every spell cast is automatically replicated, for a total number of casts equal to [current Mage Level + 1].」
「The additional Castings consume no Magic Power.」
'Multiple Casting, huh.'
With a thought, Lu Cang acted.
Three massive, solid Flame Balls condensed on his right, while three Ice Shuttles circled his left.
Lu Cang had cast each Magic only once, but two additional copies had formed.
'Simultaneous Casting...'
A Mage could only cast one type of Magic at a time—at least, that was how it was supposed to be.
The gap between casting one spell and switching to the next was a Mage's period of vulnerability, a moment when an enemy could strike.
'This is really useful.'
Lu Cang dispersed the Ice Shuttles and Flame Balls.
He didn't need to test this Talent any further. Lu Cang could already feel that as long as he had enough Magic Power, he could cast all of his Magic simultaneously.
Since he couldn't get back to sleep anyway, he might as well get up and go downstairs.
Iz hadn't "spawned" in the hotel lobby today.
Then again, it was 4:30 in the morning.
The hotel's restaurant, however, served food 24/7. 'As expected of a luxury hotel.'
After finishing breakfast, Lu Cang went to the library. The library in Raine Town was open all day.
After upgrading to a Level 2 Mage, his mental fortitude had indeed improved a lot.
Lu Cang spent the morning cramming common knowledge until noon before returning to the hotel.
On his way back to the hotel, however, he saw an extraordinarily lavish carriage. It was an elegant black and a noble gold, a color combination that radiated nothing but immense value.
'You can judge a person by their carriage. Someone of no small status has arrived.'
The moment Lu Cang saw the carriage, he became wary.
It was hard to say whether the owner's arrival had anything to do with him.
Iz hadn't spawned in the lobby.
Hmm...
'Why have I subconsciously started assuming Iz will always spawn in the lobby?'
In any case, it was time to go look for them.
Lu Cang stepped into the elevator.
That's right, this world... had elevators.
The principle behind them wasn't complicated, really. A box, and a force to pull the box up...
That was pretty much an elevator.
In its crudest form, you could even just hire someone strong enough to pull it from above.
Whether it was safe... was another matter.
But in a world where Magic existed, there were naturally ways to make it safe.
And this elevator certainly wasn't so crude as to be pulled by a person.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—
Lu Cang knocked on Iz's door.
Along with a "Please, come in," the door opened on its own.
"Won't you reconsider?"
"If they hear the name Izparut, they will surely surrender without a fight."
"That would result in the fewest sacrifices."
Iz shook his head and gave a firm reply, "There's no need to persuade me further. My mind will not be changed."
Lu Cang saw that an unfamiliar person was speaking with Iz.
After receiving Iz's reply, the black-haired man in the gentleman's hat stood up.
"Then I shall take my leave for now."
He bowed to Iz.
Iz smiled and made a gesture of seeing him off.
The man turned to leave and saw Lu Cang.
"And this is...?"
Iz said, "My personally taught disciple."