Night, in the basement of Furan's home.
Furan used Wind Blade against the wall. An invisible attack sprang from her hand, whistling through the air, only to vanish right before it touched the wall.
[You have skillfully used the Wind Blade Spell. Through your long practice, Wind Blade Spell proficiency +5.]
[Wind Blade Spell proficiency is full. Level increased.]
Furan let out a soft breath, feeling as if a heavy stone had finally been lifted from her heart.
She had been practicing this Wind Blade Spell for days, all to push this Spell, which was closest to the extraordinary rank, into the extraordinary level.
After she canceled the Wind Blade, a flood of knowledge suddenly surged into her mind, leaving her somewhat confused.
This knowledge was the Spell content for the First-Tier Spell, Howling Gale. Hadn't she been practicing the Wind Blade Spell? How did a First-Tier Spell suddenly pop out?
After examining the contents closely, she realized that rather than calling it a First-Tier Spell, it was more like an upgraded version of the Wind Blade Spell.
The only differences seemed to be greater power and a higher ceiling compared to the Wind Blade Spell.
Its Spell structure was very similar to the Wind Blade Spell; she had obtained this First-Tier Spell simply by repeatedly stacking the structure of the Wind Blade Spell several times.
The pleasant surprise in Furan's heart faded quite a bit. She knew it wouldn't be that simple to obtain a First-Tier Spell.
However, Furan was still satisfied with understanding this mechanism. Even if a First-Tier Spell could be created so simply, she wouldn't have known that this counted as one without this realization.
Knowing this mechanism, Furan could follow the example and create First-Tier versions of other Spells.
She silently invoked the panel to check her status.
[Name: Furan
Class: Mage (Forge, Modification, Spellsong, Elemental) (One Star), Rune Warrior (Half Star), Apothecary (Half Star), Artisan (Half Star)
Attributes: Constitution 3.0, Spiritual Power 12.2
Skills: Wind Blade Spell (extraordinary): You have grasped the essence of this Spell and can now release higher-tier Spells.
Blood of the Furnace (Beginner): The most powerful Spell you have learned, but it seems that casting it once will consume most of your Spiritual Power.
Hardened Scales (Proficient): The Spells you cast have gained a bit of magic resistance and can block Spell damage.
Light-Praying Art (Mastery) (Proficiency: 600/1000)
...(Omitted)
Traits: Elemental Spell Specialty (Increases Spell intensity when casting elemental Spells)... (Omitted)]
This was her current panel. After flipping through nearly twenty books, she had finally met the promotion requirements for the Elemental School, gaining a Specialty and an increase in her spiritual attribute.
It was becoming harder and harder to increase her spiritual attribute. Originally, there was an increase of nearly 2 points, but now the amount was getting smaller and smaller.
But Furan was satisfied. She felt that her current Spiritual Power should surpass most First-Order Mages.
In other words, when facing a First-Order Mage, as long as the opponent didn't have any resistance skills, Furan could insta-kill them just by getting close and landing a Disorder control Spell.
However, she also had some weaknesses now. Although she knew many Spells, she lacked true First-Tier Spells.
Though she now knew that training a Spell to the extraordinary level would grant its First-Tier enhanced version, it still required time to grind the proficiency.
Strictly speaking, the only First-Tier Spells she knew now seemed to be the Howling Gale she just got, and Blood of the Furnace.
Speaking of Blood of the Furnace, she had truly learned this Spell, but its effect was much weaker than when released through the ring.
Its range was only half a meter, and the casting process would directly drain most of her Spiritual Power, leaving her with barely enough to move.
However, she felt the lethality was similar to when cast via the ring; both directly turned surrounding matter into red liquid and then restored it.
Of course, it was also possible that she hadn't encountered more difficult-to-convert materials yet, so she couldn't compare the difference between the two.
As for more First-Tier Spells, she estimated Harbos would probably give her a few, but she didn't want to go looking for Harbos just yet.
It was still a bit scary to promote directly by reaching the Spiritual Power standard. She planned to wait a while before telling Harbos.
Although the renewed growth in Spiritual Power was startling, it could be explained as the result of long-term Spell practice.
Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why your Spiritual Power, which was still a chunk away from the standard, suddenly surged to the line.
Leaving more time would make the growth of her Spiritual Power through Spell practice seem more convincing.
Then there was the Spirit World Trial. To be honest, after she got the key, she had actually wanted to give up.
After all, the fact that Spells learned in the Material Realm wouldn't grow was a bit scary, and there was what Teacher Yiqi said about how if you're unlucky, you might never find the next trial key in your life.
So she had just casually tossed the key into a drawer. She only found it yesterday after searching for a while.
But after learning about some attempts to participate in the Spirit World Trial while at an official rank, she decided to go and try her luck.
Even if she might not get the Talent bestowed by the Spirit World, she had her own ideas.
First, according to Ichi's description, those mages successfully passed the trial, but weren't guaranteed to get a Talent.
The question then was, her panel also had conditions for class formation, and the only thing she lacked now was passing the Spirit World Trial.
If she, like those mages, passed the Spirit World Trial, would she be able to get a Spirit World Talent in the end?
She felt that at the very least, she could add the term (Spirit World) after her Mage class, allowing her spiritual attribute to grow again.
Perhaps the classes formed by the panel would be recognized by the Spirit World, so she wouldn't have to rely on luck to obtain a Talent.
Regardless, there was no harm in trying. She hadn't promoted to an official rank in the Spirit World anyway, so dying there wouldn't affect her.
She gripped the key, and a line of pulsing sentences appeared in her mind.
[The location for this trial is the Radiant Dreamscape. Countdown to opening: 0:3:8:46. Participants please enter the trial one hour in advance. Entry stops five minutes before the trial starts. No restrictions on the use of any Spells or Combat Skills.]
---
Three days later, at Furan's house.
Furan set magic traps on all the doors and windows to prevent anyone from disturbing her. At the same time, she greeted everyone she knew, explaining she would be busy for the next few days.
The time in the Spirit World Trial was the same as in reality—however many days passed in the Spirit World, that much time would pass in reality—so she needed to prepare.
After checking everything once more, Furan lay on the bed and silently recited the incantation. This time, she felt her consciousness rising more slowly, so she quickly recited it a few more times to make her consciousness ascend.
Ãdvåñçé çhàptêr àvàilàble óñ pàtreøn luffy1898