8mi Chapter 12 Condensation [Sands of Time: Elemental Resonance]
Chapter 12 Condensation [Sands of Time: Elemental Resonance]
During the days when Morris was away, Deitz would take out Thomas's wand every few days to examine it, muttering to himself.
"With this, what am I afraid of for the midterm exams?"
"No, I'm not even afraid of the year-end performance review anymore."
Suen raised her head, her gaze fixed on the magic wand in his hand, her lips moved but she ultimately chose to remain silent.
Since winning the lottery, Deitz seems to have become a completely different person.
He often did some bizarre things, and stopped traveling with the two of them, spending all his time running around in Modo City.
After finishing his workday, Rackham did not return to the dormitory with Suen.
After barely managing to fill her stomach in the cafeteria, Suen was about to return to her dormitory to read when she saw Rackham walking back from the bus stop in the distance.
He clasped his hands tightly to his chest, walked slowly, and had a drooping mouth.
Rackm walked over and sat down next to Sun, took out two magic stone coins from his pocket, and laid them out on the table.
"I thought I would be one of the lucky ones."
His tone was flat, as if he were stating a fact that had nothing to do with him.
There was a moment of silence, then Rackham suddenly spoke: "I inquired about some other things."
It turned out that after losing 1 magic stone coin, Rakham decisively gave up his illusions and turned to ask a familiar intermediate apprentice for advice.
From them, Rackham learned that in the border region, apprentices without background or resources only had three paths to take to stay.
The most common way is to hunt monsters and search for relics in the wilderness outside the city.
However, the returns are unstable; if you're lucky, you might make a small profit, but if you're unlucky, you'll be left in the wilderness forever.
In addition, learning a skill, such as potion-making or alchemy, will ensure you have enough to eat as long as you can make what others need.
Finally, and most practically, we can obtain investment from local families in the border region.
"Many families are willing to invest in promising apprentices," Rackham said, breaking off a piece of gray bread that Suen pushed towards him. "Apprentices like us who aren't very talented can choose to arrange marriages..."
He swallowed his bread, his tone devoid of any anticipation, as if he were one of the livestock waiting to be sold at the market.
In the days that followed, Su En continued her routine of going back and forth between her dormitory and the recycling room.
During the day, he is busy in the recycling room, and at night he goes back to his dormitory to immerse himself in the pursuit of knowledge.
Morris would come to inspect occasionally, sign the register, and leave; the rest of the time he would stay in the laboratory.
After a period of diligent study and practice, Suen finally grasped the basics of Hermes.
He devoted most of his energy to studying "The History of Potions" and "A Pictorial Guide to Common Potion Materials".
"Blood Lily of the Valley must be stored in a solvent with Shadow Energy to maintain its activity; the optimal storage time is 3 to 6 years."
"Night sheep blood powder is made from the carotid artery blood of sheep slaughtered at midnight. After freezing, it is extracted into a dry powder and is often used to treat the neutralization reaction of medicines..."
"The age of the devil's thistle is determined by the eye-like patterns on its leaves. Thistles less than fifty years old are highly poisonous, and even trace amounts can cause adverse reactions, mainly the following..."
In the dim light, Su En's pen tip danced across the pages and notes.
The night was deep, and the leaves of the giant tree outside the window rustled in the wind.
He closed the illustrated guide, rubbed his eyes, and habitually summoned the hourglass of time.
【Sands of Time: Elemental Resonance (1/1)】
[Level: Tier 1]
[Progress: 100/100]
[Effect: Absorbs elemental energy contained within matter and transforms it into Sands of Time. Increases elemental affinity and enhances the perception of elemental energy upon use.]
The Sands of Time have successfully condensed?!
Suen immersed his consciousness into the hourglass before him, where a grain of colored sand condensed into shape.
After more than a month, he finally obtained the first grain of Sand of Time.
A hint of undisguised elation appeared on Su En's lips.
After winning the Thomas Meteorite Magic Wand from the lottery, Deitz became somewhat restless.
But at this moment, Suen calmed his breathing and focused his attention on that grain of sand.
The next second, a colorful halo exploded in the hourglass.
Under the vision of the spirit, the elemental particles suspended in the air were more than twice as active as usual.
They were no longer floating erratically as usual, but instead slowly gathered around him, hovering a few inches away from his skin, like a group of pets hesitating whether to approach.
Suen decisively opened the meditation manual "Guide to Stargazing" and found the chapter on building a spiritual body.
"The spiritual body structure has a total of 8 nodes, which need to be constructed in a specific order to form a stable spiritual core."
Once his spiritual body is fully formed, it means he has crossed the threshold of becoming a junior apprentice.
According to previous attempts, one node requires 8 strands of mental energy, and to construct all 8 nodes at once, at least 64 strands of mental energy are needed, not even considering additional losses.
But right now, Su En only has less than 30 strands of spiritual energy in his mind.
Su En closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the misty, spiritual sea.
Normally, when entering a meditative state, one needs to first gather the scattered spiritual energy and then urge it to flow along the trajectory of the meditation method.
Sometimes, too many distracting thoughts cause mental energy to dissipate too quickly, scattering before it can be gathered together.
But this time, the situation is different.
A large number of elemental particles have seeped into the area surrounding his mental sea.
These originally wild and restless elemental particles have now become exceptionally docile.
When Suen's consciousness began to draw upon mental energy, instead of resisting, they actively moved closer.
While following the trajectory of the stars, the spiritual energy draws magic from the movement of elemental particles, condensing into new spiritual energy.
One strand, two strands, three strands...
When the fourth node lit up on the illusory spiritual body, a layer of fine sweat appeared on Su En's forehead.
The depletion of his mental energy had already made him feel dizzy, but magic was continuously flowing in from the air, replenishing what he had lost.
He gritted his teeth and continued meditating.
By the sixth node, his consciousness had become somewhat blurred.
Consciousness trembled slightly, as if a rope had been stretched to its limit.
"It's reached its limit."
Suen felt a surge of exhaustion and had no choice but to stop meditating.
In the sea of consciousness, sixteen illusory, interwoven lines connect to form a structure resembling a cube.
The nodes are no longer isolated points of light, but rather form a nearly complete and unified center.
The spiritual energy that had been drifting around like mist now had a central focus and was no longer scattered.
However, two nodes remain unlit, preventing the current spiritual entity from being released externally, let alone bearing the power of the witchcraft runes.
Suen slowly exited her meditation.
He was soaked in sweat, his arms trembled slightly, and his mouth tasted dry and bitter.
The sky outside the window was already beginning to lighten, and dawn was not far off.
He glanced at the hourglass in front of him; the color of the newly formed grain of sand had dimmed slightly.
The once vibrant, colorful halo is now reduced to a faint afterglow, appearing and disappearing indistinctly.
Suen collapsed onto the bed and closed her eyes.
The exhaustion from depleted mental energy washed over me like a tidal wave, making even the slightest movement of my limbs feel tiring.
However, the steady improvement in mental strength is a real gain.
In her previous life, after trying many times without success in activating the Sands of Time, Suen once considered giving up.
But now, the Sands of Time have shown a magical side; even a single grain of Tier 1 [Sands of Time: Elemental Resonance] already possesses such great power.
Why should I be unhappy about temporary gains and losses?
Others would risk everything to stay, but I'm different.
As long as the hourglass of time is fully charged, I will have an infinite number of opportunities to start over.
However, improving his mental strength was far more difficult than he had imagined.
Suen hadn't forgotten that her current speed was only possible thanks to the boost from her talent, "Wizard-like Thinking."
After using the Sands of Time, although his progress was not as good as that of a freshman with the talent of Selena, he was not far behind a third-class apprentice like Ross.
But the surprises didn't end there.
He has become more sensitive to elemental particles, especially to the subtle changes in their movement, which he can now accurately capture.
He recalled that many schools of elemental magic placed particular emphasis on elemental affinity.
In the narrative of "The History of Potions", it is also mentioned that the first priority in making potions is to achieve the elemental balance between different enchanted materials.
This means that as long as he persists in collecting the Sands of Time, he can not only enhance the effects of meditation, but also gain an advantage in learning witchcraft and brewing potions.
Thinking of this, Su En became even more composed, and the dawn light shining on his face made him look exceptionally energetic.