Under the twin blessings of the Super Energy Potion and the rare godblood amber, Magus felt his meditation speed soaring far beyond anything he had previously experienced. His spiritual sea churned with increasing vigor each passing day. By the middle of the month, he had not only stabilized his breakthrough but had successfully completed the construction of the fifth Star Ring, a symbolic milestone in the Star Ring Meditation technique.
His spiritual power, which had been growing steadily, finally broke past the boundary of 18, landing firmly at 18.92—an admirable achievement for someone only seventeen years of age.
Two full months passed in quiet seclusion, and the lingering effects of his earlier Super Energy Potion began to fade. Without hesitation, Magus synthesized another bottle of high-grade second-tier Super Energy Potion. After swallowing the luminous blue liquid, he immediately felt his meditation efficiency surge once again. On that very first day, his Star Ring Meditation proficiency jumped by nearly 700 points, an astonishing figure that would cause even experienced apprentices to stare in disbelief.
"The Star Ring Meditation at Level 6 requires fifty thousand proficiency points to advance," Magus calculated silently. "At my current pace, I will need at least two more months to reach the next threshold."
But despite the long road ahead, he felt neither discouraged nor impatient. Instead, a quiet confidence filled him. "Once I complete the sixth Star Ring, my spiritual power should surpass twenty. With that, I will officially enter another tier of strength."
With a thought, Magus summoned his personal status panel—an ability granted by the mysterious synthesis system that had followed him from his earliest days.
[Magus · Merlin, Human Male, 17]
Spirit: 18.92 Constitution: 14.21
Skills
Star Ring Meditation Lv6 — 21 / 50,000
Potion Making Lv3 — 1,804 / 6,000
Biological Modification Lv2 — 526 / 3,000
Puppet Refining Lv2 — 2,371 / 3,000
Magical Item Creation Lv1 — 251 / 1,000
Of the listed skills, Potion Making was improving at the fastest pace. Magus produced potions every single day, stockpiling them before sending batches to the Fire Fox Merchant Guild. Potion sales currently served as his greatest economic lifeline.
The next fastest was Puppet Refining. Every month, he refined dozens of Black Rock Leopards to strengthen the defense of his developing base. In recent weeks, he had also crafted ten Clay Golems, each contributing substantial proficiency toward the skill.
Following close behind was Biological Modification. The Hidden Dragon's bloodline enhancement plan proceeded step by step, granting Magus generous proficiency each time he replaced the creature's blood. As of now, the dragon-lizard hybrid's Dragon Lizard bloodline concentration had already reached nearly 40%.
"At this rate," Magus estimated, "it will take at most two years before Hidden Dragon evolves into a Wyvern bloodline. That transformation alone will raise its combat abilities to frightening heights."
A tempting idea surfaced in his mind—something he had contemplated for weeks.
Originally, Magus wanted to extract Amy's extraordinary spatial traversal ability and transplant it into Hidden Dragon. The combination of spatial traversal, ethereal shifting, and invisibility would render the creature a terrifying ambush predator—one capable of assassinating even a Legendary Knight before they could react.
To persuade Amy, who normally disliked serious matters, Magus had presented her with freshly synthesized Icy Mint—one of the kitten's absolute favorite treats. With her fluffy tail swaying happily, she had agreed to cooperate in the experiments.
But the results were disappointing.
Though Magus performed multiple extractions and attempted to replicate the spatial ability, the synthesis cube offered the same answer each time: Impossible.
Amy's spatial traversal ability was not a bloodline trait. It was a spell-like gift awakened by the familiar contract, something tied to the soul rather than the body. No matter how he extracted her bloodline, this special ability would never transfer to another creature.
With a reluctant sigh, Magus shelved the idea.
Still, he refused to give up completely. "There are many races in the Multiple Universes with innate spatial abilities," he reminded himself. "When I become a true Wizard in the future, I will have the power to capture such creatures and extract their bloodline abilities. Hidden Dragon will evolve eventually—this is only a temporary setback."
Having evaluated the rest of his skills, Magus finally looked at the last one—Magical Item Creation. Its progress was far slower than the others. Beyond crafting rune gems, he had scarcely produced any proper magic item.
A sudden thought flashed across his mind.
"Wait. Creating secondary magic stones should also count as magical item creation, right?"
His heartbeat quickened.
After all, the magic workshop and puppet factory that he planned to construct both required a Mana Crystal Forging Furnace. Such a furnace consumed magic stones as fuel. If Magus wanted to forge the furnace soon, he first needed to synthesize a sufficient number of magic stones.
Without another moment of hesitation, Magus strode into his laboratory.
The Base Under Construction
Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Clay Golems, the foundational structure of the base had already taken shape. The once-barren plot of land now held symmetrically arranged stone pillars, half-completed walls, and support frames for various future buildings.
If construction continued at the current speed, the base would be fully built within two months. Afterward, he would only need to inscribe magic circles, lay mana transmission pipes, and begin installation of various magical facilities. When everything came together, his base would be a place of safety, research, and production—an embryonic Wizard Tower.
Standing before the stone workbench, Magus drew a fresh magic circle using fine powdered materials and placed an egg-sized crystal in its center.
Despite being called a magic stone, the initial material was a crystal, not a stone—transparent in nature and called the magic crystal medium.
Magus began chanting.
The magic circle glowed faintly at first. Then a stream of elemental mana surged forth from the nearest Earth Vein Node, traveling through the pipes and into the circle. Within moments, the crystal began absorbing the mana greedily. Its transparency gradually darkened until it took on a deep-gray sheen.
Four to five minutes later, the transformation was complete.
Magus lifted the newly formed crystal and placed it into the Rubik's Cube.
[Secondary Magic Stone
Purity 99.36%
A crystal containing a small amount of mana.]
"Not bad," Magus murmured. "The purity is almost perfect."
But he was not done. Over the next two hours, he produced more than twenty secondary magic stones. Only when the energy-gathering circle completely lost effectiveness did he stop.
Finally, when he had placed the fifteenth stone into the synthesis panel, the interface displayed the result he had been waiting for:
[Magic Stone (Lower Grade)
A crystal containing abundant mana.]
Magus grinned.
The cost of producing a single secondary magic stone was only the price of the crystal and the disposable drawing materials. One magic circle could yield roughly twenty-seven stones in total.
After calculating the numbers carefully, he concluded:
One secondary magic stone cost about twelve silver coins.
One lower-grade magic stone cost about one hundred eighty silver coins—less than two gold.
But in the distant future—specifically in the upcoming Wizard Era 2.0—a single lower-grade magic stone could be exchanged for fifty to sixty gold coins in any country across the world.
The profit margin was absurd.
As Magus weighed the stone in his hand, he felt a surge of exhilaration. Magic stones served countless purposes—they were rare casting materials, essential for arranging magic circles, and even functioned as consumable energy sources for restoring spiritual power. Wizards universally relied on them as hard currency.
With the power to synthesize magic stones at minimal cost, Magus saw a future where he could instantly transform into an unimaginably wealthy individual once the Wizard Era truly arrived. He would be able to purchase rare materials, magical tools, advanced potions, and more—everything he had ever lacked.
His mind raced with possibilities.
"All of this… as long as I can live long enough to see the era unfold."
Exhaling slowly, Magus calmed his emotions, stored the magic stone safely, and resumed creating more secondary stones. He needed two to three hundred magic stones to fuel the two Mana Crystal Forging Furnaces he planned to install.
"It's a pity my current spiritual power isn't high enough to open an elemental channel," he muttered. "If I could, I would be able to construct an element pool and bypass magic stone consumption entirely."
An element pool, unlike mana transmission pipes, could directly draw from the Elemental Plane, providing steady and infinite magical energy. Even a small element pool could sustain the core operations of a Wizard Tower.
Unfortunately, only a Formal Wizard could open a stable elemental channel. With his current strength, attempting such a feat was impossible.
"Well, I'll just have to grind magic stones honestly for now."
With renewed determination, Magus threw himself into long hours of magic stone creation.
Meanwhile, across the vast lands of the Iron Throne Territory, a peculiar and unprecedented enrollment event was sweeping across towns, villages, and noble estates—an event that would soon affect Magus in ways he had yet to imagine.
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