Breakfast was the same as always—bread, milk, and eggs. There was nothing else to eat. After quickly finishing his meal, Isaac didn't rush to study Magic. Instead, he took the one thousand Gold Coins his older brother had given him and headed to Lake Town again.
His Magic research could wait. Now that he had money, the first order of business was to get the Promotion Ceremony out of the way.
After a Legendary Mage completes a Promotion Ceremony, they enter an active Mana period. Only after this period ends can they perform another Promotion Ceremony.
Therefore, in theory, as long as a Legendary Mage has enough resources, there are no bottlenecks to their advancement.
The only things limiting a Legendary Mage are the active Mana period and the resources for promotion.
And this active Mana period could be shortened through Magic research, experimentation, and combat.
So, while using a special Promotion Ceremony could yield unique effects or even a new Talent Spell, such rituals were rare. He had already looked for them before; they weren't sold in town and were the kind of thing you could only stumble upon by chance.
Standard Promotion Ceremonies are generally divided into three classes: Elemental, Starry Sky, and Mysterious.
Different Promotion Ceremonies provide bonuses to different types of Magic. For example, a Fire Element Promotion Ceremony would draw upon the power of a Fire Element Archon from the Elemental Plane, granting a slight bonus to Flame Magic after the promotion.
Don't underestimate a single bonus. An Official Wizard alone goes through three Promotion Ceremonies at this Level. If you choose the same class of ceremony for all of them, the final bonus is significant.
Of the three types of ceremonies, the Elemental Class leans toward raw output, as Elemental Magic consists mostly of attack spells. The Starry Sky Type is more well-rounded, as it boosts fundamental stats like Magic Power capacity, Magic Power recovery speed, and Spiritual Power. There's not much else to say about these two.
The Mysterious Class is more esoteric. It's less "Mysterious" and more of a miscellaneous category, covering all sorts of enhancements. However, its most mainstream branches are prophecy and Magic Spells, so they are all grouped under the Mysterious Class.
It's worth noting that although the three ceremonies have different focuses, their essence is similar. They all use a ritual to borrow the power of a higher being to sublimate the Wizard's life essence, thereby completing the promotion.
Compared to the Demon God ritual Isaac had just completed, the biggest difference was safety!
Any Promotion Ceremony falling into these three classes communicates with Lawful Good Existences. They strictly grant power according to the ritual's requirements and will never take more, a stark contrast to the insatiably greedy Demon Gods.
Of course, there are always trade-offs. They won't take extra, but they absolutely won't give extra, either. They won't even leave you an opportunity to snatch more.
Fortunately, Isaac had no special designs on that front. There were plenty of evil Outer Gods out there; he wasn't desperate for this little bit.
Isaac already had a promotion ritual in mind. So, upon arriving in town, he went straight to a small shop that sold Magic Knowledge. After spending eight hundred Gold Coins and signing a confidentiality contract, he successfully obtained the knowledge for the "Promotion Ceremony: Witch Tea Party" and its required materials.
However, Isaac didn't head back right away. He continued shopping.
After all, the Witch Tea Party was one of the few Starry Sky - Mysterious Dual Attribute rituals, and its success rate was rather low—only ten percent. So he needed to buy more supplies. While this type of ritual was relatively safe, it was best to get the margin for error up to two hundred percent. Better to be safe than sorry.
...
After returning from Lake Town, Isaac let Smith know he was back and then returned to the basement, where he began enthusiastically setting up the "Promotion Ceremony: Witch Tea Party."
As a minor-stage Promotion Ceremony, the materials for the Witch Tea Party weren't hard to collect. Everything could be bought in Lake Town.
A red tea set aged for a hundred years, fifty milliliters of Witch's Saliva, one kilogram of refined red tea, 190 pieces of a witch's undergarments, and a bottle of Magic Ink.
The materials were rather strange, but fairly normal for a Magic Ceremony. And while 190 pieces of a witch's undergarments seemed a bit absurd, that was an addition by Isaac himself. The original ritual only required one piece.
Thankfully, the Magic Material Store in Lake Town was a well-established, big-name brand. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to get so many pieces of a witch's undergarments on such short notice...
Although the process was rather embarrassing, everything went smoothly. All the materials were gathered, and setting up wasn't difficult. 'With a two-hundred-percent margin for error, won't this be over in a flash?'
Two hours later, Isaac finished setting up the ritual. Normally, an hour would have been enough, but the cost was simply too high. The eight hundred Gold Coins for the ritual knowledge and basic materials, plus over two hundred Gold Coins for the witch's clothing, totaled more than a thousand Gold Coins!
He had poured his entire fortune into this. There was no room for carelessness!
INHALE... EXHALE...
After taking a deep breath, Isaac's slightly racing heart completely calmed. He removed the Wizard Hat from his head, held it to his chest, then lowered his head and began to chant the spell. A faint Magic Power rippled out at a special frequency.
The Magic Power swept over the Magic Array, and wisps of white Fog began to drift out from it.
The Magic Power swept over the pile of witch's undergarments, and a massive amount of white Fog erupted from them!
In an instant, the entire basement was shrouded!
"Young man... you are... being a bit... presumptuous..."
Hearing the sultry voice from within the Fog, Isaac slowly opened his eyes. He placed the Wizard Hat back on his head, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. 'Can't be wrong. It worked!'