Chapter 163: Mage Disciple
Shortly after that conversation, a sect worker came to that faction region to handle the registration.
Without any surprise, all 1,200 Mages chose to stay in that faction. Dandara guaranteed Priam that she would expel anyone who acted even slightly against his orders, or who didn’t dedicate themselves properly.
Priam saw an energetic joy in her eyes.
He couldn’t help but feel happy for her. No one had ever given her an opportunity, much less without treating her as inferior in some way.
With the skills she had shown in that test, no one dared say she didn’t have that competence. One of Dandara’s facets was that of a natural-born leader, someone who could frighten even the most experienced rulers.
No one could believe how that chaotic woman could be so good at this. Only Priam knew that her attributes were completely sealed. Possibly, she had once been a terrifying and incredible figure in another life.
After the registration, the worker explained that, in 24 hours, everyone had to gather for the welcome speech of the branch’s Lead Elder. Besides that, all the newcomers would receive the Sovereign’s blessing.
With everything concluded, Priam gave the order for everyone to rest as much as possible that day.
And so, the trio of generals and the vice-leader went to their caves.
Priam also moved to his own quarters. The room was quite spacious, like a large cave. It had no windows, but the colored stones decorating the cave emitted a soft and magical light. There was a stone bed and a table.
After closing the door and sitting on the bed, Priam thought of the system.
[Total: 16,000 Germination Points]
He had been saving his points ever since he managed to form the contract with his partner. Now that he had received a larger amount and had managed to get an idea of what he needed after entering the sect, it was time to spend them.
[02 Purchasable Skills:]
[5,000 GP] [Training Amplifier EX]
[5,000 GP] [Divine Sense for Treasures]
’I really want to test the Training Amplifier, but it’s definitely not the priority right now. My physique, so far, is still good enough.’
[06 Available Transcendental Knowledges:]
[2,000 GP] [Complete Ancestral Art of one of your Bloodlines]
[3,000 GP] [Combat Mastery] [Level: Medium]
[4,000 GP] [Magic and Energies] [Level: Medium]
[4,000 GP] [Natural Elements] [Level: Medium]
[6,000 GP] [Syntheses] [Level: Medium]
[7,000 GP] [Catalyst] [Level: Basic]
Priam thought for a while as he looked at the options. At the moment, what he lacked the most was knowledge. In the Divine Plane, there were many unknown things, and his synthesis power greatly needed him to know everything that existed around him.
He judged that having knowledge about energies was more valuable than directly buying the formulas for new Syntheses. After all, with the correct knowledge, he could create infinite random power runes; though he would have to be lucky for the result to be what he wanted.
[5,000 GP] [Divine Sense for Treasures]
[3,000 GP] [Combat Mastery] [Level: Medium]
[4,000 GP] [Magic and Energies] [Level: Medium]
[4,000 GP] [Natural Elements] [Level: Medium]
[Total: -16,000 GP]
[Accept?] [Yes / No]
He decided to take Divine Sense for Treasures as well, because in the Divine Plane, there could be treasures everywhere, and with the proper knowledge, he could use them better.
After accepting, Priam’s vision suddenly went dark, and an immense dizziness almost made him pass out.
An exorbitant amount of knowledge flooded him, but he forced himself to endure it, assimilating everything little by little.
...
After several minutes, Priam suddenly widened his eyes.
The medium-level Combat Mastery knowledge was perfect for what he needed right now.
The basic level taught Priam how to move and fight using his powers. It was like a guide on how to move the body and make energies flow through the meridians in combat.
It was truly basic, but Mages took a long time to learn this.
As for the medium level, it was a practical and perfect guide on how to fight in groups. There were ways to select people and create efficient battalions, as well as how to select the best types of battalions to form large armies, and how to create diverse armies that worked well together for every kind of situation.
This was only the introduction he read; the complete knowledge was absurdly vast and full of details and variables.
Priam calmed himself, then focused on the other things.
...
The knowledge of Magic and Energies was basically an immense list with an absurdly detailed description of many different types, as well as their weaknesses and advantages.
It was like a great dictionary. Priam didn’t need to study them one by one; when he encountered something he didn’t know, he could search through the knowledge and read everything in seconds.
As for the knowledge of Natural Elements, at the basic level, it explained the five natural elements. Now, at the medium level, it spoke directly about pure Yin and Yang.
After reading a little, Priam’s eyes shone.
Knowing these things so deeply, he felt he could climb even further through the stages of his unknown Magical Art. He had been stagnant for a long time.
Finally, he understood that Divine Sense for Treasures was a passive skill. Whenever he got close to a treasure that didn’t have a defined owner, hidden somewhere, for example, the system would send him a message.
Priam spent a few hours reading everything he could and thinking about the possibilities.
This knowledge was truly useful for his future. But eventually, he stopped.
"I have to raise my level. I can already fight against Super Geniuses at the fifth level, but my Ether is very limited. I can’t waste time only studying..."
Ether wasn’t Priam’s only source of power, but without it, his mobility to attack and escape was lost.
He took a deep breath, slowly moving the dense Ether in the environment into his body.
A Mage Acolyte, in short, in the Mortal Plane needed to gather Ether in crystals to nourish and expand the meridians.
Now, the goal of a Mage Disciple was to use this energy to nourish the energies of life and the body, thus making the blood purer and improving the physical ability to manipulate much greater power.
Each level required completing full cycles of removing the natural impurities that a mortal body possessed.
By eating, breathing, using pills, absorbing Ether from crystals, etc., all of that, at the same time, made the body slowly accumulate impurities.
These impurities were the key factor that made Mages from the Mortal Plane have great difficulty rising through the levels. After all, they needed to use Ether from crystals, which also threw more impurities into the body. It was like trying to bathe using water that was already dirty.
People from the Divine Plane rarely used Ether crystals and avoided using pills as much as possible when young, precisely so they wouldn’t harm themselves. They could afford that luxury, but in the Mortal Plane, it was impossible.
Priam focused on the goal.
Slowly, his skin began to take on a subtle dark tone, which accumulated more and more.
He circulated the Ether he gathered inside his body, making a long internal cycle that passed through every possible inch. Every Mage knew this cycle; there was a precise order, a necessary amount of Ether, and it couldn’t be done too quickly.
Like that, little by little, the impurities would come out.
He needed to complete the same full cycle 50 times. Then, he would move the Ether to the energies of life, and the body would perfectly absorb it. This would officially make him break through to level 1.
In the other levels, there were still 50 full cycles, but the amount of Ether and the time needed to complete everything increased drastically.
Fortunately, when Priam used crystals in the Mortal Plane, he could absorb only the Ether and avoid the impurities.
But he still ate, breathed, and did other things that slowly accumulated impurities. So, he needed to go through everything normally, even though it was simpler in his case.
---
The day off passed quickly.
Priam opened his eyes, sighing lightly. He had reached level 1 a few hours ago, but there was no way to reach the second level that quickly.
He stood up. It was time to go to the welcome ceremony.