Chapter 48: Three Months Later
There was no need to rush.
The library was one of the safest places in the Death Church.
For the next three months, Kaiser spent almost all of his time there.
During the day, he studied spell theories and practiced inside the training halls.
At night, he reviewed everything he had learned and refined his Mana control.
His progress was steady.
The first spell he mastered was Specter.
Soon, he could summon one Specter with almost no wasted Mana.
As his mastery increased, the casting speed became faster.
By the end of the third month, he had reached Perfect Mastery.
He could now summon five Specters at the same time.
Next came Plague Grease.
At first, the poisonous coating disappeared after only a few minutes.
After countless attempts, Kaiser learned how to make it denser and more stable.
Eventually, he also reached Perfect Mastery.
The plague coating could now remain on a weapon for a long time while consuming very little Mana.
After mastering both spells, Kaiser finally qualified to learn their related Arts.
He did not choose many.
Instead, he focused on a single Art that perfectly matched his fighting style.
Grand Spectral Knight.
Unlike ordinary Arts, Grand Spectral Knight was a complete combat Art consisting of nine consecutive techniques.
The first three techniques focused on Spectral Hands.
They taught him how to restrain enemies, redirect attacks, and control the battlefield.
The next three techniques focused on Spectral Blades.
They improved the speed, precision, and destructive power of his spectral weapons.
The final three techniques focused on the Spectral Knight itself.
They taught him how to perfectly synchronize his Specter, Spectral Hands, and Spectral Blades into a complete Spectral Knight while commanding it as if it were an extension of his own body.
The training was difficult.
Every technique had to be mastered before moving on to the next one.
Kaiser spent weeks repeating the same movements.
Again and again.
Little by little, his control became smoother.
His Spectral Hands reacted faster.
His Spectral Blades became more accurate.
His Spectral Knight moved with far greater coordination than before.
Not only that he can also make his five spectral knights fight against each other thanks to his high mastery.
By the end of the third month, Kaiser had mastered all nine techniques of the Grand Spectral Knight Art.
At the same time, another notification appeared before him.
[Art Mastered: Grand Spectral Knight.]
A second notification soon followed.
[Congratulations.]
[Due to continuous training, you have advanced.]
[You have reached Peak Tier 0.]
[Fuse all your learned spells into your Divine Mark to advance to Tier 1.]
Kaiser opened his status window and looked at it.
He let out a small smile.
"Three months passed without me even realizing it," he mumbled.
He closed the status window.
It was already evening.
The library had become much quieter as many disciples had already left.
Kaiser returned the books to their proper shelves.
After making sure everything was in order, he left the library.
The evening sun was slowly setting behind the mountains surrounding the Death Church.
The stone paths were much quieter than usual.
Most disciples had already returned to their residences to rest or meditate.
Kaiser walked back to his room at a steady pace.
Once inside, he sat down on the bed.
Tomorrow would be an important day.
It would be the day of the First-Year Grand Competition, the tournament that would decide how the academy’s resources were distributed among the students.
Before that, however, Kaiser planned to advance to Tier 1.
Sitting on his bed, he closed his eyes and focused his consciousness inward.
Soon, he found himself inside his Mental Sea.
Floating before him was his Divine Mark.
It shone brightly, and the spell stars surrounding it glowed like tiny beads.
Kaiser extended his consciousness toward the Divine Mark.
The moment he made contact, the advancement process began.
The Divine Mark released a powerful attraction force.
One by one, the spell stars surrounding it flew toward the mark.
As they touched its surface, each spell dissolved into pure Soul Mana and fused with the Divine Mark.
The mark absorbed all of their power, becoming brighter with every spell it consumed.
At the same time, the Spell Slots that had previously held those spells became empty.
The spells themselves did not disappear.
Instead, they became a permanent part of his Divine Mark, allowing him to cast them without occupying Spell Slots anymore.
The fusion continued.
One spell after another merged into the Divine Mark.
Spectral Hands.
Spectral Blades.
Undead Creation.
Familiar Call.
Specter.
Plague Grease.
Each spell turned into streams of Soul Mana before becoming part of the Divine Mark.
As the final spell fused into it, the Divine Mark released a brilliant silver glow.
The entire Mental Sea trembled.
A new notification appeared.
[All mastered spells have successfully fused into your Divine Mark.]
[Tier Advancement Successful.]
[Congratulations.]
[You have advanced to Tier 1.]
Immediately afterward, another notification appeared.
[Spell Slots Emptied]
[Available Spell Slots: 10/10]
The Divine Mark slowly calmed down.
Its glow became gentler than before, but Kaiser could clearly feel the difference.
His connection with Soul Mana had become much stronger.
The amount of Mana flowing through his body increased noticeably.
His control over it also became smoother.
Kaiser slowly opened his eyes.
A faint silver light flashed across them before disappearing.
He clenched his fist.
"So this is Tier 1."
The feeling was completely different from Peak Tier 0.
His Soul Mana was denser.
His body felt lighter.
Even his senses had become sharper.
Kaiser opened his status window.
His rank had already changed.
Name: Kaiser
Realm: Tier 1
He nodded in satisfaction.
"The next step is filling my new Spell Slots."
Now that he had advanced to Tier 1, Tier 1 spells would only cost one Spell Slot instead of two.
At the same time, he could now learn Tier 2 spells.
However, each Tier 2 spell required two Spell Slots.
Kaiser took out three books from his storage ring.
They contained the three Tier 2 spells he had borrowed from the library earlier.
He had taken them in advance because he knew he would successfully reach Tier 1 today.
Placing his hands on the books, he began learning them one by one.
The spell books shone brightly before dissolving into streams of light that entered his body.
Inside his Mental Sea, three new spell stars appeared and engraved themselves into his empty Spell Slots.
A notification appeared before him.