Chapter 368 - 167: I Have Admirers, Too?
The only requirement for promotion to Intermediate Mage that Wei’en hadn’t met was the number of Magic Runes branded onto his Origin Avatars.
’Does each Origin Avatar need five Magic Runes?’
Wei’en looked at the Ghost Secret Master and his other Origin Avatars, counting the number of Rune Brandings on their foreheads.
The Ghost Secret Master had the most Rune Brandings on its forehead, a total of eight Magic Runes, including Soul-Devouring Magic, Undead Summoning, Undead Frenzy, Corpse Explosion Skill, Shadow Grasp, Undead Conversion, Bone Wall, and Necromancer’s Claw.
As the Origin Avatar for the Elemental Spell System, the Secret Master had a total of six runes. Besides the Soul-Devouring Rune, it also had the Heart of Elements, Blink, Fireball Technique, Lightning Arrow, and Spirit Shield.
Although the Driver was Wei’en’s second Origin Avatar, because it was based on the Mechanical Puppet system, it didn’t have many branded runes—only three: Mechanical Box, Foundation, and Puppet Manipulation Skill.
Red Heart had the fewest Rune Brandings. As the avatar for the Blood Spirit School’s Flesh Enhancement Magic system, it only had a single Heart Rune of Flesh and Blood branded so far.
However, that Heart of Flesh Spell had given Wei’en the biggest boost and was the magic he was most satisfied with.
Its powerful toughness-level amplification effect made him resist the urge to level it up. He was waiting until his base stats were higher before improving it, which would maximize the toughness bonus.
’So, all I need now are the Rune Brandings for the Mechanical Puppet and Flesh Enhancement systems to advance to Intermediate Mage...’
With this clear in his mind, Wei’en lowered his head and continued to flip through the *Junior Wizard’s Manual*.
"Note: For Wizards of the Secret Art Spell System, the Soul-Devouring Rune branding on each Origin Avatar can be counted as one of the required runes."
This meant that besides the Soul-Devouring Rune, each Origin Avatar still needed four more Rune Brandings.
Wei’en pursed his lips. He wasn’t worried about the time it would take to learn one or two more Magic Runes.
"According to the Ghost Soul School’s statistics since the Fifth Era, the average time to advance from Junior Mage to Intermediate Mage is one year and three months (this does not include the Secret Art Spell System)."
"However, unlike the apprenticeship period, the Wizard stage not only requires you to master the drawing and branding of runes one by one, but also demands that you make certain modifications and innovations to the Magic Runes you learn."
’Modifications and innovations?’
’Mandatory?’
Wei’en’s brows furrowed slightly. ’Is this a compulsory requirement?’
He understood the rest of the content, but this one rule left him very confused.
When the spell systems are already documented, why would the school force all Wizards to innovate on existing runes?
Wouldn’t that just be a waste of time?
’It seems there must be some underlying reason for this...’
Wei’en continued to read, making a mental note of his confusion. He might have to contact Dean Josue about this later.
"According to the regulations of the school’s Wizard Management Office, within one year of being promoted to Junior Mage, you must submit at least one research journal on the Magic Runes of your chosen system. There are no restrictions on which magic."
"Note: Wizards who fail to submit their research journal on time will be flagged by the Wizard Management Office and will face corresponding penalties, including but not limited to increased exchange prices for relevant knowledge, a reduction in the available exchange list, etc."
"Finally, to reiterate, Wizards of the Undead Magic system must learn Undead Conversion and must convert at least one creature into an Undead Creature to be sent to the Undead World each year. The modification of Undead Creatures is also a mandatory course for Wizards of this system."
After reading through everything, Wei’en had a much clearer understanding of what he needed to do as a Junior Mage.
At the same time, he also realized another issue—regardless of whether he joined the Research Center, he had to submit a research journal on magic every year.
However, compared to the fixed research topics at the Research Center, the contents of this journal didn’t need to be as rigorous or easily popularized, leaving a lot of room to maneuver.
Wei’en put down the manual and picked up a quill, starting to doodle and write on a blank piece of parchment.
Magic Rune Branding wasn’t difficult for him, and even the related research journal wasn’t a problem.
After all, when he learned that the journey to the Southern Continent would take a year, he had already made a rough plan of things to accomplish during the voyage.
This included raising his Runology skill from proficient to master, or preferably to expert, to gain a related specialization.
However, there were still some things in the manual that he found confusing.
For instance, the requirement to forcibly innovate on Magic Runes—would filling in the gaps and perfecting the flaws of a Magic Rune count as a modification? Would fusing it with a Death God Origin Rune count as an innovation?
’He would need to ask someone to get answers to these questions...’
’Ask someone?’
Wei’en frowned. When it came to understanding the inner workings of the Ghost Soul School, asking Dean Josue would be the most appropriate.
But he hadn’t yet decided whether to accept the Research Center’s invitation to establish his own research institute. Approaching the dean now would put him in a passive position.
And he didn’t know many Wizards from the Ghost Soul School—in fact, he knew very few.
The only other option left was the head of the intelligence department, the Werewolf Mage Amiditch...
’Internal ID 2348...’
Coincidentally, he also needed information about the Black Pearl and the Sea Crow Race. He wondered if the werewolf department head could provide that as well.
No sooner said than done, Wei’en immediately activated the special communicator.
This was the first time he had actively used it. As he pressed the Gemstone button to activate the communicator, nodes inside the trophy flickered faintly, and an illusory black screen of light appeared before his eyes.