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In a corner of the apothecary lab, Ivan sat cross-legged on a wide chair, holding a glass bottle in his hand. The bottle contained a fiercely red potion that seemed to radiate heat, as if it was a small vial of volcanic lava.
He observed it for a few seconds and then poured the Bubbling Potion into his mouth, the liquid that touched his tongue was warm and slightly sweet.
As it slid down his throat, the potion noticeably grew hotter and hotter, finally turning into a surge of heat that settled in his stomach. Within two or three seconds, his entire body felt as though it was ignited, the increasingly scorching sensation making him extremely uncomfortable.
But he knew that this was a perfect opportunity to break through the 3rd Class apprentice threshold.
“No wonder it’s called the ‘Bubbling Potion.'”
Ivan quietly muttered to himself and then immersed his consciousness into his mental ocean, where his mental power also became active.
He quickly outlined the first 20 meditation runes, carrying this force to launch an assault on the barrier binding his spirit, slamming into it hard.
The next second, his consciousness plummeted into a pitch-black space, surrounded by darkness that gave him a sensation of solitude and oppression similar to being submerged in the depths of the ocean.
“Is this—the prison that binds the spirit?”
Suddenly, he found that he could no longer sense the existence of his body, which inevitably made him a bit uneasy.
He forced himself to remain calm and carefully sensed everything around him.
As time ticked by, his mental power became more and more active.
“So it’s over there.”
In the darkness, Ivan sensed a burning presence separated from him by a barrier, and with a do-or-die resolve, he charged toward the heat.
Striking the solid barrier, it felt like hitting a net; the more he pushed forward, the greater the resistance became.
But he didn’t shrink back, moving forward bit by bit against the bonds, continually supported by a persistent force stemming from the Bubbling Potion and his body. Although weak, it uplifted his morale, further convincing him that he would break through all obstacles.
After a moment of stalemate, the net began to tear apart, and the binding force gradually weakened until the surroundings were free from constraints.
The view before him changed once again, and he was back in his own body in the apothecary lab, followed by an intense feeling of parched mouth and discomfort. His body felt as if it was entirely submerged in volcanic lava, so hot that it was painful, and he was breaking out in sweat.
He quickly drank a supplementary potion, the blazing heat inside his body swiftly dropped, and his body temperature gradually returned to normal, but his body still felt dehydrated, hungry, and weak.
“Such a domineering potion—it seems that if I’d resisted a few more minutes, I might have failed to advance to 3rd Class due to dehydration.”
The Bubbling Potion, being one to break through thresholds, wouldn’t usually cause death, save for a few very unlucky individuals, with the worst outcome being failure to breakthrough, leading to greater resistance in the next attempt.
After replenishing his body with clear water, nutrition potion, and Endurance Ginger Water, circulating his Combat Energy over and over, it took a while before he felt his body become substantial again, shaking off most of the earlier discomfort.
Strength: 3.9, Agility: 5.1, Body Constitution: 4.9, Spirit: 7.6
The attribute panel appeared, with Spirit breaking through the 3rd Class threshold by 1.6 marks, but the Bubbling Potion also inflicted some harm to his body, reducing his body constitution by 0.2 marks.
Regardless, he had finally taken an important step forward and became a 3rd Class apprentice.
Just one more step beyond a 3rd Class apprentice lay the status of a sorcerer; he was indeed just a step away from being an official sorcerer.
“Luckily, the impact isn’t significant.”
Ivan meticulously checked his body; the decrease in body constitution hadn’t brought any adverse effects, and the concern he had felt dropped away.
He cast a Spell, and the aura of his body suddenly dropped, maintaining the state he was in before his promotion.
This was the effect of the “Insect Breath-concealing Skill”, one of the five Spells he had purchased from Randall before, including Insect Breath-concealing Skill, archery skill, Draw-in Skill, Shaping Skill, and Spirit Infusion Skill. With his current mastery over magic models, he had taken no time at all to master them.
The Insect Breath-concealing Skill was a special Spell that mimicked how insects hid their own aura.
The archery skill allowed anything to be treated as a hidden weapon and thrown, such as swords, axes, daggers, stones, and the like.
The Draw-in Skill could attract tangible things to the palm, such as stones on the ground, the blood within a corpse, etc., and was often used for collecting materials.
Shaping Skill and Spirit Infusion Skill were usually combined with Enchantment, mainly used for crafting simple summoned puppets. Deployed separately, they were not of much use; in short, they were two very interesting Spells.
“The gathering is not until tomorrow. There should be enough time to craft the Green Tree Star.”
It was only after he stood up that he noticed a clear sweat mark where he had been sitting. He summoned a mist of water to cleanse his body and the spot he had sat on and then dried himself with Fire element particles.
After his advancement to a 3rd Class apprentice, his control over element particles had improved by a margin.
He then went to the workbench and began arranging the materials he had bought according to the blueprint.
The Green Tree Star was a low-level magicalized item that required a runes bundle. A runes bundle meant linking multiple rune lines with a completion degree over 80% together, where the lines would interact and promote each other, finally achieving a common effect.
This common effect was the defining feature of the magicalized item.
“Only a runes bundle composed of 100% completed rune lines can be used to craft an intermediate magicalized item. The higher the degree of completion, the more difficult it is; who knows when I will be able to achieve such a state.”
He was only making a casual remark, for he was well aware that it was near impossible to craft an intermediate magicalized item during the apprentice stage; that was usually something only a sorcerer could accomplish.
His thoughts returned to the blueprint of the Green Tree Star. The image of a shield sprang forth on the paper, with runes of two types engraved on it: Plant-type’s toughness, giantification, energy transformation, energy resistance, and Earth-type’s energy conduction.
Six simple runes, through clever combination, turned into three interlinked runes bundles, ultimately constructing a magicalized item.
…
In front of the enchantment workshop, three figures were waiting there, with a female apprentice leading them, her face dark with an aura that kept others at bay.
Seeing her looking in her direction, Gina hurriedly said, “Ivan mentioned that he will arrive in a moment.”
Heidi said in a cold voice, “Tell him I will give him five more minutes. He must appear before me within five minutes, or he will bear the consequences.”
“Understood.”
Gina transmitted a message through the Secret Method Seal, but there was no guarantee that the master would receive it in time.
After a while, a figure in a grey robe hurried over. Gina breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the newcomer.
“You are late.”
“Sorry for making you wait. I was detained by some important matters,” he replied.
Ivan sized up the female apprentice named ‘Heidi’ before him and saw familiar contours on her face. He silently sighed, wondering if this indeed had something to do with Carmel. Benefits from a sorcerer family were indeed tough to take advantage of.
The task was to be executed in conjunction with the Hunting Team. Those sent out were probably no good, and he could sense the difficulty of this mission. He could only take one step at a time, as he wasn’t made of clay.