Beneath the ant land barrier, the interior of the academy resembled a small to medium-sized city.
Within the same residential area, the apprentice dormitories and the sorcerers’ residences were hardly worth mentioning in comparison; the sorcerers’ residences occupied the largest area, featuring a collection of independent castles, palaces, steeples, round towers, twin towers, and garden villas.
Ivan’s new residence was located in such an area, a considerable distance from Randall’s round tower.
The twin towers were made up of two circular towers connected by a corridor bridge. The first floor of each tower covered an area of nearly six hundred square meters, with the floor above slightly narrower, both towers having the exact same external structure.
If space seemed insufficient, one could expand outward, with no other buildings within a kilometer; for instance, the Lidia family’s castle had been expanded in this way.
The previous owner had been lazy and hadn’t built any additional structures. The towers were fully equipped with a living room, bedroom, meditation room, laboratory, breeding room, small workshop, small test field, protection chamber, and so on.
The protection chamber was quite special, as it could draw on part of the academy’s defensive sorcery array’s power, ensuring that sorcerers didn’t accidentally damage their own residences.
For this, Ivan could understand; without some defensive power, sorcerers would certainly set up their own, and all sorts of messy forces would arise within the academy.
“The drawn protective power can be adjusted, but large changes cannot be made.”
“Only regular experiments are permissible, high-energy experiments must be conducted in the experimental area’s high-energy laboratory.”
“A team of shadow ant servants can also be induced, serving as one’s own personal servants.”
After entering his new home, he toured around and stayed in the protection chamber, reading the protection manual first as it concerned safety, a necessary task, though many things needed to be managed slowly and couldn’t be done all at once.
“Having shadow ant servants is indeed an option, otherwise, I would have to deal with many things myself.”
“Generally speaking, a sorcerer’s best assistant is a magic pet. Contracting a magic pet comes at a cost, as a magic pet would share the sorcerer’s power, permanently occupying about ten graduated degrees of spiritual power, and would occasionally require gifts of mental power.”
These thoughts were merely considerations; he had just become a sorcerer, lacking the resources to cultivate shadow ant servants or the extra power to maintain a magic pet.
Even the residence’s protection was only a straightforward drawing of basic energy. This operation amounted to mooching off the academy’s protective power without needing to expend his own resources, otherwise, it would cost a significant amount each month.
His idea was to move only if necessary, and once moving, to adjust everything as best as possible; for now, this arrangement would suffice.
This twin tower, in general, only had its living room open to outsiders, other areas were for internal use.
Latter, Ivan went to the meditation room and took out a chunk of dark insect armor and began to read.
This palm-sized insect armor contained the Black Beard Chapter. He probed it with his mental power, touching the entire meditation method, which had three layers; the first layer was the foundation which Randall had taught before.
The second layer, called “Flower Breath,” featured the ability to easily transform mental power into a type of Flower Illusion Poison. This poison was toxic to other creatures but served as a comfortable breath of air that nourished certain insect species.
“It really has some quirks, practically making sorcerers into tool people for raising insects.”
Seeing this, Ivan immediately recalled the words of Vice Dean Lidia.
Randall also said that the essence of meditation methods was to help sorcerers come closer to powerful creatures, ultimately aiming to obtain the same kind of power as those creatures.
Thus, the sources of meditation methods were diverse and quirky, and having minor issues was normal as long as one could ensure approaching powerful beings in one’s own way.
“Most meditation methods are similar, and ones improved by others wouldn’t be passed on to me; I’ll take it one step at a time,” he sighed, continuing to read.
The Flower Breath section included 30 meditation runes. Those who had practiced with the meditation runes knew that they were mostly used to stabilize and restore controlled spiritual power, with a training speed far slower than potions.
It also contained two accompanying spells, one was the already controlled ‘Flower Tree Shield’, and the other was ‘Insect Silent Breath Skill,’ from which Randall had derived the Insect Breath-concealing Skill, allowing one to hide their scent just like an insect.
He had already mastered the Level 0 Insect Breath-concealing Skill, so learning the Level 1 Insect Silent Breath Skill wouldn’t be difficult.
It’s noteworthy that the Black Beard Crown created by Randall aided the use of these two Level 1 spells, an impressive feat indeed.
The third layer of the Black Beard Chapter, named “Candle Fire,” focused on mastering Fire element particles, aligning with his innate talent. The third layer also had accompanying spells, though they would not be needed for quite some time.
“The difference between Level 1 sorcerers is so great, the mental power can reach up to 80 graduated degrees, vastly different from when one becomes a new sorcerer.”
The new crystal ball given by the academy stored some common sorcerer knowledge, which he accessed only to then learn about the power disparity among Level 1 sorcerers.
It also recorded that in the period immediately following one’s advancement to official sorcerer, due to the significant increase in mental power, there existed a period of lethargy, lasting from six months to a year depending on the individual. During this time, it was inadvisable to augment mental power.
“Resting for a year and a half is also fine,”
Ivan didn’t think much of this, given there were plenty of matters he needed to organize.
After becoming a sorcerer, he could bring non-apprentice relatives over, provided that the relatives did not move around the academy.
Actually, this wasn’t a wise move, as sorcerers emitted a special kind of power radiation at every moment that could severely affect the health of ordinary people. Living too close to a sorcerer, even using cleansing potions, would be ineffective.
Although still human, sorcerers had entered a higher level of existence.
In the following days, he studied several new spells he had acquired and hosted the few visitors that came.
The next day, Carmel arrived at his new residence.
“Ivan, congratulations. I can still call you that, right?”
“Of course, there’s no problem. I’ve said before, we are friends.”
“That’s good. But outside, I’ll definitely be careful not to damage your dignity or make it seem like I lack manners.”
Carmel was still the same Carmel, perhaps because he had met many sorcerers, he wasn’t as reserved as other apprentices.
“By the way, do you know anything about Wayne?” Ivan nonchalantly asked.
“Him? I’m not sure either. Ever since his failure to advance as a sorcerer, he hasn’t shown his face again. He’s probably hiding because it’s too embarrassing, considering it disgraced his 5th Class talent. If I were him, I wouldn’t have the face to meet others either.”
Carmel shook his head, clearly concerned but also unaware of Wayne’s whereabouts.
“Perhaps.”
“Now that you’ve become a sorcerer, I can’t lag too far behind. Ivan, I will catch up to you soon, and then we can explore the Moon Pincer Peninsula together and travel all over the place.”
Carmel half-jokingly expressed his determination just before leaving.
He naturally knew that in friendship, once the disparity in power between friends became too great, it was difficult to maintain the relationship.
On the third day, August also came, bringing a gift with him.
“Sorcerer Ivan, August pays his respects.”
It had been only a few days, and the other had become a sorcerer. August felt both regret and relief.
Regret that he hadn’t been able to help Ivan when he became a sorcerer, missing a good opportunity, and now that the other party had become a sorcerer, he had lost the qualifications for an equal conversation.
Relief that after a disrespectful act by the family’s conservatives, he had made amends. Considering their previously good cooperative relationship, Ivan would surely remember their past interactions.
“How did you know I became a sorcerer?” Ivan curiously asked, as August had found his dormitory, contacted him, and seemed to know he had become a sorcerer before inviting him here.
“Hehe, that day, just as the element particles transformed, I guessed it might be you, and I was indeed not wrong,” August explained with a smile.
“August, if need be, I will seek to collaborate with you,” Ivan acknowledged August’s intentions.
“Rest assured, I absolutely won’t let you suffer the slightest disadvantage,” August quickly assured.
Knowing that Ivan had just become a sorcerer and was likely very busy, August didn’t stay long and soon left the Twin Towers.
To win over this sorcerer, August’s congratulatory gift was substantial—a full twenty mid-grade magic stones.
Apart from a few who happened to know, Ivan’s becoming an official sorcerer didn’t cause much of a stir, and the Mongna Ant Land Cottage maintained its usual tranquility.
Several days quickly passed.
Lake Nichols, a body of water combined with a marsh, was not within the territory of the Ant Beings Tidal Flats of the Mongna Ant Land Cottage, nor was it under any Sorcerers Academy’s jurisdiction.
In the distance, a red figure hurriedly approached; the wild sparrows in the thatch raised their heads only to see it was a blood-colored pigeon, which scared them into hiding deep within the dense lakeside thatch.
After reaching the edge of the lake, the blood-colored pigeon gradually came to a stop, and a young man dressed in an apprentice’s gray robe jumped down from its back.
“This Toyennes is really cunning, only mentioning Lake Nichols, but not specifying any particular location. The lake is so large, I can only wait for him to show himself,” Ivan remarked as he took out a glass vial and recalled the blood-colored pigeon back into a potion.
Summoned puppet creatures were not only used for attack; they were versatile, capable of transporting, messaging, and more, shifting forms between a blood-colored pigeon, rain swift, speeding steed, wolf mount, giant, and others.
Today was July fourth, and Ivan had eagerly come for his appointment with Toyennes. However, after his arrival, Toyennes showed no trace or sign of presence.
After waiting for most of the day and with the sky gradually darkening, there was still no sign of anyone around.
“He better not fail to show up.”
Ivan’s face darkened along with the sky.
As more time passed and night completely fell, the hazy moonlight spread across the land.
Suddenly, a warm sensation appeared on his arm—it was the Curse of Demon’s Resentment heating up with curse power flowing into the mark. Ivan’s expression immediately turned solemn; he knew the person he was waiting for had arrived.
The arrival appeared from the direction of the center of the lake.
Glancing at the slowly increasing curse power in the Mark, Ivan thought about whether or not to smack the other party right away upon meeting; that guy really knew how to be irritating.