The moment the crystal finally condensed into shape, Anves felt a sudden boom erupt within his consciousness. His field of vision surged upward as if pulled by an invisible force, soaring endlessly—until it felt as though he had merged with the entire world.
Countless streams of information flooded into his mind. For an instant, everything in existence seemed to hold no secrets before him.
The spell models he had painstakingly constructed with immense effort now appeared absurdly simple—no more difficult than "one plus one equals two."Even the flaws he had previously been unable to resolve now unfolded within his perception with absolute clarity.
At that moment, the auroral bands slowly circling him suddenly rippled violently.
Within the crystal dish, the dreamlike dust flared brilliantly. Seven-colored, iridescent fire erupted like an explosion, consuming its mass at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The surrounding environment trembled as highly concentrated primal mana surged violently. Anves' body became like a bottomless vortex in the deep sea, devouring every wisp of energy around him.
The dream-dust burning within the crystal dish flashed fiercely—its rainbow flames collapsing in an instant into a blinding pillar of pure white light. The remaining powder vaporized entirely in that single moment.
Such massive consumption brought an equally astonishing result.The shifting auroral bands around him swelled in brightness and density, gathering into a large sphere of white radiance that enveloped Anves completely.
No one knew how long it lasted.
When Anves finally regained consciousness, he awoke drenched in sweat, panting heavily.
The ten portions of dream-dust were completely spent, and the aurora-like bands had vanished entirely.
The advanced magic crystal embedded in the spell circle had been drained of all power, reduced to a pile of dull, transparent shards.
Using the faint moonlight filtering through the window, he glanced toward the clock in the corner of his room.The silver hand pointed to 3:29.
"What… was that…!?"
Waves surged within his ocean-blue eyes as he struggled to calm his violently trembling spiritual sea.He knew clearly: had he not been in the unique state of forming his core for the first time, and had the dream-dust not stabilized his spiritual sea…
Even that momentary glimpse of information would have brought devastating consequences.
At best, he would have remained unconscious for days, his spiritual sea gravely damaged.At worst—total collapse of consciousness.
Anves exhaled sharply, abandoning any attempt to recall the heavy knowledge. He closed his eyes, focusing on examining the changes within himself.
First: Expansion of the Spiritual Sea
During his brief state of unity with the world, his spiritual sea had rapidly expanded. When he finally left that transcendent state, his maximum spiritual capacity had grown to more than three times its original size.
The increase might not seem large—unless one remembered that even as an apprentice, Anves' spiritual reserves had already exceeded those of most spellcasters many times over.
A small cup growing tenfold would still never match the growth of a barrel enlarged only once.
The upper limit of spiritual power may not represent immediate strength—but it represents future potential.Every breakthrough multiplies the baseline.
A higher cap meant a greater multiplication.
Second: The Enhancement of Spiritual Quality
With the successful condensation of his spiritual core, the quality of Anves' spiritual power underwent a fundamental transformation.
Magic that once required ten units of force—or more—now demanded only one.
More importantly, he could finally use his spiritual power to sense the world over a wide range.
When he was still at the zero-rank, his mist-like spiritual power, no matter how plentiful, could barely extend beyond his body before dissipating.And that was after he had purified it countless times—most apprentices couldn't make their spiritual power leave the body at all.
Third: The Evolution of His Spell Models
The structure of his Glimmerfrost Domain model had changed significantly. Every flaw he had previously discovered had transformed into a completely new configuration.
The model now emitted a subtle frequency perfectly synchronized with his spiritual core—a hallmark of all initial spells, allowing them to remain stable with minimal spiritual consumption.
The Mirror Image spell now generated a pseudo-mana signature. Although only 15% as strong as the real one, it was enough to cause misjudgment in chaotic battlefields.
Unable to suppress the wave of exhaustion any longer, Anves surrendered to it. Relaxing every muscle in his body, he lay down completely and drifted into the deepest sleep he had ever fallen into.
This time, even his spirit slept.
Sensing that Anves had truly fallen asleep, two faint spiritual presences quietly withdrew from his room.
In both the illuminated study and the bedroom elsewhere in the castle, two separate sighs of relief sounded at the same time.
(lol and bruh)