「Three days later.」
In the apartment living room, Pei Ze sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes tightly shut.
A moment later, he slowly opened his eyes, which gleamed with a spiritual light.
"The Number 3 Will Rune... success!"
With a thought, Pei Ze called upon Omniscience.
[Spiritual Power: 7.01]
[Physique: 2.84]
Constructing the Number 3 Will Rune had caused his Spiritual Power to skyrocket by 1.6, reaching a total of 7.
Pei Ze was overjoyed as he looked at the stats on his panel.
As far as he knew, only he and Cheng Li in Class 3 had successfully constructed the Number 3 Will Rune.
Even Shao Hong was still tackling it.
Not long ago, he had been agonizing over his inability to advance to a Wizard Apprentice. Now, he was on par with the most outstanding students in his class. The thought alone was astonishing.
However, Pei Ze quickly composed himself.
'This is no time for complacency.'
He had only reached the top of his class. There was still a significant gap between him and the geniuses at the top of their grade. He had to keep working hard.
After collecting himself, Pei Ze recited internally,
"Omniscience, begin analyzing the Number 4 Will Rune."
[Task created. Analyzing Number 4 Will Rune. Estimated time: 12 days]
Pei Ze quickly calculated in his head. If he used a full-power acceleration once a day, he could probably finish analyzing the Number 4 Will Rune in a little over three days.
'But...'
Pei Ze looked at his other two tasks.
With the surge in his Spiritual Power, the analysis time for the two Magic models had also been reduced.
[Task 2: Analyzing Mage's Hand model. Estimated time remaining: 3 days, 9 hours, 45 minutes]
[Task 3: Analyzing Dizziness Technique model. Estimated time remaining: 3 days, 12 hours, 15 minutes]
If he used a full-power acceleration on one of them now, the analysis would be complete by tonight.
At this thought, Pei Ze was itching to try.
After all, this would be the first Magic he had ever mastered!
In the end, Pei Ze couldn't contain his curiosity and recited internally:
"Omniscience, consume Spirit to accelerate Task 2."
A familiar wave of fatigue washed over him. His Spiritual Power was instantly drained down to a mere 0.01, and he immediately felt dizzy and disoriented.
Stumbling into his bedroom, he collapsed onto the bed and was out like a light.
When he awoke, it was already past midnight.
Pei Ze was disoriented for a moment, then he jolted fully awake. He quickly focused his senses and discovered that the Mage's Hand model analysis was complete.
Overjoyed, he immediately had the Eye of Omniscience pour the results of the analysis into his mind.
A massive amount of information instantly flooded the depths of his mind. Pei Ze closed his eyes to process it for a moment, then opened them. He pointed a finger at the cup on his nightstand and uttered a string of strange syllables.
The instant he spoke, the cup quivered slightly. Then, it slowly began to float, moving up, down, left, and right as he shifted his gaze.
To an outsider, the cup would appear to be moving on its own, but only Pei Ze could see an invisible, spectral hand grasping it.
'So this is Magic.'
Pei Ze found it incredibly novel and experimented for quite a while before reluctantly stopping.
The Spiritual Power infused into the Magic had been depleted.
To continue, he would have to cast the Magic again.
'One cast of Mage's Hand consumes 1 point of Spiritual Power and lasts for about three minutes.'
'Not bad. I've already met the standard for complete mastery of Mage's Hand.'
The corners of Pei Ze's mouth turned up slightly.
Every Zero-Circle Magic had been optimized by countless Wizards, so the standard for complete mastery was already very high. It wasn't enough to simply cast it successfully.
The resource loss during preparation, the strength of the effect upon casting, and the amount of Spiritual Power consumed—these were the metrics used to measure whether an apprentice, or even a Wizard, had truly mastered a Magic.
Normally, after spending a great deal of time and effort analyzing a Magic model, a Wizard Apprentice would still have to enter a Magic Laboratory to practice casting it repeatedly. Only after countless attempts could they achieve complete mastery.
During this process, every failure would consume the Spiritual Power required for one cast. Failing just two or three times would render them unable to do anything else for the rest of the day, forcing them to recover their Spiritual Power through Meditation or sleep.
At this rate, even the most talented apprentices would need ten days to half a month to completely master a single Zero-Circle Magic.
Even the children of Wizards, with access to plenty of potions to restore Spiritual Power, couldn't hope to master a Zero-Circle Magic in less than several days.
But Pei Ze was different. The very instant he learned the Magic, he had already reached the standard for complete mastery.
'With complete mastery, one Zero-Circle Magic consumes 1 point of Spiritual Power. At full Spiritual Power, I can cast a Zero-Circle Magic seven times at most.'
Pei Ze rubbed his chin.
Seven times wasn't a small number.
For those apprentices who hadn't fully mastered their Magic, a single Zero-Circle Magic would consume 2 to 3 points of Spiritual Power. In a battle, they could probably only cast two or three at most.
And the Magic Power of their spells would be far inferior to his.
That being said, it would naturally be even better if he could reduce the consumption and increase the number of casts.
Putting thought into action, Pei Ze immediately recited internally,
"Omniscience, improve Mage's Hand."
[Task created. Beginning improvement of Mage's Hand. Estimated time: 35 days]
'That fast?'
Pei Ze was a little surprised.
Given how refined Zero-Circle Magic was, it had long since reached a state of near-perfection.
Further improvement wasn't impossible, but the time and effort required would be staggering.
Pei Ze had been mentally prepared for the Eye of Omniscience to need several years for the analysis, so he was shocked that it would only take 35 days.
However, after reading the feedback from the Eye of Omniscience, he had a sudden realization.
It turned out the Eye of Omniscience's improvement wasn't a change to the fundamental nature of the Magic. Instead, it was modifying the Magic to be more compatible with his body, thereby reducing consumption during casting and enhancing its power.
That was why it only needed 35 days.
The improved Magic would also be suitable only for Pei Ze. If someone else were to use it, not only would it lack the improved effects, but the incompatibility might even lead to increased consumption and weakened power.
In short, it was an exclusive Magic that only he could use.
'An exclusive Magic... That sounds pretty good!'
Pei Ze was delighted.
After some thought, however, he decided to shelve this task for the time being.
He had originally planned to start analyzing Plant Spirit Light three days ago, but he had postponed it. The analyses for Mage's Hand and Dizziness Technique were already halfway done, and besides, with the substantial income from his tutoring, he didn't have to worry about expenses for now.
But now, Pei Ze didn't intend to delay any longer.
The income from tutoring was considerable, but it wouldn't last forever. There was no telling when Guan Ling and the others would no longer need his guidance.
Just in case, it was better to find a stable 'job' as soon as possible.
"Omniscience, analyze the Plant Spirit Light Magic model."
[Task created. Analyzing Plant Spirit Light Magic model. Estimated time: 10 days]
'If I accelerate it once a day, the analysis should be done in a little over two days.'
Pei Ze quickly made up his mind. He would go accept a mission the day after tomorrow!