It was the high-level power that every Wizard Apprentice dreamed of.

  For Pierce, the priority was undoubtedly constructing Will Runes. The sooner he raised his Spirit attribute, the more astonishing the long-term benefits would be.

  However, considering he was about to delve into the Lower City to face crazed heretics, boosting his immediate combat capabilities was urgent.

  Pierce pondered for a moment and quickly made his decision.

  "Omniscience, consume the Power of Law to accelerate the analysis of Silent Casting."

  Under current conditions, there were only two ways to rapidly improve combat prowess: mastering more spells, or mastering Metamagic techniques.

  For a long time, the verbose chanting of incantations had been the greatest weakness of casters in battle. In a life-or-death struggle where the situation changed in a heartbeat, a delay of 0.5 seconds could determine one's fate, let alone a chanting time of 1 to 2 seconds.

  Therefore, many apprentices had to rely on Knight followers to act as meat shields, buying them precious seconds to cast their spells.

  Silent Casting, however, could largely mitigate this fatal flaw.

  A wizard who mastered this technique could chant the incantation internally and release the spell at the precise moment, often catching the enemy completely off guard. This was particularly effective against experienced non-human warriors who were skilled at predicting spell types based on the syllables of a chant.

  It was worth noting that Silent Casting merely omitted the vocal component; it did not actually reduce the time required to build the magical structure. This was fundamentally different from the legendary Quicken Spell.

  Only by mastering Quicken Spell could a caster truly break free from the constraints of casting time and become a walking artillery battery.

  The moment the command was issued, countless obscure fragments of knowledge and insight flooded into Pierce's mind out of thin air.

  After closing his eyes to digest the information for a moment, he snapped them open and raised his index finger.

  Hum!

  His fingertip instantly bloomed with a dazzling white light, without a single syllable of preamble.

  Light!

  In just a split second, he had mastered a high-level technique that was usually the domain of Official Wizards. Watching the light dancing on his fingertip, Pierce smiled with satisfaction.

  With Silent Casting, his tactical options in battle would grow exponentially.

  For instance, when facing a chatty opponent, he could play along with the conversation while silently stacking 10 or even 20 layers of Mage Armor in the background. When the enemy finally drew their sword to charge, they would be facing an indestructible mobile fortress.

  Recovering from his elation, Pierce tentatively mentally commanded: "Omniscience, analyze the Quicken Spell technique."

  Task created. Analyzing Quicken Spell technique. Estimated time: 491 days.

  Pierce clicked his tongue in secret. This analysis time was a whole order of magnitude higher than Silent Casting. Even if he threw all his remaining Power of Law at it, it would be a drop in the bucket.

  No wonder Quicken Spell was recognized as one of the most difficult Metamagic techniques.

  Other Metamagic skills, such as Empower Spell, Enlarge Spell, Widen Spell, and Extend Spell, also required over 300 days to analyze.

  It seemed Silent Casting was indeed the entry-level brick of the Metamagic world.

  Pierce shook his head and decided to shelve the other Metamagic techniques for now, focusing instead on expanding his spell repertoire. After all, Metamagic was just a multiplier; without a sufficient base of spells, it was all a castle in the air.

  Refocusing his mind, Pierce analyzed three practical Rank 1 spells in one go: Magic Missile, Fireball, and Cause Fear.

  Fireball, as the name suggested, released a ball of flame that inflicted both explosive and burning damage. It was the most cost-effective area-of-effect spell for apprentices.

  Magic Missile released several tracking missiles formed of pure force energy. The number started at 3 and increased with Spirit strength. Although a single missile lacked the raw power of a Fireball, it possessed a domineering trait: it never missed. As long as the target was within sight, no matter how they dodged or hid, the missiles would bite down on them until impact.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Cause Fear was a powerful crowd-control spell, capable of plunging living creatures within a certain range into uncontrollable terror, causing them to scatter and breaking the enemy formation.

  Defense, single-target elimination, mass bombardment, crowd control... his tactical system was now preliminarily established.

  The remaining work of spell optimization would have to wait for later polishing.

  After this flurry of operations, 310 points of Power of Law remained. Pierce did not hesitate to pour them all into the construction of Will Runes.

  No. 18, No. 19... up to No. 22.

  In an instant, five brand-new Will Runes coalesced in the depths of his mental sea.

  The feeling of fulfillment brought by the surge in Spirit made his brain throb slightly, but it was immediately followed by a sense of clarity and sublimation, like drinking sweet spring water.

  Phew...

  Pierce let out a long breath, his eyes filled with joy.

  "Omniscience, status check."

  Host: Pierce

  Spirit: 89.53

  Physique: 49.19

  His Spirit had increased by over 17 points!

  At this rate, the remaining 10 runes would bring an increase of at least 40 points. By then, the gap to the 160 Spirit points required for the Official Wizard threshold would only be around 40 points. With his current natural growth rate of 0.6 per day, he could reach the goal in two months at most.

  If he could get his hands on premium resources like the Potion of Phantasm, this time could be compressed even further.

  "One trip to the Realm of Truth was worth half a month of bitter cultivation," Pierce mused. "If I could go in one more time, even for a few minutes, I would likely gather enough capital to condense a Mental Crystal."

  Calming his mind, he issued three long-term task commands:

  Task 1: Analyze Will Rune No. 23. Estimated time: 98 days.

  Task 2: Optimize Fireball spell model. Estimated time: 85 days.

  Task 3: Optimize Magic Missile spell model. Estimated time: 82 days.

  With nearly 90 points of Spirit, each acceleration by Omniscience could shorten progress by about 38 days. On average, he could master a new rune or optimize a spell every 2 to 3 days.

  This speed was terrifying. Even for an Official Wizard, optimizing a Rank 1 spell often took months.

  There were 3 days left until he had to report.

  Pierce decided to use this time to prepare thoroughly. Food for his familiars, and emergency supplies of Potion of Vigor and Boiling Blood Potion all needed to be brewed and stocked.

  The morning three days later.

  A faint morning mist lingered over the Northern District of the Outer City, and the air was filled with a chilling solemnity.

  Pierce stood before the main gate of the City Guard Old Garrison, gazing at the fortress-like structure.

  The City Guard was the core force maintaining internal order in Aurora City, mainly responsible for public security and the purging of heretics. Its members were primarily Knights and lower-ranked Wizard Apprentices.

  Aside from the City Guard, Aurora City had two more formidable external legions: the Silver Legion and the Golem Legion. Those were the true war machines, staffed by numerous Official Wizards.

  After showing his apprentice badge at the gate, Pierce entered the garrison smoothly. A soldier led him to a dimly lit office.

  Behind a desk, a white-haired old man was reviewing documents. Hearing footsteps, he looked up and sized Pierce up.

  "An apprentice from The Spire Academy participating in the suppression operation?"

  "Yes," Pierce replied, neither humble nor arrogant. The Omniscient Eye revealed that the old man was also a Rank 3 apprentice.

  "Name?"

  "Pierce."

  Hearing the name, the old man's pen paused slightly. He gave Pierce a deep look, and his originally cold expression softened considerably.

  "You may go to the hall next door. Someone there will arrange your specific deployment."

  "Thank you."

  Pierce turned and left, quickly finding the spacious hall.

  The moment he pushed the door open, a wave of noise hit him. There were at least 400 to 500 people gathered inside.

  To his surprise, only a few dozen of them were wearing the grey robes of Wizard Apprentices. The rest were invariably clad in heavy plate or leather armor, wearing badges of sword and shield on their chests.

  People from the Knight Academy!

  Pierce raised an eyebrow.

  There were over 30 Knight Academies in Aurora City. Their students came from two main sources: young people recruited through city-wide testing, and the "rejects" from the four great Wizard Academies—those who failed to advance to Rank 1 apprentice.

  "Pierce."

  Just as he was wondering about their presence, a pleasant and familiar voice called out.

  Looking toward the sound, he saw Gwen standing about ten meters away, waving at him with a grin.

  "You are here too?" Pierce walked over.

  Gwen put her hands on her hips, feigning anger. "Who are you looking down on? I am a Rank 3 apprentice now too!"

  Pierce glanced at her without surprise.

  "You are here for the Merit Points as well?"

  "Of course." Gwen shrugged. "There are plenty of goodies on that exchange list that even I envy. I may come from a major family, but I cannot just take whatever resources I want. When it's time to fight for something, I have to rely on myself."

  Pierce nodded and went straight to the point. "Where is the exchange list?"

  "Right over there," Gwen said, pointing to the back of the hall.

  Pierce looked back and saw a massive wall covered in dense text written with special arcane soot-ink.

  【Redeemable Items (Stock) & Required Merit Points】

  Rank 2 Artifact (1) —— 3,000 points

  Rank 1 Artifact (8) —— 800 points

  Realm of Truth Entry (2) —— 2,000 points

  Blood Fairy (2) —— 500 points

  Flora Fairy (3) —— 450 points

  Elven Kin (Legendary Knight Level) (2) —— 500 points

  Barbarian Kin (Legendary Knight Level) (10) —— 400 points

  Iron-Hide Behemoth Mount (100) —— 80 points

  Glimmer-Grade Magic Item (20) —— 60 points

  Potion of Transcendence (100) —— 50 points

  Potion of Phantasm (100) —— 50 points

  Gloom Stone (200) —— 10 points

  The dazzling list made one's blood boil. From rare Familiars to powerful artifacts, it covered almost everything needed for wizard cultivation.

  Even "Artifacts," usually reserved for Official Wizards, were listed.

  composed as Pierce was, he couldn't help but feel a pang of desire. He wanted nothing more than to rush into the Lower City immediately and harvest the heads of those heretics.

  "Tempting, isn't it?" Gwen's lips curled into a sly smile. "Now look at the other side."

  Pierce looked in the direction she indicated. The other wall displayed a detailed price list for bounties—the price tags for hunting targets.

  High Priest: 3,000 points

  Drinker of Madness: 1,000 points

  Corrupted Disciple (Peak Grand Knight): 50 points

  Corrupted Disciple (High Grand Knight): 40 points

  Corrupted Disciple (Mid Grand Knight): 30 points

  Corrupted (Peak Knight): 3 points

  Corrupted (High Knight): 2 points

  Corrupted (Mid Knight): 1 point