"Would you like something to drink?"

  Pierce welcomed Yuna into the living room and invited her to sit, asking with a smile.

  "No need."

  Yuna shook her head. She glanced at Eve, who was curiously observing her from the side. Yuna produced a Mica Silver Flower from her pouch, plucked the glowing stamen, and handed it to the sprite.

  The little creature’s eyes lit up instantly. She flew over, beaming with joy, hugged the stamen tightly, chirped twice at Yuna in gratitude, and then flew aside to enjoy her treat.

  Yuna smiled faintly, then turned back and placed a heavy book on the coffee table.

  "This is what Teacher instructed me to give you."

  The book was about two fingers thick, pitch black, with the title stitched in silver thread on the leather cover—The Wizard's Codex.

  "This book contains all common knowledge and intelligence regarding formal Wizards. Once you advance, remember to familiarize yourself with its contents."

  Pierce’s eyes lit up. He reached out, intending to flip the cover open, but found that even after applying force, the cover remained immovable, as if it were a solid block of steel.

  With his strength at the level of a Legendary Knight, he actually couldn't budge the cover of a book.

  "Only a formal Wizard can open it," Yuna explained, stopping Pierce's futile efforts.

  Hearing this, Pierce had to put the book away for now. He then asked, "Senior Sister, you didn't make a special trip just to deliver a book, did you?"

  "Of course not."

  Yuna pursed her lips in a mysterious smile. She extended her fair hand, opening it to reveal two crystal balls the size of dragon eyes.

  The crystal balls were translucent, resembling the finest gemstones. Suspended within the clear crystal structure were two pale grey, semi-transparent human figures, curled up in a fetal position.

  Upon closer inspection, the features of the tiny figures bore a striking resemblance to Pierce.

  A thought flashed through Pierce's mind, and he blurted out, "Spirit Surrogates!"

  "Correct," Yuna laughed softly. "Teacher Morven knew you were in urgent need of Spirit Surrogates, so immediately after the competition ended, he applied to the Dawn Council to have them crafted for you."

  "Teacher is truly thoughtful." Pierce accepted the two crystal balls with delight.

  With these two Spirit Surrogates, the last obstacle regarding his condensation of the Spirit Crystal was removed. He could attempt the breakthrough at any time.

  "As for the remaining rewards, Teacher suggests you wait until you advance to Wizard before applying to the Dawn Council. You will have a better idea of your specific needs then."

  Pierce agreed without hesitation.

  He had originally planned to do just that; Morven's advice undoubtedly aligned with his own judgment.

  Yuna then took out a thick notebook. "These are materials regarding the condensation of Spirit Crystals that Teacher collected for you. It also contains my own insights and experiences from when I broke through. Perhaps they will be of some help."

  Stuffing the notebook into Pierce's hand, Yuna smiled, though her eyes held a hint of reluctance. "I will be departing for the Turin Plane in a few days. I likely won't be here to see you advance. When I return from the Turin Plane, we can have a proper gathering."

  "So soon?"

  Pierce was slightly stunned, then he smiled confidently.

  "Perhaps I will go to the Turin Plane soon as well. We can meet on the Planar Battlefield."

  Yuna smiled and nodded. "Then I will wait for you."

  She didn't stay long, leaving shortly after to prepare for her deployment.

  Closing the door and returning to the apartment, Pierce looked at the Spirit Surrogates and Heart-Glass Water in his Bag of Holding. He recited silently in his mind:

  "Omniscient Eye, using five standard portions of Heart-Glass Water and two Spirit Surrogates as aids, calculate the success rate of my Spirit Crystal condensation."

  [Calculation Complete: 91.45%]

  "Over ninety percent? Excellent."

  Pierce nodded with satisfaction.

  Condensing a Spirit Crystal was a perilous threshold; a 100% success rate was theoretically impossible. Achieving ninety percent was already a luxury few could dream of.

  Even when Yuna condensed her Spirit Crystal, her success rate couldn't have been this high—seventy or eighty percent at most.

  Moreover, even if the condensation failed, with the protection of the Heart-Glass Water and Spirit Surrogates, he didn't have to worry about severe backlash or soul damage. At most, he would need to rest for a while to recover.

  With the remaining rewards from the Dawn Council as a backup plan, Pierce's psychological pressure diminished significantly.

  Considering that the process of condensing a Spirit Crystal could take anywhere from ten days to a month, he took out a large amount of nectar and placed it in the living room for Eve, giving the little guy a few instructions.

  Eve quickly understood that Pierce was about to do something monumental and would be in seclusion for a long time. She immediately showed an anxious expression, her wings fluttering nervously.

  It took Pierce quite a bit of comforting to soothe the sprite.

  Afterward, he packed his essentials and headed to The Spire Academy.

  The safest places in the entire Outer City were undoubtedly the four great Wizard Academies. Within The Spire Academy, the spell laboratories in the experimental district were impregnable fortresses.

  Once the door was sealed, unless the rental duration expired or the user opened it voluntarily, no one could enter.

  Therefore, Pierce decided to complete his advancement in the laboratory. The apartment was simply too insecure for such a critical moment.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Arriving at the spell experiment building, Pierce paid for a full three months of usage time in one go.

  This startled the staff member responsible for registration. Only after confirming it repeatedly did the staff member register the room for Pierce, eyeing him with confusion.

  Holding the key card, Pierce went straight to the third floor.

  The staff member stared at his back, muttering, "What kind of spell experiment requires three months?"

  Suddenly, a realization struck him, and his expression became colorful.

  "Could it be... he's going to advance?!"

  Pierce paid no mind to the staff member's speculation.

  After sealing the heavy door, he summoned the Mist Raven to stand guard. Then, he took out the notebook Yuna had given him and browsed through it rapidly.

  In less than a minute, all the contents of the notebook were recorded by the Omniscient Eye and integrated into his memory.

  Pierce closed his eyes, analyzing the data carefully. After ensuring no detail was missed, he laid out the Heart-Glass Water and Spirit Surrogates.

  Five bottles of Heart-Glass Water were lined up on the floor, the silver liquid swirling with a mesmerizing, mercury-like luster under the magical lights.

  Pierce picked up the first bottle, popped the cork, and poured it directly into his mouth.

  As the liquid slid down his throat, a surging, vibrant life force instantly exploded in his stomach, radiating outward.

  For a moment, Pierce felt his whole body swelling with raw power.

  "Such rich life energy."

  Pierce clicked his tongue in wonder. This concentration was even higher than what he had felt when advancing to Legendary Knight.

  Composing himself, Pierce drank the remaining four bottles of Heart-Glass Water in one breath. Then, he picked up the two crystal balls containing the Spirit Surrogates and placed them in his mouth, holding them under his tongue.

  After everything was ready, he sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began the breakthrough.

  The theory of condensing a Spirit Crystal sounded simple—continuously compressing mental power until it underwent a qualitative change and crystallized—but the execution was excruciatingly difficult.

  Otherwise, this step wouldn't be the graveyard of so many apprentices' ambitions.

  When Pierce captured the formless mental power deep in his mind and began to mobilize his will to compress it, a silver-white flame suddenly ignited on the surface of his body with a soft whoosh.

  The fire burned ragingly, yet it possessed no temperature, emitted no smoke, and made no sound. It was a silent combustion of life.

  In a realm invisible to the naked eye, the massive life force in Pierce's body was rapidly converted into strands of esoteric energy under the silver fire, fueling the compression of his mind.

  The life energy that originally filled every cell of his body began to deplete, slowly but inexorably.

  Simultaneously, as the compression of mental power intensified, an agonizing pain—stemming from the very depths of his soul—emerged out of nowhere. It felt as if a giant were smashing his consciousness with a sledgehammer.

  Pierce's brows instantly knitted together. The compression process nearly faltered.

  Fortunately, his will was forged of iron. He forcibly endured the shock.

  However, this intense pain vanished as quickly as it had arrived.

  No, it didn't vanish; it was transferred.

  Inside one of the crystal balls in Pierce's mouth, the semi-transparent figure suddenly twisted, thrashed, and convulsed violently. Its face distorted in a silent scream of absolute agony.

  [Diagram illustrating the magical backlash transfer mechanism from the wizard to the Spirit Surrogate]

  The fire burned silently. The spirit screamed silently.

  Everything proceeded in a quiet, terrifying rhythm.

  As time passed, the mental power deep in Pierce's mind was gradually forced into submission. It changed from formless to tangible, from a gaseous mist to heavy droplets, which then gathered to form a pool of shimmering, pale silver liquid.

  Eventually, solid blocks of silver crystal began to precipitate from the liquid.

  During this grueling process, the Spirit Surrogate inside the first crystal ball finally reached its limit. It shattered into dust and vanished.

  Immediately, the pain transferred to the second Spirit Surrogate, and the silent screaming began anew.

  Time lost all meaning.

  Just as the life energy from the Heart-Glass Water was nearing exhaustion, and the second Spirit Surrogate was on the brink of collapse, a tremor shook the depths of Pierce's mind.

  Hummmmm.

  Accompanied by a resonant, soulful hum, a silver crystal finally took shape.

  Pierce's spirit lifted, and he focused his internal senses.

  Deep in his mind, suspended in a void that resembled a starry cosmos, a magnificent silver polyhedral crystal floated.

  It had a total of thirty-two faces.

  Each face was a perfect regular hexagon, with a complex six-pointed star pattern inlaid in the center, glowing with arcane light.

  The entire structure emitted a mesmerizing brilliance, far more beautiful than any gemstone found in the mortal world.

  "Is this... the Spirit Crystal?"

  Pierce 'looked' at the silver construct, his heart filled with profound joy and satisfaction.

  The formation of the Spirit Crystal meant only one thing: he had successfully advanced. He was now a Wizard. His life essence had evolved to a higher dimension!

  From this moment on, he was no longer a pawn on the board. He had earned the right to be a player.

  "Phew..."

  Pierce opened his eyes. He spat out the two empty, dull crystal shards and exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

  He turned his head to look at the magic clock on the wall. Shock flashed in his eyes.

  "Seventy-five days?"

  Pierce was genuinely surprised.

  Generally, condensing a Spirit Crystal took about ten days.

  Apprentices practicing High-Level Meditation Techniques needed more time, but usually just over a month. For example, Yuna took thirty-two days.

  Pierce had estimated that with his thirty-two Will Runes, the process would take two months. He hadn't expected it to stretch to seventy-five days.

  "Good thing I reserved extra time."

  Pierce stood up and stretched. Despite sitting motionless for two and a half months, his joints didn't creak, and his muscles felt no soreness. Instead, his body felt light, brimming with boundless energy.

  His mind was crystal clear. His perception of the world had undergone a fundamental shift.

  It was as if a veil of gauze had been lifted from his eyes. The world was sharper, more vibrant, and filled with flowing data.

  "My sensitivity to energy particles has skyrocketed. My manipulation ability has more than doubled."

  Pierce snapped his fingers.

  Snap!

  A wisp of blue electric light emerged at his fingertip with a crisp crackle.

  He pointed casually. The lightning shot out, hitting a crystal target in the corner of the lab.

  Bang!

  [Category: Lightning]

  [Power: 52.3 degrees]

  "Pure particle manipulation... untainted by spells or runes... and the power already exceeds the Lightning Rune. This is the power of a Wizard."

  Pierce sighed in admiration.

  "Omniscient Eye, scan my current status."

  [Spirit: ???]

  [Physique: ???]

  "Hmm?"

  Pierce paused. Question marks?

  The Omniscient Eye quickly provided feedback.

  [Life Essence has evolved. Previous metric standards are obsolete. Please define a new Energy Unit.]

  A new energy unit?

  Pierce frowned slightly. Then, remembering something, he pulled The Wizard's Codex from his Bag of Holding.

  He sat down and began to read.

  He read slowly, analyzing as he scanned.

  It took him a full hour to digest the relevant contents.

  "So that's how it is. After becoming a Wizard, not only does the physical body evolve, but mental power also undergoes sublimation due to extreme compression. The essence of the energy has changed."

  "The old Spirit and Constitution attributes are no longer applicable scales."

  "Wizards use a specific unit to quantify this higher form of power: Energy Level."

  Pierce nodded in understanding. "Omniscient Eye, based on the Codex data, convert my attributes to the new standard."

  The data in his vision blurred, then recalibrated.

  [Spirit (Energy Level): 5.12]

  [Physique (Energy Level): 4.35]

  "Only five Energy Levels?"

  Pierce murmured.

  According to the Codex, Wizards who condensed Spirit Crystals were collectively known as Crystal Wizards.

  They were divided into three ranks.

  A newly advanced Wizard was a Rank 1 Wizard. Condensing a second crystal made one a Rank 2 Wizard. A third made one a Rank 3 Wizard.

  Within each rank, progression was defined by the state of the mental power stored inside the crystal: Gaseous Phase, Liquid Phase, and Crystalline Phase.

  Only when the mental power inside the crystal fully crystallized could a Wizard begin constructing the next Spirit Crystal.

  "So, I am currently at the Rank 1 Gaseous Phase," Pierce deduced.

  Crucially, the Codex noted that the mental power capacity of a Spirit Crystal was directly linked to its geometry—specifically, the number of faces.

  A Wizard using a Generic Meditation Technique would form a Dodecahedron (12-sided) crystal. Its capacity was low, meaning it saturated quickly. Such Wizards typically needed only 12 Energy Levels of mental power to transition from Gaseous to Liquid.

  A Wizard using a High-Level Meditation Technique, like Yuna, formed an Icositetrahedron (24-sided) crystal. Its capacity was much higher, requiring 24 Energy Levels to reach saturation and begin liquefaction.

  [Comparison diagram of Dodecahedron, Icositetrahedron, and 32-sided polyhedron showing relative mental power capacity]

  Pierce looked inward at the magnificent Thirty-Two-Sided silver crystal spinning slowly in his mind.

  "In other words... my mental power needs to reach 32 Energy Levels before I can even enter the Liquid Phase."

  He suddenly felt the burden on his shoulders grow heavy. The road ahead was long indeed.