As Dante followed Master Elandor through the corridors of the Celestial Arcanists' headquarters, a sense of eager anticipation filled him. The fact that the faction's leader had singled him out and acknowledged his potential meant that he was on the right path, at least in terms of resource acquisition.
The surroundings shifted from the ornate central hall to the more secluded and scholarly atmosphere of the Library.
The shelves were lined with ancient tomes, their pages filled with knowledge and secrets that spanned centuries. Dim magical lanterns hung from the ceiling, casting a soft and warm glow that illuminated the space.
"Apprentice Dante, our faction prides itself on the seamless integration of wizardry and knighthood. Our training methods are designed to help individuals like you harness the full potential of both disciplines," Master Elandor stated as they walked.
Dante listened closely, his eyes scanning the rows of books and scrolls. The concept of dual cultivating magic and martial prowess was intriguing, and he was eager to explore the techniques that could enhance his already formidable abilities.
They stopped in front of a section dedicated to Meditation Techniques.
Master Elandor gestured to the shelves, his expression one of encouragement. "These techniques focus on refining your mental and spiritual energy, honing your connection to the arcane forces. Choose one that resonates with you, and I will guide you in its practice."
Dante began perusing the titles, his fingers trailing over the spines of the books. Each technique offered a unique perspective on channeling and controlling magical energy.
After a moment, his eyes landed on a tome with an intricately designed cover.
"The Void Speaker Chant." Dante read aloud, his curiosity piqued.
The title suggested a connection to the element of space between the wizard and his mind power, which was perfect for Dante as it not only matched his superpower but also allowed him to possibly use spatial magic later on.
Master Elandor smiled approvingly. "An excellent choice, Apprentice Dante. The Void Speaker Chant is a profound meditation technique that will enable you to attune yourself to the natural rhythms of the world's ebbs and flows. It will amplify your spellcasting abilities and grant you insight into the deeper mysteries of the void."
Dante nodded, his decision made with a smile. "When can I begin my training?"
"Quite impatient, aren't you?" Master Elandor said, his tone filled with amusement.
"We shall begin with the first step: Activating your Spiritual Power and sensing the elements."
He waved his hand to the side and led Dante to the Meditation Chamber. It was a cubic room similar to a cell with whitish-blue walls all over that were inscribed with various arcane runes.
Master Elandor flicked his finger, and a small bolt of energy struck the central rune, causing the room to light up. With a smile, he gestured to the seat in the center of the room where the runes were focused on.
"Sit yourself down in the eye of the array. It will help calm your mind and condense your spiritual power. Once you can feel your spiritual power turn into a single thread, you have entered the Initial-stage of the Apprentice Realm."
"When you can sense the ambient elements around you and can absorb them into your body, you will be able to forge your spiritual power in preparation for the wizard stage."
Master Elandor gestured to the Void Speaker chant in Dante's arms. "That is when your technique shows its power. Specialized techniques like that are attuned to specific elements or concepts, allowing you to incline your Spiritual Power towards an element you want, rather than having to take what you can get."
Dante understood. So basically, what separated casual mages with no specialized technique and those with specialized techniques was not just the aspect of specialization but their overall power and purity.
A casual mage would absorb any element they could get, so when they reached the mage stage, they would have spiritual power of multiple elements. This sounded cool and versatile since you could then practice spells of multiple elements and have a strong arsenal.
But the obvious drawback was the dispersion of your focus and power. To simplify, which do you prefer: having the ability to use one element's spells at 100% power or the ability to use 10 elements with a max of 10% power each?
No, you could not increase the power by switching. If that was the case, no one would specialize and would just absorb as they pleased. Everything had its pros and cons as the universe was balanced.
Since Dante chose a space element meditation technique, he could only use space element spells in the future, but that was fine. His hellfire was of the flame element and was good enough for offense, and this space power would give him the ability to crowd control.
With that in mind, he walked over to the seat and calmly sat down while entering a meditative posture. As he was often made to do so in the True Martial World as well as in the Black Land, Dante was used to it.
Soon, he quickly entered a trance where his mind seemed like a black void. It was a bit like when you closed your eyelids but without those colorful bugs floating around.
In this void, Dante could see thick wisps of creamy white mist that were separated into large clumps here and there. They were not too far from each other, and there was one clump in the center that was bigger than any other and seemed to pulse with light.
Dante connected with it and knew that this was the manifestation of his spiritual power.
In fact, putting aside whether it was this big, many new apprentices did not even manage to enter this trance on their own. Arrays like the one Dante had were something that only top factions had, which was part of their capital for attracting then recruiting apprentices as well as training them quickly.
Two people of the same talent and the same meditation technique, yet one had an array to help them sense and condense their spiritual power. Naturally, the person with the array would leap into the initial level faster than you, and while he was raising his spiritual power through training and condensation, you were still sweating and trying to enter this trance using your own ability.
The gap would grow wider and wider.
For Dante, his 500 points of Intelligence meant that he had a huge amount of uncondensed spiritual power as seen by the huge clumps here and there. However, unlike other initiates still trying to condense their spiritual power, he already had a partially formed core.
This was brought about by the unlocking of minor psychic abilities, so his spiritual power was condensing itself naturally every time he used them like his slight telekinesis or telepathy.
Unfortunately, this kind of spiritual power had nothing to do with spirit sense at this stage, so it did not benefit from the Limbo Enkindling fire nor did the Limbo Enkindling fire benefit from it.
Yet.
After all, the two of them had the same source, which was his Intelligence stat. One used it to expand his senses outward in a range of 500 meters, and the other used it to condense energy into a core. It was like a single waterfall creating two rivers that ran parallel but didn't connect.
At some point, one could dig a small tributary and connect the two, or even dig out the entire strip of soil that separated them and merge it permanently into one river. Whether it was the example or the actual circumstance, both required hard work rather than any unique means or talent.
Dante easily used his already partially formed core like a gravity well, dragging over all the clumps to it easily and merging them within. The more clumps that joined, the bigger the size of the main spiritual core, and the faster it pulled the rest towards it, forming a blessed cycle.
The hardest part about condensing a spiritual core was merging the two tiny bits of individual spots of spiritual power - for normal people, of course - but once you achieved that and added a few more onto it, the rest became easier and easier, even if you didn't have an array to help.
Dante didn't know how long this state lasted, but he was done rather quickly. All the clumps in this space had been converged into the central one, and its size was more than ten times that of what he began with.
Also, it pulsed with a rhythmic and hypnotic light, making one feel like there was something special about it that defied the rules of the world.
Before he could even think of it, his newly condensed core began to run and extend its tendrils outward to the world, like a newborn baby trying to curiously explore its surroundings.
What it came into contact with made Dante truly feel the presence and existence of magic for the first time—the elements!
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