Chapter 7: Did This Class Exist?
That same night, Flaris and Priam went to the small training area between the two family buildings. She taught him the absolute basics of movement and, most importantly, how to exercise properly. Additionally, Priam inquired in detail about how she had created her Jade Core.
That day, Priam discovered that his body was extremely resilient. He was no longer human, nor was he sickly anymore after all. Additionally, the feeling of training hard was actually quite enjoyable.
They trained for forty minutes and took twenty-minute breaks, during which they talked about the Jade Core and other details.
After a little more than two hours, the message he had been waiting for finally appeared.
[All Daily Missions have been completed]
[+15 GP]
[New Purchasable Skill Added:]
[500 GP] [Training Amplifier]
[NOTE: Can only be used once. After that, the cost increases, and it can be purchased again.]
[Upon activating the skill, the user enters a state of deep sleep. In 6 hours, all efforts made to train the body will be randomly multiplied between 500% and 1000%.]
Priam’s eyes shone. That was a truly magical skill, created specifically to push him to train as hard as possible. Even if it rolled the absolute minimum, the gains for a single day would already be terrifying.
It was already midnight, and Priam told Flaris that he was tired.
She felt a little disappointed because she was legitimately addicted to training. It was no wonder she was so strong; besides her natural talent, Flaris trained more than anyone else.
She gently invited him to have dinner with her family, but Priam politely refused, and she didn’t insist, although she looked a little awkward afterward.
That was because she knew Priam trusted her, but he clearly would never forgive her family for treating his mother so badly over the past few years. She couldn’t deny that he had every right to be angry. She herself was also disgusted by their actions, but there wasn’t much she could do.
Priam said goodbye and entered his family’s building alone. Since there were no servants and he didn’t know how to cook anything at all, he simply ate some fruit left behind by his mother.
Afterward, he went to his room. Sleeping seemed like a good idea, but he was far too excited and energized for that. So, he turned his thoughts toward the system.
[Germination Points: 915]
Without delay, Priam thought about the second point exchange method.
[04 Transcendental Knowledges Available:]
[300GP] [Combat Mastery] [Level: Basic]
[400GP] [Magic and Energies] [Level: Basic]
[400GP] [Natural Elements] [Level: Basic]
[800GP] [Syntheses] [Level: Basic]
Currently, there were only skills and knowledge available for exchange. And since Priam was still a complete beginner, the first thing he wanted to buy were skills, without giving much importance to knowledge at the beginning.
Now, after fighting a little and hearing his cousin struggle to teach him something she considered simple, he finally understood that he needed to start from the beginning, studying the basics in order to build a solid foundation for the future.
[Magic and Energies] [Level: Basic]
[Combat Mastery] [Level: Basic]
[Total: -700GP]
[Accept?] [Yes / No]
Priam didn’t waste time and accepted.
The very next second, he felt his vision darken while an intense dizziness struck him. Only several seconds later did he manage to stabilize himself.
An absurd amount of information burst into his brain. It was as if all of it had already existed in his mind the entire time, but had only now been unlocked. Even so, he felt slightly disappointed, because the system truly wasn’t a miracle. He hadn’t learned everything instantly.
’I can’t expect too much... I’ll have to slowly study every detail until I fully assimilate everything.’
He had daily missions related to studying, so it would be better to dive deeper into this knowledge over the next few days in order to complete them easily. But for now, he needed to solve an important mystery: his nonexistent Jade Core.
He began carefully reading the introduction to ’Magic and Energies,’ which he had just acquired.
...
Three hours later, Priam finally understood in detail what a Mage Acolyte was and how to advance through the levels of that Rank.
Creating the Jade Core using Ether within the crystals was only the beginning. After everything stabilized and a person could finally be called a level 1 Mage, it became necessary to begin the process known as: Meridian Opening.
Inside the body and soul of everyone, hidden meridians existed.
Ether served precisely that role, needing to be constantly absorbed in order to fully activate them. By using the correct method, the meridians would gradually expand, allowing Ether to circulate freely through them, drastically increasing the Mage’s power with each new level.
The levels represented exactly how much the meridians had been opened and awakened. In short, an Acolyte evolved to the peak of that Rank simply by absorbing and nourishing their meridians.
But starting from level two, the body itself understood that Ether was something intrinsic and necessary. Thus, as naturally as breathing, it began absorbing the subtle Ether existing in the environment and accumulating it within the meridians.
That way, the Mage would no longer need to endlessly spend money buying Ether Crystals just to always have energy available whenever they used it. Even after consuming everything they possessed, a level 2 Mage would fully recover their reserves in around three days.
As they advanced in level, that recovery would also become more efficient.
Becoming a Mage was not something simple. To properly create the Jade Core and nourish the meridians perfectly, precise knowledge and extreme dedication were necessary. After that, until reaching level two, the Mage needed to spend enormous amounts buying Ether Crystals.
Even after reaching level two, if they depended only on natural recovery and didn’t have Ether Crystals, a Mage would die of old age without ever reaching the next Rank.
In other words, someone completely without resources and alone in the world would never advance beyond a few levels.
After understanding all of that, including the correct nourishment method, Priam smiled.
Now he knew how to create a different kind of Jade Core, something he felt the system wouldn’t force him to destroy. It was called a Celestial Core.
He had never heard of it before, but the process was relatively simple. However, no Mage would ever do it, because it was counterintuitive and absurdly dangerous.
The most basic method to become a Mage stated that one first needed to create the Jade Core, and only afterward nourish the meridians.
In this case, however, Priam needed to directly activate the meridians first, using an extremely gentle process, and only afterward form the Celestial Core.
Of course, according to the description, if he made even the tiniest mistake, the Celestial Core would simply condense and explode... killing him instantly.
But with the Energy Domination he possessed, he just needed to act calmly and carefully; there was no way he could fail... at least, he prayed he wouldn’t.
Without delay, Priam turned his attention toward the spatial ring.
Inside it were a dozen Ether Crystals that his mother had bought and given him, hoping that one day he would finally manage to become a true Mage.
’She never lost hope and was always certain that I would succeed... I won’t disappoint her anymore, I promise.’
Priam took a deep breath and activated the system, perfectly moving all the gaseous Ether contained within the crystals.
Within seconds, all that power flowed into the meridians spread throughout his body.
Lines resembling glowing veins appeared all over his skin.
They were extremely thin, but any Mage who saw them would be stunned by that glow. That was because beginner Mages barely had any control over Ether and wasted 90% of its potential, both during nourishment and in the efficiency of its actual use.
But with his control, Priam wouldn’t waste absolutely anything.
When the meridians finally opened, he moved the Ether toward the Dantian, located just below the navel.
...
Two hours later.
Priam’s eyes shone with a golden light while a painful sting ran through his body.
[Celestial Core successfully created]
[Achievement Bonus Acquired!]
[+300GP]
Priam swallowed dryly and clenched his fists.
With a simple thought, he moved all the Ether from his core into the meridians. At that instant... his aura appeared, and his eyes widened.
"Golden? That color doesn’t exist in any class..."
Priam remained stunned for several minutes until he finally remembered to check his status.
[Name: Priam Ylisse]
[Race: Vanculari]
[Magic Title: Celestial Mage Acolyte, first level]
"Celestial Mage? Does that class really exist? Well, whatever. Let everyone else deal with that."
He didn’t care much, because now he had finally become a true Mage.
Certainly, because he lived in a remote region where almost nothing extraordinary existed, he simply lacked that kind of information. But the main clan probably knew something.
Suddenly, Priam let out a heavy yawn.
It was already very late at night, and the exhaustion had finally caught up to him.
He thought about the system, and new screens appeared.
[Germination Points: 515]
[02 Unlockable Skills:]
[500 GP] [Training Amplifier]
[900 GP] [Premonitory Senses of the Sovereign Synthesis]
After forming his Celestial Core, he had gained enough points to buy the Training Amplifier. It couldn’t have been more perfect.
Without hesitation, Priam bought the skill and lay down on the bed.
The moment he accepted activating it, his body looked like an appliance that had suddenly lost power. He completely blacked out, falling into an extremely deep sleep.
