Chapter 255 - 20: Freakish Magic Pool Capacity

Chapter 255: Chapter 20: Freakish Magic Pool Capacity

After the old Apprentice, Gray, resumed his lecture, Mo Ning took a moment to "check" on his Magic Pool.

From an incredibly bizarre spiritual perspective, a "stream" that was difficult to describe in words formed a closed loop in the center of the first Spirit Ring, flowing in a ceaseless cycle.

The "stream" was exceptionally calm, like a solidified ring of water. Only by observing closely could one see extremely subtle ripples occasionally welling up on its surface.

Mo Ning grew even more delighted.

The Magic Pools of most newly promoted apprentices were in a turbulent state. Their Magic Power currents constantly created friction with the body of the Spirit Ring, gathering and dispersing at random.

In Divination terminology, this was called "Magic Pool turbulence."

The most direct consequence of this turbulence was increased resistance to the flow of Magic Power. To put it bluntly, it lowered one’s Magic Power output, which in turn slowed down Casting speed.

If one’s Casting was even 0.01 seconds slower in battle, it could very well mean being unable to block an enemy’s surprise attack and ultimately losing one’s life.

And yet, in Mo Ning’s Magic Pool, there was almost no visible turbulence. This meant his Magic Power output would be significantly higher than that of other apprentices.

More importantly, all Witchcraft of Level Zero and above had requirements for the Magic Pool—which, ultimately, meant requirements for Magic Power output.

Mo Ning silently assessed, ’For a Level Zero Witchcraft that other apprentices need a 100-point Magic Pool to cast normally, I might only need 80 points, maybe even fewer.’

The Eye of Truth provided a key piece of data at the right moment: [Maximum Magic Pool Capacity: 61.3 points.]

This number was not only higher than Flower’s estimate, but also slightly higher than the system’s previous prediction.

The average Magic Pool Capacity for a newly promoted Apprentice was 19.5 points. His was more than three times the average.

The system then provided more data:

[Maximum Secondary Magic Pool Capacity: 15.3 points.]

[Maximum Affiliated Magic Pool (Affiliated Soul Magic Thunderbolt Spear): 10.4 points.]

[Total Magic Pool Capacity: 87 points.]

The corners of Mo Ning’s mouth tilted up slightly, uncontrollably.

Compared to before he formed the Spirit Ring, his Secondary Magic Pool had increased by 5.9 points, and his Affiliated Magic Pool had increased by 3.6 points.

Wizards had long since had an explanation for this phenomenon—forming the first Spirit Ring was equivalent to reinforcing the "foundation" of one’s Spiritual World, objectively increasing its strength.

The Secondary and Affiliated Magic Pools were affected and could therefore hold more Magic Power.

To be honest, even Mo Ning himself felt that for a newly promoted Apprentice to possess a total of 87 points of Magic Power was a bit insane.

An ordinary Apprentice’s Magic Pool would be about this size only when their Spiritual Strength reached 5 points.

The vast amount of knowledge he had painstakingly accumulated had, at this moment, transformed into a Magic Pool Capacity far beyond the normal standard.

’And isn’t this the very meaning of knowledge?’

When class ended, Gray smilingly presented him with a Spiritual Seed.

"Mo Ning, I’ll just call you Mo Ning. I heard you’ve mastered Thunder Magic. This is a seed of the ’Sword Thunder Wood.’ It contains a bit of Thunder Power. Perhaps you can gain some inspiration from this spiritual shrub."

This time, Mo Ning finally had a chance to thank him. "Mr. Gray, thank you!"

The old Apprentice smiled, his voice filled with anticipation. "I look forward to the day I can call you ’Lord Mo Ning.’"

Before his voice had even faded, he made a slight movement with his right hand, and pale flames engulfed his figure.

Yet, Mo Ning keenly glimpsed a trace of sorrow on the old Apprentice’s face.

The maximum lifespan of a Third Level Apprentice was about 230 years. Generally speaking, if one failed to advance to Wizard before the age of 150, the probability of advancing after that was less than one in a thousand.

At Gray’s age, his Divination Ability must have stagnated for a long time, and his Spiritual World had likely already begun to decline. His hope of advancing to Wizard was infinitely close to zero.

Mo Ning had once read a passage in a certain notebook:

"After an Apprentice has passed seventy percent of their lifespan, even if their Spiritual Strength is still rising and their speed of thought shows no signs of slowing, the spark of inspiration seems to have been permanently doused by a bucket of cold water. Mediocrity will cling to the Apprentice like a Resentful Spirit."

The author of the notebook also lamented, "It must be said, time is an Apprentice’s greatest enemy."

Mo Ning couldn’t truly comprehend the old Apprentice’s state of mind. He had been feeling emotional for less than a second before being surrounded by a crowd of well-wishers surging forward like a tide.

After his advancement to Apprentice, he would have to move from the Newcomer Dormitory Area to the Apprentice Dormitory Area. He might never see some of the faces in the Lecture Hall again.

But he wasn’t arrogant, nor did he put on the airs of a Legion Commander. He simply smiled, politely and courteously thanking every well-wisher.

Just a few seconds later, a cool sensation spread from his Guiding Ring as a notification arrived.

[Advancement Notification: Serial Number 7-118-256, Mo Ning.]

[Congratulations on your successful advancement to First Level Apprentice after four months and twelve days, setting the best record among the current batch of newcomers. We wish you ever greater success on the path of a Wizard.]

[Please follow the instructions below to complete the subsequent advancement procedures as soon as possible.]

[First, please return to your residence to receive your Apprentice’s Magic Ring and hand over your Guiding Ring.]

[Second, please pack up all your personal belongings in your residence. They can be placed in a secure locker or carried with you. Proceed to Apprentice Residence 1-68 in Apprentice Dormitory Area 43 to complete the check-in and registration process.]

Mo Ning had already heard about the Apprentice Dormitory Areas.

The total number of Apprentices in the academy was as high as 58,000, of which 42,000 were First Level Apprentices. They were distributed across 30 dormitory areas, from Area 31 to Area 60, with each area housing an average of about 3,000 people.

A scale of this magnitude was equivalent to a town in a Human Kingdom, so the Apprentice Dormitory Areas were also known as "Apprentice Towns."