Chapter 334: Top Eight

Despite not taking that long, his experimentation paid off more than he thought it would.

[Phoenix Renewal lvl 12 -> lvl 13]

[Spatial Crack lvl 6 -> lvl 7]

Unfortunately, his healing skill saw a plateau in how much it could gain using the same method. Still, two whole levels in the skill in just an hour was quite the accomplishment. [Phoenix Renewal] was notoriously difficult to level up in the first place. He went weeks and sometimes even months without leveling it up.

He had been hoping to gain more than one in [Spatial Crack], but admittedly, he hadn’t been using it very creatively. It was actually kind of impressive that he gained one level in the first place.

It was a very fruitful morning. He had even learned a very interesting thing after all of his experimentation. It was that each Concept had distinct differences in effectiveness when he used them to protect his finger inside the spatial crack.

His Concept of Will was the first one he had used, but it wasn’t the most effective. That achievement had to go to his Phoenix Concept: Ashen Rebirth.

He tried using his Sharpness Concept and Force Concept next, but they weren’t as helpful as the others. His Force Concept was still better than his Sharpness Concept, though. He didn’t know if it was because the Concept itself had better synergy with the task or if it was because his Sharpness Concept was lacking.

He leaned toward believing in the latter, but that kind of made him sad and reminded him that he really needed to upgrade his Sharpness Concept at some point. On the bright side, he felt like he was getting close.

Just the other night, when he had been meditating, his Sharpness Concept experienced an unusual sensation.

Anyway, back to his experimentations, he had then used his Phoenix Concept and Will Concept alongside each other, something that was still somewhat difficult but now doable. That had made an even larger difference. His finger had managed to withstand the spatial ripples with much more ease than before. The finger had even come out with only a few missing pieces of it afterward. Quite the feat.

He tried to use his Emblem in place of the Concepts since it was a creation made up of his Concepts, but he wasn’t able to make it work. Even though the Emblem had properties of all of his Concepts, it wasn’t like he could imbue it throughout his body like he could with the original Concepts.

Perhaps, this was what made having an Authority a big distinction between Tier 3 and Tier 4. At the moment, his Emblem only really helped his willpower and protected him from other people’s Concept and Emblem’s influence.

Still, that was quite important, and he should be grateful for that.

He stretched out widely and let his bones crack in relief. The sun shimmered over the rippling waves in a beautiful golden glow. The rays hit the towers of the school and the city in such a magical way that he just sat there and took it all in.

He took out Drasil and some food from his storage ring before creating a beach chair made of mana to lie on. When Drasil popped out of his soulspace, he snuggled on top of Julius’s chest with a tired yawn, but quickly scrunched up his cute little forehead.

Julius tilted his head to ask his friend what was wrong, but when he followed Drasil’s accusatory gaze, he winced. He had forgotten that he hadn’t healed the rest of his fingers and that he was still missing a couple of fingers.

“It’s an honest mistake,” he tried to explain to his familiar, who looked supremely disappointed in Julius.

Drasil chimed softly and shook his head. The small blooming vines on his crown shook and stared at Julius with doubt.

“It’s true!” Julius tried to convince his familiar, but it didn’t seem to do any good. Drasil was already drawing his own conclusions and trotted over to Julius’s arm, sending some life mana to his fingers. Drasil’s mana seemed to be a catalyst for [Phoenix Renewal], and the skill swiftly regenerated his fingers in a matter of seconds.

When he was done, he stared at Julius in a way that looked like a parent who had given up on their child. This was funny because the spirit was still only the size of Julius’s palm. But somehow it only made Drasil’s disapproval hurt all the more.

Knowing that he had to take some desperate measures, he created an extra compressed orb of mana in his now fully healed hand. This immediately had Drasil perking up, and he quickly scrambled his way over to his palm.

All thoughts of disapproval were gone, and his only thoughts were on the delicious-looking morsel in front of him.

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Julius quickly handed over the treat to Drasil, who chirped a couple of sounds, letting Julius know he was forgiven. He chuckled and lay down on the chair, with Drasil huddling close to his warmer body.

Then for the next for minutes he and Drasil blissfully enjoyed the early morning, with him munching on some pastries and Drasil happily sucking on an orb of life mana.

***

The top eight. When he first came to Goldencrest, he had never imagined he would be participating in the Tier 3 Tournament. He merely wanted to learn some magic and get stronger quietly.

However, staying quiet was no longer an option. As a first-year who had beaten one of the frontrunners of the tournament, he had proved himself to everyone who had been watching the tournament.

Previously, people tried to make excuses about his results. Many liked to talk about luck, but now his place couldn’t be questioned so easily. After beating Liam, his slow climb in notoriety was now fully on display.

He wasn’t just known for being the person who disappeared with the princess and who was friends with her anymore. He was a person some believed could win the entire thing, which was amusing to him because in his mind, that had never been in doubt.