The Last Witchblood

Chapter 3: Core Talent

Selene's platinum hair draped over her shoulders, she looked at Ivan with some confusion.

Although she had good talent, she had only just arrived here, so her knowledge of the Magical World was still quite limited.

"Yes, for us wizards, spiritual power or rather, as we like to call it, mental power is the most important thing; it is the very foundation of everything.

Without it, we cannot learn spells, cannot draw runes, and cannot use extraordinary items or sense magic fluctuations.

And meditation is the key to improving spiritual power." His heterochromic eyes studied the young girl's expression for a second before adding, "A good meditation method help us condense and enhance spiritual power more quickly, every other course is there to push us further."

As Kai spoke, he used a special quill to transcribe all the knowledge about 【Gander's Star Cluster Meditation】 that he had just obtained, under Selene's gaze.

Soon, a parchment filled with neat 'celfan' writing appeared before them.

She reached out, took the parchment, and looked down.

As time passed, her brows furrowed more and more.

Kai ob the other hand, felt tense, he was not afraid that she would need time to understand it, he was worried she might not understand anything at all...

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, he couldn't help but ask, "Encountered any problems?"

Selene sighed and carefully looked at her half-brother, and said softly, "It's a bit harder to understand than the previous one..."

Upon hearing this, his left eyebrow twitched incredulously as he awkwardly rubbed his fingers across the specially carved stone floors of the meditation room.

'Just a little harder to understand?'

A sense of powerlessness washed over him.

'Is this the value of great mental aptitude?'

But it was not entirely surprising.

After all, meditation methods are closely related to mental power, and it's not uncommon for Wizard Apprentices with higher aptitudes to quickly master more advanced meditation methods.

Kai took a deep breath as he nodded slowly, feigning composure:

"It's alright, you haven't systematically exposed to various courses yet. Being able to understand this meditation method is already quite good."

Hearing his "praise," Selene let out a sigh of relief as a brilliant smile appeared on her face: "It's all because your tutorial, is very detailed, if only you were a Bronze Ranked already, I would have loved you to be my mentor."

"Don't sell yourself short. There's so much I don't know. Besides, I plan for you to become a core apprentice for a Gold-ranked wizard within the next month. This option would open doors to more resources if we play our cards right. So there's much for you to learn, so prepare yourself." Kai interjected immediately, How would he be able to expand his influence quickly without having a core apprentice 'sister' who had the attention of a gold-ranked mentor?...

As she heard his words, she gently stroked the parchment covered with text, with a hint of fascination in her beautiful large eyes, "No wonder everyone wants to get involved with the magical world; this wonderful knowledge is indeed captivating..."

For a minute she became suspicious of this brother of hers, from everything she had seen so far, it didn't seem like he was as useless as people claimed.

She watched him transcribe such a complex meditation method effortlessly, which meant her brother must have already been intimately familiar with this advanced meditation method; otherwise, he would not have been able to do this at all.

But even so, he was still mercilessly tagged as 'mediocre' by the Black Stone Tower... 'Is it because of his level of strength? Or was he pretending all along?' she wondered in confusion.

Both possibilities showed how fierce and dangerous the competition here was...

Kai naturally would not know her thoughts...

At this moment, his heart was completely filled with joy.

Although the learning difficulty of 【Gander's Star Cluster Meditation】 was much higher than that of 【Gander's Star Sea Meditation】, even Selene would definitely need some time to master it.

But this at least gave him immense hope—as long as she could successfully master it, he himself would immediately obtain a more advanced meditation method!

And the cost he paid was almost zero.

Thinking of this, his gaze towards Selene already carried a different meaning.

He knew very well that his fate would probably be closely tied to this half-sister of his for a period of time.

"Alright continue, I'll go get something for you to eat. You can rest here for a bit first." Kai uttered as he got up and walked towards the door of the meditation room.

He knew that the learning difficulty of the meditation method was not small, so he absolutely could not rush it... He can only focus on raising her loyalty through little things, after all, Selene was a little girl compared to him who has lived two lifetimes.

As soon as the door closed, only Selene was left in the entire meditation room.

She looked in the direction Kai had left, and for some reason, a warmth suddenly rose in her heart.

"Nothing has changed."

"He is still the same as before...", She smiled contentedly.

She looked up at the mechanical clock on the wall, and instead of choosing to rest, she picked up the parchment and began to study it carefully.

Her idea was simple:

Since her Brother was so selfless in sharing everything, she absolutely could not disappoint him!

_________

It took a while to teach her some zero-level spells, these were spells wizards could cast without needing to get to the bronze rank, where a wand and grimoire would be needed. In fact, first-level spells were the same with a high enough mastery...

Once she fully understood the spell models he taught her, he would get a higher mastery or version of those spells, so he wasn't too worried.

After making further arrangements for her, he quickly headed for his dorm, after being stimulated by Selene's talent, He was eager to awaken a core talent more than ever, something that would be for him.

He retreated to his dorm room on the 3rd floor of the Black Stone Tower. Home to the lowest of apprentices, be it in strength or influence...

He glanced around at the haggard appearance of the apprentices lounging around on this floor and couldn't help but be somewhat annoyed at his situation.

'It doesn't matter now, all that would change starting from today.' If he succumbed to the misery now, chose a simple ignore, and give up the 'unexpectedly' acquired system within him... Then he would be the biggest fool on the planet... Even if the system wants him to go to the pits of hell or turn into a demon for power, he would gladly do it! Anything was better than being the miserable existence he was in his old life.

Just as he entered his room, He thought about how he would likely be demoted in his instructor's eyes further from an "ignorable existence" to a "pure consumable."

He dared not dwell on the consequences of losing value.

He compelled himself to calm down, suppressing his longing for power and his fear of the suffering.

The cold voice that had once echoed in his mind at the academy market was his only reliance.

"I'm selecting Witchcraft as my core path!" Kai silently chanted in his mind, with a desperate resolve. He had thought about it, the system was clearly aiming for him to become a legendary witch king, even though he didn't understand why the title of Witch King was somehow different from the Wizard King rank that was popular in this world... He was sure he couldn't go wrong by choosing witchcraft.

[Command confirmed.]

[Core Talent 'Witch Heart'(Mythic) is being Integrated.]

The system's emotionless mechanical voice sounded deep within his consciousness and a sense of deja vu came over him. It was like everything was meant to be this way and he finally understood that the 'Witch' referred to a kind of extinct or non-existent magical race.

But before he could dwell on the thought, a strange Icy current burst forth from deep within his heart! Like it was being peeled and cooled at the same time... His body jerked backwards as he slipped off the edge of his bed and began convulsing.

The feeling was simply unimaginable; it was like some kind of power being activated but he was unable to control it, he was unable to come up with a single thought as he thrashed around like a worm doused in salt.

Several little Void fissures manifested around him as mysterious chains latched out from within and held him in place.

Foam spewed out of his mouth, the space above his heart tore open, exposing his red beating heart, his eyes rolled back but soon gained clarity...

There was no gushing blood, only a layer of faint purple energy membrane separating the flesh and blood. A strange glass-like hand was firmly grasping his own human heart, it was still stubbornly beating.

But another soon appeared, and slowly, another glass-like hand that appears to have been forged by a portion of reality itself, brought forward a purple heart covered with layers of ice, it's very surface was flowing with energy patterns!

The moment the heart appeared within the room, the air in the entire room seemed to grow heavier.

It was guided, as if returning home, slowly moving towards Kai's open chest cavity.

When the edge of the heart touched his flesh, a visible energy ripple suddenly spread out, making the surrounding items scatter as though it was thrown by the wind, a tinge of ice slowly covered everything!

Like a re-enactment of creation itself, the moment the heart entered Kai's chest, his previously still chest slowly began to rise and fall.

But soon, a kind of rejection—came immediately!

His body was rejecting this heart.

Images of humans wielding devastating magic that makes you question if they were humans flashed through his mind, they fought strange grotesque creatures that came from the void itself, and as the battle got to a fever pitch point, they transformed into something else... But what Malachi had to endure was far stronger than before, his mind became mush once more, he couldn't understand the images or form any thoughts...

His eyes were fixed on the crystal lamp at the top of his dorm as a kind of mental pollution and energy conflict rampage within his body, his finger coiled in agony, completely oblivious to the blood trickling out of his offrices...

"Ugh ah—!" A suppressed, yet animalistic growl erupted from his mouth!

His face long contorted! Veins bulged like coiling dragons on his forehead and neck!

The rejection soared!

Runic chains surged out of more fissures as they jumped around his body and flashing frantically!

His body was torn and reshaped by an invisible giant force!

Soon these chains wrapped around the heart, forcibly suppressing it as his body slowly assimilated it.

This newly solidified, resilient heart, originating from a Mythical Being, began its transformation, its pulsations becoming increasingly steady and powerful, each pump carrying abundant vitality.

What surprised the recovered Kai even more was that the elements that had originally raged wildly within him, like out-of-control wild horses, seemed to be appeased by some invisible hand!

They no longer crashed around but became docile and controllable, like trickling streams, instinctively drawn and absorbed by the transforming heart and body, truly beginning to integrate into his flesh and bones.

The pain was diminishing!

Though slow, it was clearly discernible.

In its place was a bone-deep itching sensation—broken bones knitting together, torn muscles regenerating, shattered internal organs repairing.

This immediate effect almost made Kai moan with pleasure!

"A Mythical heart... perfectly fused...even if it was suppressed to the Bronze level" he muttered as he felt the surging power within him and the tamed energies, and an unprecedented confidence welled up within him.

"Among apprentices, who can stop me?!"

This near-fatal blow had almost destroyed his will, but now, the hope brought by power was like a torch in the darkness, rekindling his fighting spirit!

Time!

He needed time!

As long as he was given enough time to grow, he swore he would never again, like this time, just close his eyes and wait for the butcher's knife of fate to fall!

He would firmly grasp fate in his own hands!

Driven by the powerful new heart and nourished by the pure elements, Kai's spiritual power, like a spring infused with living water, began to grow and condense at an unprecedented speed.

The invisible barrier leading to Third-level Apprentice status easily broke through and surged towards the Bronze rank with unprecedented speed.

Before long, the accumulated spiritual power finally reached its critical point!

Hum—

He felt as if a pebble had been dropped deep into his brain, sending out a ripple of coolness.

Immediately, an indescribable feeling of "lightness" swept over his entire body.

It was as if his soul had broken free from invisible shackles, and his thoughts became clearer and more transparent than ever before.

At the same time, all the cells in his body vibrated violently, emitting silent cheers, celebrating the leap in his life level!

Bronze-ranked official wizard, achieved!

His spiritual power had completely liquefied, and its state did not slow down afterward, continuing to slowly strengthen.

After Kai's spiritual power growth completely stopped, he had already reached the second stage of the Bronze rank.

And the changes in the magic power within his body were even more astonishing!

If the growth of spiritual power was like streams converging into a lake, then the surge of magic power was like a river bursting its banks!

The sheer density of magic power surging within him now far exceeded the capacity of his spiritual power.

He even had a strong intuition: even if he exhausted his spiritual power, the immense magic power within him would be enough to sustain him for several more rounds of battle!

The strength of his body also made him feel delighted.

He tried to clench his fist, his knuckles crackling softly, and a surge of immense power coursed through his veins.

He had no doubt that with the physical strength of this reborn body alone, he could easily crush several versions of himself from before his breakthrough!

"I just don't know what the Witch race actually was. What were they even fighting?" Thinking of this, He shook his head. Since it caused no side effects to him and was all beneficial, what did it matter what it was?

He believes that everything would be understood eventually.

Feeling his body, which was far stronger than before, he suddenly felt like the air in the Tower smelled much better. He looked at the location of his heart and sighed in relief...

"I need to procure materials for a grimoire and a wand, now that I am an official wizard. I need to report to the academy as well..." He sighed in relief, unbothered by the stress he would be facing soon, if anything, it was a good thing for him.

...

Time always passed quickly. Especially when you least expect it.

It had been a full week since Kai began teaching Selene, and unsurprisingly, she was able to quickly break through to be a first-level apprentice with the successful practice of the meditation methods.

News of Kai's advance though, had already spread, earning him some reputation along with suspicion as one of the youngest bronze-ranked wizards within the Black Stone Tower...

But it didn't matter to him right now.

In this week, Selene not only successfully learned 【Gander's Star Cluster Meditation】, but also initially mastered the basic knowledge of Spell models, Alchemy Construct Studies, and runology.

And this progress also gave Kai a way to catch up with his peers in those aspects...

"Hoo—"

In a dimly lit meditation room, Kai let out a long breath, and slowly awoke from his meditative state.

He lowered his gaze to the scale indicated by the pointer on the spiritual power detector in front of him, and an uncontrollable joy rose in his heart:

2160.08...

This was his current spiritual power value, 80% more than an average Second-Level Bronze Wizard.

In just a few days, his life had made a complete turnaround. He had just finished stabilizing his mental power as it had been a hassle after the breakthrough...

Such a speed would have been unimaginable if not for the newly acquired meditation method, 【 Galactic Zone Meditation】and the height his aptitude had reached.

As a more advanced meditation method born from 【Gander's Star Cluster Meditation】, its value and effect were beyond doubt, far surpassing the creation of Gander himself.

According to his understanding, such meditation methods of such quality were usually only accessible to the core disciples of official Gold ranked wizards... and their learning tutorials were priceless.

If he wanted to, he could completely sell it in the Academy Market and make a huge profit to solve the financial crisis caused by his reduced family funding.

But he ultimately did not do so.

After all, he couldn't explain its origin.

Selling it rashly would probably bring endless trouble instead... He already had a few people eyeing him for the 'mysterious' means he used to increase his level sharply.

But it wasn't much of an issue yet, the more knowledge he thought Selene, the more she understood, the more powerful he became.

'Should I focus on spell models and witchcraft for now? It's just, her talent in witchcraft wasn't as good as her talent for Spells and Alchemic constructs...' Without dwelling on the issue for long, he decided to focus on her talents in order to get twice the result for half the effort. Besides, thanks to his fusion with the 'witch heart', his talent had improved to at least 8 stars but he dared not go for a retesting...

But it was easier to understand and teach now, compared to before...He assimilated knowledge like a sponge and had an eidetic memory.

It would be better to cultivate his own followers now, as an official wizard, he was entitled to take a few apprentices as 'assistants' for whatever 'research' he intended to partake in.

After some thought, he decides to go to Ariya and borrow some money or take the commission for making her Alchemic constructs for her.

'Mana stones...mana stones' he muttered to himself as he got up to leave, he was almost plagued with poverty now due to his splurging in order to train Selene, he couldn't even cover expenses for his wand and Grimoire, a shame of a bronze wizard.

...

...

"Do you see? Dark elf corpse obtained through legitimate channels! 95% preservation, excellent material for species research!"

"Come to me, demonized materials on sale, 3 ghost grasses for only 10 mana stones!"

"Does anyone want the latest delayed runes? Excellent effect, wide application, buy it and get two magic power recovery potions for free!"

"..."

Walking in the crowded Academy Market, Kai's ears were filled with various hawking sounds.

However, he ignored these Apprentices and walked straight towards his target.

"Kai?"

In front of the one-storey shop Ariya, with her wheat-colored skin, stood up and looked over with a hint of surprise.

"You're still alive?"

Because he had not appeared for a while, she had once thought that he had already been caught by some crazy fellow at the Black Stone Tower or something worse.

"What? You really want me to die?" He walked to the stall and casually picked up a crystal-clear potion, saying.

"That's not it..." A bright smile appeared on her face, you could hear the relief in her voice, she extended her small hand, covered with bracelets, pointing at the potion bottle in his hand, and teased:

"But if you are not planning on dying soon, I could sell you this 【Rejuvenation Potion】 cheaply. I'm sure it will come in handy in staying alive."

Rejuvenation Potion?

Listening to Ariya's words, Kai's hand paused, and then he somewhat awkwardly put down the potion bottle and cleared his throat:

"Actually, I came here this time to discuss something with you."

"Discuss something?"

Ariya asked doubtfully, "What is it?"

He did not answer immediately. Instead, he took out a small object wrapped in cloth from his waist pouch and placed it on the table.

"Didn't you say you were making a combat puppet before? So I thought you might just need this."

He opened the cloth, and soon a mechanical eye with a metallic luster appeared before her.

"This is... a mechanical eye?"

Ariya's eyes widened, and she grabbed it in her hand.

"Where did you get it?"

At this moment, she suddenly remembered that Kai had previously bought introductory textbooks on Alchemy Construct Studies and runology from her to tutor Selene.

These two subjects were precisely the prerequisites for making mechanical constructs.

"Could it be that..."

'No, no, the difficulty of making a mechanical eye is not low. How long has Selene been in the school? Even if she's a genius, she couldn't have made it...'

After a moment, she seemed to think of something, as she looked up at Kai with a strange expression...

"You made this yourself?"