Chapter 134 Promotion Begins

The tavern was noticeably more crowded with mages. Shaoke walked straight to his usual spot and found the white-haired Mage Roman sitting there alone, drinking in silence. After ordering a glass of water from the waitress, he sat opposite the female mage and watched her quietly.

"I thought you wouldn't come today," the female mage said calmly. "Can you tell me about your current situation?" As she spoke, Mage Roman swirled the goblet in her hand, her gaze wandering distractedly between Shaoke and the glass.

Shaoke smiled and recounted in detail everything that had happened after the female mage left, even mentioning his impending promotion. Finally, he asked, "Mage Roman, did you inform the military about my situation?" Seeing her nod in confirmation, he continued, "Can you tell me the reason? Why is the reward we received different from the other mages? I don't think it's solely based on how many enemies we killed on the battlefield."

Mage Roman set down her glass and rubbed her cold, small hands. "The military inquired about some matters, and I didn't hide anything—I told them everything. Well... After hearing your words right after the war ended, I decided to inform them." At this point, she gestured for Shaoke to come closer and lowered her voice. "Just as you said, it's not only because of the number of enemies you eliminated but also because you are accustomed to, even fond of, life on the battlefield. The military hopes that through substantial rewards, you will have a greater chance of joining some special mage units after being promoted to a Third Tier Mage."

"The teams of those mysterious Third Tier Mages from the last battle?" Shaoke asked uncertainly. He hadn't expected those mysterious mages to be recruited in this way. As for the purpose of recruiting them, that was something he couldn't comprehend at the moment, so he wisely refrained from further questioning.

"Hmm," the female mage replied softly, tilting her head slightly. However, she still withheld some information, not telling Shaoke everything. She didn't want him to be affected by any negative news right before his promotion. "Mage Xueye, there's no need for us to worry about these matters now. After all, the final choice is yours alone. The military has no right to forcibly alter your decision in such matters."

"Material rewards twice as much as those for ordinary mages—I think any mage would find it hard to refuse, wouldn't they?" Mage Roman looked at Shaoke with envy. Although she had also received some rewards, they were still less than what mages like Shaoke obtained. Even as a Third Tier Mage, nothing had changed in that regard.

After hearing Mage Roman's explanation, Shaoke nodded gently. Although the female mage had provided the military with a detailed and clear account of his situation, he didn't blame her. After all, the military mages could easily investigate all his performances on the battlefield and deduce some aspects of his character. Moreover, as the female mage had said, he had indeed received richer rewards than the other mages.

Shaoke then pulled back his cloak hood. Seeing this, Mage Roman chuckled softly. "Would you like to hear some insights about advancing to the Third Rank? I think it might be helpful to you." With that, she lightly kicked Shaoke's calf, shifting to a new topic.

Mage Roman smoothed her hair back, revealing her smooth forehead and slender neck as much as possible. Under Shaoke's dazed gaze, she leaned close to him and softly explained her own experiences and the challenges she had faced during her promotion. After all, written records couldn't capture everything in detail. She hoped her insights would be of some help to Shaoke.

After finishing, Mage Roman suggested leaving. She had just returned from the Blizzard Legion and had come straight to the tavern to wait for Shaoke. The exhaustion from months of travel surged over her as soon as she relaxed.

As she was leaving, Mage Roman smiled at Shaoke and said, "Mage Xueye, tomorrow evening, I'll be able to see you in the tavern wearing a new robe, right?" She gave him a light hug, and when Shaoke's arm wrapped around her slender waist, she blushed and said excitedly, "I will definitely see it, right?"

"Yes," Shaoke affirmed with a nod. He believed he could successfully advance, becoming a Third Tier Mage within these short four years. Not one for expressing himself well, he lowered his head and gently kissed the smooth forehead the female mage had tilted upward. Finally, with mixed emotions, he bid her farewell and slowly made his way back to his residence, calming his mind along the way.

Upon returning to the barracks, Shaoke informed Mage Roland, who was waiting in his room, that he would be advancing today and asked not to be disturbed during the process.

Hearing the news, Mage Roland looked at him with envy and offered his blessings, hoping for a smooth and successful promotion. After all, no one wanted their meditation space to suffer fundamental damage from repeated failures. After sincerely wishing Shaoke well, Mage Roland left. He knew his companion needed ample quiet space now, as there were still many preparations to be made and no room for outside disturbances.

After the effects of the potions for restoring mental and magical energy wore off, Shaoke completed his other preparations. Precious drugs to prevent physical weakening, an Empty Stone Bead to accelerate energy recovery, a Condensing Stone to somewhat speed up mana restoration... and many other auxiliary magic items that wouldn't affect the promotion array's effectiveness. Among these, only the Empty Stone Bead was something he had obtained himself; the rest were all retrieved from the rewards issued by the military.

After once again recalling the patterns of the promotion array, Shaoke took a deep breath and resolved to attempt the breakthrough to the Third Rank at that very moment.

Although he knew he might lose the mysterious Silver Light after the promotion, he still decided to disperse the Diamond Array. After all, failing to advance meant his mental and magical energy spaces would never expand again. Even if he could learn Third-Level Spells in the future, the excessive outflow of mental and magical energy during spellcasting would cause permanent damage to the stability of both spaces, with the risk of collapse. The cost of casting spells beyond one's rank had been thoroughly documented by mages over countless generations.

After returning to peak condition, Shaoke immersed himself in his mental space, silently observing the Silver Light still wandering restlessly over the Diamond Array. Finally, gritting his teeth, he focused his energy and carefully began dispersing the array's operation using a special method. Although he wasn't sure if this common method could disperse the mutated array, how could he know without trying?

Under Shaoke's control, the mental energy in the space gradually altered its fluctuations. A thread of mental energy condensed by Shaoke slowly descended onto the apex of the Diamond Array. Through his mental senses, Shaoke observed the thread passing through the outer layer of the array and wandering inside the Diamond Array. Seeing this, he immediately intensified his control over the mental thread, positioning it in the center of the array before passing it through to the opposite apex below.

Although the spell structure of 'Death Gaze' was also located at the exact center, the mental thread passed through it without any incident, which relieved Shaoke. After all, his array contained one more structure than normal. If something had gone wrong, he would have been forced to accept failure.

Under Shaoke's tense control, the mental thread finally emerged from the base of the Diamond Array. Shaoke knew that half the work of dispersing the array was done. He then adjusted the thread's fluctuations and began chanting the accompanying spell in Ancient Magic Tongue, truly starting to disperse the Diamond Array.

As the spell and gestures concluded, the thread passing through the Diamond Array began to tremble slowly, triggering intense fluctuations in the mental space. The Diamond Array gradually expanded, reverting to its original form when first drawn. Then, under Shaoke's watchful gaze, the array slowly dissipated within the mental space.

The disappearance of the Diamond Array didn't relieve any pressure. A cluster of silvery-white light hovered where the Diamond Array had been. As the light expanded and scattered, it eventually faded away completely.

Although Shaoke had anticipated this outcome, he still felt a profound sense of loss. Fortunately, he knew now was the time for promotion, and it wasn't the moment to dwell on such matters.

After searching for the 'Death Gaze' spell structure to no avail, Shaoke temporarily set the issue aside. He then used the same method to disperse the Diamond Array in his magical energy space, though this time the thread was condensed from magical energy.

After completing these tasks, he meditated several times to calm the spatial turbulence caused by the array's dissipation. Without the aid of the Silver Light, it took a full Magic Hour for the disturbances in both spaces to stabilize. After recovering from the various expenditures, Shaoke proceeded to the next step.

Just like when advancing to the Second Rank, he gathered all the mental energy in his mental space, forming a massive silvery light sphere. When he could no longer compress it, the sphere exploded under his control. The intense mental fluctuations impacted the mental space, causing it to expand rapidly. After a Magic Hour, the space had expanded threefold before gradually coming to a stop.

After carefully comprehending this series of changes, Shaoke felt his control over mental energy had significantly improved. Not daring to delay too long, he recovered some energy and performed the same process in his magical energy space. However, the expansion of the magical energy space wasn't as Shaoke had hoped. It expanded only slightly more than double before stopping, which greatly disappointed him. Although he had anticipated this outcome, he keenly noticed that the expansion ratio this time was slightly higher than the first. This discovery excited him somewhat—it seemed the Silver Light could fundamentally enhance a mage's basic aptitude, even if the improvement was minimal.

Calming his mind to dispel the loss and frustration brought by the disappearance of the Silver Light, he began meditating to recover his expended energy, preparing for the next step of the promotion.