Five days later.

  The deduction for the Silver Star's metal combination formula was complete.

  In the living room of the apartment, Pierce focused his attention on the formula information in his mind, and couldn't help but grimace as if he had a toothache.

  "Starfall Iron 1.2 kg, Sinking Sand Gold 0.5 kg, Silver Dragon Tungsten 1.4 kg, Igneous Copper 1.8 kg..."

  The metal combination formula provided by the Omniscient Eye included a total of thirty-six types of rare metals.

  Every single one was worth a fortune. The Silver Dragon Tungsten, priced at 15 Magic Stones per kilogram, was only considered mid-tier among them.

  The most expensive, Earth Core Glorious Gold, cost a staggering 55 Magic Stones per kilogram.

  After the final calculation, the total price for one standard unit of this metal combination was over seven hundred Magic Stones.

  It had to be said, this was worthy of being a "perfect" metal combination formula; even an Official Wizard would frown at this price.

  "Omniscience, if I want to enhance the Silver Star into a Tier 2 Artifact, how many standard units of the metal combination need to be absorbed?"

  [12 standard units]

  Pierce quickly made an estimate, and the resulting number made his scalp tingle.

  Nearly nine thousand Magic Stones!

  "I couldn't afford that much even if I sold everything I own."

  Pierce sighed.

  Of course, if he could obtain a Tier 2 Artifact, nine thousand Magic Stones wouldn't be considered expensive.

  After all, what Tier 2 Artifact didn't cost over ten thousand Magic Stones?

  Moreover, if the Silver Star evolved into a Tier 2 Artifact, it would inevitably be top-tier among its rank.

  However, having said that, for the current Pierce, nine thousand Magic Stones was undoubtedly an incredibly massive sum.

  His current liquid assets, all added up, were less than one hundred and fifty Magic Stones.

  "If I sell all the other bits and pieces, I should be able to scrape together two hundred Magic Stones."

  "The 200 Merit Points I have left can also be exchanged for some of the rare metals."

  "I happen to have over seven kilograms of Silver Dragon Tungsten, so I don't need to buy that for now."

  After calculating, Pierce found there was still a deficit of over two hundred Magic Stones.

  "It seems I can only refine some potions to sell for money."

  Pierce shook his head and temporarily set the matter of "enhancing to Tier 2" aside.

  At this stage, he shouldn't expect to enhance the Silver Star to Tier 2. Even if he refined potions until he vomited blood, it would be hard to gather nine thousand Magic Stones in the short term.

  Besides, even if he enhanced the Silver Star to Tier 2, he couldn't use it with his current mental power.

  For now, the Tier 1 Silver Star was sufficient.

  It wouldn't be too late to consider enhancing it to Tier 2 after advancing to Wizard.

  Right now, he only needed to absorb a few standard units to reduce the Silver Star's mental power consumption.

  Gathering his thoughts, Pierce glanced at the task bar. After thinking for a moment, he continued with the task of improving the Ray of Enfeeblement.

  The 1st Circle Spells he hadn't improved yet included Ray of Enfeeblement, Fear, Silent Image, and Jump.

  He planned to start learning new spells once these four were improved.

  "Next, I just have to wait for the analysis of the Lightning Rune and Blink Tattoo to finish."

  ...

  Time flew by.

  The last day of February.

  The Spire Academy, inside the Spell Laboratory.

  Pierce stood in the center of the hall, holding a longsword horizontally with one hand, while his other hand moved rapidly in the void.

  Instantly, countless energy particles were drawn into lines, weaving and intertwining to quickly outline a profound and complex azure rune.

  Pierce reached out, grabbed the rune, and wiped it along the blade of the sword.

  Immediately, with a crackling sound, the blade shone brightly. Countless slender blue electric arcs appeared out of thin air, flickering incessantly on the surface of the blade, emitting a heart-palpitating sizzling noise.

  "It worked!"

  A smile appeared on Pierce's face as he swung the sword fiercely at the crystal target nearby.

  Crack!

  A crisp sound was accompanied by the crackle of electric arcs.

  Category: Physical, Battle Qi, Lightning Power: 28.3 Degrees

  "Not bad."

  Pierce nodded with satisfaction.

  At this power level, it was estimated that two or three strikes would be enough to break a standard layer of Mage Armor.

  The key was that the mental power consumption was only equivalent to an improved Magic Missile, and the duration was as long as five minutes.

  Low consumption, high power, long duration—there was no need to say how high its practicality was.

  "And this is just the effect of a single Lightning Rune. If they can be stacked, the power could be even stronger."

  The materials Gwen gave him mentioned that Enchanters had once attempted to improve Elemental Runes through stacking, and they had succeeded.

  Unfortunately, the materials only mentioned this in passing without specific knowledge.

  However, Pierce didn't care. As long as there was a specific direction and basic knowledge, he could calculate it using the Omniscient Eye.

  "I won't rush to research stacking Elemental Runes. Let's analyze the other Elemental Runes first."

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  "Omniscience, analyze Gale Rune and Earth Rune."

  [Task created. Starting analysis of Gale Rune. Estimated time: 68 days] [Task created. Starting analysis of Earth Rune. Estimated time: 68 days]

  "So short?"

  Pierce was a bit surprised.

  Even if the analysis speed increased due to the rise in his Spirit attribute, this reduction was a bit too much.

  The analysis time had been reduced by nearly half.

  Pierce immediately checked the feedback information from the Omniscient Eye, and only then did he understand.

  Simply put, the knowledge of Elemental Runes included two types: "Basic Discipline" and "Advanced Discipline."

  The former was mainly the general principles and master outline of Elemental Runes.

  The latter was the subdivided knowledge of various specific Elemental Runes.

  The previous analysis of the Lightning Rune included the Basic Discipline knowledge and the advanced knowledge of the Lightning Rune, which was why it took so long.

  Now, analyzing new Elemental Runes only required analyzing the Advanced Discipline, so the time required was naturally greatly reduced.

  "In that case, is it the same for Magical Tattoos?"

  Pierce immediately tried issuing a command to analyze the Thunder Blast Tattoo.

  Sure enough, the analysis only required 166 days, less than half of before.

  Pierce understood and casually canceled the analysis task for the Thunder Blast Tattoo.

  For now, he should focus on analyzing Elemental Runes.

  Sheathing his weapon, Pierce turned and left the Spell Laboratory.

  ...

  Over these days, he had successively refined three batches of Dragon Blood Potions and Boiling Blood Potions, selling them in the black market, and finally scraped together enough to cover the Magic Stone deficit.

  Then he went to the Logistics Department to exchange all the Magic Stones and remaining Merit Points for rare metals, finally gathering enough for one standard unit of the metal combination.

  After the Silver Star absorbed and fused with it, its capabilities in all aspects had improved significantly.

  Mental power consumption had also decreased by about ten percent, which Pierce found satisfactory.

  However, the price paid for this was that his net worth was nearly emptied.

  Although he had finally completed the analysis of the Blink Tattoo, he could no longer afford the materials needed to tattoo it.

  After all, the materials required for tattooing the Blink Tattoo were mostly expensive magic gems.

  Pierce had calculated that all the materials added up would cost at least 120 Magic Stones.

  He suddenly thought of Gwen.

  Although the girl usually looked stingy and only was willing to bet 20 Magic Stones with him, she was actually the real rich woman.

  If someone who frequently squandered gems as spellcasting materials didn't count as rich, then who was?

  "The day after tomorrow is the day of the trial. It's too late to sell potions to earn enough money to buy gems."

  Pierce felt a slight regret.

  Fortunately, even without the Blink Tattoo, it wouldn't have a huge impact. He was still confident in passing the trial.

  After all, compared to the time of the sweeping operation, his strength had seen a leap in improvement.

  If he were to face Harlan or Riker again now, Pierce was confident he could instantly kill either of them in a single encounter.

  Even if he faced three or four Legendary Knights besieging him together, he wouldn't be afraid at all.

  Walking out of the experiment zone, Pierce went straight to the Logistics Department.

  He had finished improving the remaining four spells these days, and it was time to learn new 1st Circle Spells.

  He had already selected the specific spells; he just needed to buy the corresponding spell books.

  The one on duty at the Logistics Department today was still that familiar skinny apprentice.

  Seeing Pierce arrive, he immediately stood up with a face full of smiles and said obsequiously, "My Lord, what would you like to purchase?"

  His attitude was much more enthusiastic than previous times, and he even used an honorific.

  Seeing this, the apprentices nearby didn't find it strange at all; instead, they had expressions that said this was normal.

  After all, this was the person who had killed Legendary Knights.

  The entire academy recognized him as a genius who would inevitably advance to Wizard before graduation.

  Although his status was a student just like them, in reality, both his standing and future were far beyond what they could compare with.

  If they weren't afraid that rashly going up to get close would annoy Pierce, they would have wanted to come forward and say a few words to make a familiar impression.

  "I want to buy some Spell Models."

  Pierce handed over the list.

  The skinny apprentice took it with both hands and looked closely.

  Good heavens!

  This is called "some"?

  Freezing Ray, Obscuring Mist, Summon Monster I, Comprehend Languages, Burning Hands, Shocking Grasp, Feather Fall, Hypnotism, and Charm Person.

  A full ten 1st Circle Spells!

  It was his first time seeing an apprentice buy so many spell models at once.

  Can he even learn all this?

  Normal Wizard Apprentices bought spell models one at a time, or at most two or three.

  Buying ten at once... this was called stocking up! Wholesale!

  The skinny apprentice was puzzled but didn't dare say much. He smiled and said, "Please sit for a moment."

  Then he went into the back room to get the books.

  A few apprentices standing nearby also saw the contents of the list and clicked their tongues in amazement.

  "Tsk tsk, ten spell models. How long will it take to learn them?"

  "Don't compare him to yourself. He's a genius; his speed of learning spells is much faster than yours!"

  "No matter how fast, can he learn one a day?"

  "You're just purely jealous. What, do you have the guts to say that to his face?"

  "..."

  "I think Pierce is preparing for participating in the competition."

  "Makes sense. I knew he would definitely participate."

  Listening to the discussions around him, Pierce kept a calm expression.

  These ten spells were the result of his careful selection.

  If he really let loose to learn, he could completely master all the 1st Circle Spells sold by the Logistics Department in a short time.

  After all, with his current mental power, if he fully accelerated, he could master ten 1st Circle Spells in just a short while.

  It was just that ordinary 1st Circle Spells didn't mean much for improving his strength. Most of them required improvement, and that process was the most time-consuming, which was why he selected carefully.

  Of course, if he had leeway, Pierce would definitely master as many spells as possible.

  For example, spells like Alarm, Unseen Servant, Detect Secret Doors, Disguise Self, Enlarge Person, Reduce Person, etc. Although they didn't have much effect on improving combat power, they might be useful at some special times.

  Not long after, the skinny apprentice walked out of the room and placed a box filled with densely packed books in front of Pierce—the books related to a single spell model were far more than just one volume.

  "The books are all here. Please check them."

  Pierce swept his gaze over them, confirmed there were no mistakes, and waved his hand. The box instantly disappeared.

  After paying, he didn't stay long and turned to leave the Logistics Department.

  That night, Pierce analyzed all the new spells in one breath.

  With this, another ten new 1st Circle Spells were added to his reserve.

  ...

  Astral Calendar Year 14523, March 1st.

  Today was the opening day of the Realm of Truth.

  Pierce arrived early at the General Affairs Department of the experiment zone.

  Coincidentally, the person on duty on the first floor was Vance.

  Pierce secretly found it strange. Even if third-year students took tasks, they generally took high-paying external crusade tasks.

  Tasks with a "desk duty" nature like this were generally taken by first or second-year students.

  Why did he see Vance every time he came?

  "Junior Brother Pierce, you're here very early."

  Vance greeted him with a chuckle.

  He knew Pierce had exchanged for a quota in the Realm of Truth, so he had long guessed that Pierce would come today. He wasn't surprised to see him and led him familiarly towards the underground hall.

  "I heard from Lady Yuna that you plan to participate in tomorrow's trial to compete for the competition quota?"

  In the corridor, Vance chatted casually with Pierce.

  With Yuna's promotion to Wizard, his address for her naturally added the word "Lady."

  This was the necessary respect from an apprentice to an Official Wizard.

  "Yes," Pierce admitted frankly. "I heard the rewards are substantial, so I thought I'd give it a try."

  "That's true."

  Vance nodded in deep agreement.

  If he didn't know his own strength was insufficient, he would definitely have competed for a quota too.

  "I heard the number of Wizard Apprentices signing up for the trial has exceeded one hundred. Every one of them is a famous elite in the apprentice circle, and quite a few have already reached the standard for condensing a Spirit Crystal."

  Pierce's expression moved, and he smiled. "Senior Brother seems to understand the situation of the participants very well. Can you tell me about them?"

  "I also heard it from others." Vance waved his hand. "But telling you about it is no problem."

  Vance coughed lightly, seemingly weighing his words, and after a while, he spoke slowly:

  "Let's take Legendary Knights as an example. Among the participants in this trial, there are three people I know of who have the strength to contend with two Legendary Knights simultaneously."

  "The first is a student from Shadow Academy, a third-year named Monville. It is said that he practices a top-tier Advanced Meditation Technique and is only one step away from advancing to Wizard. His status in Shadow Academy is about the same as Lord Yuna's was back then."

  Monville?

  Pierce's eyes flickered slightly.

  He remembered that among the five major Wizard families in Aurora City, there was one with the surname Monville.

  Could this Monville be from that family?

  If that was really the case, then he was indeed worth taking seriously.

  These descendants of major families had deep foundations and numerous methods. No one knew how many trump cards and backup plans they were hiding.

  "The second is named Sanford, from the City Guard. He is said to be the number one person under the Wizard level in the City Guard. He has stayed in the Rank 3 Wizard Apprentice realm for more than ten years. His accumulation is very deep, and he cannot be underestimated."

  "The last one is named Sutherland, from the Silver Legion. Although he is not a member of the Witch Hunt Squad, he holds a squad leader position. He has also stayed in the Rank 3 Wizard Apprentice realm for more than ten years. His combat experience is exceptionally rich, and he is very difficult to deal with."