Lizbeth pouted but didn’t argue. Instead, she fluttered over to perch on his shoulder, seemingly content with the answer.
Unbothered by her antics, Victor descended into the basement with Lizbeth in tow. Standing before the Nexus Beacon, he received the reward from both missions. First, an unknown grimoire materialized in his hands.
Unknown grimoire
An unidentified grimoire that may contain one or more Bet-tier magic spells.
Spell Tier: Bet
Elemental Type: Unknown
“How interesting.”
Since it was a Bet-tier grimoire, whatever spell model it contained would undoubtedly be useful. Without hesitation, Victor channeled his infused mana into it.
The grimoire trembled in his hands, and a rush of ancient knowledge surged into his mind, forcing him to steady his breath as the contents were imprinted into his brain. As Victor processed what he had just obtained, his expression turned to one of shock.
Chrono magic.
The grimoire had contained not one but two Chrono spell models: {Time Reversal} and {Time Prison}.
The first spell — {Time Reversal} — allowed him to rewind time within a limited area for a short duration, restoring objects and entities to their previous state. This was a very versatile spell; if used on himself, any injuries sustained within the spell’s window could be instantly reversed. It could also be applied to repair objects or heal living beings, making it a spell of immense utility.
As for {Time Prison}, it was equally valuable. It could temporarily lock a target in a stasis-like state, freezing them in time. Victor had long lacked a proper restraining spell, and this one had the potential to be incredibly effective.
Of course, as a Bet-tier spell, these two were quite limited in their functionalities. Higher-tier spells could quite easily counter or neutralize them. Still, spells that manipulated time were exceedingly rare — even among high-ranking Magi. If mastered properly, these spells could make him invincible among Elemental Adept Magi and beyond.
Lizbeth, still perched on his shoulder, peeked at the grimoire disintegrated into dust and got absorbed into Victor’s body. “Ooooh! What spells did you get?”
Victor smirked. “Something… very useful.”
“Hmph. Why do you always act all mysterious while wearing that evil smile?” Lizbeth huffed, crossing her arms.
“What smile? I’m not smiling!” Victor shot back. But despite his words, he instinctively touched his mouth — only to confirm that, indeed, he wasn’t smiling. This little…
Putting her teasing aside, he turned back to the Nexus Beacon and claimed the second mission reward. Immediately, a pile of foreign knowledge flooded his mind. This time, it was about the basic comprehension of using dreamforce. It was a type of knowledge that an Elemental Adept Magus had no business touching, yet here he was, grasping its intricacies as if it were meant for him.
“Dreamforce, huh…” Victor murmured.
Despite obtaining this understanding, he still couldn’t use it. Not only was there no dreamforce in the material world like Seraphia, but he also lacked any dreamforce spells. On top of that, venturing into the Dreamscape again was the last thing on his bucket list. Unless he somehow jumped two entire ranks straight into Sigil Conversion Magus, he had no intention of ever setting foot there again.
Just thinking about the horrors he had endured was enough to keep him awake at night. Even the dark Thornwood Forest was like a peaceful haven in comparison to that place.
I wonder what kind of nightmarish realms exist within the Dreamscape. The one I entered was almost docile compared to the horrors described in the records… Victor thought.
He then recalled that Lillie could still use dreamforce in the material world through the power of her eyes. Perhaps she could supply him with Dreamscape energy — but even then, it wouldn’t be a sustainable power source. Relying on Lillie too much was not an option. However, if he infused one of his sigils with Dreamforce energy, it might become usable as a trump card.
But the next problem came with the fact that he had no dreamforce spells. Generating one through the Spell Generator was impossible; the database contained little to no information on Dreamscape energy. For it to create a viable dreamforce spell, he would need extensive research and firsthand experimentation… And that meant returning to the Dreamscape.
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Victor’s expression darkened. Nope, not happening. Not until he was absolutely certain that he was strong enough to leave whenever he pleased.
Whatever the case, he wanted to take a bath and then sleep like a log. Even an Elemental Adept Magus like him required sufficient rest.
Early the next day, Victor sat in his office as he saw through his improved status screen with Lizbeth sticking close to him.
Victor Asteriscus
HP: 100%
MP: 1269/1451
Power Rank: Fourth-sigil Elemental Adept Magus | Ki Sentinel
Elemental Affinity: Cosmo (97%) | Chrono (92 → 93%) | Anemo (82%) | Pyro (57%)
Mana Aptitude: Advanced bright grade
Meditation Technique: Omni-Elemental Fusion Method (fourth sub-level, 89%)
Breathing Technique: Harmonic Resonance Art (second level)
Status: Normal
Strength: (41)
Agility: (40 → 41)
Vitality: (41)
Magical Power: (53 → 54)
Infused Mana (total): (1408 → 1451)
Spell Repertoire:
- Aleph: {Blink Step}, {Spatial Mirage}, {Slicing Wind}, {Zephyr Dash}, {Tempest Burst}, {Wind Guard}, {Flame Whip}, {Flame Dart}, {Flame Prison}, {Ember Shield}, {Heat Wave}, {Demonic Eye}, {Mind Programming}
- Bet: {Warpblade}, {Blink}, {Gap Hole}, {Ethereal State}, {Nova}, {Space Fold}, {Gravity Hammer}, {Time Reversal}, {Time Prison}, {Volcanic Spear}, {Tempest Gale}, {Blazing Burst}, {Curse of Nightmare}, {Indomitable Will}
Even after a whole night, Victor’s mana reserves had yet to fully recover. Yesterday’s ordeal had completely drained him. Still, his meditation progress had advanced at an unprecedented rate within the Dreamscape — so much so that, at first, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. This kind of rapid advancement was unheard of!
“At this rate, I should be able to form my fifth sigil in a couple of weeks at most,” Victor mused. “Even faster if I dedicate all my time to meditation.”
All that remained was accumulating enough infused mana to reach the breakpoint.
If Roland were to know that Victor had reached his level in less than a year, he would probably die standing — out of sheer madness and envy. Even Victor himself, had he not been the one experiencing it firsthand, would have found such monstrous progress impossible to believe. Not even Magi from prestigious Magus families could compare.
That aside, Victor had many matters to attend to first. He opened the Magus Academy Online official forum to assess the current state of the players.
Ever since the invasion had scaled down, the spirit coin earnings for players had dropped significantly, which made it much harder for those vying for expensive elixirs, forcing them to take longer to afford them. Nevertheless, most veteran players had already managed to purchase the Mana Aptitude Enhancement Elixir, leading to a noticeable improvement in overall player quality. More and more players were now beginning to reach the third stage of Initiate Attunement.
Funnily enough, the only person who managed to purchase the sole supply of the Gender-Changing Potion was Aphrodite — and the guy didn’t use it on himself. Instead, he experimented with it on various things, much to the dismay of others. Unsurprisingly, this drew criticism on the forum, especially from players like Storm, who had wanted to experience the potion firsthand.
Adding such a gimmick potion was indeed a brilliant idea to stir up the players. He should come up with more ways to rile them up, exploiting their enthusiasm even further. And he already had a few ideas that would definitely catch their attention.
Setting that thought aside, Victor’s gaze landed on a new forum post made by Prominence — the first player to achieve the third stage of Initiate Attunement. He was mildly surprised that it wasn’t Butterfly or KuroUsagi who reached this milestone first. After all, they had distinct advantages that Prominence did not, and it was unlikely that either of them would have cut down on their playtime. For some reason, Victor couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more going on behind the scenes.
Back on topic, the post that Prominence made was titled “Just Hit Third-Stage Initiate Attunement! I Realized That The Headmaster Wasn’t That Strong at First…”
“Heyo! My first statement might have come as a bit of a shock, right?
“Alright, so let me start with the obvious — hitting third-stage Initiate Attunement was no joke. I had to grind like crazy, farming mana crystals and min-maxing my meditation cycles. It paid off, but damn, this breakthrough was way harder than the last two. I have a feeling that the next one to become an Elemental Adept Magus will be much, much harder.
“But here’s the weird thing. I’ve been reviewing my friend’s and my old clips from the early days at the academy, and I realized something interesting.
“The headmaster wasn’t that strong at first.
“I mean, plenty of people have speculated about this before. And sure, he was always powerful, but if you compare his past appearances to now? I can say with absolute certainty — there’s a HUGE difference. In the beginning, he was roughly at the level of a peak third-stage Initiate Attunement acolyte. And I’m confident in my claim!
“And the craziest part is that it’s like his growth scales with ours. I’m not sure what his rank is right now, though, as the progression path hasn’t been revealed to us.
“Back when we were first-stage acolytes, he was already leagues ahead, but looking back… he didn’t seem untouchable. Now? I’ve reached the third stage Initiate Attunement, and somehow, he feels even further away than before.
“It’s like the stronger we get, the stronger he becomes. But his progress is at least ten times faster than ours. Perhaps this is the developers’ intentional way to keep up with us players.
“While I’m in to believe that’s what is behind this, I still feel like we’re missing something here.
“Drop your thoughts in the comments below — I want to hear what you all think.”
Upon reading the whole post, Victor was a bit surprised. As expected, they were bound to notice sooner or later. Fortunately, Prominence was gullible enough that he wouldn’t overthink it too much.
“Hehe. It seems like you have a fan stalking you,” quipped Lizbeth.
“More like a nosy investigator,” Victor muttered. “Though, I have to admit that his observation skills aren’t half bad; he should use it for something more useful, though.”
This instead reminded him of KuroUsagi, who would investigate things to their source. He had been mysteriously missing from the forum…
Victor then leaned back in his chair, thinking. Still, I should prepare for the day when someone starts putting the pieces together…
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