Chapter 212: Undead Transformation
"Fakado has decided to join the Academy."
Inside the study, Su Nan, Rose, and Scepter sat facing each other.
Hearing Scepter's words, Su Nan maintained a calm expression, showing no signs of surprise.
From the moment he invited the four members of Fakado, he anticipated their eventual agreement to join Starlight Academy. Unless they were unwilling to enhance their strength and progress in the Wizard domain, they simply could not resist the allure of free exchange for resources.
In all of Starlight Continent, only the platform of Starlight Academy (Star Alliance) possessed sufficient resources to support their advancement as Wizards.
"Additionally, the Russell family has also joined the Academy," Scepter added.
He took a sip of flower tea, its Tranquility Flower fragrance refreshing his spirit.
"Also, the Wizard Aptitude Test for the Northwest Region concluded last month. The new batch of students arrived at the Academy yesterday, totaling five hundred and twenty-three. The overall student count has now surpassed one thousand four hundred."
Su Nan nodded slightly. "What about the number of Second Level Wizard Apprentices?"
Su Nan nodded in understanding.
From the Base era to the present-day Academy, years of accumulation had led to a moment of explosive growth for Second Level Wizard Apprentices. Moving forward, the rate at which their numbers increased would only accelerate.
As for Level Three Wizard Apprentices, that was still a distant prospect. He preferred to wait until the first student of Starlight Academy advanced to Level Three before considering that milestone.
"With over one thousand four hundred students, if not for the addition of four new Mentor members, I’d be overwhelmed just trying to teach," Rose remarked with a hint of frustration.
Scepter nodded in agreement, empathizing with her plight.
The number of Mentor members at Starlight Academy was still too low, with nearly a five hundred to one ratio, placing immense pressure on the three existing Mentors. If it weren't for the fact that more classes meant more Contribution Points, they would have protested long ago.
Fortunately, the inclusion of the four members from Fakado made the workload somewhat more manageable.
Su Nan offered a slight smile. "You've all worked hard."
He paused for a moment, then pondered, "If you know of any other Level Three Wizard Apprentices, you might want to extend an invitation to them. As long as they can gain the approval of both myself and the majority of you mentors, they can join the Academy as a mentor."
"No problem!" Scepter replied with a smile. "I happen to know a few people."
Rose also indicated that she would reach out to some individuals.
"By the way, where's Traveler?" Su Nan finally remembered the other absent member.
"Traveler has gone into seclusion," Rose explained. "Traveler intends to modify himself into a semi-elemental form to extend his lifespan."
After a pause, she added, "Actually, I'm also planning to undergo a semi-elemental modification soon."
"Me too," Scepter replied seriously. "I plan to acquire some high-level Sub-Dragon blood and then undergo Bloodline fusion."
Su Nan's expression shifted slightly.
The plans of the three brought to his mind that none of them had yet undergone any life-extension surgeries.
As far as Su Nan knew, there were typically three ways for a Wizard Apprentice to extend their lifespan, aside from consuming special potions like Dawn Potion.
Besides semi-elemental modification and Bloodline fusion, there was also the option of transforming into an undead form.
Completely transforming one’s flesh and soul into an undead state would significantly extend one’s lifespan.
Of course, undead Wizard Apprentices were not truly immortal; their lifespan would only increase by two to three hundred years, which was still a substantial increase compared to the other two methods.
However, the costs were also extremely high.
First, the conditions for transformation were harsh and the success rate was low.
In addition to requiring a vast amount of resources, one would also need to find a location with a dense concentration of Negative Energy, such as the Black Forest, to serve as the transformation site.
Even if all the conditions were met, the success rate would not exceed twenty percent.
Second, even if one was fortunate enough to successfully transform, their strength would be very difficult to increase in the future, leaving little hope of advancing to Wizard.
Most Wizard Apprentices extended their lifespans to gain more time to advance to Wizard, so transforming into an undead form was akin to putting the cart before the horse, which is why very few chose this method.
In comparison, while semi-elemental modification and Bloodline fusion may extend lifespan to a lesser degree, there was at least still hope for progress and advancement.
However, most Wizards would not undergo semi-elemental modification or Bloodline fusion during the Apprentice stage.
"At this stage, Biological Modification didn't significantly enhance one's strength; rather, it hindered future development.
It would be wiser to wait until they advanced to Wizard rank before selecting a more powerful Bloodline to fuse with or performing a deeper elementalization, which would be more beneficial for future growth.
However, on the current Starlight Continent, Wizard Apprentices had little choice in the matter.
After Rose and the others joined the Starlight Academy, they no longer lacked resources, but they had ultimately wasted too much time in their earlier endeavors. If they followed the traditional path, their chances of advancing to Wizard before their lifespans ended were exceedingly slim.
As a result, they could only opt to fuse with a Semi-Elementalization and Bloodline.
Even so, the probability of the three of them advancing to Formal Wizard was still extremely low, less than ten percent.
Their chances were notably worse than those of outstanding Apprentices like Sheman and Coley.
At least the latter two had a good chance of advancing to Level Three Wizard Apprentice before the age of fifty. In the long run, they would have much more time to focus on becoming Wizards compared to Rose and her companions, significantly increasing their chances of success.
To be honest, Su Nan wouldn't mind if the Star Alliance had one or two more Wizards.
In the future, when confronting the Gloomy Throne, they would also benefit from having additional combatants.
With that in mind, he began studying the recipe for the Construct Potion.
He still had over fifty vials of Construct Potion brought back from the Tower of Stars, which was a substantial amount, but they would eventually be depleted.
To be prepared, he needed to produce a new batch of Construct Potion as soon as possible.
It was impossible to find the primary materials for making Construct Potion on Starlight Continent, and researching substitute materials proved equally challenging.
So, Su Nan changed his approach and focused on developing a weakened version of the Construct Potion.
As long as he successfully developed it, regardless of its diminished effect, it could be transformed into a potion no less potent than the original through Cube Synthesis.
After chatting with Rose and the others about the Academy for a while, Su Nan left the study and headed straight to the construction site of the Wizard Tower in Area 2.
After more than a year of construction, the foundation and structure of the Wizard Tower were nearing completion. He was now beginning to build the Central Crystal Energy Transmission System.
Once the Central Crystal Energy Transmission System was completed, the next step would be the Elemental Pool."
"Plan: As long as these two facilities operate smoothly, the foundation of Wizard Tower will be established, allowing for space planning to commence."
"Before that, it's best to create the Tower Spirit, as this will help monitor the construction speed of Wizard Tower in real-time."
Su Nan decided to return and begin the refinement of the Tower Spirit.
This task was quite challenging.
The difficulty of refining the Tower Spirit was second only to that of the Secret Puppet.
In the year 1288 of the Starlight Calendar, during the month of Sleeping Moon (December).
According to some Wizard Codex records, Sleeping Moon symbolizes talent.
Some Wizards specializing in the prophecy system believe that infants born in this month possess extraordinary potential.
Potential signifies dormant power, and dormancy leads to awakening – starting from dormancy and culminating in awakening. This represents the essence of Sleeping Moon.
This month is also significant for bidding farewell to the old year.
Fleming internally resonated with this sentiment.
After all, he was born in Sleeping Moon.
"What are you looking at, Fleming?"
Donohan's voice interrupted Fleming's contemplation.
Without looking up, Fleming replied casually while turning a page. "A book on astrology; the content is quite fascinating."
"When did you develop an interest in this type of thing?" Donohan asked, intrigued.
In his memory, Fleming had never shown an inclination towards such literature.
"For a Wizard, knowledge is power. It's beneficial to explore other areas of study," Fleming explained and placed a bookmark within the pages, closing the book and setting it aside.
"I heard from Rose and Mentor that Master Su Nan has memorized all the books in the Academy and the Dragon Bone Tower Library."
Donohan snorted, "You know that's Master Su Nan. It takes us several months to comprehend a single spell book. At that rate, finishing all the library’s books would take until the Year of the Monkey."
"Let’s not dwell on that. Are you attending the banquet tonight?"
Without hesitation, Fleming nodded. "Senior Sheman has helped me immensely. Tonight's banquet is to celebrate his and Senior Coley's advancement to Level Three Wizard Apprentice, so of course I’ll go."
"I really envy you for being able to get an invitation," Donohan said, a hint of envy flashing in his eyes.
The banquet was jointly hosted by the Wizard Apprentices in good standing, including the two senior brothers, Sheman and Cole. Considering the venue's limitations, only Second Level Wizard Apprentices were invited.
Fleming, in his fifth year at the Academy, had already been promoted to Second Level Wizard Apprentice, and he naturally received an invitation as well.
In the eyes of many students, this was proof of Fleming's talent being recognized by the senior brothers, which made others envious.
Fleming felt a slight smugness in his heart, but he didn’t let it show on his face. Instead, he changed the subject and asked, "I heard Tagana will also be attending the banquet?"
"Of course, she was personally selected by Master Sunan to join the Academy as an Alien Race student. Several mentors take great care of her, so the banquet organizers definitely wouldn’t leave her out."
When mentioning this, Donohan's tone carried a hint of jealousy.
“Don't say that. Tagana's talent is still quite outstanding.”
“But it took her much longer to enter the Meditation Method than you.”
“That’s because she’s not human. If she were human, her talent would definitely be more impressive than mine.”
Fleming spoke these words with sincerity.
Dark Elf cultivation is based on the Star Ring Meditation, which was created for humans, so it’s understandable that the results would be halved.
Yet, even so, Tagana only took two months to enter Star Ring Meditation—a truly astonishing aptitude.
If there were Meditation Methods and Spell books specifically tailored for Dark Elves, her rate of improvement might surpass that of senior brothers Sheman and Cole.
It could only be said that anyone personally selected by Master Sunan to join the Academy must possess something extraordinary.
After chatting and joking with Donohan for a while, Fleming dismissed him and began his daily routine of meditation in his dorm.
By the time his meditation had finished, the sky outside had already darkened.
Fleming glanced at the quartz clock on the wall; there was still half an hour before the banquet started, so he got up and left his dorm.
The senior brothers hosting the banquet had booked the top floor of the Second Dining Hall.
When Fleming arrived at the hall on the top floor, there were already quite a few people inside.
The white-clothed dining tables were laden with an array of delicious dishes and drinks, while beautiful Water Sprites glided gracefully between them, their movements as light as a dance.
Fleming admired the scene for a moment before reluctantly looking away, his gaze searching for Senior Sheman.
He quickly spotted his target.
It was, in fact, quite obvious.
At the very center of the dining hall, Senior Sheman and Senior Coley were surrounded by a crowd of people, conversing like stars encircled by the moon.
“Sheman, I heard the Academy intends to invite you to serve as a Mentor?”
“That is indeed the intention, and Coley has received an invitation as well.”
“So what do you plan to do?”
“Is that even a question? Of course, we’ll accept. The Contribution Points and Resources available to a Mentor are far greater than what a student receives. Right, Sheman? Coley?”
“Mentor, I intend to do the same,” Sheman said with a smile.
“Same here,” Coley replied, as taciturn as ever.
Fleming listened with some envy, wondering if he would be able to advance to Level Three Wizard Apprentice by their age.
After a while, the students surrounding them gradually dispersed, allowing Fleming to finally step forward.
“Senior Sheman, Senior Coley, congratulations on your advancement.”
“It’s been a while, Junior Fleming. Thank you for coming to the banquet,” Sheman said with a gentle smile.
Coley also nodded slightly at Fleming, maintaining his usual demeanor. He was a staunch believer in the supremacy of strength, often dismissing those lacking power or Talent, but Fleming was clearly not one of them.
“Good evening, Senior Artier,” Fleming said, turning to the figure beside them.
After all this time, Senior Artier remained as beautiful as ever, her gentle demeanor having become even more refined with the passing years.
“It’s been a while, Junior Fleming,” Artier said with a soft smile. “I recently encountered Mentor Scepter, who praised your Talent, saying you’ve already formed your fifth Star Ring.”
“Senior Mentor Scepter is too kind,” Fleming replied humbly.
The group chatted and laughed, and just as the atmosphere became lively, a commotion suddenly erupted at the entrance of the hall.
Fleming turned his head and saw a tall, slender girl with skin like black jade and exquisite, beautiful features walking in.
Her expression was indifferent, emanating an aura that warned others to keep their distance.
Nevertheless, her appearance immediately captured the attention of many in the hall, making her the center of everyone's gaze.
The girl seemed accustomed to such attention, disregarding the stares around her. She scanned the room until she spotted Artier, and the coldness on her face melted away, replaced by a faint smile.
"Tagana, you’re here," Artier greeted her with a smile, affectionately linking her arm with that of the Dark Elf girl.
The two quickly began to whisper to each other.
Seeing this, Fleming felt a bit surprised. "Senior Artier and Tagana seem to have a good relationship?"
Sheman smiled and replied, "When Tagana first entered the Academy, Teacher instructed Artier to look after her. That’s how they became quite close."
Fleming understood.
No wonder.
As far as he knew, when Tagana initially entered the Academy, many were intrigued by her identity as a Dark Elf and attempted to befriend her, but she dismissed them all without a second thought.
Over time, Tagana earned a reputation for being cold and aloof, and the persistent admirers around her significantly dwindled.
The Dark Elf girl didn’t mind at all, continuing to pursue her cultivation and studies, rarely paying attention to others.
If it weren't for tonight's banquet, Fleming wouldn’t have even known that she had a close friend like Senior Artier.
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