novel bin Chapter 125 - Adjusting to Power
Chapter 125 - Adjusting to Power
Morena did not rush to stand up or go out of her room after the breakthrough. While there was a little part of her that wanted to boast about it, she wouldn’t do something so childish.
She remained seated on the bed, her posture relaxed but her mind focused inward. The difference was still settling, not just within her Matrix, but throughout her entire being.
It wasn’t overwhelming, nor was it like some explosive power-up. But with every passing second, she could feel it wash over her like waves on an ocean shore.
She raised her hand slightly and focused.
The elemental energy in the room responded to the mana within her body.
It wasn’t dramatic; nothing shifted violently or bent to her will, but she could feel it reacting to her presence, like something acknowledging her existence.
Before, sensing elemental energy required effort; she had to reach for it, align her breathing, and carefully guide her thoughts just to perceive it. Now, it simply existed around her, layered over everything like a second layer of reality.
She could feel it in the air, in the walls, even faintly within herself.
Morena narrowed her eyes slightly and extended her senses outward.
The room became clearer. Not visually, but perceptually.
The mana around her moved in faint currents, flowing through the space in patterns she had never noticed before. Some areas were denser, others thinner, like invisible streams weaving through the Tower itself.
She shifted her focus on them, and her perception sharpened almost instantly. She could make out the shapes around her more clearly, even shapes of things blocked by other things could faintly be sensed through the flow of the energy.
’So this is the difference.’
Before, she had been reaching into something she barely understood. Now, it was as if she had finally been given the means to see it.
Morena lifted her hand a little higher and tried something else.
Instead of sensing, she attempted to influence; it was one of the very basic things a Wizard could do. Even an apprentice.
As she did so, the mana within her body flowed to her hand, and the energy trembled slightly. It was barely noticeable, but she could feel it.
A small distortion, barely noticeable, like trying to move water with nothing but intention.
She lowered her hand.
’Not enough.’
She tried again, this time pulling inward instead of pushing outward.
The energy around her shifted slightly toward her body, but the effect was weak and unstable. It slipped away almost immediately, dispersing back into the environment as if it had never moved.
Morena exhaled slowly.
The conclusion came naturally.
While she could now sense and interact with elemental energy using her mana, the level of influence she had was minimal.
Very minimal. Not only did she lack enough mana within herself to sustain prolonged control, but she also didn’t have the means to properly control it.
’I see, so this is why spells are important.’
A Wizard without spells was no different from someone holding a weapon they didn’t know how to use. Raw mana alone wasn’t enough to shape anything meaningful.
Morena leaned back slightly, letting her hand fall to her side.
Low-Level Apprentice.
That was what she now was. She had stepped past the phase of merely being a mortal child, one craving the power around them, and stepped onto the path of a Wizard.
She was no longer like the other students in her year.
’AI. Update my status.’
[Processing.]
The panel appeared shortly after.
[Status Screen: Morena Ravenscroft]
[Race: Human (?)]
[Bloodline Composition: 70% Human, 30% Unknown]
[Age: 18]
[Wizard Progression]
Stage: Low-Level Apprentice
Matrix Status: Formed
Matrix Stability: 41%
[Physical Attributes]
Strength: 21/30
Endurance: 26/30
Agility: 29/30
Vitality: 27/30
Mental: 38/40
[Mastery]
Swordsmanship: Level 1 (4% Mastery)
Spearmanship: Level 1 (56% Mastery)
Hand-to-Hand Combat: Level 1 (2% Mastery)
Tactics & Strategy: Level 2 (1% Mastery)
Archery: Rank 1 (10% Mastery)
[Warrior Progression]
Core Status: Damaged
Energy Level: 29/30 (Third Stage Trainee)
Morena read through it carefully, noting the new section attributed to her Wizard Path. She was thankful that the AI untifilied it without her having to tell it to.
’Wait. Matrix Stability is already above forty percent?’
She was stunned by how high the number was. After all, from the books she had gone through, most new apprentices when they broke through would be on the lower end of stability, maybe anywhere between 10-20%.
However, she was already at 41%; this was at the very upper end of the low-level apprentice stage. It had to be said, to reach a mid-level apprentice, one needed to have a Matrix Stability of 50% or higher; a third-level apprentice was usually 90% and higher.
Once someone reached 100%, they would become an official Wizard.
Given her current stability of 41%, she was already close to breaking through to mid-level apprentice. This wasn’t something that commonly happened; normally, it took years for someone to stabilize their Matrix to such a level.
’AI, why is stability so high?’
[Full-body and mind scan required. Proceed?]
’Do it.’
[Scanning...]
The scan took a few minutes to complete. Morena had no issue waiting around for it to be done and used the chance to mess around with her newfound capabilities to understand it better.
’I need to get my hands on some spells.’
Her main focus now was to find spells. While apprentices couldn’t use any truly powerful spells like a Wizard could, they could still use 0-Circle spells. That alone would be an extra tool in her arsenal that others didn’t have right now.
The issue came from getting them.
0-Circle spells, even though they were weak and were of no value to actual Wizards, they were still difficult to come across, especially in a place where Wizards weren’t common, and apprentices were.
’I don’t know how much I can afford with what little I have left. I might need to start doing missions or something.’
As she was thinking of ways to gather the necessary resources, the AI completed the scan of her body and gave her another notice.
[Scan complete. Display results?]
’Show me why my matrix is so far ahead compared to the normal apprentice.’
[Understood. Scan indicates that due to the alterations in the meditation method made to better suit the user’s body, it has increased the stability in the process.]
’You’re saying that because the method was altered to fit my body, it worked better?’
[Correct. According to calculations, because most methods are not catered to the body of the person using it, they often face backlash and instability in the process.]
’I see, so because I decided to improve the method, it brought unintended benefits in the end.’
Morena nodded her head as she closed the information.
’From now on, I’ll have to try and collect as many methods as I can.’
While it currently wasn’t a priority, she had decided that whenever she could, she would collect meditation methods to add to her database. That way, she could constantly improve and deduce better methods for herself.
She would never fall behind, nor use something that wasn’t dedicated to her specifically.
With that out of the way, she shifted her focus back to the main issue: spells.
’Search the database for any and all information on spells, focus on Circle-0 spells.’
[Understood. Searching.]
The search did not take long, but the results were not exactly pleasing.
[Search complete. The current database contains fragmented information regarding 0-Circle spell structures. No complete 0-Circle spell model could be replicated.]
Morena clicked her tongue lightly.
’Of course.’
It would have been too convenient if she already had a spell stored somewhere in her mind. The books she read gave theories, structures, and warnings, but never the full thing. That made sense, after all, the Tower had no reason to hand out spells freely in books meant to explain the basics.
Still, fragmented information was better than nothing.
’Display what we have.’
[Displaying.]
Several loose diagrams appeared in her mind. They were crude compared to the complex symbols she had seen before, little more than simple circles with short lines of runic structure attached around the edges.
Some were related to mana gathering. Others helped release a thin burst of mana outward. A few seemed to slightly influence the senses, though none were complete enough to be called a proper spell.
Even the rudimentary spells she had gained before coming here, and adapted, couldn’t truly be compared to proper 0-Circle spells. They were tricks, and while she might be able to improve them with the new information she had collected, they still wouldn’t be very useful.
Morena went over them slowly, her eyes narrowing.
’Most 0-Circle spells lay a foundation for future growth.’
While they were not impressive in the slightest, most Wizards agreed that 0-Circle spells laid the foundation for most 1-Circle spells to be built upon. They were meant to teach structure, control, and the process of forming a spell circle around the Matrix without destroying it.
That alone made them valuable.
A combat spell would be useful, but perhaps not the best first choice. If she chose something too aggressive, it might strain her newly formed Matrix; if she chose something too weak, it would be a waste of time and points.
The best option would be something simple, adaptable, and close to her affinities.
Mental.
Dark.
Unfortunately, those were not common paths.
A basic fire spark or water pull might be easy to find, but a spell tied to thought, perception, decay, or interference would likely cost more than she wanted to spend.
’AI, mark priority. We need a 0-Circle spell that can either improve perception, interfere with a target, or help conceal mana movement. If we cannot find one, then we buy the cheapest stable spell and use it as a base.’
[Understood. Priority marked.]
Morena stood from the bed and stretched her fingers slightly. She walked toward the door, her thoughts already set on the Library and the Trading Booth.