Chapter 221: The Necromantic Transformation

Chapter 221: The Necromantic Transformation

"Farkado and the others have decided to join the academy."

In the study, Su Nan, Rose, and Scepter sat facing each other.

Hearing Scepter's words, Su Nan remained calm and unsurprised.

From the moment he invited Farkado and his three companions, he knew they would eventually agree to join the Starlight Academy. Unless they had no desire to enhance their strength and become wizards, they wouldn't be able to resist the allure of freely exchanging resources.

In all of Starlight Continent, only the Starlight Academy (Star Alliance) possessed the resources necessary to support their ascension to wizardry.

"Other mage apprentices from the Russell family have also joined the academy," Scepter added, sipping on a floral tea. The aroma of the Calming Blossom invigorated his spirit.

"Additionally, the mage aptitude tests in the Northwest Domain concluded last month. A new batch of students arrived at the academy yesterday, totaling five hundred and twenty-three. The academy's total student count has now surpassed one thousand four hundred."

Su Nan nodded slightly. "How many are at the Second-Class Mage Apprentice level?"

"One hundred and two," Scepter replied without hesitation, clearly well-versed in the academy's development. "The number is still growing, and it's likely to exceed three hundred in the next two to three decades."

Su Nan nodded in understanding.

From the base era to the current academy, after years of accumulation, the Second-Class Mage Apprentices are on the cusp of a significant breakthrough. The growth rate of Second-Class Mage Apprentices will only accelerate in the future.

As for Third-Class Mage Apprentices, that's still a long way off.

We'll have to wait until the first student at the Starlight Academy ascends to the Third-Class Mage Apprentice level.

"With over one thousand four hundred students, if it weren't for the addition of four new instructors, I would have been overwhelmed with teaching alone," Rose complained softly.

Scepter nodded in agreement, deeply feeling the strain.

The number of instructors at the Starlight Academy was still too few, with a ratio of nearly five hundred to one, placing a heavy burden on the three of them.

If it weren't for the substantial contribution points from teaching, they would have protested long ago.

Fortunately, with Farkado and the others joining, the pressure has eased somewhat.

Su Nan smiled slightly. "Thank you for your hard work."

He paused, then pondered, "If you know any other Third-Class Mage Apprentices, feel free to extend them an invitation. As long as they pass the majority of the instructors' evaluations, including mine, they can join the academy as instructors."

"No problem!" Scepter responded with a smile. "I happen to know a few people."

Rose also indicated that she would reach out.

"By the way, where's Wanderer?" Su Nan finally remembered the absent person.

"He's in seclusion," Rose replied. "Wanderer plans to transform himself into a semi-elemental being to extend his lifespan."

She paused, then added, "In fact, I also plan to undergo a semi-elemental transformation soon."

"Me too," Scepter said seriously. "I intend to exchange some high-tier dragon blood and then undergo a bloodline fusion."

Su Nan's expression shifted slightly.

Rose's and Scepter's plans reminded him that none of the three had yet undergone any life-extension biological modifications.

As far as Su Nan knew, there were three primary methods for mage apprentices to extend their lifespans, aside from consuming special potions like the Dawn Elixir.

These methods were semi-elemental transformation, bloodline fusion, and necromantic transformation.

Necromantic transformation involved completely converting both the body and soul into a necromantic form, thereby significantly extending one's lifespan.

Of course, Necromantic form apprentices were not truly immortal, but their lifespan would increase by two to three centuries, far surpassing the other two methods.

However, the cost was enormous.

First, the transformation conditions were stringent, and the success rate was low.

In addition to requiring a vast amount of resources,, needed a location rich in negative energy negative energy the Black Forest for the transformation.

secondly, even if one were lucky enough to succeed, it would be extremely difficult to further enhance one's strength, and the chances of becoming a wizard would be virtually nonexistent.

Most mage apprentices extended their lifespans to gain more time to ascend to wizardry, making the necromantic transformation counterproductive. Therefore, very few mage apprentices chose this method.

In comparison, semi-elemental transformation and bloodline fusion extended life by a lesser amount but offered more room for growth and the hope of ascending to wizardry.

.

However, most wizards did not undergo semi-elemental transformation or bloodline fusion during their apprenticeship.

At this stage, such biological modifications did not significantly enhance their strength and could even hinder their future development.

It was best to wait until ascending to wizardry to select a more powerful bloodline fusion or undergo a deeper elemental transformation, which would be more beneficial for future growth.

But in the current state of Starlight Continent, mage apprentices had little choice.

After Rose and Scepter joined the Starlight Academy, they were no longer as resource-deprived, but they had ultimately 'wasted' too much time. If they followed the standard path, their chances of ascending to wizardry before their natural end were slim.

Thus, they could only choose partial elementalization and bloodline fusion.

Even so, the chances of the three of them advancing to full-fledged wizards were still extremely low, less than ten percent.

They were even less likely to advance than outstanding apprentices like Xie Man and Kole.

At the very least, the latter had a good chance of advancing to the third-level wizard apprentice before the age of fifty, giving them far more time to sprint towards becoming a full wizard and a much higher likelihood of success.

To be honest, Su Nan didn't mind if the Star Alliance had a couple more wizards.

When they faced the Dark Throne in the future, it would be beneficial to have a few more combatants.

With this in mind, he was currently researching the formula for the Construct Elixir.

He still had over fifty bottles of the Construct Elixir left from the Starlight Tower, which was a considerable amount, but they would eventually run out.

Preparation was key, and he needed to start making new Construct Elixirs as soon as possible.

It would be impossible to find all the main ingredients for the Construct Elixir on the Starlight Continent, and researching alternative materials would be equally challenging.

So, Su Nan decided to take a different approach and focus on researching a weakened version of the Construct Elixir.

As long as he succeeded, no matter how weak the effect, he could use the Synthesis Cube to create a version that was just as potent as the original.

After chatting a bit more about the academy with Rose, Su Nan left the study and headed straight to the wizard tower construction site in District 2.

After more than a year of construction, the tower's foundation and main structure were almost complete. He was now working on the central crystal energy transmission system.

Once that was finished, the next step would be the elemental pool.

If these two facilities could run smoothly, the foundation of the wizard tower would be solid, and he could proceed with the spatial planning.

"Before that, I should create a Tower Spirit to keep track of the construction progress in real-time."

Su Nan decided to start the process of creating the Tower Spirit as soon as he returned.

This was also a challenging task.

The difficulty of creating a Tower Spirit was no less than that of a secret puppet.

It was the year 1288 of the Starlight Calendar, the Month of Slumber (December).

In some wizard records, the Month of Slumber symbolized potential.

Some prophecy-focused wizards believed that infants born during this month possessed extraordinary potential.

Potential meant dormant power, and dormancy corresponded to awakening—starting from dormancy and ending in awakening—this was the meaning of the Month of Slumber.

This month was also the most important for bidding farewell to the old year.

Fleming quite agreed with this notion.

Because he was born in the Month of Slumber.

"What are you reading, Fleming?"

Donohue's voice interrupted Fleming's thoughts.

Without looking up, he flipped a page and replied casually, "A book on astrology. The content is quite interesting."

"When did you become interested in that?" Donohue was very curious.

From what he remembered, Fleming never read such books.

"For a wizard, knowledge is power. It's good to expand your horizons."

Fleming placed a bookmark in the middle of the page, closed the book, and set it aside.

"According to Master Rose, Lord Su Nan has memorized all the books in the academy and the Dragon Skeleton Tower library."

Donohue snorted and said, "You know that's Lord Su Nan. It takes us months to fully understand a single spell book. To read all the books in the library, it would take until the end of time."

"Let's not talk about that. Are you going to the banquet tonight?"

Fleming nodded without hesitation, "Senior Xie Man has helped me so much. The banquet is to celebrate him and Senior Kole advancing to the third-level wizard apprentice, so of course, I'm going."

"I really envy you for getting an invitation," Donohue's eyes flashed with envy.

The banquet was organized by the wizard apprentices who were close to Xie Man and Kole. Considering the venue's limitations, only second-level wizard apprentices were invited.

Fleming had advanced to the second-level wizard apprentice in his fifth year at the academy, so he naturally received an invitation.

Many students saw this as proof of Fleming's talent being recognized by his seniors, much to the envy of others.

Fleming felt a slight sense of pride but didn't show it on his face. He changed the subject, "I heard Targana is also going to the banquet?"

"Of course, she's the non-human student personally selected by Lord Su Nan. The mentors all take good care of her, so the organizers definitely won't leave her out."

Mentioning this, Donohue's voice carried a hint of jealousy.

"Don't say that, Targana's talent is quite outstanding."

"She took much longer than you to master her meditation technique."

“Because she’s not human. If she were, her talent would definitely surpass mine.”

Felming’s words were genuinely heartfelt.

The Dark Elf practicing the Star Ring Meditation, a technique created with humans as the benchmark, was naturally at a disadvantage.

Despite this, Tiana managed to master the Star Ring Meditation in just two months, a talent that was truly astounding.

If there were meditation techniques and spellbooks specifically designed for Dark Elves, her rate of improvement might even surpass Senior Xeman and Senior Coley.

It’s no wonder that someone personally recommended by Lord Su Nan to join the academy must have something extraordinary about them.

After chatting with Donoham for a while, Felming dismissed him and began his daily meditation in the dormitory.

When he finished his meditation, it was already dark outside.

Felming glanced at the quartz clock on the wall; the banquet was due to start in half an hour. He got up and left the dormitory.

The senior students who organized the banquet had reserved the top floor of the second cafeteria.

When Felming arrived at the top-floor hall, there were already quite a few people there.

The tables, covered in white cloths, were laden with all sorts of delicious dishes and drinks. Beautiful Water Elves gracefully carried trays between the tables, their movements as fluid as dance.

Felming admired the scene for a while before reluctantly shifting his gaze, scanning for Senior Xeman’s position.

He quickly found his target.

It was rather conspicuous.

In the center of the hall, Senior Xeman and Senior Coley were surrounded by a group of people, conversing like the center of a star cluster.

“Xeman, I heard the academy intends to invite you to become a mentor?”

“There is such an intention, and Coley has also received an invitation.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“What else? Of course, I’ll accept it. The contribution points and resources a mentor can obtain are far more than those of a student, right, Xeman, Coley?”

“I plan to do the same,” Xeman said with a smile.

“Same,” Coley, as usual, was brief.

Felming listened with some envy.

He wondered if he could advance to a Third-Class Wizard Apprentice at this age.

After a while, the students surrounding the two gradually dispersed, and Felming finally found an opportunity to step forward.

“Senior Xeman, Senior Coley, congratulations on your advancement.”

“It’s been a while, Junior Felming. Thanks for coming to the banquet,” Xeman said with a gentle smile.

Coley also nodded slightly at Felming.

He was a typical power-first individual, showing no interest in those without strength or talent, and Felming clearly did not fall into that category.

“Greetings, Senior Artelle,” Felming then turned to Artelle.

It had been a while since they last met, and Senior Artelle was as beautiful as ever, her gentle and refined demeanor only becoming more refined with time.

“It’s been a while, Junior Felming,” Artelle smiled warmly. “Not long ago, I met Staff Mentor, and he praised your talent, saying you’ve already constructed your fifth Star Ring.”

“That’s too kind of Staff Mentor,” Felming said modestly.

The group chatted amiably, and just as the atmosphere was pleasant, a commotion erupted at the entrance of the hall.

Felming turned to see a tall, slender girl with skin like black jade and exquisite, beautiful features walking in.

Her expression was indifferent, and she carried an aura that warned others to keep their distance.

Even so, she immediately drew the attention of many in the hall, becoming the center of everyone’s gaze.

The girl seemed used to such scenes, ignoring the surrounding gazes. Her eyes scanned the room, and upon seeing Artelle, the coldness on her face melted, a faint smile appearing.

“Tiana has arrived,” Artelle said with a smile, warmly taking the Dark Elf girl’s arm.

The two girls quickly began whispering to each other.

Felming was somewhat surprised. “Senior Artelle and Tiana seem to have a good relationship?”

Xeman smiled and explained, “When Tiana first entered the academy, Artelle, at the teacher’s request, took care of her quite a bit. So, their relationship is quite good.”

Felming understood.

No wonder.

From what he knew, when Tiana first entered the academy, many were intrigued by her Dark Elf identity and tried to get close, but Tiana never showed any interest.

Over time, she earned a reputation for being cold and aloof, and the enthusiastic suitors around her dwindled.

The Dark Elf girl didn’t mind, continuing to focus on her cultivation and studies, barely paying attention to others.

If not for tonight’s banquet, Felming wouldn’t have known she had a good friend in Senior Artelle.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end