Next day, during dinner time. (If you really can't stand the castle plot, just skip directly to Chapter 48)
Accompanied by soothing classical music, Anvis explained his situation to the Duke.
At this time, Duke Carrot was savoring a delicious piece of Annie Cake,
a meringue berry cream cake, made with a thick layer of sweet, creamy white frosting, neatly piled fresh berries with vibrant colors and fragrant aroma, along with the uniquely flavored Two-legged Flying Dragon Meringue.
The pastry chef perfectly combined the strengths of these three elements, baking this dessert that boasts remarkable taste and appearance.
It is said, this dessert was originally created during the early days of the Magic Empire by the royal family's chief pastry chef, specifically to celebrate the Fourth Princess Annie's birthday.
After tasting it, the little princess was very satisfied, and upon hearing that this was a newly created dessert without a name when asked for its name, she decided to name it after herself.
Carrot greatly enjoyed this cake with its crispy outer layer and incredibly soft and fluffy core. It always reminded him of his first meeting with Elena.
Back then, she gave the same feeling: elegant and decisive in her actions, but with a side that was endearing like a small bird leaning close, with a taste that was both sweet and tangy.
"You say you're ready to advance formally?"
After savoring another piece of Annie Cake, the Duke set down his fork, wiped his mouth with a napkin, then looked up, his azure eyes focusing on Anvis' smiling face, showing a hint of surprise.
Having two types of Legendary Bloodline had bestowed Anvis with talents far beyond ordinary, but it also significantly slowed his progression.
The reasoning is simple: filling a cup and filling a barrel, the latter requires far more water than the former.
"Yes, Father, I reached the limit of my spiritual power completely last night. Even if I don't actively promote, I will naturally progress by midnight tonight."
With a graceful smile, Anvis reached out, took a cup of Forest Dream from the drink tray the maid held, and sipped it gently.
This fruit juice resembled pale green mist with a slight glow, tasting fresh and sweet, as if drinking a mouthful of flowing mist or a soft and cool cloud.
"Ha ha — excellent! Very good!"
Upon hearing Anvis' response, the Duke was momentarily delighted, breaking into laughter filled with the joy a father feels when witnessing his child's growth.
Elena and Fiona were also looking at Anvis with some surprise; the difference was Elena was amazed at her youngest son's talent, while Fiona was simply happy her brother was about to progress.
"However, since you are preparing to advance, how much understanding do you have regarding the specific process of advancing to a formal spellcaster, and the concept and choice of initial magic?"
Once he finished laughing, the Duke's expression turned serious, shifting the topic to the specific details of advancing.
Hearing this, both Elena and Fiona paused their actions and looked up at the two of them.
These two questions were crucial; a well-prepared progression and a hasty one lead to vastly different ultimate achievements for the spellcaster.
Putting down the goblet in hand, Anvis picked up a clean napkin, gently wiping his mouth to make his expression appear more relaxed and natural.
Then, he organized the contents from memory, with sky-blue eyes looking at the Duke, and reciting in a clear and slow tone.
"The book 'Basic Magic Theory' once mentioned that to become a formal spellcaster, two conditions must be achieved.
First: Condense a spiritual core.
Second: Construct an initial spell model within the Spirit Sea."
"After the spiritual power reaches a certain standard, the spellcaster can, using a point in the Spirit Sea as the center, control their spiritual power to revolve around this center with a particular frequency and continuously 'compress' it with thought.
When compressed to a certain extent, the spiritual core will naturally form.
The stronger the spellcaster's spiritual power, the higher the success rate of condensing a core.
If the total spiritual power touches the limit of the Spirit Sea, the spellcaster will spontaneously condense a spiritual core within 24 to 30 Magic Time, which was the original progression method of ancient spellcasters.
But by the middle of the ancient Magic Empire, this progression method had been mostly abandoned by mages.
The reason is, under the same amount of spiritual power, the cores formed naturally are generally inferior to those condensed through the Compression Method."
Here, Anvis took a slight breath, picked up the transparent goblet, and took another gentle sip of the cool cloud fruit juice, moistening his somewhat dry throat.
"Like a newborn baby opening its eyes to see the world for the first time, at the moment the core is fully condensed, the spellcaster truly opens the 'eyes' belonging to a mage, 'seeing' a more real world for the first time.
At this moment, the spellcaster will briefly enter a Special 'Superlimit' state.
In this state, the magic model constructed in the Spirit Sea before advancing will shift towards some unknown, good direction, which is the principle of initial magic formation.
As the spellcaster's rank increases, the rank of the initial magic will increase too, with more unknown changes occurring at each rank.
Due to the limitation of talent, a regular spellcaster's spiritual power before advancing is only enough to construct the simplest spell structure.
The maximum limit for initial magic is two; even if someone with talent can construct more than two spells before reaching the First Rank, only the first two spells constructed will mutate.
According to Continent Magic Council statistics, due to their simple structures and eye-catching power after mutation, Magic Missile and Fireball are the two most widely constructed initial spells.
After speaking an almost monologue-like exposition, Anvis finished his juice and placed the empty cup back onto the tray.
"I've finished, Father."
Duke Carrot nodded with satisfaction, showing approval for Anvis's knowledge, and Elena also wore a joyous smile.
Fiona, nearby, listened with her snow mountain lake-like clear lake-blue eyes slightly glazed.
She had also read 'Basic Magic'; it was filled with dense small text! Not even a single illustration!
Her brother was actually able to memorize that thick and boring book! How amazing!
"So finally, have you chosen the initial magic you want to construct?"
The Duke nodded in satisfaction, looking at Anvis with a newfound sense of comfort.
"Yes, I have, Father. I currently plan to..."
"Oh— Anvis, why can't you call me Daddy more intimately like when you were little? This formal address can wait for a few more years."
But just as he was about to reveal his choice, the Duke suddenly interrupted, sounding somewhat displeased with a reason that made Anvis find it amusing yet helpless.
"Dear Carrot~, why can't you wait for our child to finish speaking before you start talking? Carry on, my lovely little Anvis, Mother is listening."
The Duchess, whose desire to hear more was suddenly interrupted, narrowed her beautiful eyes slightly and gave the Duke a 'gentle' smile.
Then she turned her head again, looking at Anvis with eyes like amethysts, filled with encouragement and affection.
The Duke retracted his neck slightly, nonchalantly picking up the knife and fork to cut the leftover meringue on the plate. He swallowed the dessert which had been frozen solidly from the inside out by Elena's glance.
Gulp —— → Recommendation vote