'It is a nice place.'
Andrew sat upright on a cushion woven from the feathers of the firebird, feeling rather carefree.
The firebird was a type of magic beast with intermediate strength. As its feathers could support the cultivation of fire element mages very well, it had been hunted to near extinction. Just this cushion alone was enough to cover Andrew's annual allowance.
Wherever Andrew's gaze landed, it was densely inlaid with fire element magical crystals that emitted a fiery red color. There was a faint burning feeling in the air, precisely because the fire element magical power was condensed to an extreme in this room.
'It's time to break through to an intermediate mage.'
Andrew slowly closed his eyes and started to circulate a mysterious meditation technique. In the next second, a huge amount of fire-element magical power was absorbed into his body. As soon as it entered his sea of consciousness, it fused with his spiritual power, gradually forming a second diamond-like magical structure.
This time, he did not need to construct his spiritual structure first. It was such a troublesome step. At the same time, the absorbed fire magic power was still being compressed and shrunk crazily as it merged with his spiritual power.
Andrew had absorbed it for dozens of minutes without stopping. Of course, there was a limit to the cultivation time in the magic crystal training room. An ordinary mage would not be able to stay for long, and the absorption of a large amount of magical power would also cause a huge burden.
A bright aura of magical power had already formed around Andrew's body, slowly rotating. The crystals that were originally emitting a blazing light dimmed one after another and even completely turned gray.
The turbulence in the room became more and more intense, and a large amount of magical power was absorbed into Andrew's body.
When he had advanced to a beginner mage, he had cultivated at home for almost half a month. A normal place like that would not be able to satisfy Andrew's thirst for magical power, and the magic crystal training room had coincidentally resolved this concern.
After a long while, the magical power aura slowly dissipated.
Andrew slowly opened his eyes, and an almost tangible glow of flame flashed past. He couldn't help but feel doubtful.
'The nodes generated this time seem to be completely different from the information I've checked.'
In his sea of consciousness, the structure of the two diamonds seemed to have been cast and firmly condensed together.
Andrew knew very well that these were two fire element magic nodes, which meant that he had successfully become an intermediate mage. However, just by looking at it with the naked eye, one would think that this was simply an overly large node.
'Could it be that this is another benefit of cultivating the diamond spiritual structure?'
Andrew stroked his chin. Previously, when he had just constructed the spiritual structure, he had discovered that the outer shell of the diamond-like object had some synapse-like devices. At first, Andrew had not realized what these things were used for, but now he finally understood.
'They can help me create new magic nodes and still condense them together.'
This meant that even among other intermediate mages, Andrew would only use up half of the spiritual power of others, and the speed of his magic would also be twice as fast.
This was because other people needed to mobilize the power of two nodes, while Andrew only needed to mobilize one, and the increase in his combat power would reach an incredible level!
'If that's the case, my current strength is probably ranked among the best in the starry skies, other than the fact that I've only mastered one type of fire element.'
'However, there's another problem. When many talented mages on the Blue Planet advance to intermediate mages, they will concurrently cultivate other elements of magic to increase their combat power...'
Although Andrew was not worried about the issue of combat power, he had some thoughts of comparing himself to the geniuses in the starry skies. He did not know if he should switch to cultivating other elements of magic now. After pondering for a while, he suddenly burst into laughter.
'Although my talent has increased, my lifespan will not increase until I reach the realm of the great mage. Cultivating other types of magic would be far less meaningful to me than increasing my lifespan.'
He pondered. The attitude of the tester from before was enough to explain everything. Previously, due to the limitation of a mage's lifespan, the older he was, the weaker his strength would be.
Andrew was now a hundred times stronger than his peers, but it was only because his talent was too high. If he could solve the lag in his lifespan, his ability would soar again.
'In that case, I should focus on one element first.'
He made up his mind, and then looked at the situation around him with a sudden realization. He found that most of the crystal energy had been drained, and only a few of them seemed to have some stock left.
Andrew thought about it and made up his mind.
'I'd better leave quickly. Although the training room is booked on a day-to-day basis, draining the magic power in one go is something that the Magic Association probably won't do once in more than ten years.'
'It won't be good if they blame me.'
With this in mind, he opened the door of the training room and quickly disappeared into the Mage Tower.
...
Andrew did not leave the Association directly. He turned around and entered the library again, preparing to find some information about intermediate magic. At this moment, the phone on his waist rang. It was the vice president of the Magic Association, the person who had offered him great benefits.
He was in a good mood. He didn't know yet that the Magic Crystal Room had already been emptied by Andrew.
"Mr. Smith? We will soon have a big competition with the Academy in Faerun City. Do you wish to grace the competition..."
"The Academy Competition?"
Andrew frowned.
"Yes, your son, Tim, is one of the leading figures in our Academy. Also, Miss Mary has obtained the qualification to participate in the competition. If you are interested, there is still one seat left on the committee. Do you want me to hold that seat for you?"
After Lanza said this, Andrew's interest was aroused.
Andrew knew the standard of his son Tim, and with the help of the Star Race, to put it bluntly, this competition was most likely his stage.
Thus, after pondering for a moment, he said to the other end of the phone.
"Then President Lanza, I'll have to trouble you. In addition, when the time comes, I might have to disguise myself a little. After all..."
"Okey, I understand. You don't want your child to know your current identity, right? I'll arrange it properly," Lanza promised happily.
In the Academy's Grand Competition, it was nominally a competition between students. However, the upper echelons of Rafax City and Faerun City would also fight openly and secretly.
'Andrew Smith is already quite formidable at the intermediate mage realm. Moreover, from what he said, he has most likely advanced recently. With his help, he will be able to suppress Faerun City!'
The vice president was so excited in his office that he almost knocked over the teacup in his hand.