The day was rather dreary, a storm raging outside. The dark grey clouds meant little light was available. Thaddeus worked by Magelight, a ball of light hovering at a fixed point of his choosing above his head. The light would move with him as he moved. Another four months had gone by and he was deep into his intermediate studies. He had chosen to only learn three spells from battle magic, and focus on his general education. Due to his ability to concentrate, focus and his mental fortitude, he had also graduated from needing a physical focus and gained an extremely rare ability to cast wordless magic. It's not that wordless magic was a rare ability. One generally wasn't able to gain the ability to cast wordless magic until they were a magic adept or Arch-mage. Never before had an apprentice mage had this ability.
With the sales of his potion and healing services, and there magical services he quickly rose to be one of the wealthiest members of town, with a few hundred gold stashed away, not that that said much because in the bigger cities he'd still be considered a peasant.
He could now heal most wounds and broken bones provided they weren't life-threatening. He could also recognize and cure most poisons up to intermediate class.
Intermediate spells posed very little challenge energy wise at this point he could cast a few before needing to rest
Thaddeus had also learned to enchant clothing and objects as well. Life was definitely a whole lot easier with the self cleaning enchantment. Washing laundry was a thing with the past for him.
He found a surprising income in enchanting people's weapons and farmers tools for durability.
The ladies love the anti-fading and self cleaning enchantments for their best dresses and gowns.
After his morning fitness routine of push ups, sit ups and pull ups, barring his daily jog because of the rain, he threw himself into his studies as usual. At the moment he was working on a scrying spell. A spell that would let him see thing from afar through a reflective surface, provided he'd seen the place or person or object of his scrying before. He actually found this spell to be incredibly easy and rather boring because he had no interesting subject to scry. It was the next spell that really had him exited.
It was a gravity spell called Lighten the Load that reduced the weight of the casters target. This also reduced energy requirements to levitate said target or enabled said target to move more swiftly and jump higher.
This spell was the first spell that is needed to create a method of flying for himself. I mean sure, he could buy a broom to fly on, but he suspected that would be rather uncomfortable, and while a lot of mages preferred carpets, they tended to be flimsy. No, Thaddeus something of his own in mind. Most of it involved enchantments though and the needed enchantments we're in the advanced section. And if they weren't, he'd have to create them and enchantment creation was also in the advanced section. But that wasn't going to stop him. Through careful study of runes and enchantments, he was sure he did determined how to create his own enchantments and the rules required to create them.
What he was going to build would be simple. It was essentially a round metal platform he could stand or sit on and control. The platform would be enchanted for flight and flight control via psychokinesis, which meant he'd be able to control it with his mind. It would also be enchanted with lighten the load, altitude comfort adjustment and a shield that would block the winds and insects or birds while flying but still allow enough air in to breath.
Now that he was about to learn lighten the load he was almost ready to create his flight device.
"Redigendum pondus"
With that simple incantation Thaddeus found he was able to lift his bed with one hand. But the moment he did so, he dropped it as his body spasmed uncontrollably, pain shooting throughout the whole of his being. Waves of magical energy crash throughout his body. They seem to permeate every cell of his being, changing them from the top to the bottom. Focusing inward, he marveled at what he saw. His body was changing on a cellular level. Each cell seem to glow. Comparing the changed cells to the ones that hadn't yet changed, he could see that each cell that underwent the transformation was able to hold far more energy and glowed brighter than the ones who hadn't.
The process seemed to take several hour before it was complete and in that time Thaddeus must have fallen asleep. He found himself waking up with the book laying open on his chest.
Congratulations Thaddeus,
You have just experienced what we call a bodily break through. As majors gain more power, their bodies need to change to accommodate this. This generally happens at the beginning of each rank. The signifies that you have enough power to be considered an apprentice adept. This, combined with your level of control and spell casting ability, means that you have stepped into the rank of apprentice adept. It happened a little earlier than I had expected, but that is nothing but good news. Momentarily, you will receive your apprentice adept badge. One cannot be considered a full fledge mage until not only meet the power, control and spell casting abilities, but they must also graduate their schooling. With your rate of advancement, you will most likely find you graduate before physically meeting the requirements of mage. This is a no concern and you will be granted a special badge that says half-step mage. It is not common, but there are a few genius students on occasion who need these badges.
I must say your studies are progressing faster than any student I have ever seen. Once you complete intermediate studies the advanced section will be unlocked beginners and intermediate studies both consisted of two years of study each. You've managed to condense these four years into around one year of study. Advanced magic has 5 years worth of study, however the difference between advanced and intermediate magic is much greater power wise than the difference between intermediate and beginner magic. Because of this I estimate it will take you around 2 and a half years to complete your advanced courses.
You'll be able to chose from one of three electives to start. Spell creation, the science of potions, and creative Enchanting. All three of these classes focused on learning how to create your own products and spells. In order to graduate, you will need to create one unique intermediate or advanced spell, potion or charm and submit it for approval and publishing to the general public. This ensures that magic education and progress does not stagnate. Your history lessons have no doubt made you aware of the dark era before the last grand magis where a lot of magical knowledge was lost. This is our way of ensuring that never happens again. To this day our magic still has not advanced to the point it was before the magic dark ages in the era of floating cities and magical wonders.
Good luck in your studies and happy advancement.
With the closing of the book a small brass badge fell into Thaddeus' lap. Taking a moment, he pinned it on his cloak and admired it for several long minutes. He was proud, but he also felt a pit In his stomach. He was depressed with nobody to share this achievement with. It was times like these he missed his parents the most. Someday he'd be strong enough to avenge them and destroy the group of bandits who'd murdered them.