The next day, as Vale walked to class, he didn't hear a single rumor about the Black Masked Man. Apparently, Kirilenko hadn't spread the news of Vale's actions as the Black Masked Man to the other students. With the addition of the magic radiation stone from Kirilenko, Vale now had two magic radiation stones. He intended to upgrade himself to apprentice magus stage two before continuing the [Chain Quest 2].
When Vale arrived at his class, he found that it was divided by year and talent. His class, 5D, was for students who had been studying in the academy for five years with low talent. Almost all of his classmates were orphans brought in by the academy, with one exception – Brenda Martine.
She was the only person in the class with royal blood, and was known by the nickname of "the fallen genius". It was said that she had shown extraordinary talent since childhood and even when Vale had just entered the academy, Brenda's fame was still heard everywhere. However, in her third year at the academy, she had never shown her talent again and was still stuck in the apprentice mage stage one.
So far, all of Vale's plans were going smoothly, and the presence of the system had increased his confidence. He believed that in less than a year, he would be able to break through to a beginner magus. He also believed that one day, he would leave the academy, and for that reason, he thought that having a friend with a noble identity, like Brenda, would help him a lot in the outside world.
"A network of friends would be a great tool for solving plenty of small problems," Vale muttered to himself.
Although there were many magi in this world, many of them came from noble families, so having a noble identity was still very useful. The presence of magus had even made it possible for noble families to maintain themselves for hundreds of years.
"If I help her during the annual test, I should be able to befriend her," Vale thought. He believed that Brenda would be suspicious of his intentions if he just walked up to her and asked her to be friends, as students at this academy rarely started friendships. However, if Vale saved her during the annual test, Brenda would likely open up to him more.
As Vale was thinking about how to befriend Brenda, Ms. Rosaline, the teacher of history and general knowledge, entered class 5D. The atmosphere of the class suddenly became livelier – Ms. Rosaline was a very popular teacher among both boys and girls. She was in her twenties and had been known to care for her students more than other teachers, making her a favorite teacher, especially for classes filled with low-talent students like this one.
"Good morning, everyone. I see that you guys are still thinking about the annual test. I understand that very well. However, starting from the sixth year onwards, there are no longer classes that cater to students with low talent. This means that those who can't pass the test will have to drop out of the academy."
In classes 6 to 8, the intensity of the lessons dropped dramatically. Students usually focused on studying with one teacher to deepen their expertise in a particular field while continuing their meditation.
There were two ways to graduate from the academy – the first was to become a beginner magus, no matter how old the student was. As long as they succeeded in becoming a beginner magus, they could be declared a graduate of the academy. The second, more normal way, was to wait until grade 8. If a student couldn't become a beginner magus, even though they had been in the academy for 8 years, they would be declared a graduate.
What is the difference between someone who dropped out in class 5 and someone who graduated after 8 years in the academy? The former is unlikely to ever become a beginner mage, while the latter will definitely become a beginner mage at least 3 years after graduating.
"So this morning, I simply assigned you to write an essay about your experiences at this academy."
****
For three days in a row, Vale focused only on studying during the day and meditating at night. On the fourth night of meditation, Vale was going to absorb the magic radiation stone.
In his room, Vale cleaned and arranged things neatly so that there was room for him to sit and meditate. He only used three candles as a light source, giving the room a gloomy appearance. Vale sat in the middle of the room, crossing his legs, raising his arms, and closing his eyes. He placed the magic radiation stone on his lap.
The magic radiation stone was gray, and the light intensity rose and fell continuously. Vale began using the Ice Heart Meditation Technique, focusing the technique on the magic radiation stone on his lap. He slowly sensed high-quality mana from within the stone.
"Even though it's only gray quality, the mana within it is extraordinary," Vale thought.
Vale slowly drew the mana from the magic radiation stone into his body, feeling a cold and refreshing sensation as the mana flowed into him. He guided the mana to touch the magic heart core, which suddenly became extremely active. It absorbed the mana from the magic radiation stone aggressively.
Vale continued to manage the process while maintaining the stability of the magic radiation stone. Slowly, but surely, the magic heart core in Vale's body grew. After 15 minutes, the size had doubled compared to before.
At that moment, Vale opened his eyes and whispered, "Now, the last step."
Vale transported all the remaining mana in the magic radiation stone into his body, forcing all the mana into his magic heart core. The vibration of the magic heart core grew bigger, and a moment later, cracks spread on the surface of the magic heart core.
Crack! Prang!
The magic heart core broke, but inside the broken core was a magic heart core that was slightly smaller but had a higher mana quality. The magic heart core was previously blackish-gray, but now it had turned silvery-gray.
Vale slowly stood up and looked at his body. He felt that the magic pool in his body had grown several times larger than before.
Raising his hand, Vale said, "Now I have officially become an apprentice magus stage two."
After depleting one magic radiation stone, Vale had finally reached his goal. However, a voice disrupted his mood.
[System has detected that the host has reached apprentice magus stage two. Congratulations, Host!]
[Chain Quest 2 cancelled]
[1%… 15%… 46%… 68%… 100%]
[Chain Quest 2 successfully cancelled]
"Hah? Are you kidding me? Hey, wait! I haven't finished [Chain Quest 2] yet! I haven't received my reward for the magic radiation stone!"
[The previous purpose of Chain Quest was to help the host break through to apprentice magus stage two. Since the purpose has been achieved, the quest is automatically cancelled.]
"Aaaah! My plan!"