After two days and nights, Sain emerged from the side room as an intermediate apprentice with Mental Power and Magic Spring both exceeding 30 points.
The two days of meditation left Sain, who had just made a breakthrough, feeling deeply exhausted.
Although meditation can sometimes replace some of the benefits of sleep, it is not real sleep after all.
Even with the two Nutrient Potions that his senior sister Faye had given him to supplement his energy, Sain was now physically and mentally exhausted.
As he walked out of the side room, the first thing he saw was the Alchemical Puppet that his mentor Mosido had made.
The puppet held a broom with a faint Magic Spring wave.
Its head flickered slightly with a red light, and then it entered the side room that Sain had just left to begin cleaning.
Looking around, Sain noticed that there were no signs of his mentor Mosido or his two senior brothers and sisters in the first floor living room.
If he were to push open the door to the laboratory recklessly, he might disturb them while they were conducting experiments or researching magic.
So Sain tidied up his clothes a bit and left his mentor's place.
...
Being an intermediate apprentice at the Dark Magic Academy in Mosobla City meant that Sain was somewhat of an expert.
According to the ratio of apprentices at various levels in the academy, intermediate apprentices accounted for about 80% of all apprentices.
More powerful magic and more Magic Spring indicated that intermediate apprentices in the underground world had some self-defense capabilities.
And once they reached the level of intermediate apprentice or above, the Dark Magicians in the academy would not easily kill them.
Of course, intermediate and higher level apprentices who possessed greater strength and enjoyed more resources in the academy also had corresponding obligations.
Every two months, the academy would assign mandatory tasks.
The simpler and less dangerous ones involved guarding the city gates of Mosobla City, but these were jobs that required certain connections and background.
There were also more dangerous tasks, such as venturing deeper into the underground world to collect certain magical materials or to kill corresponding magic beasts.
The mandatory tasks for low-level apprentices were only opened once a year, but intermediate apprentices had one every two months and they were generally more dangerous.
This made the academy's mandatory tasks the main culprit for the deaths and injuries of intermediate apprentices at the Dark Magic Academy.
However, intermediate apprentices also received more academy points after each task, compared to low-level apprentices.
It is only with sufficient Integral Points that intermediate apprentices can afford to go to the public library to consult materials or exchange for some urgently needed magic materials.
On the second day of becoming an intermediate apprentice, Sain finally obtained permission to enter the laboratory where his mentor Mosido usually works.
"Take a good look at these magic notebooks later," Mosido said, handing Sain five heavy books before pointing to a small experimental station in the corner of the lab.
"Today, you'll be helping your senior sister observe and record the energy data from that experimental station."
These five magic books were at least twice as thick as Sain's previous acquisitions, "Fire Elemental Basics" and "Introduction to Alchemy."
They were titled "The Molding Properties of Fire Elementals," "The Combination of Alchemy and Elemental Power," "Encore Annotations," "The Essence of Magic Spring," and "Introduction to Wizarding World Continent-Wide Basics."
The weight of these books was exaggerated, with the last book being almost half a meter in length and almost as tall as Sain's shoulder.
Was this the weight of knowledge?
Sain also noticed a detail: when his mentor handed him these books, they appeared out of thin air in front of him.
Sain had previously assisted other formal Magicians in experiments in public classrooms, and he knew this was a very rare type of spatial equipment.
These five magic books were only a small portion of the knowledge that intermediate apprentices needed to master along their journey.
Lena, a genius, had spent nearly fifteen years in the intermediate apprentice rank before accumulating enough knowledge to break through to the advanced apprentice rank.
Sain had also discussed with Lena in bed. According to Lena, the process of intermediate apprentices evolving into advanced apprentices was not just about the growth of Mental Power and Magic Spring.
It also required continuous acquisition of knowledge.
Only when intermediate apprentices have created and constructed a complete advanced magic in their own minds can they have the capital to launch an attack on the advanced apprentice rank.
With the complexity of advanced magic, it takes not only a vast but also a comprehensive knowledge system to outline the opponent with one's own Mental Power.
Merely memorizing an advanced spell model does not mean one can become an advanced apprentice.
If one only knows the result without understanding the reasons, the biggest probability is to trigger the Magic Spring backlash.
The impact can cause severe damage to one's spiritual sea, but losing one's life is the real cost.
Lena also went through years of accumulation and learning before starting to construct spell models.
For intermediate apprentices, one should not be blindly arrogant and rashly explore higher-level spells.
Diligence and knowledge accumulation are the staircases for their progress and growth.
Normally, entering the advanced apprentice level at the age of thirty is considered a genius.
However, the apprentices of the Dark Magic Academy typically enter the advanced apprentice level between the ages of forty and fifty.
Sain did not ask Senior Sister Faye how old she was this year.
Magicians always have corresponding means to extend their lifespan or maintain their youthfulness.
This is especially important for female magic apprentices.
The five magic books were laboriously moved by Sain to the laboratory corner, waiting for him to assist his mentor in completing the experiment before moving them back to his own dormitory.
Senior Sister Faye was already waiting at the small experimental table in the laboratory corner.
A complex instrument was placed on the small experimental table.
According to Senior Sister Faye's explanation, Sain and her main task were to observe a semi-transparent circular crystal on the experimental table and record the specific energy values reflected by this complex instrument.
This small experimental table was just one part of the experiment that Mentor Mosido did.
The truly important part was the large experimental table in the center of the laboratory.
There were three experimental tables in this laboratory, besides the one where the mentor was located and the one where Sain and Senior Sister Faye were located.
Senior Sister Faye explained that the last medium experimental table was controlled by the eldest Senior Brother.
The special Magic Spring radiance then rippled through every corner of this sealed laboratory.
When Sain saw Mentor Mosido embed a dazzling energy Crystal Stone, which was comparable to the bribe Ferena Master once gave to the vice dean, into the main experimental table, he couldn't help but ask Senior Sister next to him in a low voice, "Senior Sister, what experiment are we doing?"
"Well... according to the explanation from the eldest Senior Brother, we are making four-element Fission Generators."
"The one in front of us is almost complete, it seems to be the task that the academy has given to our mentor." Senior Sister Faye replied softly.