In the Meditation Room.
Under the dim light of the oil lamp, piles of vividly colored crystals sparkled atop the brown blanket.
Crack.
With a sigh inside his heart, Colin tossed the crystal fragments in his hand into the wooden bowl on the left, then picked up a new Mixed Crystal from the pile in front of him and continued his work.
Since returning to the stone house, other than eating lunch at noon and stepping out in the afternoon to move the life supplies delivered to his doorstep by the caravan, he spent all his other time making crystals.
Whenever his Magic Power was depleted, he would meditate on the spot to recover. Once recovered, he would continue making crystals.
It continued until evening.
The oil lamp flickered in the Meditation Room,
Colin saw a small heap forming in the wooden bowl for crystal waste on his left, while there were only a few completed Bright Crystals on his right.
After a while, he breathed out slowly, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes, and placed the successfully made Bright Crystal to his right.
Then he rubbed his throbbing head.
The depleted Magic Power could be restored with meditation, but the spent spirit could only be replenished through sleep.
'There are still 35 left.' Counting the remaining crystals, he gained a clearer understanding of how many Magic Crystals he could attempt to make in one day.
'Roughly about 30 per day, and I need to recover my Magic Power after every 10 I make.
I estimate that the number will increase with skill proficiency and Rank.'
He counted the number of successful Bright Crystals again on his right—
'Seven in total... The success rate is a little over 20%.'
With the market price of Bright Crystals, such a success rate was not profitable.
But he was not worried.
Under the influence of Golden Paper, his success rate for making crystals was soaring!
According to the current progress, the remaining crystals were enough to increase his success rate for making Bright Crystals to 50%.
And a 50% success rate meant breaking even, while anything above that signified turning a loss into profit.
The next day at noon.
After having lunch, Colin brought the 20 Bright Crystals he had successfully made from the previous afternoon and this morning to the market.
By now, all 65 crystals had been used up.
After some selling, buying, and haggling at the market,
his 20 Bright Crystals had been exchanged for 45 Mixed Crystals.
He walked briskly back to the stone house.
In the evening, the sky blazed with sunset colors.
Colin had just finished his meditation, stepped out of the Meditation Room, and leaned against the window, enjoying the view.
He discovered that he suddenly had nothing to do.
The day's meditation already reached its limit, and so did the number of times he could make Magic Crystals.
If it were a few days before he started making Magic Crystals, he could spend his time continuously practicing witchcraft.
But the daily work of making Bright Crystals consumed a lot of his spirit.
Although he could still cast witchcraft, practicing it non-stop was difficult.
Thus, there would always be some spare time.
Outside the window, the sun set like a blazing fire, and flocks of birds soared over the sea.
He, however, lacked the mood to relax.
Frowning and pondering for a while, he felt a surge of inspiration, turned around, walked to the wooden cabinet beside the bed, and bent down.
When he stood up, he was holding an old book with a yellow cover— "Sunlight Breathing Technique".
The dreadful state of Jeff he had seen the day before kept making him uneasy.
Since he was idle anyway, he decided to practice this Knight Breathing Method.
As for learning witchcraft, if he still could find the time, then he would consider it.
After all, studying witchcraft and practicing witchcraft were alike; they consumed spirit,
and consuming spirit would also affect the crafting of Magic Crystals.
The crafting of Magic Crystals was directly related to whether he could advance, which was his most important goal at the moment. Compared to that, everything else had to take a back seat.
Time once again hit the fast-forward button.
In the following days, Colin crafted crystals every morning, practiced the Sunlight Breathing Technique in the afternoon, and went to meditate in the evening, using the sporadic time in between to practice witchcraft.
His life was full and regular.
Two days later, the newly exchanged 45 crystals were sold out again,
and Colin headed to the market, this time bringing back 75 Mixed Crystals.
Another two days passed, and the 75 Mixed Crystals turned into 125.
Soon, a week had passed.
In the late afternoon, by the stone house bed,
Colin was practicing the Sunlight Breathing Technique shirtless, his sturdy chest rising and falling rhythmically with the movements of the technique.
Sweat dripped slowly down his well-defined jaw, falling onto the wooden floor and causing an almost imperceptible splash.
His bare upper body was strong and well-defined, with a clear collarbone, sculpted chest muscles, six neatly arranged abs, and profound Adonis belts... His body's muscle contours were defined without appearing too bulky.
He hadn't expected that in just eleven short days, his originally frail body would transform into this.
On one hand, this was thanks to the Sunlight Breathing Technique.
On the other hand, it was also thanks to the School providing food that was both ample in quantity and rich in variety.
Otherwise, it would not have been so easy to improve to this level.
As sweat continued to drip, Colin was focused, his chest and abdomen rising and falling rhythmically with his movements; he was nearly done with a complete set of the technique.
After a while, Colin pulled back his arms and stood still with his feet apart, then took a long breath out.
With a thought, golden particles appeared.
[Name: Colin Leonard]
[Rank: Basic Level Wizard Apprentice (53/100); Basic Level Knight (69/100)]
[Meditation Method: Apprentice Circulation Meditation (100/100) ↑; Sunlight Breathing Technique (100/100) ↑]
[Witchcraft: Ignition Technique (100/100) ↑; Condensing Water Skill (80/100); Light Brightness Skill (85/100)]
[Limit Breaking Point: 1]
A look of joy appeared on Colin's face. Compared to the slower pace of wizardry cultivation, the training of a Knight was like being on a rocket.
In these eleven days, not only had he pushed the Sunlight Breathing Technique to its limit, he had also turned from an ordinary person into a Basic Level Knight, and even surpassed his Wizard rank progress!
'If only wizardry cultivation could be this quick,' Colin thought, shaking his head as he walked to the washroom, ready for a shower.
Knights, in comparison to Wizards, were a weaker system.
A Basic Level Knight, enhanced by Blood Energy, had physical capabilities comparable to an athletic champion from his previous life.
An Intermediate Knight would reach the human body's limits.
An Advanced Knight solidified Blood Energy into a Life Seed, surpassing human physical limits.
But even an Advanced Knight would still be of flesh and blood without armor, vulnerable to swords and susceptible to fire and water.
This condition would continue until one broke through the peak of Knight power to become a Great Knight, wherein the Life Seed underwent sublimation and a qualitative change occurred.
The power of a Great Knight far exceeded human limits, able to tear apart tigers and leopards with his hands, and Blood Energy could be extended into various uses, making him as well protected as wearing a layer of thick cowhide armor without a single cover.
However, the human body had its limits, and the defense of a Great Knight was finite.
Without the modifications of witchcraft, the flesh and blood body could not compare to steel or stone; the body of flesh and blood still feared high temperatures and poison gas.
And their mental defenses were only slightly stronger than ordinary people.
Faced with a fully-equipped Basic Level Wizard Apprentice, a Knight would more often than not be at a disadvantage.
After all, for Wizards, most witchcraft could be instantly cast once mastered, and as long as one wasn't at a very close distance, they could release a couple of Mind Shocks.
And Mind Shock witchcraft,
even a Great Knight couldn't withstand many hits.
...This was, after all, a world of Wizards.