The servants carried Adolf onto the couch, their steps hushed as they retreated to resume their other duties.
"What? … What happened?" Adolf murmured as his eyes flickered open. Suddenly, they widened in horror. He quickly scrambled to his feet and bowed deeply.
"I'm terribly sorry you had to witness that, young mistress. Please accept my deepest apologies."
Isha waved dismissively, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips. "Oh, come now. It was about time for something like this to happen. I was growing weary of your perpetually stoic demeanour. Adolf fainting? That will surely be the gossip of the century."
Isha laughed. She could not help it. Nothing was more amusing than watching a man who showed no emotion faint because of it.
"Young mistress, please. Let us just forget about this … incident."
Isha continued to chuckle heartily. "Forget? Adolf, the servants already know of it. No one is going to forget."
"Very well, Mistress. I shall pay no heed to such idle gossip."
Blast! Stoic Adolf is Back. Couldn't it have lasted longer? I was having so much fun.
"Adolf, you are too serious for your own good," she said with a sigh.
"It is part of the job description, Mistress."
Isha grunted. She paced back and forth, her gaze shifting between the two ornate boxes resting on the tea-table.
"If I may be so bold, young mistress, may I ask what you will do with these stones?"
Isha traced the intricate carvings on the lids of the boxes. Her parents, even the simple box, had to be expensive for them. "Why, use them, of course."
"All of them?"
Isha eyed the two boxes filled with Coral Stones, inviting her to use it. She now understood why both her parents had been adamant about her not advancing to the next stage of her class. She was only a level 10 [Practitioner] but she could advance whenever she wanted. Her parents had stopped her.
For a moment, she thought of refusing the Coral Stones given to her by her mother just to spite her. But she knew that was the stupidest thoughts that had ever crossed her mind. One did not cast aside treasures of such rarity and power on a whim just to prove a point.
"Yes," She said.
"But that would mean…" Adolf said, his gaze shifting between Isha and the boxes of Coral Stones laid out before them.
"Yes, I know. With these stones, I will surpass my mother's Mana reserve by a hundredfold, if not more by the time I reach her advancement level."
When a practitioner advanced to the next stage of their class, their Mana reserve was doubled or sometimes even tripled. That meant the more Mana you had at the beginning of your journey, the more Mana you end up with at the end.
"Young mistress, you will probably become the most powerful mage on the continent."
"Please don't patronise me, Adolf. I'm certain I am not the only one benefiting from her family name, am I? There must be others."
"Perhaps you're right, young Mistress," Adolf conceded with a nod, "but there can't be more than a few, can there? Few would invest such a substantial amount of Coral Stones in a single person."
"We'll see," She said sceptical about Adolf's words. If her parents could do this for her, why couldn't the parents of other magical bloodline families do the same for their own children. "But for now, go and fetch my wand, Adolf, would you? It's about time I advanced to the next stage."
"Of course, young mistress." He bowed and left to do as he was told.
Once he was out of her sight, she concentrated deeply, and channelled her Magicore—the core of her magical essence—and, with its power, crushed the Coral Stones before her.
Instantly, a surge of power, unlike anything she had ever experienced flooded through her, engulfing her in a torrent of energy that resonated to her Magicore. The room seemed to pulse with magic as her body absorbed the essence of crushed stones.
As quickly as it had begun, the rush of power subsided, leaving Isha gasping for breath, her heart pounding in exhilaration and awe at the enhancement that her Magicore had just gone through.
She closed her eyes and searched for her Magicore. It did not take her long, not even a second. After two years, the process had become instinct for her. Her Magicore hung there in a part of her soul like a red sun brimming with a reserve of power that was thousands of times larger than before.
And so it was done. Now, it was time to advance in her class.
The sound of approaching footsteps drew her attention, and she looked up to see Adolf returning, carrying a slender, metallic box.
He presented it to her with a bow. "Your wand, young mistress."
"Ah, there it is."
"I see that you have already used the stones, mistress."
"Yes. It is nearly time for my master to arrive and I didn't want to waste anymore of it."
Adolf nodded.
Isha met his gaze squarely. "Are all my belongings packed?"
"Yes, everything you instructed."
"Good. Now open the box, would you?"
Adolf nodded again and reached for the key that hung around his neck. He unlocked the enchanted box and carefully lifted the lid. Inside was an electric-blue wand crafted especially for her by her father.
As soon as the lid was open, Isha felt a subtle, insistent tugging sensation emanating from the wand—a pull that sought to draw her into its empty world.
The wand was not ordinary. It was her Nexus—a part of her soul, something that allowed her to level up. Ignoring a call from your Nexus could leave you with a nasty headache. To manage this, she had stored the wand in an enchanted box designed to suppress the tugging sensation until she decided to advance.
It took about ten years for a Nexus to form, from one of the items you valued the most or have lived with the most. So no one under the age of ten could ever level up.
Isha was twelve, and she had been stuck at the edge of advancement for over a year and a half because of her parents' instructions.
With a deep breath, she surrendered herself to the sensation, feeling the world around her dissolve into an ocean of white.
Now, she had only two options, either reject the advancement and remain stuck in that class forever or accept it and advance further.
Conditions Met.
Congratulations, You Can Now Advance To The Next Stage Of Your Class.
Do You Wish To Advance Further?
Please Give A Verbal Response.
"Yes," Isha answered. Finally!
Something shifted within her—a change that rippled through her soul. Her Magicore was shrinking, becoming smaller and smaller. The sensation was not painful, only uncomfortable. It stopped when it was the size of her fingernail.
To an untrained observer, it would appear that her Magicore had diminished in size. However, to Isha's heightened magical senses, she felt her Mana reserve and its quality expand again by twice as much as before.
Congratulations, You Have Advanced To The Next Stage Of Your Class.
[High Practitioner] Level 1.
As she had expected, the announcement did not end there.
Level 1 [High Practitioner] Is Inappropriate For Someone Of Your Talents. Appraising A New Level For You.
[Level Up] * 7
Congratulations, You Have Levelled Up Seven Times. You Are Now A Level 8 [High Practitioner].
Congratulations, You Have Gained A New Skill.
…