Helag quickly placed the Stone Giant's heart into the cauldron, keeping the flames beneath it steady.
The heart rapidly absorbed the solution in the cauldron.
Within seconds, the solution visibly decreased.
The once blood-red heart now had a greenish tint.
As the solution continued to diminish, the heart kept beating, shrinking with each pulse.
Over time, the solution was entirely absorbed, and the heart shrank from the size of a basketball to that of an egg.
The heart no longer looked like a heart but a green, pulsating meatball.
The Dawn Dusk Potion wasn't complete yet. Helag took a dagger, cut his finger, and let his blood drip onto the heart.
The blood sizzled on contact, emitting a blood-colored smoke.
Soon, the green heart turned blood-red, lying at the cauldron's bottom, still pulsating.
Helag took a deep breath, grabbed the meatball with his bleeding hand, and swallowed it whole.
The meatball, the Dawn Dusk Potion, differed from other potions in form.
As it entered his mouth, Helag bit down, releasing a mixture of blood, potion, and other substances.
The strong, fishy taste lingered in his mouth and throat. Without his strong willpower, the taste alone could make one vomit.
Helag endured, gritting his teeth and swallowing everything.
Once in his stomach, he felt a burning sensation in his stomach and esophagus.
This wasn't an illusion; his stomach and esophagus were indeed burning.
[Detected 5% body damage. Immediate treatment recommended!]
[Detected 8% body damage. Immediate treatment recommended!]
.
.
.
Deep Blue kept issuing warnings, but Helag ignored them. This was the price of taking the Dawn Dusk Potion.
As the potion spread through his bloodstream, it reached every part of his body.
Helag felt a burning sensation all over, indicating the potion was working.
[Detected 15% body damage!]
[Detected 21% body damage!]
Deep Blue's warnings flashed red in Helag's vision.
"Deep Blue, continue monitoring my body," Helag said calmly, his mind clear despite the pain.
Energy particles, especially dark energy particles, began converging around him, forming a particle storm.
These particles attached to his body, piercing his flesh like countless needles, causing both pain and itching.
"Beep! Beep! Are you trying to die?" Helag suddenly found himself standing on a crosswalk, the traffic light red, with a driver honking and cursing at him.
Ignoring the driver's curses, Helag looked around, seeing tall buildings.
"Isn't that where I used to work?" Helag recognized his old workplace.
"Wait! This isn't real!"
Using his strong mental power, Helag quickly snapped out of it, the scene vanishing, returning him to the cold lab.
"Too bad I didn't borrow a cigarette," Helag chuckled, slightly regretful.
"Hmm? Did I succeed?"
He realized that when the hallucination ended, his advancement was complete.
"Deep Blue, check my current stats."
[Helag Merlin: Strength 7.2, Agility 6.5, Constitution 8.1, Spirit 17.5, Magic 8%.]
Helag saw his magic was down to 8%, though the starry dot matrix still had reserve magic.
"Is this the force field?"
Helag felt a magical force field covering his body, a hallmark of a third-level wizard apprentice.
This force field acted as a natural shield, comparable to zero-level spell shields, providing constant protection without consuming magic.
It significantly enhanced defense, giving third-level apprentices an edge over first and second-level apprentices.
The force field also emitted radiation, affecting ordinary people with prolonged exposure.
This radiation was uncontrollable and grew stronger with the wizard's power.
Thus, wizards rarely lived in densely populated cities, with third-level apprentices and formal wizards staying away from ordinary people.
Even wizard organizations were located far from human settlements, inaccessible to ordinary people.
For third-level apprentices, having children with ordinary people became difficult, with fertility significantly reduced.
Formal wizards like Dino stayed in remote areas, visiting descendants like Elisa briefly to avoid radiation effects.
Helag estimated his force field's strength, slightly weaker than his dark energy shield but still impressive.
After advancing, Helag took a bottle of Starry Sky Potion, mixed it with water, and drank it.
He began meditating, noticing a new dot matrix with fifteen points in his mind.
"It seems the number of points increases with each matrix."
Helag reasoned that with each matrix storing 50% of his magic, more points meant more stored magic.
He began meditating on the eleventh star.
Hours later, Helag opened his eyes.
"The Starry Sky Potion's effect has diminished. It still works but will likely lose effectiveness after advancing to a formal wizard."
After meditating, Helag found the potion's effect halved.
It still accelerated his meditation but was much less effective.
He wasn't sure if this was due to advancing to a third-level apprentice or developing resistance from frequent use.
Helag shook his head, deciding to address this after becoming a formal wizard. For now, he'd make do.