A simple spell like Fiery Hands would require Leon to spend approximately 20 Mage Energy points, meaning he could cast four Fiery Hands in succession. But, of course, this was only in theory, as it was extremely difficult to achieve in reality.
When a Mage had a full "Energy Reserve," their mind operated at its best. It didn't matter if they were pondering difficult questions or casting spells; they would perform best when their energy reserve was full. However, when a Mage's energy reserve dropped to ⅓ of the maximum, their mind would become fatigued. The most significant symptom of this would be dizziness and swelling of certain tissues in the brain, causing the Mage to feel ill and start to vomit.
If he attempted to cast a spell at that moment, even one that would normally take only five seconds, he might not be able to cast it in ten seconds, and there was a good chance he wouldn't be able to cast the spell at all.
Therefore, when Mages were forced to cast spells frequently, they did their best to conserve a portion of their Spirit energy to avoid all the negative side effects of Spirit Fatigue.
From the symptoms Leon was experiencing, it was clear that his energy reserve was at less than 5%, and thus, he was suffering from Spirit Fatigue. The only solution to this was to have a good night's sleep. After all, sleep is how the brain rejuvenates.
The Chip was great, but it consumed a large amount of Leon's Spirit energy when it was operating. So, once he realized he was suffering from Spirit Fatigue, Leon contorted against his bed, threw himself onto it, and immediately fell asleep.
The rest of the day passed as he slept, and the darkness of night settled over the swamp. Now, the moon rose in the dark sky, although its surface was rarely seen through the dense clouds and fog. A deep silence reigned over the tranquil Swamp Tower, as many of its inhabitants slept.
During this time, a tall and strange dark shadow suddenly appeared beside Leon's bed, leaning over him and silently watching him.
As a result of the nausea from his severe Spirit Fatigue, Leon did not sleep well. Even though he was asleep, his brows were tightly knit in a grimace, and his face was filled with anguish.
The strange-looking human figure was backlit by the moonlight, so its entire body was shrouded in indescribable darkness. No one could clearly see its face, but no one could ignore the pair of blood-red eyes gleaming in that invisible face. Those eyes would make anyone who saw them tremble in fear.
"Blood... blood... I need blood..."
The dark shadow stretched out its two arms, as if to grasp Leon's neck, but for some unknown reason, it always withdrew, as if reluctant to do what it was trying to do.
"No! You can't hurt him. He... He... Was the only one who didn't turn his back on me."
Its behavior seemed to suggest that it was experiencing a fierce mental battle within itself.
"Remember when he called me a little princess? Besides.... He... He... Dared to say that we would have fun in his room when I got better…"
"Hahaha~~~"
"For daring to say such things, he must die…"
"NOOOO!!"
"Harming him now would be worse than a knife cutting into my flesh."
After a few minutes, it seemed to regain control of itself. It paused for a moment, then looked at Leon, who was completely unaware of what was happening around him. Moments later, it turned and leaped through the window.
This window opened to the outside of the tower. This meant that there was a formidable Magical Formation attached to it, which would make it impossible for any intruder to walk freely in this place. But strangely, when this dark shadow grasped the wall of the tower outside Leon's room, it never triggered the magical formation surrounding the tower.
If Leon had seen this, he would have realized that this being was a Mage Apprentice, as only Mage Apprentices had the Magical Talismans that allowed them to travel freely through the magical formation.
The dark shadow was climbing up the outer wall of the Mage Tower at an extremely fast speed. Its movements were quick and agile, but it appeared effortless as the shadow flowed around the vertical wall of the tower. This was an impressively impossible feat of strength and dexterity that would have astonished anyone who witnessed it. Surprisingly, it seemed to intentionally move through the dark corners of windows and edges, where the moonlight could not reach. This made its movements even more impressive, but also difficult to see.
Its movement was quick and graceful, making no noise throughout its journey. Moreover, it seemed to be searching for something specific, as it deliberately avoided the rooms that were still lit by candlelight. After searching for a while, it finally seemed to find what it was looking for.
It hung on the side of a narrow window, tilting its head slightly to one side and listening for a moment. Only after confirming that the sound of breathing coming from inside the room was steady and deep did it carefully scale the narrow window.
For some time, nothing could be seen or heard inside the room. After a few minutes, it finally left the room, the faded smell of blood lingering around its body.
It was obvious that the dark shadow was pleased with itself. Before sneaking away, it crouched at the narrow window and casually looked up at the sky. At that moment, the clouds had cleared enough for the moon to shine, spilling silver light from above and illuminating the face of the dark figure.
What was revealed was the youthful face of a teenager. Her face was fair and beautiful, but if someone looked closely, they would see two sharp incisors protruding slightly from her upper lip, and if they looked even closer, they would notice blood staining those teeth.
The beautiful young girl used her tiny tongue to gently lick both of her teeth. When she withdrew her tongue, she pursed her lips, as if savoring a fine wine. Only after sitting for a moment did she leap from the window and disappear into the dark shadows below, where the moonlight could never reach.
...
The next day, Leon was awakened by a rapid knocking at his door.
Leon shook his head, which was still a bit dazed, then got up and opened the door. To his surprise, he found three people standing outside.
Leader Apprentice Theodore, Apprentice Brandon, and Apprentice Samuel.
The position of Leader Apprentice was personally assigned by Grandmaster Eclivel, and Theodore was the current Leader Apprentice. Therefore, his status was supreme among all Mage Apprentices. Most of the time, he would carry out management tasks on behalf of the Grandmaster, overseeing all the Mage Apprentices within the Tower. Furthermore, as he possessed the strength of an intermediate Apprentice, all lesser Apprentices had to obey his orders. If anyone antagonized him, he could easily lead that person down a path to death, and they would never know how it all happened.
As for the other two men, Brandon and Samuel, they were merely novice Apprentices like Leon, but both were good at flattery and followed Theodore day by day, licking his boots. Hence, they were considered the trusted followers of the Leader Apprentice.
So, wherever Theodore appeared, these two sycophants would always be there. The relationship between them was similar to the symbiotic behavior between Bloodsucking Rattans and Murderous Trees. The two sycophants needed Theodore's help. Only then would they have the privilege of choosing safer daily tasks. Meanwhile, Theodore needed the assistance of these two Apprentices to contain the idealists who wished for his position.
Leon had an unsociable and eccentric character, so he rarely made contact with others. Therefore, the relationship between him and this group was not good, but it wasn't bad either. This is why he felt truly surprised to find these guys standing at his door.
Leader Apprentice Theodore was a young man in his early twenties. He had a hawk-like nose, a pair of thick eyebrows, and sharp eyes. Although his facial features did not make him look fierce, he still gave an imposing air to anyone who looked at him. The moment the wooden door opened, Theodore's intermittent gaze immediately fell on Leon's face, making Leon feel as if his skin had been burned.
Leon felt a small shock in his heart.
He knew this was an anomaly that only occurred when the spirit energy overflowed, and it was a sign that this individual's overall power had reached a very high level.
Among all the Apprentices in the Tower, there were indeed very strict divisions based on the power of the Apprentice.
Those who had mastered only one or two spells and had a spirit level of 10 or less were all considered Beginner Apprentices, making up the largest number of Apprentices in this tower. As for those who had mastered three to four spells and had a spirit level of 11 to 15, they were classified as Intermediate Apprentices, regarded as quite powerful. Finally, those who had mastered five or more spells and had a spirit level of over 16 points were the elite of the Tower: Advanced Mage Apprentices.
Once the spirit points reached 20, one qualified to become a Pseudo Mage, and the Grand Master Mage would give them special treatment, preparing them for the ceremony that would transform them into official Mages.
It should be noted that, at present, there were no real Pseudo Mages in the Swamp Tower!
As for Theodore, although it was unknown how many magical spells he had mastered, with the aid of some unique magical items, he was sometimes able to unleash power that was no weaker than that of an Advanced Apprentice. Within the Tower, there were only three people who had reached the level of Advanced Apprentice: Deadshot, the Worm Controller, and Super Girl.
Of course, these were not their real names, but surnames.
Deadshot was Evan, a scary guy from the West Coast. To enhance his own power, he had actually replaced one of his eyes with a hawk's eye. This granted him some strange abilities.
The Worm Controller was Blake. He was even weirder than Deadshot. He was able to create a swarm of horrific insects from his own blood and flesh. Battling him meant that a single careless mistake in the fight could end with one being devoured by thousands of insects!
As for the last one, Super Girl had an immense thirst for violence. Armed with a huge steel sword taller than an average human, she was undefeated among all the Apprentices. She was so violent and terrible in battle that no one dared challenge her.
The three had mastered some magical spells with tremendous power or possessed some strange and unique abilities. Regardless, they had transcended the status of ordinary Apprentices and all became candidates with the potential to break through and achieve the status of Pseudo Mage.
Thus, faced with the blazing gaze of such a powerful Mage Apprentice, Leon's spirit clearly was not enough to support him, and his mind was suppressed by the person standing before him.
"Leon, something happened in the Tower last night! Do you know anything about it?" Leader Apprentice Theodore was still looking coldly at Leon without saying anything. It was Brandon who was speaking.
"What? Something happened? Was someone killed in a magical experiment?" Obviously, Leon had no idea what was going on.
"There were no issues with magical experiments. Someone was murdered inside their room!" Upon discovering that Leon's intrigued eyes and shocked expression did not seem fake, Theodore spoke slowly, but his eyes remained focused on Leon's face, certainly not missing any of his expressions.
"Murdered?" Leon was startled; he immediately panicked and asked, "Who died?"
Although, from time to time, Apprentices died in accidents in the Swamp Tower, most deaths occurred during dangerous missions or bizarre magical experiment accidents. There had never been an instance of a Mage Apprentice being murdered by someone else. After all, every Apprentice was a precious asset to Grand Master Mage Eclivel, and he would never allow his Apprentices to kill each other.
Once something like this was discovered by him, those who violated his will would definitely be severely punished.
"Muret."
Leon frowned.
He knew Muret. That guy was just an ordinary Apprentice who had only mastered one magical spell… that was all he knew. The only thing he could remember was that this guy had a face full of freckles and was younger than him.
"So, why are you here…?"
"We need to check your room. We are not suspecting you, but we are checking every Apprentice's room." Theodore said in a cold manner.
"It's true, we have to check everyone's rooms. Step aside quickly, or we'll tell the Grandmaster that you are guilty of this murder… Do you think you'll live long if that happens?" Undoubtedly, Samuel was the biggest annoyance here, spewing threats at Leon.
Leon felt anger in his heart, but he gritted his teeth and slowly suppressed it.
They were checking everyone's rooms?
Would you have the courage to check Deadshot's room? And the Worm Controller's room? Or maybe Super Girl's room? You would turn around and walk away if Super Girl was standing in front of you!
Although his heart was filled with anger, Leon merely frowned. He hesitated for a brief moment before finally stepping aside and allowing them to enter his room.
...
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