Levi continued meditating.
The subsequent meditation was no longer as easy.
Previously, Levi had visualized twelve will runes in less than an hour and became a first-tier wizard apprentice.
But when he tried to advance to a second-tier wizard apprentice, problems began to appear.
On average, it took him a full hour to form a single will rune.
It took him a total of twelve hours to increase the number of will runes to twenty-four.
Each time a new will rune was added, Levi's spiritual power increased accordingly. On average, each rune raised his spiritual attribute by 0.1.
When he reached the twenty-fourth will rune, under normal circumstances, his spiritual attribute should have increased by 1.2, rising from 3.6 to 4.8.
But the twenty-fourth rune was a critical threshold.
When Levi formed all twenty-four runes at once, it felt as though a stronger electric current surged through him, and his spiritual power suddenly broke through to 7.2!
After that, Levi spent some more time increasing his magic power to 108.
At this point, through testing, he discovered that the Level 3 Detection, which originally required 3 points of magic power to cast, now only needed 2 points.
The magic consumption of his other two spells had also decreased accordingly.
This was because Levi's spiritual power had increased, which in turn reduced magic consumption.
This was the level of a second-tier wizard apprentice.
In other words, it was the same level as Phil and Rudolf.
They had spent several years reaching this stage.
Levi, however, had done it in just a few days.
He knew something was off. After a brief moment of thought, he used Detection to confirm it, and realized it was due to his prematurely opened soul sea and the three spell crystals within it.
For a third-tier wizard apprentice to break through to the level of a First-Ring Wizard, aside from meeting the required spiritual power, the most important step was to use spiritual power to permanently solidify a spell within the soul sea.
A second-ring wizard has two spell crystals in their soul sea.
A third-ring wizard has four spell crystals.
As for Levi, his soul sea contained three spell crystals, placing him below a third-ring wizard but above a second-ring wizard.
However, his spiritual power had clearly not yet reached that standard.
It was just that the strength of his soul sea had already been elevated to that level.
In other words, until Levi's spiritual power caught up to that level, his meditation would proceed as smoothly as a flat road.
For Levi, this was an enormous surprise.
After becoming a second-tier wizard apprentice, he eagerly continued meditating.
However, this time, condensing will runes took even longer.
For the twenty-fifth rune, Levi spent over an hour.
For the twenty-sixth rune, it took nearly two hours.
For the twenty-seventh rune, it took even longer.
This continued all the way to the forty-eighth rune. In total, Levi spent five days and five nights—one hundred and twenty hours.
His spiritual attribute rose to 9.6.
His magic power increased from 108 drops to 432 drops.
At this point, Levi could already be considered a third-rank wizard apprentice.
But he still had room to improve.
According to the Basic Meditation Method, there were still six more will runes that could be condensed after reaching the third-tier apprentice stage.
These six runes took even more time.
Levi spent another seven days to complete them.
When all fifty-four will runes shimmered within Levi's soul sea, his spiritual attribute quietly reached 13.2, hitting its limit. His magic power also reached 1296 drops.
According to the Basic Meditation Method, this was the stage where one should begin attempting to break through to a first-ring wizard.
As for how to make that breakthrough, the method did not explain.
Levi understood this—it was, after all, only a basic meditation method.
He used his Level 3 Detection on the method, but unfortunately, it could not reveal that knowledge.
After all, it was only a Level 3 Detection.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to ask Rudolf and Phil directly.
When the two of them heard about Levi's progress, they were completely shocked.
"Good heavens! How did you do that?" Phil reacted strongly, unable to believe it.
"I'm not really sure either. I just kept meditating like this," Levi said, telling the truth.
"Come, let me take a look. Focus your spiritual power onto this stone," Rudolf said, taking out a stone and signaling Levi to concentrate on it.
Levi followed the instructions.
The stone immediately shone with dazzling light.
Rudolf and Phil looked at each other.
When Levi withdrew his spiritual power, the light faded. The two of them fell silent for a long while before Rudolf finally spoke, "Without a doubt, you are already a third-tier wizard apprentice."
"It's a pity our teachers didn't see you. Otherwise, they would definitely have taken you as a disciple," Phil added.
"I find that regrettable as well." Levi shrugged.
He thought to himself that if he had also apprenticed under these so-called Three Sages of the Forest, what kind of gifts would they give him upon graduation?
Just thinking about it made him a little expectant.
At that moment, Phil suddenly said, "Levi, I know why your spiritual power has been increasing so quickly!"
"Why?" Levi was startled, thinking the other party had discovered his secret.
But Phil said, "Your body must carry the bloodline of some ancient and great existence—and the concentration must be very high. It could be atavism, or perhaps some other reason. In any case, before you reach your limit, your path as a wizard will be extremely smooth."
"However, my teacher also said that one may rise through bloodline, but also be bound by it."
"The more astonishing your performance due to your bloodline, the more painful it will be once you reach your limit."
"Because your bloodline will become the shackle that prevents you from going further!"
"So that's how it is…" Levi murmured, though inwardly he did not believe it at all.
Because he knew very well that his rapid progress was not due to any bloodline, but because of the cheat ability he had brought with him after transmigrating.
Levi paused, looking thoughtful, and then asked Phil and Rudolf how to break through to a first-ring wizard.
The two of them looked at Levi with a mix of envy and jealousy, then both shook their heads.
They didn't know either.
Levi could only leave in disappointment, while the two brothers, as if stimulated, worked even more frantically on crafting the alchemical carriage for him.
As for Levi, after returning to his foul-smelling room, he did not stop.
Since meditation could no longer improve his spiritual power, he decided to devote his efforts to increasing the level of his spells, such as Detection.
Now Levi possessed 1296 drops of magic power, and Level 3 Detection only required 2 drops per use.
He could cast it 648 times in succession without even pausing—unlike before, when using it just a few times would leave him mentally exhausted.
Now, that was no longer the case.
Inside the room, Levi continuously cast Detection.
[You cast Detection once. Experience +1. Current EXP: 32/400.]
[...]
[You cast Detection once. Experience +1. Current EXP: 320/400.]
[...]
[You cast Detection once. Experience +1. Current EXP: 400/400.]
[Your Detection has reached the upgrade requirement. It can now be upgraded.]
At last, it had reached the upgrade threshold.
Levi felt a surge of emotion.
With a thought, Detection began to upgrade.
In an instant, within his soul sea, the crystal structure of Detection blurred slightly, then began to reorganize.
Before long, the restructuring was complete, and the crystal had become far more profound and complex.
Detection had reached Level 4.
As the Level 4 Detection finished upgrading, a strange fluctuation emerged within its spell crystal structure, then spread throughout the entire soul sea.
The entire soul sea began to tremble. Levi's expression suddenly changed, and his whole body stiffened.
Not much time passed.
A powerful surge of spiritual power suddenly erupted from Levi's body.
His spiritual power had actually broken past the 15-point threshold, crossing into a new energy level.
"I… became a first-ring wizard?"
Levi froze for a moment, then quickly came back to his senses and used the newly upgraded Level 4 Detection.
Each use of Level 4 Detection consumed a full 200 points of magic power—completely incomparable to the cost of Level 3.
But it was absolutely worth it.
It revealed more detailed information, allowing Levi to understand why he had suddenly advanced to a first-ring wizard.
[When Detection advanced to Level 4, it reached the formal standard of a first-ring spell. The first-ring spell crystal caused a resonance within the soul sea, fulfilling the two conditions required to become a first-ring wizard. Thus, you advanced effortlessly.]
[When you upgrade any of the other two spell crystals in your soul sea to the standard of a first-ring spell, your spiritual power will rapidly increase.]
[When you upgrade one of the two first-ring spell crystals to the standard of a second-ring spell, and your spiritual power reaches the minimum requirement of a second-ring wizard, you will be able to advance to a second-ring wizard with ease.]
"So that's how it works!"
With a thought, Levi's status panel appeared before his eyes:
[Name: Levi]
[Identity: Transmigrator, Fugitive, First-Ring Wizard, Knight]
[Strength: 3.35]
[Constitution: 3.12]
[Agility: 3.41]
[Spirit: 15]
[Charm: 1.7]
[Magic Power: 796/5000]
[Abilities: Origin Energy (non-upgradable), Detection LV4 (1/800), Conversion LV1 (98/100), Gathering Technique LV2 (8/200), Moon Wolf Knight Breathing Technique LV3 (1/400)…]
[Remark: You now understand the path to a second-ring wizard, but your situation is far from safe.]
Seeing the remark at the end of the status panel, Levi's mind stirred, and the image of a certain curvy figure surfaced in his thoughts.
'I wonder, now that I've become a first-ring wizard, do I qualify to spank the Queen?'
At that moment, Levi's thoughts shifted again, and he took out the mysterious potion he had seized from Old Bar's spy.
Previously, his Detection had only been Level 3, so the information he could obtain was incomplete, and he did not dare to drink it rashly.
But now that his Detection had reached Level 4, he decided to try again.
Levi cast Detection on the mysterious potion, and soon, a stream of information appeared—
[This is a crude potion casually concocted by the Witch of the Rapunzel Garden. It can restore severe injuries by consuming the user's life force and also enhance the user's physical attributes.]
[If consumed together with a mixture made from Star-Moon Grass, dire wolf heart blood, gray serpent gall… crushed together, it can greatly reduce the life-force cost of the potion and further enhance the user's physique.]
[The specific formula is as follows…]
Levi's eyes flickered when he saw this information.
Although he had already raised his physical condition to the level of a knight through Conversion and the Moon Wolf Knight Breathing Technique—enough to charge in and out of dozens of dire wolves without issue—he still felt that his strength was insufficient.
After all, there was a near-omniscient Magic Mirror Queen behind him who wanted his life.
He had to increase his strength as much as possible.
So, faced with this potion that had side effects, Levi was tempted.
He decided to drink it.
Of course, he did not drink it directly. Instead, following the information provided by Detection, he left White Stone Village and entered the wilderness. Using Gathering Technique, he spent a day collecting the required materials, then crushed them into a strange red-and-green liquid.
Fortunately, these materials were not rare. With Detection assisting him in the forest, Levi was able to gather everything he needed.
"Kind of disgusting."
Some of the materials he collected even included several insect corpses.
Steeling himself, Levi gulped down both the potion and the crushed mixture in one go.
Conversion immediately took effect within his body.
Soon, Levi's body began to change—turning blue one moment, red the next.
In places invisible to the naked eye, his flesh was also being reshaped under the influence of the potion's power.
Levi felt like an overinflated balloon, on the verge of bursting.
He instinctively began training according to the Moon Wolf Knight Breathing Technique.
Again and again.
Again and again!
From day to night, Levi finally absorbed the entire potion, and his body underwent a complete transformation.
But what followed was an overwhelming hunger.
His eyes even turned red from it!
Levi rushed into the forest. With Detection and Gathering Technique, combined with his now monstrous physical condition, obtaining food was effortless.
Because of his extreme hunger, he didn't even wait to cook his prey—he devoured it raw. It wasn't quite to the point of eating fur and drinking blood directly, since he still had Gathering Technique.
Using Gathering Technique, he extracted clean blood and pure cuts of meat from the prey, then ate them raw.
The taste was still mediocre, but at least he didn't have to worry about hygiene.
After more than an hour, Levi finally finished this rather undignified meal.
Only then did he have the leisure to use Detection on himself—
[Name: Levi]
[Identity: Transmigrator, Fugitive, First-Ring Wizard, Great Knight]
[Strength: 5.35]
[Constitution: 5.02]
[Agility: 5.59]
[Spirit: 15.1]
[Charm: 1.8]
[Magic Power: 258/5000]
[Abilities: Origin Energy (non-upgradable), Detection LV4 (1/800), Conversion LV1 (98/100), Gathering Technique LV2 (8/200), Moon Wolf Knight Breathing Technique LV3 (15/400)]
[Remark: You now understand the path to a second-ring wizard, but your situation is far from safe.]