Chapter 1023: Level Certification, Temporary Creation

In the Spell Laboratory, after finishing the tests related to Arcane Energy, Xia Duo tried casting several Elf Magic spells, ranging from the 1st Circle to the 7th Circle, and was quite proficient at them.

However, the casting method of Elf Magic always gave him the feeling of begging the Magic Net for magic, which made one feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Although this feeling was more similar to "Heaven and Man Unity" on Earth, Xia Duo preferred the Netheril Magic way of forcibly manipulating the Magic Net String with his own will to construct specific energy circuits to complete a spell.

This psychologically provides a sense of security that everything is under control.

And this also aligns with Xia Duo's consistent intuitive perception of external objects: "A gentleman's nature is no different, but he is good at utilizing external objects." When utilizing external objects, one naturally hopes to be able to fully control them.

However, the way Elf Mages sense the Magic Net is not without its merits as a supplementary form of cognition for Arcanists; perhaps after magic reaches the end of the 10th Circle, it might have miraculous effects.

……

Not long after leaving the Spell Laboratory, Xia Duo checked the time and was just about to call Niya to have dinner in Daxia Territory when he suddenly received a Sending from the Arcane Union—

"Respected Level 4 Member, Lord Xia Duo: Councilor Bulundesi is about to head to Nan Jing to conduct the 5th-Level Certification for you. If there are any special circumstances, please provide feedback at any time."

And immediately after, Xia Duo received a Sending from Niya, her tone quite urgent: "Xia Duo, Councilor Bulundesi of the Arcane Union is requesting the Access Key for the Tower of Time. Is he coming to verify your situation?"

"Yes, don't worry, let him come. I have already become a Senior Arcanist; the day of the Tower of Time's rise is not far off!"

In fact, Xia Duo had not expected the Arcane Union to be so urgent. He had only submitted the application not long ago; it hadn't even been a day, and they couldn't wait to send someone over.

If this had been any earlier, before he completed the Ascension Trial, wouldn't that have been awkward!

But now, he naturally fears no certification, and at the level of a Senior Arcanist, the certification is mostly just a formality to see if one has mastered an 8th-Circle spell.

If it were truly conducted strictly, where would an ordinary Archmage have the qualifications to examine the true situation of a Senior Arcanist?

However, although Bulundesi is only an ordinary Archmage in terms of magical attainments, he has Jilan Tower standing behind him, similar to the past status of Archmage Olong.

And since Xia Duo's status as a Senior Arcanist is not yet widely recognized, he decided to personally go to the entrance of the Teleportation Room to receive the other party this time.

As for Niya, Bulundesi's trip has nothing to do with her, and given her sensitive status, there is no need for her to appear.

……

At the entrance of the Teleportation Room, Xia Duo waited quietly.

In fact, from the moment the Tower of Time sent the Temporary Access Key over to the other side receiving it and setting the relevant teleportation parameters, the whole process did not take much time.

He had only just arrived when he saw the Magic Net around the Teleportation Array begin to tremble violently. Immediately after, in his Magic Vision, the intensity of the Magic Aura of the Teleportation Array suddenly increased by an order of magnitude.

Subsequently, a group of three people appeared on the teleportation platform.

The person in the lead was Archmage Bulundesi, with whom Xia Duo had previously interacted; he had seen him in a Magic Image. As for the remaining two, Xia Duo had no impression of them.

However, judging from the distribution and intensity of the Magic Aura of the Magic Items on them, even if they were not Archmages, they were at least High Mages with vast wealth.

"Councilor Bulundesi, welcome to the Tower of Time!"

"Lord Xia Duo, I didn't expect that only half a month has passed, and you have already achieved such accomplishments. And you are so young; at this moment, I have already seen the rise of a Legendary figure of the Empire."

Bulundesi first offered some compliments, then introduced the other two to Xia Duo: "Let me introduce you: this is the Justice Deacon of the Arcane Union, Archmage Jianaide, and this is the Secret Text Deacon, Archmage Sikete."

"Nice to meet you both!" Xia Duo nodded slightly in greeting.

The so-called Justice Deacon and Secret Text Deacon are internal positions within the Arcane Union, with functions equivalent to notaries and clerks on Earth. They are below the Councilors and are considered assistants to the Councilors.

However, according to what Xia Duo understands, Justice Deacons and Secret Text Deacons are generally held by mid-to-low-level Mages; even High Mages are few, and Archmage-level ones are even rarer.

Perhaps these two Archmages only hold the titles of Justice Deacon and Secret Text Deacon concurrently, usually taking the pay without doing the work, and only following along to bolster the scene and earn extra travel expenses in certain special circumstances.

Just like now, certifying the 5th-Level Member status of a Senior Arcanist.

……

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, both parties moved from the Teleportation Room to the Reception Room. At this time, Bulundesi could not wait to get to the point, and he said:

"Lord Xia Duo, I am very sorry to disturb you at such a time, but the appearance of any Senior Arcanist will trigger strong attention from above. If possible, could we begin the certification procedure immediately?"

"Certainly!"

Xia Duo nodded and asked: "Right here?"

"Lord Xia Duo can be certified anywhere, as long as the three of us are present."

Subsequently, Bulundesi briefly introduced the certification procedure. As Xia Duo had guessed before, one only needs to cast an 8th-Circle spell, with no other restrictions.

In fact, such a certification is more of a formality used for publicity and has no further practical significance. In terms of strength alone, a Senior Arcanist is not much stronger than an Archmage.

But an Arcanist who can reach this step of being a Senior, as long as there are no accidents, has a high probability of becoming a Great Arcanist in the future and becoming a true leader of Netheril.

Ordinary Senior Arcanists are like this, not to mention someone as young as Xia Duo; it can be said that he has almost locked in the achievement of becoming a Great Arcanist in advance.

This is the important reason why Xia Duo applied for certification that day, and Bulundesi came that same day, and even though it was already evening, he did not postpone it to another day.

……

Casting an 8th-Circle spell is not a problem for Xia Duo now. However, with three Archmages watching and the casting process being recorded, there is some nuance in what kind of spell to cast.

Although becoming a Senior Arcanist at his age is considered a genius, geniuses are also divided into different levels. Now, Xia Duo no longer needs to hide his talents; on the contrary, the more brilliant he performs, the more favorable it will be for his subsequent plans.

Of course, it is impossible to show everything; that would be too foolish. After considering it, he decided to create a new spell on the spot.

If this were before entering the 【Projection Plane: Cormanthor Birth】, he would not have been confident in doing such a thing.

But in that Projection Plane, the intake of a large amount of Elf Magic knowledge gave him a kind of transcendent magical intuition, allowing him to skip many calculations and derivation processes to directly arrive at the most correct answer.

Just like now, even without preliminary experiments, based solely on a temporary idea, Xia Duo began to weave the Magic Net String in front of him almost intuitively.

There were mistakes during the process, but they were all offset by him in the form of equivalent transformation, or converted into favorable elements, becoming the prerequisite foundation for subsequent spell elements.

However, such real-time (intuitive) calculation-based spellcasting cannot last long. Fortunately, this spell is not too complex. As the spell was completed, the aura around Xia Duo suddenly dimmed.