Chapter 125: Advanced Sorcerer

However, just as Xia Duo finished opening the room and was about to step inside, that damn, excruciating pain struck again, and this time it was even more violent, almost twisting all his internal organs into a knot.

Even his bones and flesh began to revolt along with it; Xia Duo fell with a thud at the entrance of the Spell Laboratory, the pain of this moment almost leaving his brain blank.

He ignored the Tower Spirit's fine warning directly; whether out of instinct or willpower, Xia Duo struggled and lunged into the Spell Laboratory with his last shred of reason.

Closing the door, he then fell into a state of total loss of control.

If another Mage were also in this Spell Laboratory, they would discover that the Magic Net around Xia Duo was shaking violently; even in a Spell Laboratory designed to suppress Magic Net fluctuations, it could not be completely suppressed.

"Apprentice Xia Duo, Spell Energy Level exceeds 0 Ring, Spell Laboratory automatically upgraded, current prepaid quota: 100 Gold Coins, remaining usage time: 10 hours."

But Xia Duo had no reaction; at this moment, he had already arrived once again in that magical dream, and this time he was still incarnated as the Yangtze River, starting from the Snow Region, flowing all the way to merge into the East Sea.

Then returning to the source again, starting over, repeating in such a cycle.

In the previous two magical dreams, Xia Duo could maintain a clear consciousness, but this time, at the beginning, Xia Duo had no obvious manifestation of consciousness, but was instead muddled and dazed.

But his consciousness grew continuously within the water cycle of the Yangtze River, until he possessed a clear sense of self.

A dream in a trance.

……

"A dream within a dream?"

Xia Duo had already realized that he was in a magical dream, and the previous experience felt like a dream within a dream, leaving one completely bewildered.

At this moment, the dream was still continuing, and Xia Duo did not know how to exit the dream, nor did he even know where his consciousness was; he was now a Yangtze River, from the source to the end where it merged into the East Sea.

From the main stream to the tributaries, whether clear or turbid, all of this felt just like his own body, incomparably familiar!

Not knowing how much time had passed, Xia Duo felt the dream shake, and he instantly broke away.

……

In reality, the Spell Laboratory.

Cough—Pfft—

Following two coughs, a stream of water was spat out from Xia Duo's mouth; he raised a hand, and it was all wet; moving his body slightly, his clothes were also wet; looking around, centered on the spot where he had previously fallen, a large area of the floor looked as if someone had poured a large puddle of water, soaking wet.

Compared to the last magical dream where it only soaked a circle on the blanket, this time it was simply too exaggerated!

Xia Duo stood up from the ground with one hand supporting him; during this process, he barely used any effort, his arms, torso, and legs coordinated, and his strength was significantly greater than before.

Entering the Spellcasting Focus state, Xia Duo, who could previously only touch the shallow layer of the Magic Net, immediately discovered the deep structure of the Magic Net, and he had a feeling that as long as he "wanted" to, these deep structures of the Magic Net would surely respond accordingly.

However, Xia Duo suppressed his curiosity and did not immediately drive the Magic Net to display the power of a 1st Circle Spell, but instead carefully "observed" the deep structure of the Magic Net.

Similar to the surface layer, the "appearance" of these deep structures was also like flowing wisps and strands, yet they were distinctly separated from the surface layer, with a clear boundary.

This should be the first layer of the Magic Net; in the "Magic Net Stratification Theory" class, Mage Chawila had mentioned that the Magic Net was a multi-layered structure, which was already one of the rare "Advanced" courses that an Apprentice could choose.

It was just that he hadn't "seen" the deep structure of the Magic Net very intuitively before; let alone multiple layers, he couldn't even see the first layer, so he had basically no profound understanding of the stratification theory.

But now, Xia Duo instantly understood many problems he hadn't been able to figure out before.

……

Next, Xia Duo tried to "tug" at the "wisps and strands" of the first layer of the Magic Net, imitating the Application of 【Prestidigitation】 on the surface of the Magic Net, but the first layer structure of the Magic Net did not fluctuate along with it independently.

Instead, it connected with the "wisps and strands" of the Magic Net's surface, a result similar to pulling one hair and moving the whole body.

But conversely, "tugging" the Magic Net's surface layer alone would not affect the deep Magic Net.

And Xia Duo's 1st Circle Spell theory was to connect to the Magic Net's surface layer in various forms and at multiple locations to achieve the goal of affecting the deep Magic Net.

It was nothing more than a trial-and-error-summary-trial-and-error cycle before being able to "see" the deep structure with his own eyes; because he was quite proficient in the Principles of 0 Ring Spells, Xia Duo had the confidence to become an Official Mage before this year's Midsummer Festival.

But now, he had already glimpsed the first layer of the Magic Net; he didn't even need to research 1st Circle Spells himself, as his Sorcerer Bloodline might already carry 1st Circle Spells.

It could be said that he could now be considered an Official Mage; although he was only the weakest Official Mage, as long as Xia Duo was given enough time, he would reach the level of mastering the Principles of 1st Circle Spells, and even progress toward the 2nd Circle.

In Xia Duo's view, there were no bottlenecks in a Mage's leveling up; all progress had traces to follow.

It was almost as if, as long as one touched the Magic Net, lived long enough, and had ambition, then becoming an Archmage was basically a sure thing; one would reach it eventually.

As for the Legendary realm above Archmage, Xia Duo could not speculate; the "Biography of Archmage Dasiruier" mentioned that Legendary was already beyond the scope of normal humans, a true legend.

From this perspective, the Magic Net and Magic of this other world were like the Nature and Science of Earth, and Mages were equivalent to scientists pushing the progress of civilization, only it seemed now that the Mages of Netheril had a somewhat low level of awareness!

……

And since the small goal of becoming an Official Mage had been completed ahead of schedule, Xia Duo's next goal could be set on Archmage, and that was just the minimum goal; his true goal was to become an Arcanist.

A true Arcanist!

Actually, Xia Duo was already on the path of the Arcane now, exploring the Principles of Spells, discovering the essence of the Magic Net; what was missing should be some kind of special advancement ritual.

Although the current Savile Territory didn't even have a single true Arcanist, the Lord must know the Knowledge regarding advancement rituals; having a Great Arcanist ancestor was an unknown advantage over others at the starting line.

It was just a pity that the Lord was not up to the task and failed the advancement, and it was said that the Lord's follower, Mage Aiboke, had hope of becoming an Arcanist, but this news had been circulating for quite a while, and there hadn't been a whisper of success, so it was also an unknown.

While reviewing the days of living in fear in the Savile Territory and imagining the scene of his magic reaching great success and becoming a pivotal figure in this world, Xia Duo smiled triumphantly.

Moreover, the more he laughed, the more exaggerated it became, the more unscrupulous it became.

"Ha—ha—hahaha—hahaha—ha—"

In the end, tears were laughed out, and the laughter gradually distorted, indistinguishable between laughing or crying; Xia Duo's long-suppressed emotions were completely released!

Initially joining the Mage Tower was just a life-saving measure under precarious circumstances; becoming an Official Mage was the beginning of establishing himself in this world!

At this moment, Xia Duo's self-confidence expanded unprecedentedly!