Chapter 512: Space Expansion, Realization of Prospects

Xia Duo's words made Niya let out an astonished "Ah," "You want to become the Great Arcanist's student?"

"Yes, if one could become a Great Arcanist's student, who wouldn't want to!"

"I cannot make decisions for the teacher, but I can help you ask; it's just that I'm not sure when I will be able to see the teacher."

"It's fine, it is already very good that you are willing to help."

For a moment, Xia Duo was so excited that he even forgot about his spell practice; it was only under Niya's reminder that he remembered the purpose of his visit.

Regardless of whether he could become a Great Arcanist's student, and regardless of how many benefits there were to becoming a Great Arcanist's student, at the very least, for the moment, he still needed to be as self-reliant as possible.

Casually putting that Arcane Crystal, which was not even the size of a grain of rice, into his Personal Space, Xia Duo prepared to continue practicing; with such good conditions here, not making full use of them would simply be a waste.

But just as he had entered a focused state and was preparing for his next spellcasting, the unusual movement coming from his Personal Space immediately made him stop; this thing existed within his consciousness, and if something went wrong, would it turn him into an idiot?

Xia Duo dared not be careless; he told Niya that he had suddenly thought of a problem and needed to ponder it for a moment, then he sank his attention into his Personal Space.

Although the Personal Space existed within his consciousness, his consciousness could also enter the Personal Space.

In one corner of the space, two stacks of Spell Notes were neatly piled up, nearly a hundred volumes in total (each volume didn't have many pages), and beside them were some loose pieces of Parchment, all accumulated by Xia Duo over these years.

Besides Spell Notes, there were also some hand-copied Spellbooks, though they were not copied word-for-word; rather, they were reorganized by Xia Duo during his learning process with his own understanding added in.

Compared to the conventional travelogue or diary-style Spellbooks of Netheril, these Spellbooks of Xia Duo's could already be called professional textbooks.

Aside from books and paper, what filled the Personal Space the most were Blank Notebooks and ink; after all, there were no computers here, and no matter what needed to be recorded, paper was almost the best choice.

In another corner of the Personal Space were piled some miscellaneous items Xia Duo had found in the Mythallar Ruins, such as Magic Arrows, Mithril ornaments, Gemstones, Adamantine Knives, and the like.

Finally, there were dry rations and water, which were updated frequently; although there were some in his Dimensional Bag, Xia Duo still kept some in his Personal Space to avoid situations where he might have no food and the Dimensional Bag could not be used.

When Xia Duo's attention sank into the Personal Space, he immediately noticed the source of the space's unusual movement: it was the Arcane Crystal, smaller than a grain of rice, that he had just put in.

He didn't know if it was because his spellcasting was imperfect or for some other reason, but in short, this tiny Arcane Crystal was disintegrating; this was not the key point.

The key point was that, with the Arcane Crystal as the center, the Personal Space was "vibrating" rhythmically; perhaps it was because the Personal Space existed within Xia Duo's consciousness that he could be so sensitive to it.

And accompanying the "vibration" of the space, Xia Duo was surprised to discover that the space had actually grown larger!

It was right within his will, and Xia Duo was exceptionally attentive to the size of his Personal Space; even if it had only grown by a tiny bit, it could not escape Xia Duo's "sharp eyes"!

As his attention returned to the outside world, Xia Duo happened to meet Niya's concerned eyes; Niya had already sensed that something might have happened, and seeing Xia Duo regain his focus, she asked caringly: "What happened? Do you need my help?"

"I do indeed need your help." At a time like this, Xia Duo naturally wouldn't be coy, and he said immediately, "Can you give me an Arcane Crystal?"

Xia Duo was not sure if only the Arcane Crystals he manufactured could expand the space; previously, he had handled Arcane Crystals a few times. The first time was before he went to the Projection Plane, when Aiboke gave them to him to use as the cost for the projection journey, but at that time his Personal Space had not yet been opened.

Later, there were the "Divine Grace fees" paid by those Arcanists who were repairing the Magic Net at the Mythallar Ruins; however, although Xia Duo had handled them a few times back then, he had never once thought of putting them into his Personal Space, always having the Tower Spirit transfer them directly to the Tower of Time's Material Department.

Coupled with the fact that there had always been Gemstones in his Personal Space, and Gemstones were energy, Xia Duo had never thought that putting an Arcane Crystal into the space could make it expand; the method was so simple that it created a blind spot in his thinking.

Niya quickly took out an Arcane Crystal and handed it to Xia Duo; Xia Duo felt both nervous and excited, as well as a bit worried, and his outstretched hand was even trembling slightly.

The significance of an Arcane Crystal expanding the Personal Space was truly too great; if the space grew to a certain extent, he could even bring the 【Nether Scroll】 out from the Projection Plane!

It was equivalent to buying the 【Nether Scroll】 with Arcane Crystals; no one with normal thinking would equate the value of these two.

But for Xia Duo, in the future, the 【Nether Scroll】 might only be worth a few Arcane Crystals.

……

What Niya handed him was a Standard Arcane Crystal, something worth several thousand Gold Coins, which she gave away as soon as she was asked; however, at this moment, Xia Duo's heart was already occupied by the expanding space, and he never even thought of asking Niya to exchange it for a smaller one.

He took the Standard Arcane Crystal directly and put it into his Personal Space; that familiar unusual movement came again, and right under Xia Duo's "gaze," this Standard Arcane Crystal began to slowly disintegrate.

Perhaps because of the ratio, perhaps because of the different levels of the manufacturers, or perhaps it was just an illusion, Xia Duo felt that this Standard Arcane Crystal was disintegrating slightly slower than his one that was smaller than a grain of rice.

But it wasn't much slower; this crystal was shrinking in circles at a speed almost visible to the naked eye, and Xia Duo kept "gazing" at it like this, completely ignoring the outside world.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but the "vibration" of the space finally stopped; looking at his Personal Space, which had increased by nearly half, Xia Duo wanted to announce to the whole world: I am awesome!

Fortunately, his basic reason remained; only then did Xia Duo remember that Niya was still waiting for him.

When he came back to his senses, Niya was no longer in the same spot, but had moved a bit further away and was practicing some spell; it looked like quite a long time had passed.

Xia Duo called out, "Niya!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xia Duo discovered that his voice seemed to have become a bit hoarse, with an irrepressible, eager excitement in his tone; Xia Duo was startled by his own voice, as even becoming an Arcanist hadn't made him lose his composure like this.

Thinking of the 【Nether Scroll】, which didn't even have a shadow yet, Xia Duo couldn't help but mock himself; on Earth, it was wealth that moved people's hearts, while here, it was Magic that moved people's hearts!

Timely self-reflection was one of Xia Duo's strengths; he had already realized that there was still a long way to go before he could bring back the 【Nether Scroll】 from the Projection Plane, and even if he could bring it back, the number of Arcane Crystals required would not be a small amount.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo's restless heart gradually calmed down.