The Elite Student of the Magic Academy

This marked Fú Nī Yà’s third week of tutelage under Master Valentin.

Throughout these three weeks, Master Valentin would teleport to Albert’s estate each morning to fetch her for lessons at the mage tower, returning her safely every evening.

Incidentally, Fú Nī Yà continued to wear her maid uniform even for her lessons.

Though Master Valentin had gifted her a mage robe, the thought of earning one gold coin for each month spent in her maid outfit was enough for Fú Nī Yà to grit her teeth and tuck the new robe away in her wardrobe.

Regarding the daily morning and evening transfers, while Fú Nī Yà felt she was imposing too much on Master Valentin, he himself claimed to genuinely enjoy it.

After all, Fú Nī Yà’s progress was simply astonishing; it would be impossible for him not to be pleased.

Compared to his previous students, Fú Nī Yà grasped concepts quickly and could immediately apply them in myriad ways, making teaching her an absolute delight.

Consequently, Master Valentin dedicated even greater energy to Fú Nī Yà’s education.

****

Each day at half past six in the morning, Master Valentin would be waiting at the estate, compelling everyone, including Albert, to adjust their internal clocks and rise earlier.

Breakfast typically concluded around six o’clock, after which Master Valentin would arrive to escort Fú Nī Yà to the mage tower for meditation in the third-floor meditation chamber.

The meditation technique, naturally, was Master Valentin’s personal revision—the finest version available.

[The leader of Aethelina’s House must be weeping in the bathroom.]

Mages expended mana with every spell cast, and during meditation, their minds and the elements resonated, greatly accelerating mana recovery.

The strength of a mage’s spiritual power and their mana reserves steadily increased through this continuous cycle of depletion and replenishment.

From seven to eight in the morning, the elements were at their most vibrant, a period when a mage’s meditation efficiency soared, making it the prime time for meditative training.

The meditation chamber itself was an edifice linked to the mage tower’s deepest mana pool, constantly drawing in mana and possessing calming, soothing properties, rendering it perfectly suited for mages to engage in prolonged meditative practice.

Fú Nī Yà thoroughly enjoyed her morning meditations, as during this time, her attribute experience and mana experience values would climb at an astonishing rate.

From eight to twelve, Master Valentin dedicated himself to his work.

During these hours, Fú Nī Yà would proceed to the branch academy’s library for self-study, perusing various magic scrolls at her leisure, transcribing any she particularly liked into her own grimoire.

Fú Nī Yà’s grimoire, of course, was also a gift from Master Valentin, comprising four hundred leaves and eight hundred pages, capable of holding eight hundred first-tier spells.

Spells were incredibly intricate; even the simplest first-tier incantation, with its specific chant, casting posture, and other minute details, could easily fill half a page.

It was simply unrealistic and overly taxing for mages to memorize dozens or hundreds of spells solely in their minds, as depicted in the novels of Fú Nī Yà’s previous life.

Thus, grimoires came into being.

Grimoires were crafted from special materials, allowing them to link with a mage’s mind.

Through these books, mages could effortlessly recall complex incantations into their minds, sparing them from spending vast amounts of time on memorization.

Concurrently, a spell’s tier was correlated with the number of pages required to record it.

Spells needing two pages were second-tier magic, those requiring three to four pages were third-tier, and so forth.

With each ascending tier, the difficulty of memorizing the spell doubled compared to the previous one.

The most challenging existing spell within the Empire was the thirteenth-tier illusionary spell, Illusory City, housed in the Saint Mir Museum, which created a phantom metropolis.

However, a spell’s difficulty was not always directly proportional to its effect, as newly created spells often contained significant redundancies.

Through generations of optimization, a spell’s efficacy would improve while its difficulty might decrease, meaning many ancient low-tier spells often surpassed the effects of newer, high-tier ones.

Nevertheless, spell effects and difficulty were generally positively correlated, which was why spells above the eighth tier were forbidden from public circulation among nobles within the Empire.

As for commoners? Circulation to them was entirely prohibited.

Within the Empire, it was illegal for nobles to sell magic scrolls to commoners, a policy echoed in other human nations.

Yet, none of these restrictions concerned Fú Nī Yà, for she possessed a system.

Should she choose to upgrade a skill to its first level, all knowledge pertaining to that magic would be etched into her mind.

Consequently, her grimoire served truly only for recording spells.

In the library, whenever Fú Nī Yà encountered an interesting spell, she would transcribe it, intending to learn it once her experience points were sufficient.

With Master Valentin’s backing, the knowledge of half the Empire lay open to her.

[The leader of Aethelina’s House must be weeping in the bathroom again.]

Incidentally, Fú Nī Yà had caused quite a commotion upon her first visit to the library.

This was partly due to her half-elf heritage and partly because of her striking beauty.

Everyone grew intensely curious about the half-elf lady in the maid uniform, even abandoning their books to stare.

Initially, Fú Nī Yà found the multitude of gazes incredibly unsettling, but after three weeks of familiarization, the students in the library had grown considerably more restrained.

Though, for some unknown reason, the number of people who frequented the library every morning had noticeably increased.

At noon, Fú Nī Yà would have lunch in the academy’s dining hall.

She had attempted to eat in the mage tower for two days, but Master Valentin, being a solitary old recluse, naturally had no discerning palate, relying solely on Create Food (TL Note: A sixth-tier Conjuration spell that manifests ten loaves of black bread and one liter of clean spring water.) for his daily meals.

Fú Nī Yà found such fare utterly unbearable and promptly fled after barely two days.

From half past twelve to two in the afternoon, mages observed their midday rest.

Mages constituted a highly specialized group; whether engaged in combat, research, or meditation, all activities demanded significant mental exertion.

Prolonged depletion of spiritual energy was highly detrimental to the soul, hence mages required ample, high-quality sleep, and a midday nap was, of course, indispensable.

The afternoon was reserved for Master Valentin’s direct instruction.

Through the use of an astrolabe, Master Valentin’s teachings proved exceptionally effective.

Given that Conjuration spells primarily dealt with space and time, direct observation of relevant planes via an astrolabe was far more tangible than any textual description.

During this phase, Fú Nī Yà predominantly gained mana experience and skill experience.

Around five in the evening, Master Valentin would escort Fú Nī Yà back to the estate.

After dinner there, Fú Nī Yà would still spend some time practicing magic in the backyard.

After all, sources of skill experience were scarce, with continuous spellcasting being the only reliable method for consistent gains.

Of course, another method involved venturing out on adventures, but that was clearly unsuitable for Fú Nī Yà at present.

Practice continued until half past eight, after which Fú Nī Yà would return to her room to wash up and sleep.

Ultimately, Fú Nī Yà had little time to see Albert throughout her day, a situation she herself was quite content with.

Albert, for his part, made no particular remarks, though Martha Idis expressed some displeasure, believing Fú Nī Yà had neglected her duties.

‘Hmph! Let whoever wants to be a maid be a maid!’ Fú Nī Yà thought with a soft huff.

Yet, her maid uniform remained firmly on her person.

****

After three full weeks of this cyclical routine, Fú Nī Yà’s own abilities had vastly improved.

Her levels, for one, had surged.

Having expended some experience, Fú Nī Yà’s attribute level rose to 12, her mana level to 11, while her battle qi attribute remained unchanged at level 1, bringing her total level to 24.

Calculated by this world’s standards, Fú Nī Yà’s power had already reached the second tier, standing but a step away from the third.

To advance directly from an apprentice to the late second tier in three weeks was utterly astonishing; even Master Valentin couldn’t help but click his tongue in wonder, marveling at the formidable nature of SSS+ talent.

Each attribute level increase granted 5 attribute points, meaning nine levels yielded 45 points.

Fú Nī Yà first allocated some points to Strength and Constitution, then distributed the remainder to Intelligence and Perception in a 3:2 ratio.

There was no alternative; the 80% focus correction bonus was simply too potent, effectively doubling an attribute, which proved crucial in certain critical moments.

Moreover, Fú Nī Yà had no desire to become “as frail as a weeping willow” (TL Note: A Chinese idiom describing someone who is delicate and weak), as she had felt on her first day, so she could only add points to Strength and Constitution to ensure she wouldn’t be breathless after a few steps.

Improvements in mana level, conversely, conferred bonuses across multiple aspects, including Intelligence points, mana perception, mana capacity, and mana recovery speed.

While leveling up, Fú Nī Yà discovered that individual mana or battle qi levels could not exceed her attribute level.

In other words, if her attribute level was ten, her mana level could at most be ten.

This posed a significant disadvantage for Fú Nī Yà, as she clearly gained far more mana experience than attribute experience.

However, this issue was resolved when her attribute level reached ten, as the system unlocked a new function: School Specialization.

[School Specialization: The continent is home to a myriad of magic and battle qi schools, each possessing distinct advantages and disadvantages in practical study. As a professional, you should absorb their essence and discard their dross.]

Accompanying this was an available specialization option: Lohiris Conjuration Specialization.

[Lohiris Conjuration Specialization: The fount of magic in the Holy Lohiris Empire is the Imperial Grand Academy in the imperial capital, Saint Mir City. Within this academy, eight legendary mages stand as the pinnacles of Lohiris’ eight great magic schools. In the realm of Conjuration, the legendary mage Valentin has developed it to a new zenith, and as his student, it is only natural to master the essence of this school.]

Fú Nī Yà chose it without hesitation—there were no other options, after all.

Besides, as the system implied, who else in the Empire possessed a stronger magical school than the legendary Master Valentin?

After making her selection, Fú Nī Yà was first stunned by the experience required for its upgrade: 4000 points!

To put it in perspective, advancing her mana level from 11 to 12 only needed 20736 experience points.

‘Alright, that’s not insignificant…’

So Fú Nī Yà gritted her teeth and invested in the first level.

Then, the second level demanded 64000 experience points…

“That increase is far too rapid!” Fú Nī Yà couldn’t help but complain.

Yet, observing the effects of the first level, Fú Nī Yà couldn’t help but secretly admit it was worth it.

[The Way of Conjuration: You have glimpsed the initial path in your exploration of the Conjuration school. Master more knowledge; continuing on this path will sustain you until you reach legend. All Conjuration spell learning experience: -20%.]

With this effect, merely learning a few Conjuration spells would recoup the cost.

She wondered what the next level’s effect would be.

Fú Nī Yà unconsciously grew expectant.

Furthermore, all skill experience gained from daily practice was allocated to her favorite spells.

As she continued to invest points in this manner, Fú Nī Yà found herself with no remaining experience from Master Valentin.