Ethan finally leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath. His fingers loosened their grip as he placed the last paper down on the desk in front of him.
"Finally," he muttered. "I thought it'd be simple… but the deeper I learn, the more complex it becomes."
His hands were sore. The tips of his fingers were stained with ink that had turned faintly luminous, the result of his experiments with magical binding agents.
What began as ordinary ink had slowly changed the more he poured his Ascendant Energy into it. Now, it pulsed with faint mana residue.
The room around him was a cluttered battlefield of knowledge. Notes filled the corners, diagrams were pinned on the wall, and spell papers were stacked in careful, chaotic towers.
"What a mess," he said again, this time with a small smile.
Despite the disarray, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
He had done it.
The basic phase was over.
