Helice already knew what this was: this man was here to rob her. In fact, this was pretty normal. Resources were expensive, and those who could not afford them would often resort to more unorthodox means.
"Hand them over, lady," the man in front of her bluntly demanded. Helice didn't have time for this. The young man in front of her was also a Rank 1 acolyte, but from the look of things, he was considerably stronger than her.
Helice just took out the almost complete lightning charm and then, in an instant, tore the charm paper in half. A wave of psychic energy rolled around her hand, converging into a bolt of lightning. Golden arcs of electricity lit up the dark alley.
The young man's eyes widened in shock at the sight of Helice wielding what could only be described as an instrument of power. Before the young man could react, Helice hurled the lightning bolt at him. A deafening rumble reverberated across the air. The young man, however, was too slow to dodge, as the bolt of lightning hit his chest, sending him flying. He then crashed into a nearby wall, passing out in an instant, his condition unknown.
Helice felt her mind racing. It went without saying that the might of the charm most certainly exceeded her expectations. Not bothering to check on the young man's condition, who was still writhing in pain, she thought, "That sound will surely attract other acolytes. I'd better leave quickly."
Helice arrived back at her lodge and quickly set out the materials she had brought. She was really thankful that she had decided against selling the incomplete lightning charm in the end; otherwise, she might have actually been robbed by another acolyte.
The first thing she did upon arrival was to check her psychic scaling: [Psychic Scale: 10.5]. A psychic scaling of ten was a very good rate of progress. It had been more than half a year since she entered the City of Midnight, and she had already increased her psychic scale by four. In the last few months, she had studied magical principles, carved runes, and engaged in potion-making, all of which were bound to increase her psychic scaling.
To advance to a Rank 1 acolyte, one needed a psychic scale of at least 6, which was twice that of ordinary people, and five basic mind runes. In the acolyte rank, the psychic sea was like a moist sheet of paper, fragile in nature and easily torn in half. It could only take basic mind runes; anything powerful like the lightning rune would completely rupture the psychic sea.
By merely holding the psychic power of the lightning charm, Helice felt like she was holding the power of nature. The arc of electricity had actually charred her hand. Acolytes had little to no protection against magical energies, which was why charms were very expensive. Not everyone could create charms, and it didn't just require talent but a lot of luck as well.
Rank 2 acolytes, however, were a completely different case. To advance to Rank 2, a Rank 1 acolyte needed a psychic scale of at least 18, which was three times the amount for Rank 1, twelve mind runes, and a constructed spell model. At the Rank 2 acolyte level, a magus could now take some advanced mind runes because their psychic sea was now stronger. They could cast some rankless spells.
Basically, the acolyte rank was mainly to train their psychic sea, and the ranks showed how strong their psychic sea became. According to rumors, upon becoming an official magus, the psychic sea experienced a complete transformation, becoming a psychic plane where planar energies converged to form an entire dimension in one's mind, creating a sea of possibilities. At this stage, charms became useless, as real magi could create real spell matrices and cast spells. Mind runes and charms were only important to acolytes. Runes were simplified spell matrices; they were created to help acolytes strengthen their psychic sea.
Currently, Helice was far from such a level of power. Thankfully, she now had access to basic mind runes, thanks to the Baron family. As for a real spell matrix, none of those were recorded in the public library. To access the spells in the Baron family's collection, she would need to sign another contract. This was where the underground market would definitely come in.
In the meantime, Helice would strengthen her psychic sea as much as she could and try to advance to Rank 2 as soon as possible.
With that thought in mind, she once again dived into potion-making and charm casting. As long as she had a steady supply of potions, there would always be buyers. As of today, she now understood the importance of charms.
Time trickled by as Helice engaged in potion-making and charm casting; days passed. Helice had created a fresh batch of potions. But she ran into a bit of a problem. When she returned to the underground market to sell the potions, old man Captain was nowhere to be found. His stall seemed to have been closed down; he appeared to have moved in a hurry.
Helice couldn't help but scratch her head in distress. She didn't want to trade with the Baron family, to which she was contracted, for obvious reasons. The Baron family actually provided channels where their contracted acolytes could trade items with the family, but Helice didn't want to reveal her cards. She would prefer to trade with other families, since this was not a breach of contract.
The four great families, as they called themselves, were a bunch of greedy people who were only after benefits. Helice didn't want to be too tied to them. Her first order of business was to repay the hundred and fifty Aether crystals she owed before the end of the month.
She had already defected last month; she only had the rest of this month to repay. Otherwise, she might start incurring interest of one Aether crystal for each day she defected in the next month. This was basically daylight robbery, but the families didn't force anyone. It was all part of the signed contract. Although one would not be forced in any way, upon failing to make payment, the acolytes would be subjected to a life of servitude to their contracted family.
This was how the City of Midnight had remained afloat for hundreds of years, and the seven great families had remained in power, their rules unchallenged. Magi believed in the rule of fair exchange; nothing was free in this world. It would be foolish to think a magus would spare any effort if they didn't believe they would receive something of equivalent value in return.