What exactly makes up a mage's magical talent?
To break it down, there are many aspects: casting speed, spell power, elemental affinity, meditation efficiency, and even the ability to learn.
After all, the field of magic is vast and complex—learning magic requires a tremendous amount of effort and energy.
But among all these factors, the one universally acknowledged as most important by the magical community is meditation efficiency.
Why? Because that's what determines a mage's future potential—their ceiling, their limits.
And for a mage, their level of magical advancement is the most important thing of all.
That was exactly what had been holding Mason back.
His magical reserves had long reached the absolute peak of a Tier 3 mage, but every attempt to break through had failed. Why?
Lack of meditation efficiency.
Many factors influence how efficient meditation is—environmental elemental density, the mage's mental state, elemental affinity, use of meditation potions, and so on.
But the biggest limiting factor of all is elemental affinity.
When a mage forms their magic seed, the strength of the elemental tides they stir up is the most direct indicator of their elemental affinity.
When Mason formed his seed, the resulting elemental tide had been barely a ripple. So, of course, his affinity wasn't high.
It was like a car with a weak engine—even if you floored it, it wouldn't go very fast.
But now, with the Nether Orchid, Mason was like a car that just had its engine replaced with the latest high-performance model—his entire being was supercharged.
He sat inside the third-floor meditation room of the Magic Tower, surrounded by the Earth-Elemental Gathering Array. His magic seed absorbed the yellow specks of elemental light in the air, while the violet Nether Orchid gently swayed in front of him.
Within the array, the flower's ability to gather elements was redundant—but its scent still filled the room, constantly boosting Mason's meditation efficiency.
It was like swapping out an old motorcycle for a BMW, trading a cramped apartment for a villa, or upgrading from a B-tier to an S-tier life experience.
Totally different level.
But Mason didn't rush to advance immediately. Instead, he spent the entire morning adjusting his state.
He activated his meditation technique and entered a deep state of focus. The magic seed within his mind naturally absorbed surrounding elements and converted them into magical energy, which flowed and resonated within him and with the ambient elements.
Bit by bit, he cleared away distracting thoughts and sank deeper into a state of profound meditation.
Though he had failed his previous four attempts to advance, those failures had also taught him valuable lessons—even if they were hard-earned and unwelcome.
He knew very well: before attempting advancement, you cannot rush, and you must keep your emotions steady.
All the way until the afternoon, Mason remained in this deep meditative state. When he felt himself reaching his absolute peak, he finally made his move—
Time to challenge the bottleneck!
He activated his meditation technique to its maximum output, pushing his magic seed into overdrive. Earth-elemental energy from the surroundings surged toward him like it was being devoured by a vortex and was rapidly converted into pure magical power.
That power surged, heading straight for the bottleneck!
It was like pouring water into a cup.
The "cup" represented Mason's current magical tier. The water was the magic power, and how much it could hold was the capacity of that tier.
Mason's goal was to keep pouring until the water overflowed.
But before today, due to his low meditation efficiency, his magic production speed had always been lower than the natural loss of energy—he simply couldn't fill the cup fast enough.
So he never broke through.
But today, everything was different.
With the refreshing scent of the Nether Orchid wafting through the room, Mason's magic seed operated like it had been turbocharged—relentlessly extracting magical energy and charging full-force toward the bottleneck.
He could feel it clearly.
A flood of magic roared through his consciousness, smashing against what had once felt like an impenetrable wall.
Now, it was cracking.
Tiny fissures began to appear in that wall of limitation. With every surge of power, the cracks deepened and multiplied.
Until finally—
The magic overflowed the cup.
It was like a river rushing into the sea. Mason's spirit jolted, and his entire soul felt reborn, cleansed in a wave of pure energy.
Tier 4 Mage!
Mason slowly opened his eyes. Tears welled up as he choked back the wave of joy and excitement threatening to spill out.
After four failed attempts, he had almost given up hope of ever reaching Tier 4 in this lifetime.
But the world works in mysterious ways. Just when he was at his lowest, he stumbled upon that flower shop… and bought that miraculous plant…
And now, his bottleneck was shattered, and he stood proudly as a Tier 4 mage!
It felt like a rebirth. There was no greater joy.
Mason decided—
He had to share this joy with someone.
He stood up, gently cradling the flowerpot holding the Nether Orchid as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.
Walking out of the room and toward the Magic Tower entrance, Mason approached Old White, puffed up with pride and radiating smug satisfaction.
Old White was still lounging in his chair by the door, eyes closed in leisure. When he sensed someone approaching, he lazily cracked one eye open. Upon seeing Mason, his expression instantly turned sour.
"Failed again, huh? People really need to learn their limits. Especially those who have no self-awareness…"
"Heh," Mason let out two soft chuckles, not bothering to argue. He simply released the aura of a Tier 4 mage.
"WHAT!?"
Old White bolted upright from his chair, staring at the dwarf in disbelief. "You… you advanced?! That's impossible!"
"Why would it be impossible?" Mason lifted his chin proudly. "I'm not like some people who've been stuck at Tier 2 for half their lives, doing nothing but guarding doors and trash-talking everyone else."
"N-No way…" Old White was still stunned, his voice trembling. "You failed four times! How could you succeed now? That doesn't make any sense!"
"Hehehe, but I did succeed." Mason grinned from ear to ear, practically skipping out of the Magic Tower, feeling ten years younger.
He had no interest in arguing anymore.
"Wait!" Old White suddenly yelled, as he'd just realized something. "That flower! What's with that flower in your hands? Did it help you advance?!"
He hadn't paid much attention earlier when Mason entered the tower carrying a flower. Mages had all kinds of eccentric habits—he was used to it.
But this was different.
This dwarf had actually advanced to Tier 4!
There had to be something special about that flower!
"Oh, this?" Mason stopped and said casually, "Bought it from a flower shop. Supposed to help with meditation efficiency."
The moment he finished speaking, Old White's breath hitched as he'd just heard a world-shattering secret. "What did you say!?"