During the Spirit World Analysis class, Ichi had just finished explaining how to deal with various unexpected situations encountered in the Spirit World.
He looked at the seats, half-empty, and his heart had long grown accustomed to it.
Every time this class began, a large group of people would come to listen, but after learning the details of the Spirit World, many would choose to give up and stop attending.
After all, the growth of strength was what apprentices yearned for, and after realizing the difficulty of advancing through the Spirit World, many wise apprentices chose to retreat in the face of difficulty.
The only meaning of this class was to provide a job for him, someone with nothing to do.
Just as he was tidying up his things in the lecture hall as usual, a familiar voice called out to him again.
"Teacher, can we find a quiet place to talk?"
Ichi looked up in confusion, recognized Furan, who had been the first to ask him questions in the first class of the School year, and said:
"It's you. I thought you weren't coming. Is something the matter?"
"I had something last class, so I didn't come. I want to ask about the Spirit World Trial. I got a key."
Furan not only missed the weapon forging class last time, but also many other classes; making a steam engine also takes time.
"Oh!?" Ichi looked at Furan's chest with a strange gaze. A badge was pinned to her robe, engraved with the image of a Forging Hammer.
Although Ichi didn't know which School this pattern corresponded to, as information about various Schools was highly restricted, it was normal for an unheard-of School to appear.
But as a Formal Mage himself, Ichi had also taught classes for some time, and he was very clear about the specifications of a standard School badge.
In his opinion, this badge was very standard, with the necessary Alliance symbol, and its pattern was very clean, perfectly representing the School.
It was very likely a genuine School badge, but if that was the case... "Let's talk in my office."
The two walked to Ichi's office, and Ichi eagerly advised:
"You should give up that key... Since you've joined a School and have another path, don't get involved in the Spirit World again. It's not a good place."
Furan immediately explained:
"Teacher Yiqi, you've misunderstood. I'm not trying to advance in the Spirit World. I want to ask you a question."
"I want to know, if one has already advanced to a Formal Mage, can they still obtain the power of the Spirit World?"
Ichi instantly perked up, stroked the books on his desk, and said:
"You're asking if, after you advance to a Formal Mage, you can still pass the Spirit World Trial and gain the power of the Spirit World, right?"
Most of those who chose his class were apprentices who had not joined a School, so naturally, they wouldn't be talking about advancing to a Formal Mage.
As for those who had already joined a School, they generally hadn't achieved high rankings in Assessments; those who did would receive instruction from those mentors and know the advancement process.
And knowing the advancement process, they would naturally choose another path that was more accepted by Apprentice City, and would no longer choose the Spirit World.
Furan clearly already knew the advancement process for a Formal Mage, but was somewhat greedy, which was why she came to him to ask about this.
Ichi smiled, very pleased that Furan had chosen another path, so he decided to answer the question.
"After reaching an official rank through methods of the Material Realm, one will receive the protection of the Material Realm, becoming immune to the Spirit World's rule of not being able to learn Material Realm Spells."
"At this point, some mages started thinking. Although I cannot gain an increase in Spiritual Power through the Spirit World, nor can I acquire useful Spells there, there is still one very important thing."
"These mages conducted many experiments, hoping to obtain the most unique thing of Spirit World Mages—Talent."
"This is the biggest difference between advancing through the Spirit World and other methods, and it is also key to compensating for the Spirit World's inability to improve techniques."
"Some Talents can greatly enhance a Professional's combat power, while others can continuously strengthen a Professional's basic attributes through certain methods."
"My Talent is called 'Invigorating Spell.' After casting a Spell and hitting a target, the next Spell cast receives a 25% amplification."
"This is a decent Talent. Many people's Talents even have negative effects, but even so, I can't advance..."
He said, showing a bitter smile, and continued.
"Back to the main topic, many Formal Mages wanted to obtain Spirit World Talents to strengthen themselves, but in their investigations, they found it too difficult."
"The process of entering the Trial was very smooth; almost everyone who tried succeeded. However, they soon discovered that they couldn't cast Spells far exceeding the apprentice rank in the Spirit World."
"Once you do that, it will attract the attention of the Spirit World, and you will feel yourself being pulled out by it."
"After reaching a certain degree, you will be directly kicked out of the Spirit World, leading to the failure of the Trial."
Furan understood, saying:
"Does that mean you can't use power exceeding the apprentice rank in the Trial?"
"No, you can still use it a few times. Use it too much and you'll be kicked out of the Spirit World."
Furan was a bit stunned. Being able to use Formal Mage Spells in an apprentice-rank Trial would be a huge advantage, yet even so, there were few Formal Mages known to possess Spirit World Talents.
Logically, if this path were so simple, it should become a mandatory choice for all who advance.
"Then, these mages who attempted encountered their first major hurdle: how to complete the Trial."
"For normal Spirit World advancers, the difficulty is high but can be completed with effort. However, the Trials encountered by these mages were different."
"Typically, Trials are completed by multiple Spirit Realm Rangers together, with both cooperative and competitive goals. But those mages found that even when completing the same objective, others passed the Trial while they were shown as having failed."
"Then, through continuous experimentation, those mages summarized a feasible method: they had to complete a greater portion than other Spirit Realm Rangers, otherwise it would be difficult to pass the Trial."
"And so, after many attempts, some of those mages finally received notification of passing the Trial."
"But..."
Ichi paused, and Furan couldn't help but speak.
"In the end, none of them got Talents?"
"No, not none, but some of them didn't get Talents."
"This is a topic still under research: why Formal Mages participating in the Spirit World Trial can't always obtain Talents."
"Some indeed received a Talent, while others did not."
Furan frowned and asked:
"So what's the reason?"
Ichi smiled and said:
"It's the Spirit World's Acknowledgment. They found that the Spirit World's Acknowledgment is the key to obtaining Talent. In other words, if the Spirit World agrees, you can obtain Talent."
"Then how do you get the Spirit World's Acknowledgment?"
"That, I don't know. That's higher-level content, and I think some Schools might have research on it, but they've all locked down that knowledge."
"However..." Ichi changed the subject. "I think it might be related to your performance in the Trial, your own strength..."
"And some peculiar items you encounter in the Spirit World."
Ichi pushed a chair aside, lay down comfortably, and said:
"Actually, you can try after you become a Formal Mage. What if you're lucky?"
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