Chapter 13: Spirit Value Increase, Extraordinary Flame

Cael woke up and habitually checked his attributes.

The result surprised him.

The spirit value had increased to 7.4/13.8.

The upper limit had grown by 0.4 points.

Cael pondered for a moment. "Could the clash of extraordinary powers during the encounter with the cultist have stimulated spiritual growth?" he mused.

That seemed the most likely explanation.

Feeling thirsty, he summoned a small light at his fingertip and walked into the living room. He poured a glass of water and drank it down.

Sheriff, the black cat, crawled out from under the cabinet, following him step by step. It occasionally glanced at the floating light, visibly intrigued.

Cael flicked his finger. The light orb floated upward, affixing to the ceiling like a crystalline lamp.

Its brightness surpassed even that of the real ones.

Moreover, unlike the cold glow of a crystal lamp, this emitted a soft warmth—like sunlight.

A little trick of the True Flame Remnant Seal.

With Cael's current power, the light orb would last for over half an hour, equivalent to a candle. A genuine candle-saving spell.

Sheriff craned its neck, eyes fixated on the glow, tail swaying.

Through the Soulbrand Remnant Seal, Cael immediately sensed the cat's intent—it thought the orb was a toy and wanted to pounce.

"Don't touch it," Cael warned.

"Meow~"

The black cat obediently squatted down.

Cael stroked its head and resumed analyzing the True Flame Remnant Seal.

Even at under one percent completeness, the remnant seal had shown astonishing power—able to suppress alien god powers. Naturally, he was determined to improve it.

Recalling the sun from his past life, he focused. "Analyze the Sun."

Sheriff watched curiously.

For minutes, Cael remained still.

The cat eventually lost interest and began grooming itself.

A quarter of an hour later, it glanced up just as Cael opened his mouth and blew.

"Whoosh—"

A scarlet flame erupted.

The entire room lit up.

Sheriff's eyes widened in shock, like a human stunned.

Cael mentally examined the seal. "True Flame Remnant Seal: 1.18% complete."

It had increased by 0.32%, along with 6 proficiency points.

Cael grinned. "Over one percent—and I can conjure fire. Am I a mage now?"

It made sense.

The sun was a giant fireball. The remnant seal was sun-born. Of course it produced fire.

Still, he frowned. "The fire's weak… nowhere near the fire snakes from the Black Armor Army."

He vividly remembered them from yesterday's battle vision.

Unbeknownst to him, what he had done was astonishing. Soldiers needed equipment to channel flame. Only powerful Mystics could summon it barehanded.

In the morning.

Cael arrived in class and was greeted with a "care package" from Rhea Quin.

She handed him a gleaming Qinglin fruit. "Take this."

This one was bigger than yesterday's. Clearly picked with care.

Her way of saying thanks for easing her pain.

The first two periods were a math test.

In this world, education emphasized practical skills, so math wasn't held in high regard. It was still tricky for most students, though.

The teacher handed out the test papers. "No talking. No cheating. Zero marks if you do."

Rhea quickly scanned the final questions, then smiled. The three highest-marked questions mirrored the ones Cael had predicted days ago. Not exact—but the logic was identical.

She shot him a thumbs-up across the desk.

Cael just smiled.

After the test came a meditation class.

Inside his small booth in the Meditation Room, Cael felt the benefit of the remnant seals more than ever.

Last time, it had taken nearly a second to shake off the wall's suppressive energy and glimpse the Spirit Shadow Diagram.

Now, the two seals simply stirred—and the suppression vanished.

Instant clarity.

Stroke by stroke, the image sharpened.

Cael understood: these two seals were beyond ordinary Source Marks. The Aether Wall couldn't even affect him.

If he used the All-Seeing Eye, he could probably form a seal instantly.

But that would be too flashy.

He preferred steady progress.

Before long, he shifted his gaze to the wall clock.

44 seconds.

He could've observed longer but didn't want to draw attention.

In a nearby corner, Mr. Varin, the homeroom teacher, was stunned.

He stared at his logbook. Cael's last three records: 39, 42, 44 seconds.

Five-second gain—in just three sessions!

In twenty years of teaching, he had never seen anything like it.

He was nearly certain: Cael would form a seal before graduation, and there was a 95% chance he'd become a powerful warrior.

In the second half of meditation, Cael noticed that the Spirit Shadow Diagram was now 60% clearer.

A two-tier jump from last time.

He realized then—these remnant seals were even more powerful than he thought.

As the class neared its end, many students looked around, ending their practice.

Mr. Varin suddenly called out: "Everyone, I have an announcement."

All eyes turned to him.

"To support promising students, the Council has selected candidates from each school to visit the Mountainheart Mystic Wall."

"Many of you may not have heard of it. It offers stronger mental stimulation, faster insight, and quicker sealing."

Hope lit up on every face.

Everyone wanted to seal sooner.

"But," Varin warned, "the wall exerts a heavy toll. For those lacking strength, it can harm the spirit and slow your progress."

A collective chill swept the room.

Most students knew exactly where they stood.

Varin continued: "Each third-year class may send two students. Our turn is in five days."

Whispers broke out.

"It's gotta be Hayden Fang and Marcus Wendt. No one else stands a chance."

"Yeah, they always top meditation time."

Varin looked around and declared, "I've submitted my two recommendations. First up…"

He paused.

"Cael."

Cael blinked. Shocked.

The room exploded in noise.

In everyone's mind, Cael was barely above average in meditation.

Nobody expected this.