Knight: from Apprentice to the Almighty

Roland’s body tensed involuntarily, like a fully drawn Bowstring.

His vision spun madly, stretching and shattering.

The canvas of the tent twisted into a grotesque vortex, and the flickering lamplight smeared into long, Burning trails of light.

The figures of Avril and Mason dissolved into blurry patches of color amidst the violent shaking.

A sharp ringing threatened to pierce his skull, reverberating madly within his head and drowning out all external sound.

An intense pain, like countless ice needles, stabbed deep into his consciousness.

Yet beneath this tearing agony and complete sensory Chaos, an unprecedented sense of clarity was also growing wildly.

He ’felt’ it.

It was no longer the vague, passive state of receiving ripples of external emotion like last time.

This time, he could clearly ’touch’ it.

At the deepest part of the churning ocean of his consciousness, there was a hard, cold ’core’ that was undergoing violent impacts and tremors.

It was like a strange ore, infused with terrifying Energy, that had been forcibly dug out of the dark, frozen earth. Each tremor radiated a cold shockwave outward.

He could feel his own dissipating Spiritual Power.

That Power, which had previously drifted like uncontrolled mist, was now being forcibly compressed and condensed under the pressure of the violent potion.

They were no longer scattered tendrils of Perception, but were beginning to faintly form a more concrete, more controllable nascent shape.

It was as if invisible hands were trying to clench into a fist amidst the pain and Chaos.

The veins on his temples bulged like ropes, and sweat instantly soaked his sideburns.

Every breath felt like swallowing ice shards. Every heartbeat was accompanied by the violent throb of that cold ’core’, pumping frigid and potent Energy throughout his body.

"Steady yourself, Mr. Roland."

Vanessa’s soft voice seemed to come from the bottom of some distant body of water, carrying a strange penetrative quality that briefly suppressed the roaring in his head.

"Guide it, don’t fight it..."

Seeing this, Avril nervously clenched her fists. Mason leaned forward in concern, while the Beastman tensed his muscles warily, a low growl rumbling through the tent.

But at this moment, Roland was completely immersed in the cataclysmic change happening in the world of his soul.

The icy cold and intense pain still raged.

However, at the center of this Storm, the ’frozen earth’ on the surface of the cold ’core’ deep within his Sea of Consciousness seemed to be flaking off piece by piece under the assault of the violent Energy, revealing an increasingly clear and piercingly cold light from within.

The icy cold and tearing pain receded as quickly as an ebbing tide, replaced by a crystal-clear lucidity, as if years of accumulated dust in the depths of his consciousness had been instantly washed away.

Roland’s eyes snapped open.

Everything in the tent instantly returned to its original form, looking even sharper than before.

He felt as though a valve deep in his soul had been blasted wide open.

HUMMM...

The moment his Spiritual Origin awakened, it was as if some deeply hidden resonance had been triggered.

Two completely different yet tightly entangled Soul Marks.

The residual fragments belonging to the ’original body’ and the complete consciousness of the ’transmigrator’, under the scouring of this pure Spiritual Energy, fit together like two matching puzzle pieces, instantly completing their final fusion.

No learning was needed, no guidance required.

An ultimate understanding and desire for control over his ’self-existence’, born from the fusion of two souls, gushed forth like an instinct.

This instinct directly drove his newly awakened Spiritual Energy.

And at that very moment, a line of golden text slowly appeared in his vision.

[Acquired Skill: Mental Self-Formation. Current Level: 1]

The instant the text faded, Roland almost subconsciously, silently, ’issued’ his first command to himself.

Power.

As the thought arose, his Spiritual Energy acted like an invisible forge hammer, striking fiercely against the muscle fibers and bones in his arm.

A feeling of solid fullness instantly suffused his right arm.

He could even hear a faint, dense CRACKLE from his bones, proof that his strength was being temporarily enhanced on an invisible anvil.

Clenching his fist and feeling this Power empowered by Spiritual Energy, Roland’s gaze slowly drifted upward.

He saw on his Professional Panel that his Power Attribute—which had already broken past the thirty-point threshold after continuous practice of the Nameless Breathing Technique and relentless combat—had now climbed by another three full points.

Meanwhile, his Spiritual Attribute value began to fluctuate, the rate of increase only slowing when it reached twenty-eight points before finally settling at twenty-eight point three.

At the same time, one of the requirements to become a Spiritual Master, "Learn and master one basic Spiritual Energy technique," changed from a "0/1" to a conspicuous "1/1".

’Mental Self-Formation...’

Roland silently repeated the Skill’s name in his mind, his eyes narrowing slightly.

’Just a basic Spiritual Energy technique raised my Power by three points?’

Although three points might not seem like much, on top of Roland’s current base of over thirty Power, every single point of improvement was exceptionally difficult to gain.

And the actual enhancement brought by each additional point was far greater than before, almost a qualitative transformation.

Not only that, but Roland keenly sensed that his mastery of the Mental Self-Formation Skill was still extremely crude.

Furthermore, the enhancement it provided was by no means limited to just Power.

Agility, Spiritual Power...

Even Attributes not directly displayed on the panel, like Perception, willpower, and so on, could seemingly receive a temporary boost through Mental Self-Formation.

Compared to the rather one-dimensional power increase from Spiritual Power, the effects of Mental Self-Formation were clearly more comprehensive.

If he could master it, this Skill would be almost equivalent to applying a constant, all-encompassing enhancement to himself. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Taking a deep breath, a sharp glint flashed in Roland’s eyes.

The appearance of the Mental Self-Formation Skill made his anticipation for the hidden Profession, Spiritual Master, even stronger.

Unlike other Professions with clear "Basic," "Upper-tier," and "High Tier" level divisions, the strength of a hidden Profession wasn’t fixed, nor could it resonate with other Professions to trigger an Extra Benefit.

For example, the hidden Profession Pirate, while granting quite powerful Traits, was only slightly stronger than an Upper-tier Profession overall.

Compared to the High Tier Professions he already held, Apprentice Knight and Enchanter, it was still a bit inferior.

However, the strength of the Spiritual Master Profession...

Judging solely from the basic Spiritual Energy technique it required, it was already showing extraordinary signs.

’Could it be... a Profession that surpasses High Tier? Maybe... even one on par with Extraordinary Professions?’

Just as Roland was lost in thought, a concerned voice reached his ears.

"Roland, are you all right?"

Avril leaned across the table, her eyes filled with worry.

"Why did you suddenly freeze on the spot, like... like a statue?"

Her call slowly brought Roland back to his senses.

He glanced around, seeing the same concern in the eyes of Mason and Beastman Freddy.

Only Vanessa...

The Purple-haired Witch was sizing him up, her eyes gleaming with a look full of curiosity and astonishment.

That gaze was as if she were scrutinizing an...

...extremely rare... research specimen?

Roland shook his head slightly, ignoring Vanessa’s probing gaze. He just gave a light chuckle and reassured his companions beside him.

"I’m fine, it’s just..."

Before he could finish his reassuring words, a sudden clamor and commotion erupted outside the tent.

The abrupt noise instantly shattered the newly relaxed atmosphere, putting everyone back on high alert.