Zeke had to pause his research, as today was the day of his second lecture. But not even this interruption managed to dampen his spirit. The discovery he had just made was far too promising. The smile stayed fixed on his face as he made his way to the shower room.
Ever since first experiencing it in Maximilian's mansion, showering had become his favorite way to relax and unwind. As the warm water hit his face and streamed down his body, Zeke pondered what he had learned this morning. Even Tristan's eyes would pop out of their sockets if he knew…
A quick check of his body revealed the shocking reality. Zeke now had 1.5 times the amount of blood from the day before.
For reference, Mordred only had three times the normal amount. And that was after two years of compression, making this an earth-shattering increase for a single night.
Zeke's quick progress could be attributed to a couple of factors. First and foremost, compared to the Bloodsword family, his method consisted of a two-pronged approach. In a first step, he had begun to grow the thickness of his veins. It wasn't hard for him to make incremental changes to his body through [Perfect Body Control].
Zeke estimated that he would be able to increase his volume by a factor of two that way. This would have to be an ongoing project over the next few months, but the results already looked promising. If Zeke succeeded with this, it would have a multiplicative effect, considering he was trying to condense his blood at the same time. His second approach had been to create his own version of [Blood Compression]. And this was where most of his progress had come from.
The problem had been rather challenging. Different from the Bloodsword kids, he wasn't able to engrave the spell onto his core, limiting his options. Therefore, he wasn't able to copy their method exactly. But eventually, after struggling for a long time, the breakthrough came in the form of a realization.
Do I even need this spell?
The moment Zeke thought of this, his thinking changed. Wasn't [Blood Compression] just a very specific form of body control? Who said he couldn't just do the same with his own engraved spell? This was exactly what [Perfect Body Control] was meant to do, after all. It had taken him quite a few attempts, but eventually, he managed to compress a drop of blood by the tiniest amount.
However, after relaxing his focus, the drop expanded again. This setback had almost disheartened him into giving up on this method. Only his lack of a better idea had convinced him to keep trying. Zeke had focused for 3 hours straight, getting faster and faster with each drop.
Eventually, he was done. He had managed to compress his entire blood supply by 10%. But what now? Zeke didn't dare relax his focus, in fear of losing all his progress. However, he didn't have any idea what else to do. So he just stayed put.
Keeping his blood compressed almost felt like clenching a muscle. It wasn't particularly hard, but still required constant attention. Zeke knew that he would not be able to keep this up forever. His focus would be broken sooner or later. When he went to sleep, at the latest.
What was he supposed to do? Should he give up on this approach? Even after managing to compress his blood? But what else could he even try?
After being torn by indecision for a while, Zeke noticed a strange phenomenon. It had been about 30 minutes since he had started keeping his blood compressed, but instead of getting harder, the strain was getting lighter. With a glimmer of hope in his eyes, Zeke observed the change.
Another 30 minutes passed, and Zeke could barely feel the strain anymore. Finally, he realized what was happening. His [Perfect Body Control] was adapting! The compressed Blood had become the new normal. With shining eyes, Zeke continued to keep his blood compressed until eventually, after two hours, he could not feel any strain anymore.
Hesitantly, he began to release all conscious control over his body. He had almost expected his blood to reverse to its original state. But to his utter elation… absolutely nothing happened! Zeke double and triple-checked, but the results stayed the same. His blood was 10% more compressed than before.
In his delight, Zeke went through one round of compression after the other. He spent the entire night packing it tighter and then making up the vacancy with fresh blood. When morning eventually came, he had finished his third round, compressing his blood by almost 30%. Combined with his slight growth in vein capacity, he was at almost 1.5 times the amount of total blood.
This had been the moment Zeke realized the oddity of his quick progress. It was extremely perplexing! His improvements stood in stark contrast to all he had learned about [Blood Compression]. At this moment, he discovered something — something, that had him smiling to this very moment, as he stood under the warm shower.
…His progress had not slowed down!
His first cycle had consisted of about 10.5% compression, 10.1% for his second round, and 9.7% for his third round. Even though the percentage had decreased slightly, he had actually spent less time on his subsequent attempts. This was mostly because he was still getting better at it.
Even so, this was going against his calculations. According to the density of blood, he should be struggling to get even half those results in his third round. But his efficiency had barely decreased at all. How was this possible?
Zeke had agonized over this question, not finding any way to explain this phenomenon. It just didn't make any sense. Matter didn't behave like this… unless… there was a factor he hadn't considered. With a start, Zeke realized what it was.
Space affinity!
Hadn't the books said that a Space affinity would prime his body for Space Magic? How could he have overlooked that? Of course, compression and expansion would fall under the domain of Space Magic! Tears almost came to his eyes at the realization. He had never before been so glad for his affinity. This was an insane advantage!
Zeke didn't yet know the proper numbers to make any concrete estimates, but he suspected that he would be able to overshadow the Bloodswords easily. Even considering the advantage of the engraved spell.
After this discovery, Zeke couldn't help but wonder if there were more hidden synergies between his affinities he didn't yet know about.
Blood - Mind - Space…
Zeke spent the remaining minutes under the shower making conjectures about possible synergies. But his guesses were only that — guesses. He was missing too much information still.
After getting dressed in a fresh set of robes, Zeke wiped the fog off the mirror. The shower had done a lot to make him presentable again. His hair looked neat, and even the dark rings under his eyes were alleviated by a fair bit. Truly a marvel, those showers.
With a content nod, Zeke made his way to the distant classroom. He hoped that his estimation had not been off. He didn't quite know what to do if nobody showed up today. He had planned to teach them about his discoveries in this format. Not only would it be beneficial for the veterans, but they were also an excellent sounding board for his ideas.
As veterans of many years, the combined experience of the captains wasn't something Zeke could overlook. If his ideas had no practical applications, they would tell him. Same for applications he didn't even think of. Right now, his biggest problem was a lack of real-world experience. There was only so much one could learn through reading books and making conjectures, after all.
With trembling hands, Zeke pushed open the door to classroom 01-01 and entered. A smile instantly spread across his face as he swept his eyes over the occupants. He counted all of his four guard captains and two administrators alongside David, Margret, Kerim, and a grumpy-looking Leo — everyone was here.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," Zeke said in a good mood.
"Good morning, young lord!"
"…morning…" Leo greeted halfheartedly.
Zeke knew why his brother was feeling down. It had not been fair to deprive Leo of their daily duels. Even though he could spar with the guards, Leo preferred to fight him. Ever since Zeke had overtaken him, the blonde boy had made it his mission to get his spot back.
"Don't look so glum, Leo," Zeke said. "Both of today's topics are going to be extremely interesting to you. I dare say… that they have the potential to exponentially boost your strength…"
Leo's ears perked up instantly, but there was still a suspicious expression on his face. "This better not be a trick to get me to listen to a boring lecture!"
Zeke smirked. "It's not a trick, but how much you'll be able to learn is up to you."
Leo's eyes sharpened. He had that same predatory glint in his eyes he always got before a fight. Clearly, the challenge had worked.
"However, before I begin with today's lecture, I have an announcement to make." The amused murmurs died down and everybody focused their attention on Zeke. "In three weeks, at the end of this month, there is an important event. I suspect you all know what I am talking about?"
All the Grand Mages nodded, leaving only Leo to look around in confusion.
"It's the yearly advancement ceremony," David explained.
"That's right," Zeke confirmed. "I heard from Tristan that this year, five candidates are going to try. One of them from the Bloodsword family."
"Five, huh?" Kerim said. "That's quite a few more than last time I was here. Now that we have gotten this lucky, I really would like to go…"
"Nothing to do with luck," Margret interjected. "With all that talk of an upcoming war, it's not surprising so many people are trying to break through."
Leo raised his hand. "Erm… Can somebody tell me what the advancement ceremony is?"
"It's a yearly tradition here in Tradespire," Zeke explained. "On that day, a couple of peak Grand Mages attempt to break through to the Arch Mage level."
"Ohh, that sounds interesting. Can anybody go and watch?" Leo exclaimed excitedly.
"Not at all," Zeke said with a smirk. "It's quite an exclusive event. Not only that, but the tickets are expensive as well."
"I see," Leo said, deflating slightly.
"… and that's why I've gotten tickets for everybody here in advance," Zeke announced with a wide smile.
The room fell silent in an instant.
"I-Is that really true, young lord?" Kerim asked hopefully.
Zeke smirked. It was rare for Kerim to address him by his proper title. Clearly, the captain was rattled by this announcement. It was no wonder; it was not often that one had the chance to watch a breakthrough. In fact, Zeke had never heard of anything like this outside of Tradespire. However, there was nothing that could not be bought in the city of Merchants.
Honestly? This was a brilliant idea! From what he understood, the thousands of gold raised through the entrance fee would be fairly split among all contestants. Also, it was a point of pride to have a member of one's family succeed publicly. It was clear why many Grand Mages could not refuse such a chance.
The spectators were even more fortunate. They had the chance to watch many advancement attempts back to back. This was an ideal chance to discover the secrets for a safe breakthrough. No price would be too high for something like this, as the consequences of failure were too dire to contemplate….
Zeke clapped his hands, waking his students from their reverie. "Why are you all so surprised? I promised you last week that the aim of my lectures was to turn you into Arch Mages. Of course, I would not let such a chance slip by!
"Or… did you not believe me when I made that promise?"
Most of the Mages wouldn't meet his gaze. It was clear that they had not believed his words, or at least, not fully. Zeke sternly swept his gaze over the Grand Mages.
"I might not be Maximilian," he began. "I do not yet have his strength, his wisdom, or his experience. But just like for him, my word is my bond. If I make you a promise, I will keep that promise. It's as simple as that. Did I make myself clear?"
"Yes, young lord!"
Zeke was pleased by the fervor he could hear in that cry. This was exactly what he wanted. He had never expected to win them all over just by making that one promise. Only words that were backed by actions meant anything. Just now, Zeke had begun to lay a foundation for real trust. The first brick had been laid in everyone's heart.
"Excellent! Now, who of you is ready to learn about stealth casting?"