The Five Apprentices obeyed and sat down on their respective mats. Darius snapped a finger and summoned five Maidbots into the room who were carrying trays of special scrolls and potions.
There were two scrolls and three potions on each tray. Each of them were powerful, prepared by Darius long before he had left to power up these fellows when the time was right in case he would have been unable to come back in time... or ever.
The first scroll was a Scroll of Magic. It was a supplementary item for breakthroughs that only the wealthiest and richest of Mage masters would make for their Official Apprentices.
Most of these scrolls were reserved for Adepts breaking into the Master stage and would be created by Grandmaster mages.
Contained within a Scroll of Magic would be all the knowledge of magic's intricacies condensed into a form that would be imbued into the mind of the recipient, granting them a powerful artificial enlightenment.
The second scroll was a Scroll of the Elements. It was also a supplementary item for breakthroughs, but this one was targeted at Amateurs transitioning into Journeymen.
Most qualified Mage masters would try and provide this for their Official Apprentices as it could very well decide their future. It contained the understanding of the mentor towards the elements he practiced.
Obviously, their Official Apprentices would use one or more of the same elements as their Mage masters, else it would be pointless to teach them.
Not everyone was like Darius who could magick resources into being or steal the knowledge of the greatest library in Faust to supplement his Database.
How this helped was that, by giving them an understanding of the intricacies of their specific elements, it would make it far easier for them to create new spells for themselves once they reached the Journeyman stage.
After all, when this stage was reached, there was no longer any handouts from the Laws of Faust. Apart from the spells above Amateur that the Mage master had developed himself and those he had bought, there was nothing else for these Apprentices to consume.
To also expand his tower's library, the Mage master would only let them learn a few core Intermediate spells just to give them an idea of how it worked before making them create their own.
Then, those spells, should their mentor deem them to be useful, would be neatly added to the Mage Tower's library, increasing the stock for future apprentices and creating a notable legacy for it.
The first potion, was a simple Potion of Mana, which expanded the mana capacity of the drinker by three times for an hour without causing harm.
This was necessary since the amount of magic power one imbued into their elemental defense would decide its base power.
If Darius had the chance, he would naturally prefer something stronger than 3 times but this was the limit of 'safety'. Any more than that, and regardless of whether it was Transmutation enhanced or not, the drinker would suffer some detriment from it.
Besides, there were other ways around it, like the second potion, which was the Rapid Magic Recovery potion. This increased base mana recovery by 5 times, for an hour.
This should allow the fellow to maintain their output as long as they controlled it finely, which shouldn't be a problem with Darius seated before them.
The final potion was the Body Fortification Potion. This potion would let the Five Apprentices benefit from increased Constitution and Endurance for the next hour, which was necessary for their mentor's crazy plan to succeed.
He snapped a finger, and a huge basin was brought into the room by a group of Maidbots. This basin was full of shiny blue liquid, and the dense mana it gave off made the five of them drool.
"This is the highest grade Mana Recovery Potion, which should refill you. Any time you are low, request a cup and you will be fed by the Maidbot assigned to you." Darius explained with a laugh of amusement.
The Five Apprentices were shocked but calmed down and nodded. Deep down, they felt endless waves in their hearts.
During the time Darius had been away, they had branched out to learn more about how other mage towers worked and how they fared against other apprentices.
Once they had learned the truth, they had been unable to decide what to feel. Darius had spoiled them to the extent that if they ever dared to let anyone know, hundreds of Mage Towers would put in an application to war with Darius for his resources.
The things they drank alone on a daily and ate were above and beyond what some Grandmasters would even consider as 'treating' themselves.
Now, the wealthy of resources provided for their first-ever stage transition which was the simplest and usually the most resource-lacking one for most parties in Fallon as they were too weak to have any good supply, was so rich and plentiful for them.
If they didn't transform into Gods overnight, they would just have to poke their hands into their throats and vomit everything out, because else it would be too much of a waste.
"What are you lads waiting for? Stop thinking about unnecessary things and begin!" Gunner harshly scolded as the five lowered their heads and obeyed.
First, they drank all three potions at once, before applying the two scrolls. As the Scroll of Magic and the Elements went into their minds simultaneously, they looked like they had achieved a huge epiphany, their eyes closing as their magic fluctuated.
Darius and Gunner's faces changed from lax to solemn as they watched the five carefully. They alone knew how risky what they were doing was.
It was terrible to have a lack of resources when breaking through, as that could make one suffer a loss or fail to succeed. However, resorting to using too many resources could have a similar effect, causing even worse harm or explosion if not handled well.
There was a reason why the saying 'too much of a good thing is bad' existed.
