Magic swirled in the room like a torrent as each of the Five Apprentices put in their all. Their minds were currently being supplemented by Martin who helped them process the information released by the two scrolls at once.
With Miranda's overall increased computing powers, this was possible, not to mention the expansion of it that would be coming later. Right now, though, the magic power the five were condensing was truly great.
It took them only 5 minutes to digest the knowledge imparted, which was visible as when they opened their eyes, there was a gleam of spiritual wisdom that was far more enhanced than what they previously had shown.
"Now, begin forming your magical barrier!" Darius instructed them forcefully.
The Five Apprentices obeyed and began channeling their magic into the circuits of their bodies for their chosen element, which was also their main.
Using their secondaries was not wise for the first time.
Ash formed a barrier that crackled with a slight bit of lightning, its dark-blue color deepening by the second as he infused more mana into it.
Reina formed a gray color barrier that seemed to speak to the soul beckoning it to leave the body. It became more ethereal as a mist formed over it the more she poured mana into it.
Jonathan's barrier was blazing red, the fire within it growing with every bit of mana he poured into it. Just like the hot-blooded fellow, his barrier seemed to want to burn the world.
James' barrier was a deep black color, almost phasing out of existence many times as he continued to pour mana into it. What was interesting was that sometimes, parts of his body would disappear too.
Anthony formed a greenish-blue barrier that radiated a weird sense of energy. It didn't manifest much in the way of strange properties, but it seemed to convert any particle that came into contact with it into energy for Anthony to absorb or use.
The five continued to pour mana into their barriers until they reached their limits about 30 minutes after they had begun, at which point they each requested for the first scoop of Mana Recovery Potion from the basin.
This repeated itself many times over the course of the next 6 hours, until the five of them had blue lips and tongues due to overconsumption. Their barriers had also become dangerously charged, even causing damage to the room as their manifestations grew.
However, when it struck anywhere near Darius or Gunner, it would simply fizzle away. It couldn't be helped, no matter how impressive the kids were, they would never in their lives match up to the kind of power Darius and Gunner had.
The two mentors calmly watched as the kids soon reach their limit, Jonathan was the first to admit that he couldn't take another drink, with James following behind soon after. Reina managed to hold out a while longer, followed by Ash.
Anthony kept drinking and drinking till he emptied two extra basins on his own before reaching his limit. After doing so, the barriers around the lands began to condense as they had fused an absurd amount of power into it.
The barriers then receded into their bodies, ready to be activated passively when something struck them with a spell. It could not affect physical attacks, as that would require the fellows to discover an alternate means to do so themselves.
Soon, mana coursed through their bodies as refined essence from the Laws of Faust rushed through their bodies, refining their magic circuits, strengthening them to the Journeyman standard for their respective races automatically as it sensed their breakthrough.
The total amount of time it had taken them was around 8 hours for their breakthrough, which was obviously longer than most due to the number of resources they had available to them.
However, it all paid off once Darius took in their stats.
[Name: Ash Spencley || Race: Human || Stage: Journeyman || Jobs: Mage, Multi-Elementalist.
HP: 8,918/8,918 (2,115) || MP: 3,045/3,045 (1,440) || STA: 2,058/2,058 (940)
Level: 21 || P-Status: Healthy || M-Status: Excited
Power: 91 (45) || Speed: 79 (44) || Constitution: 98 (47)
Magic: 145 (70) || Will: 230 (100) || Luck: 50 (30).
Skills: Omitted.
Spells: Omitted.]
[Name: Reina McNickles || Race: Human || Stage: Journeyman || Jobs: Mage, Multi-Elementalist.
HP: 3,933/3,933 (1,152) || MP: 2,814/2,814 (1,100) || STA: 1,449/1,449 (720)
Level: 21 || P-Status: Healthy || M-Status: Excited
Power: 57 (34) || Speed: 84 (37) || Constitution: 69 (37)
Magic: 134 (55) || Will: 210 (100) || Luck: 55 (32).
Skills: Omitted.
Spells: Omitted.]
[Name: Jonathan Black || Race: Human || Stage: Journeyman || Jobs: Mage, Multi-Elementalist.
HP: 13,915/13,915 (2,862) || MP: 2,037/2,037 (940) || STA: 2,541/2,541 (1,060)
Level: 21 || P-Status: Healthy || M-Status: Excited
Power: 115 (54) || Speed: 68 (42) || Constitution: 121 (53)
Magic: 97 (45) || Will: 185 (100) || Luck: 45 (25).
Skills: Omitted.
Spells: Omitted.]
[Name: James Jones || Race: Human || Stage: Journeyman || Jobs: Mage, Multi-Elementalist.
HP: 3,968/3,968 (1,886) || MP: 2,499/2,499 (1,260) || STA: 1,344/1,344 (820)
Level: 21 || P-Status: Healthy || M-Status: Excited
Power: 62 (46) || Speed: 98 (51) || Constitution: 64 (41)
Magic: 119 (63) || Will: 200 (100) || Luck: 70 (35).
Skills: Omitted.
Spells: Omitted.]
[Name: Anthony Sabins || Race: Half-Human, Half-Beastman (Sage Monkey Clan) || Stage: Journeyman || Jobs: Mage, Multi-Elementalist.
HP: 15,125/15,125 (5,100) || MP: 4,410/4,410 (1,840) || STA: 2,625/2,625 (1,500)
Level: 21 || P-Status: Healthy || M-Status: Excited
Power: 121 (68) || Speed: 115 (70) || Constitution: 125 (75)
Magic: 210 (92) || Will: 500 (100) || Luck: 100 (70).
Skills: Omitted.
Spells: Omitted.]
Darius nodded his head in satisfaction as he clapped to gain the attention of the five excited younglings. "Now that you have become Journeymen, you are adults in a magical sense. Your limitation on leaving the tower is expanded to the boundary of Safemoon."
"In other words, you can now visit the inner and outer cities if you want, but only after your next assignment," Darius added with a soft smile.
