2 Creditor (1/2)

But soon, Lin Yun threw these things to the back of his mind and shifted his attention to the state of his body. This was what Lin Yun was truly concerned about.

Surviving 20 years at the end of Noscent's gradual deterioration made Lin Yun have a near fanatical thirst for mana. If he ran out of mana, the Lin Yun of that time wouldn't have been able to survive for even an hour. The fierce sand beasts, the constant high temperature, the Netherstorm with its mortal radiation, all of those could easily kill Lin Yun.

What Lin Yun used to survive in that era wasn't something like a powerful family, nor some promising future, but rather, his fine control of the mana he possessed.

Lin Yun didn't care how physically weak this body was, or how much debt he owed. A 9th Rank Magic Apprentice wasn't strong enough. If Mafa had been an Archmage, then let alone eight thousand, who would dare to ask him to return eighty thousand gold? Even if he was willing to pay them back, they would have to be bold enough to accept it...

After some careful inspection, Lin Yun discovered that this young man called Mafa Merlin was actually not too bad. Although the status of a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice wasn't worth mentioning, his foundations were very firm, and because he had been very hard-working, his mana had already formed the mana whirlpool boundary. The only reason he had still yet to advance was his insufficient control over his mana.

This was definitely a lot simpler...

During those twenty years, Lin Yun had always been focused on trying to extract the all of the additional mana that was possible, always calculating how to use every bit of mana to the highest levels of efficiency. Over twenty years, Lin Yun's mana control had reached an outrageous level.

To be fair, it wasn't just Lin Yun. Every mage in that mana-deficient era was like that. They could survive the deadly radiation of the Netherstorm and the scalding hot deserts for a few days only to extract a bit more mana from the void.

Growing up in such an environment, Lin Yun's mana control far surpassed that of the current casters, to the point that Mafa Merlin couldn't even enter his eyes.

Lin Yun spent about ten minutes analyzing the body's potential for magic.

Ten minutes later, Lin Yun was convinced that his understanding of this body was no less than that of Mafa Merlin himself, and thus, he started gathering mana. Guided by his precise control, the sturdy mana seemed like a flowing river...

At first, this flow seemed gentle and relaxing, like a whispering brook, but with his continuous prompting, the mana began to stir and turned into a surging river. With a whistle, the swirling waves kept crashing against his new body.

This was the most critical period for a Magic Apprentice. If the Magic Apprentice lost control of the surging mana, they would fail the absorption and would have no choice but to start accumulating mana from scratch. The setback could even cause some to lose hope of ever forming a mana whirlpool.

This was why there were many Magic Apprentices, but very few Archmages. It was also why Mafa Merlin was unable to progress past being a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice for three years. He had actually yet to give it a try, worried that he might not succeed.

But Lin Yun didn't have such a problem...

Lin Yun had an amazing level of control. He didn't even need to focus in particular, and in an instant, the mana surged ever stronger. Regardless of the rough flooding of the mana, Lin Yun easily controlled all of it, and the seemingly berserk mana flowed through the path that Lin Yun guided it through.

It took an instant for the mana whirlpool to form in Lin Yun's body.

When Magic Apprentices reached this step, they gained the qualification to finally put on that black gown. After some time, the mana whirlpool would completely stabilize and it would be considered true completion of the achievement, becoming a mage.

But Lin Yun didn't plan on stopping here. As if he didn't know that the mana whirlpool had already taken shape, he forcibly pushed the mana further, despite the fact that it had already seemed close to its limits. The weak and recently formed mana whirlpool suddenly let out a popping sound, like that of a bubble, and collapsed from the pressure of the eruption.