Chapter 173: Late-Night Visit

The violent fluctuation of spatial energy inevitably caused the magical power and spiritual force connected to it to surge as well. Rowland did not dare to neglect and hurriedly focused his mind to suppress them. Otherwise, such intense fluctuations of magic and spiritual force within the dantian during cultivation could easily damage the relatively fragile dantian and meridians. In severe cases, it could lead to heavy injuries or even endanger his life!

After a full five or six minutes, the spatial energy riot gradually began to stabilize. Throughout this time, Rowland did not dare to relax his guidance over the circulation of his internal magic and spiritual force for even a moment, thus preventing any internal injury to his body. Seeing that the spatial energy had finally calmed down, he let out a long sigh of relief.

Far from feeling any worry about this sudden outburst of spatial energy, a trace of joy appeared on Rowland's face. This was because such abnormal behavior of the spatial energy matched the phenomenon recorded in the spatial notes of Mithius to the letter. This indicated that the spatial energy within Rowland's body had entered the "Spatial Energy Condensation Period"!

The so-called "Spatial Energy Condensation Period" refers to the active phase just before spatial energy condenses into a spatial seed. During this period, the spatial energy is extremely unstable and often experiences "energy riots" just like the one that had just occurred. At first glance, this might seem like a bad thing, but once spatial energy enters the "condensation period," it means the formation of the spatial seed will definitely take no more than half a month!

How could this not make Rowland happy? Ever since he began attempting to condense the spatial seed five years ago, his cultivation level as a mage had made zero progress. Over these past five years, he had tasted the mockery and cold stares of others, and even Karina, the girlfriend who once shared a verbal engagement with him, had left him.

Enduring such immense pressure, Rowland had never once considered destroying the "model" within his body that restricted the advancement of his mage cultivation by forming the spatial seed. For if he had done so, not only would he have had no chance of condensing a spatial seed in this lifetime, but all his previous efforts would also have been in vain.

This matter sounded easy to say, but for someone who had been a prodigy in magic cultivation right from the start, it was undoubtedly an extremely painful and agonizing trial. Just imagine how fast Rowland's magic rank had advanced all the way from the moment he first entered Potter Academy!

As a first-rank, second-rank, and third-rank mage, his cultivation speed had consistently stayed at the forefront among his peers. Therefore, back then, he was also one of the "Three Heroes of the Academy," deeply sought after by all the teachers and students, and surrounded by words of praise wherever he went.

However, ever since he began condensing the spatial seed, his mage rank had stubbornly remained at a complete standstill. Terry and Simone, who were once his peers as the three heroes of the academy, successively broke through to become fourth-rank and fifth-rank mages, while he remained stuck in the same place. Later on, even Maller, Bill, and others, who did not possess particularly strong cultivation aptitudes, managed to catch up to him. Only Rowland himself knew how tremendous the pressure was for him to bear such a stark contrast.

The arrival of the "Spatial Energy Condensation Period" indicated that within half a month, the spatial energy within his body could take shape at any moment—perhaps today, perhaps a week from now. But regardless, the formation of the spatial seed would take no longer than half a month!

"Hoo, I've finally made it through the hardest part!" Rowland opened his eyes, let out a long breath, and muttered to himself.

Immediately afterward, he rested for a short while, adjusted his state, and prepared to continue his cultivation. However, right at this moment, a gentle knock on the door suddenly sounded, followed by a low, soft, and melodious voice coming from outside: "Rowland, are you asleep?"

"Victoria!" As soon as the voice rang out, Rowland recognized that the owner of the voice was none other than Victoria, whom he had admired in his heart for a long time. He hurriedly took a few quick steps and pulled the door open.

There standing outside the door was a cold-eyed, fair-faced girl with golden hair and a purple dress—who else could it be but Victoria?

Rowland felt somewhat surprised by the beauty's sudden visit. "Victoria, it's so late. Is there something you need?"

Hearing him speak thus, a faint blush first appeared on Victoria's face, and then, as if she had made a resolute decision, she looked up at him, parted her rosy lips slightly, and said, "Rowland, can you accompany me for a walk outside right now?"

"Uh... this, this, alright, no, no problem!" Rowland had never expected that Victoria, whose personality was usually extremely cold, would suddenly make such a bold request. Actively inviting him out for a walk in the middle of the night exceeded his imagination, causing him to stutter and become tongue-tied.

Seeing him in this state, Victoria, who had been somewhat nervous and shy, couldn't help but chuckle softly. In an instant, it was as if a cold and proud ice lotus had blossomed before Rowland's eyes.

Rowland awkwardly scratched the back of his head, pulled the door shut, and walked side by side with Victoria out of the academy infirmary.

It was already the middle of the night. The academy was quiet and still, with a bright, clear moon hanging in the sky, casting down pristine silvery light and illuminating the surroundings brightly.

The two walked silently for quite a while, neither of them speaking a word. In the past, they would often chat and laugh together, but the events of the past few days—especially because of Anthony—had made the once very hazy feelings between them increasingly clear. In other words, under the pressure from Anthony, the affection between Rowland and Victoria was heating up rapidly.

It was precisely because of this subtle relationship between them that they no longer felt as casual and at ease with each other as before. Now, left entirely alone, both of them appeared somewhat restrained.

Just as Rowland's face and neck turned red from holding back, and he was about to say something to break the awkwardness, a black shadow suddenly darted out from the side path and stopped beside them. Because the shadow moved with extreme lightness, like a gust of wind blowing past, neither Rowland nor Victoria had noticed it beforehand, only realizing its presence when it arrived right beside them.

"Little Black!" When Rowland clearly recognized the black shadow, the name slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. It turned out that this shadow was none other than his magical beast, the Wind-Chasing Donkey, Little Black. Due to participating in the Alchemy Assembly and dealing with Bill's affairs, Rowland hadn't taken proper care of it over the past few days. He had no idea where it had popped out from now.

"Hey, Little Black, what are you chewing on in your mouth?" Rowland curiously noticed that the donkey's large mouth was continuously moving, as if it were eating something.

At that exact moment, a string of cursing echoed from the direction of the infirmary kitchen in the distance: "What the hell? How come there are another dozen chicken drumsticks missing? Damn it, if I catch this little thief, I'll definitely not let him off!"