Herag shook his head, "There's still a lot to do afterward, I'm afraid I won't have much time."

Reese's expression softened a little after hearing this, and she clung tightly to Herag's arm, squeezing it.

She glanced at Irina, then looked at herself, feeling a bit inferior, so she applied more pressure.

Irina glanced at Herag, smiled, and said, "Alright, I understand. Your wife is here, so it's inconvenient for you to speak, I get it. I'll contact you quietly later, I'm waiting for you."

After saying this, Irina smiled and left, swaying as she walked.

"I won't contact her, don't worry," Herag said hastily.

Reese replied, "It's okay, brother, I can understand if you contact her."

Herag could only smile awkwardly. Reese could completely accept Chatiya and Asuna, yet she had a lot of hostility toward Irina.

Herag couldn't understand why, he didn't quite get women's thoughts.

The banquet soon officially started, and Herag, as the main character of the banquet, walked to the center of the stage, attracting everyone's attention.

What followed was a tedious social process. Herag smiled and greeted, communicated, and made friends with various people, gaining a pile of friends on his Talisman Stone.

To these people, Herag was considered a potential wizard who officially entered their field of vision.

Herag felt his face starting to cramp from smiling, finding socializing to be more exhausting than Alchemy.

He was very aware that although he seemed glamorous now, receiving attention from various bigwigs, with what seemed like limitless prospects.

But all these were illusions; he couldn't get complacent because of them.

All fame, status, and relationships stem from strength.

Only when his own strength is sufficient can he support such things.

Once his strength improves, fame and such things will merely follow, coming naturally.

The banquet lasted for a long time, with people slowly dispersing around three or four in the morning.

Like other banquets and balls, Herag's banquet also became an opportunity for various people to mingle.

These people naturally weren't there solely for Herag; many had business dealings with each other and were just taking the opportunity to gather.

Herag looked at a gold medal in his hand, which was the First-Class Honor Medal.

Apart from representing honor, this medal itself was a Level 2 Witchcraft Artifact with a one-time effect of blocking fatal attacks.

Since using the Substitute Death Grassman, Herag hadn't had any witchcraft artifact with a similar effect, so this filled in that gap.

Besides, the Contribution Points had also been added; Herag glanced at the contribution points balance on his Talisman Stone.

"Historical Contribution Points: 11870."

"Remaining Contribution Points: 11600."

Currently, there are more than eleven thousand Contribution Points available, and Herag plans to exchange for the Key of Rules when he is ready to advance to a Level 2 Wizard.

Now that he has the First-Class Honor Medal, applying for the Key of Rules poses almost no difficulty and will surely be approved.

Even if it's not approved, Herag only needs to choose a spatial type Second-level Spell.

He no longer particularly needs the Key of Rules, as he can already utilize Spatial Rules, naturally not needing external aids to comprehend them further.

After returning home, Herag once again entered the monotonous and dull life of Meditation, continuously increasing his Spiritual Power.

Thanks to Reese, these days have some fun, having tried on many outfits and learned new things.

Two months later, a star in Herag's mind completely solidified, making it the thirty-first star.

A few months ago, a star had successfully coalesced while on the airship, and after a few more months, another star coalesced successfully.

"Herag Merlin: Power 51.2, Agility 50.3, Constitution 53.1, Spirit 82.7, Magic Power 100%."

Herag glanced at the data panel, the physical attributes did not improve much, most of the improvements came from absorbing a lot of Demon Aura in the Demon Plane.

Spiritual Power increased by a few points, but now the speed is slowing down.

Herag could clearly feel that even with the energy assistance from the Divine Core, the progress of Meditation remains relatively slow.

He understood that he was nearing a bottleneck, with no other solution but to continue meditating and getting as close to that limit as possible.

...

Two years later.

"Herag Merlin: Power 55.1, Agility 54.2, Constitution 57.4, Spirit 87.5, Magic Power 100%."

The number of stars in the mind had reached thirty-five, and over two years, Herag managed to successfully coalesce four more stars.

He felt the current speed was as slow as a crawling turtle, and without the energy assistance from the Divine Core, he would have long since stopped improving.

The current problem was whether to continue meditating to enhance or directly try advancing to a Level 2 Wizard.

Herag pondered for a while and decided to keep grinding since with the energy from the Divine Core, his Spiritual Power could reach the limit.

He was only twenty-seven years old, still having time to improve.

Having made up his mind, Herag continued his meditative ascetic lifestyle.

Three years later.

Herag stopped continuing to meditate and prepared to advance to a Level 2 Wizard.

The reason that made him stop wasn't that he couldn't improve any further; although the speed was slow, with the Divine Core's energy, he still could continue to improve.

The reason Herag stopped was due to a message: Lord Parker had returned.

Parker's return should have been good news, having a Level 3 Wizard in Silver Moon City increased security substantially.

But accompanying this news was a rumor that Parker was severely injured in the Elf Plane and was forced to return to recover.

This message, although unconfirmed, seemed highly credible given various signs.

Since returning, Parker hadn't shown up, staying secluded in the Floating City without meeting anyone.

On the contrary, over this period, several well-known Alchemists visited Parker one after another.

These signs made Herag realize that Parker might indeed have issues.

He immediately felt a sense of crisis; if Parker had problems, it would mean danger for him.

Over the years, Herag stayed in Silver Moon City, and even if the Taylor Family and Fran wanted to do something to him, they had no means or opportunity.

Herag stayed at home, with the Witch Array activated, no one could do anything to him.

However, the situation was different now, and Herag believed he had to prepare for the worst possible scenario.

He immediately decided to start advancing to a Level 2 Wizard.

"Herag Merlin: Power 57.2, Agility 56.1, Constitution 58.9, Spirit 90.0, Magic Power 100%."

Herag glanced at the data panel, having successfully meditated a total of thirty-seven stars, with Spiritual Power reaching ninety points.

The Spiritual Crystal in his mind had grown larger than when it initially started.

Although Herag didn't know how large others' Spiritual Crystals were, in most cases, none were as big as his.

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