With any venture, to gain something, you must also let go of something else,—Arcane Adepts are no exception.
The advancement of an Arcane Adept isn’t simply an increase in Mage or Psychic Sorcerer levels, but rather an elevation of both Arcane Spellcaster and Manifestor levels. Any profession related to arcane or special abilities can benefit from it, with Mage and Psychic Sorcerer being the most optimal and common combination.
To achieve this dual-class level enhancement, you must be willing to forfeit any additional bonus feats that come with advancing in Mage and Psychic Sorcerer levels. Moreover, your Arcane Familiar and Spirit Crystal Servant will receive no enhancements or strengthening because an Arcane Adept needs to reshape the soul consciousness to a heightened focus.
To solidify your foundation, I suggest you completely abandon both your Arcane Familiar and Spirit Crystal Servant, concentrating all of your soul consciousness back without a trace," she suggested.
"Indeed, there’s no such thing as having all the advantages to oneself," Gaven mused with a sigh.
He initially thought that being an Arcane Adept, encompassing both Spellcaster and Manifestor levels, seemed overpoweringly freakish. Just the twin bonus feats alone positioned it far above any ordinary profession, not to mention having both an Arcane Familiar and Spirit Crystal Servant.
Now, both advantages were being cut outright.
For Gaven, the loss of the two bonus feats didn’t matter much. After all, he still had the Legendary Warrior echoes bestowing warrior bonus feats and had accumulated various special abilities over the past period. These greatly surpassed the four additional casting feats.
As for the Arcane Familiar and Spirit Crystal Servant, they were of little use to him as well. Aside from initially creating the Spirit Crystal Servant Artolia out of curiosity, he never bothered to transform an Arcane Familiar.
Therefore, letting go wasn’t an issue for him.
The only concern was that the second form of the Spirit Crystal Servant, Death Roar, was extremely useful to him. If he were to discard it, his combat power wouldn’t be halved but rather cut by two-thirds.
Any thoughts of challenging those beyond his level would essentially be out of the question.
Completely open with Philancy about his soul consciousness, Gaven didn’t see the need to hoard a weapon secretively. He brought it out and said, "Madam, I’m not reluctant to give up the Spirit Crystal Servant, but it has a second form which is my exclusive weapon. It possesses many powerful and practical abilities. I wonder if there’s a way to have the best of both worlds?"
"A Divine Artifact?" Philancy’s attention was captured by Death Roar, her words tinged with incredulity. What astonished her was not that Gaven could wield a Divine Artifact, but that this weapon was his Spirit Crystal Servant. What did this imply?
It implied that its current abilities were forged by Gaven’s own hand, not crafted by the gods, which seemed rather unbelievable.
Even with all his special abilities included, Gaven had just entered the Transcendent realm not long ago. How did he achieve this?
This was something even most Legendary Professionals couldn’t accomplish.
Yet as Philancy’s deep perception continued to observe, she couldn’t help but scold, "Such a waste of potential! Not quite right! A fine Divine Artifact, rendered sub-divine by your own restrictions; for the weapon’s sake, you should reclaim your soul consciousness from the Spirit Crystal Servant."
Only by retrieving your soul consciousness would this weapon truly become a weapon, with some abilities reaching their utmost effectiveness.
If that were solely the case, it would still be considered a waste of potential.
Since it was shaped from your Spirit Crystal Servant, you should fully utilize this opportunity to link it to your professional system. Allow it to transcend from a mere inanimate object to a genuine exclusive weapon that receives professional level enhancements.
Not just this weapon, but also your current special abilities seem to have the chance to be embedded into it. It’s worth seeing if they can be merged with the Arcane Adept profession, to be further strengthened as your professional level advances.
Well, your special abilities are truly too eclectic and chaotic, making systemization difficult. We can only try our best. Most are isolated and challenging to integrate," she remarked.
Philancy’s spirit of an Arcanist researcher was fully ignited.
What began as Gaven seeking guidance on the path of an Arcane Adept had now turned into her unique experiment, eager to see if she could forge an unprecedented Arcane Adept.
Philancy wasn’t so much conversing with Gaven as she was talking to herself, "Mage and Psychic Sorcerer—one external, the other internal; Mage outward, Psychic Sorcerer inward; externally connected to the Magic Network, internally generating Spiritual Energy; outside is the tower, inside lay the paths; obey and prosper, defy and perish."
As she spoke, the mist in Gaven’s Consciousness Sea, belonging to her, began to churn rapidly, and Gaven’s soul consciousness was involuntarily swept up, creating a maelstrom.
Philancy appeared to be a highly skilled weaver, constructing a tower of souls, with Gaven’s soul consciousness as the building material.
The soul consciousness was not diamond-shaped, but runic, forming a veritable tower of soul runes.
The completion of the tower marked the moment Gaven officially embarked on the new profession of an Arcane Adept.
Meanwhile, Gaven’s Consciousness Sea underwent earth-shattering changes.
The Tears of Sulun remained suspended in the sky, the shadow of the Dragon Oak Mother Tree still occupied a vast stretch of the heavens, and the shadow of Weizemay Manor lay sprawling beneath it.
A modest tower, backed by the shadow of the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, rooted in the shadow of Weizemay Manor, was connected to the Tears of Sulun by a silver thread.