Crowned by Magic: Sorceresses Seek His Favor(LitRPG)

4: The first cycle ends.

[Time is an odd thing. Eleven years have passed since your first meeting with Elvynna. You've been so immersed in your magical studies that you even forgot to celebrate the last winter solstice...]

[You've reached Practitioner Lv2!]

[Another spring dawns, marking your fifteenth year as Elvynna's apprentice. The peach trees you planted together have grown tall and sturdy, casting their shade in the summer and yielding fruit come autumn...]

[You've advanced to Practitioner Lv3!]

[In your sixteenth year together, the neighbor's little brat has blossomed into a graceful young lady, experiencing her first crush... and you've ascended to Practitioner Lv5!]

Two breakthroughs in one year? Eirik felt his pulse quicken.

Elvynna, too, had made strides—achieving Practitioner Lv9 and stepping into the realm of the Elemental Mage. At this stage, she could summon towering elemental giants, her power growing far beyond the ordinary. Yet, despite her progress, she seemed stuck at a crossroads, unable to push through to the next level—the Savant.

In this world, the major magical thresholds were Stalwart, Practitioner, and Savant. Was there more beyond that? Possibly, but Eirik had no way of knowing for certain... yet.

"Sixteen years of training, and I've helped Elvynna reach Practitioner Lv9..."

It sounded impressive, but to Eirik, the journey felt slow. He had pledged to help Elvynna ascend to become the Elf Empress. This was just the beginning.

"Elvynna's stuck. Perhaps it's time for us to venture out, gather some real-world experience, and maybe explore the next dungeon," Eirik mused.

"Going on a training journey sounds perfect!"

Elvynna's eyes gleamed with eagerness. Despite all the knowledge she had gained from their secluded studies, she had never set foot into the outside world. How far could this simulation technique truly carry them?

Her excitement grew. Little did they know, the upcoming events would test them in ways they never imagined.

[The Seventeenth Year: A Great Crisis Strikes Aelsryel City]

[Buried deep beneath the earth, special seeds—nourished for decades by the blood of prodigies—finally gave birth to an ancient divine tree. Its massive branches reached out, casting their shadow over half of Aelsryel City, draining the blood from the majority of its inhabitants!]

A chilling illustration accompanied these words—a monstrous tree, its roots violently tearing through the earth as its branches twisted through the bodies of common folk and scholars alike.

An ancient divine tree? An opportunity, perhaps? Eirik's heart raced. In many stories, such trees were harbingers of great power and treasures for the protagonist. But this tree was different—dark, malevolent, almost demonic in nature. It thrived on the blood of the gifted, and that made Eirik uneasy.

He recalled Elvynna once mentioning how talented students from Starlight Academy had gone missing in recent years, and how little had been done to investigate. Perhaps that was why Elvynna had preferred her studies in seclusion—at least there, they were safe from such dangers. But now, it seemed, this mysterious force was no longer content to remain hidden.

"I thought staying hidden would protect us... but now it seems we've drawn the attention of something far worse than we could have imagined..."