"Moreover, there are no restrictions on time here. You can become an adept today if you pass all the tests. You will be given 3 years to advance to the disciple stage and 5 years to advance to the adept stage. There are no time limits after that."

"If you don't manage to reach the next stage in the required time, you will be expelled and any memory of this place will be wiped from your mind."

"That is all. I will see you in the morning for training."

Instructor Juno was clearly a professional; he had told almost all the important information Silas needed to know in as few words as possible. But unfortunately, Silas still had a question.

"Sir, thank you for that. Can you please tell me where my room is?" so Silas asked.

Instructor Juno didn't seem surprised by this question but simply pointed at the timetable.

The timetable was equipped with a spell that would lead to any location he touched on. 'What a convenient spell. '

Silas was about to thank Instructor Juno, but he had disappeared already.

'Anyway, let's see what this place is, Silas said.

Silas followed the map on the table as he analyzed it. But he couldn't find how this map was being presented.

The only thing he could tell was that this spell worked because of the symbol drawn on the now white paper. This symbol seemed to be powering the spell.

As soon as Silas reached his room, the magic spell stopped, and the paper turned back to a timetable again. This timetable details various classes he could take, as well as a brief summary of these classes.

Silas said in amazement, "At this point, it is better to call the timetable a tablet than a paper. It certainly behaves like one."

His training could be divided into two main parts: discipline of the body, soul, and mind, and magical studies.

'So, soul exists!' This was the only thing Silas could think of before he jumped at the box sitting in the middle of the room.

He had to know more. And he was sure that the box would contain a book that would help him understand the fundamentals of magic.

He had to know. He had to...

Because if the soul exists, it completely changes everything Silas had learned. It seemed that he was missing an entire domain of knowledge.

Silas was right; he had gotten a small booklet that detailed the fundamentals of magic.

The book explained that an existence is divided into three main parts: the body, the soul, and the mind.

The soul protected and powered the mind. It was also the resting place of the mind palace and controlled most of the unconscious mind. The body, on the other hand, controlled the conscious mind and a small part of the unconscious. The brain was just a tool the body used to work with the mind.

The mind was the real self. It served as the bridge between body and soul, and it controlled both. The better the mind was used, the better both the body and soul could be controlled.

The two advancement paths—body and soul—existed mainly to expand and unlock more of the mind. The body did this by improving control over the brain, and the soul did it by growing and deepening the mind palace.

Then there was the concept of will. Will was just a measure of how well the mind was being used. It represented the effectiveness of an existence's use of the mind.

"Hahahaha-"

"So, that's it. Yes, that makes sense," Silas said in pure joy.

This new information solved many of his previous doubts and explained the inadequacies in his current understanding of biology.

He had always thought of the brain as the place his consciousness resides, the place where thought began and ended. But this framework made it clear that the brain was just a tool - an interface the body used to interact with the mind.

It also explained why improvements to physical strength, reaction time, and perception didn’t always lead to better thinking. They were different pathways.

It also clarified why some people with no special physical training could show strange awareness or instincts. Their soul, and through it, their unconscious mind, was simply more developed - even if they didn’t realize it.

What he had previously seen as anomalies were just signs of the mind being accessed from the other end. The real target was always the mind. And both body and soul were just different ways to get to more of it.

But now he had even more questions than before, like what the mind palace is. How to access the soul? Where is his soul? Why is the word existence used instead of human or intelligent being? Did that mean there were other intelligent beings other than humans, and even beings that couldn't be described as intelligent beings?

But unfortunately, there was no more information in the booklet on this topic.

So, Silas had to suppress his excitement and curiosity for now. He was sure he would learn more soon enough. Unfortunately, he was going to be disappointed even further.

He didn't have all of his questions answered until nine months later...

As for the other information in the booklet, it was about the ranking system of mages in this universe, what to expect at each stage, and more.

Mage was the term used to define people following the magic pathway in this universe. Silas says universe because that is exactly what was written in the booklet.

The book seems to be suggesting that Keystone is connected to things beyond this world. I hope that is the case' Silas thought.

The word 'separate dimension' used by Arthur before to refer to Keystone's location suggests this possibility too.

The ranking of mages was as follows: observer, disciple, adept, architect, master, and true mage.

Silas could get a lot of information about the stage from just the name.