"Thank you, teacher." Salin was filled with joy. He carried the money bag and returned to his room. He put the money bag and the Imperial Bank's deposit in his box. The box was filled with the expired IOUs, documents, and his family crest. Salin stuffed the money into the box, but felt it was inappropriate. He took it out again, not knowing where to put it.
After a while, Salin felt ridiculous. With his teacher here, what thief would dare enter this house?
Thinking back to when Jason was in the city guards' office, releasing magic one after another with just a flick of his fingers, without even chanting an incantation, Salin became excited again. If he could do that, who would dare to bully him!
Magic was the only law in this world. Those with magic abilities had already surpassed the law.
Thinking of this, Salin could not sit still. He put the money on the bed and went to the room with the magic books.
Looking at the rows of bookshelves in the room, Salin impatiently went to read one book at a time. He walked back to the shelves with Level-0 magic books.
Level-0 magic was not the most common. In fact, there were fewer than Level-1 magic. Even so, there were four Level-0 Magic General Principles, each extremely thick.
Salin took one and sat down. He leaned against the shelf and started reading.
Reading, Illumination, Burning, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Invisible Shield …
Reading one by one, Salin felt dizzy. He realized that without the support of a theoretical system, he really did not know how to choose what to study. Leaning against the shelf and spacing out for a while, Salin felt that he was losing control. Even if he was eager to improve his strength, he should not bite off more than he could chew. His teacher told him to learn in order. If he skipped the basics, there would definitely be hidden dangers.
Thinking of this, Salin put the Level-0 Magic General Principles back on the shelf. He returned to the front and read the basic knowledge of magic step by step.
Magic was divided into six main categories according to its properties. But in fact, when learning magic, it was usually categorized according to its uses. Attack, Defense, Healing, Alchemy, Potion, and so on. Other than the six, there was also Summoning. This was a truly unpopular magic. It had a relatively short history, less than ten thousand years ago, and had fallen into decline five thousand years ago.
Releasing a magic was divided into three stages — preparation, completion, and release.
The preparation stage referred to chanting, hand gestures, elemental gathering, and magic resonance. Everything required a Magician's Mental Energy to control. After training, a Magician could shorten the time it took to prepare a spell, could recite incantations, and could omit gestures.
The completion stage meant that the spell had been formed and could be released at any time. This stage could be extended. The Magician could preserve the spell he had prepared and prepare a second spell at the same time to achieve the effect of a concentrated attack. For example, after a Magician prepared a Fireball, he could prepare a second Fireball at the same time without releasing it. When the second fireball was ready, he released both fireballs at the same time.
This technique was called double casting, and it was a common method for mages to increase their attack power.
Similarly, casting a second spell also required the magician to have strong mental strength. Otherwise, if the magician was unable to control the elemental chaos, the magician's body would be seriously injured.
The casting stage was not as simple as just casting the spell. This stage included locking on the target, the final elemental slash, and the control of time.
These three parts all relied on mental strength. Locking onto the target was the most basic ability. Without the ability to track, there was no difference between a Magician and an Archer. The final elemental slash was the key to mana consumption. Without this ability, a Magician's mana consumption would always be the highest. If control was not good, a level-one Magician could release two level-one spells and use up all their magic strings.
Time control referred to controlling the released spell so that it could be completely released at the most suitable time. This skill was also called second-level casting. High-level Magicians would be adept at second-level casting to control the rhythm of battle. Similarly, second-level casting was also used in the creation of magic scrolls and alchemy.
Only by completely mastering these skills could one barely be considered a qualified Magician.
Salin also learned that the numerical value of a spell's basic attribute was not fixed.
Casting time, casting distance, and energy units were all variable. Casting time was not measured in seconds, but in vibras. One vibration was equivalent to one-sixtieth of a second.
Instantaneous casting was not 0 vibras, but 2 vibras. The so-called instantaneous casting referred to the three stages of preparation, completion, and release, which took a total of 2 vibras, or two-sixtieth of a second. No matter how powerful a Magician was, they could not continue to compress this time.
What caused the illusion of 0 vibras was the second casting. In other words, a Magician would not release a completed spell after completing it, and would retain the completed spell. The first completed spell would be released at the same time as the second spell. In fact, the release phase after the completion of the spell was carried out at the same time as the release phase of the second spell. This was extremely demanding on the Magician's mental strength.
This skill was called high-level control, and it was very dangerous.
Salin read on bit by bit, only to realize how ignorant he was. He had thought that magic was only a powerful means of attack. He did not expect the basic knowledge of magic to be so complicated. If he did not learn it well, it would be extremely difficult for him to improve in the future.
Without this basic knowledge, a Magician's own abilities would be limited to a very small range, and he would not be able to judge the abilities of others.
For example, the minimization and maximization of the casting time, the conversion between casting distance and attack power, the relationship between energy units and elemental slash, and so on. High-level Magicians could make calculations in an instant and determine the effects of their own spells, rather than leaving it to fate.
Control! The power of magic lay in control!
Salin read patiently and began to learn mathematical knowledge, learning how to calculate these magic formulas. This mathematical knowledge was also the key to drawing magic seals.
In the blink of an eye, another three months passed. Other than eating and going to the bathroom, Salin did not step out of his room at all. The more he learned, the more depressed he felt. His intelligence and mental strength were so perfect, but his elemental affinity was not good enough. Even if his elemental affinity was only at the standard of a normal person, it was enough to become an outstanding Magician.
However, his elemental affinity was useless, which made it very difficult for him to form magic strings. Without the Demonic Strings, all of this was just a castle in the air, an armchair strategist.
A year passed, and Salin was still at the standard of a Level-1 Apprentice, and had the abilities of a Level-2 Apprentice. He had learned five Level-0 spells: Reading, Poison Detection, Acid Splash, Flame Combustion, and Elemental Integration. He had a basic grasp of the Law of Meditation. Through meditation, he could quickly recover lost magical elements.
The reason for this effect was that there was too little magical elements in Salin's body. Even if he relied on natural recovery and did nothing, it would only take him ten minutes.
What could three Level-0 spells do? They could not do anything. If they were used for battle, Salin might as well give them a knife. At least after a year of recuperation, Salin's body was much healthier. Although he still looked weak, his strength had actually increased.
The food that the red-haired swordsman had brought last time had been finished, and Salin had to go into the city again. Now, he no longer had the ridiculous ideas from half a year ago, such as exquisite clothes, fashionable hairstyles, and decent carriages. To a Magician, all of this was so ridiculous. Knowledge was the only thing a Magician could rely on.
After putting on the ridiculous robe and the black boots that Jason had bought for him, Salin said goodbye to Jason and left the ancestral house. Jason gave him two bags of gold coins, a total of 100, and a list of items. A Magician's experiments required large amounts of low-level materials. Jason's laboratory was almost always in operation, and after a year, his basic materials were almost used up.
Ceylon City was a port city, and many things that could not be found locally could be ordered here. It would only take a week to get the goods. This was also why Jason had chosen to stay here. This was a relatively remote city that could buy necessities.
Arriving at Ceylon City again, this dilapidated city was completely different in Salin's eyes. The soldiers guarding the city straightened their bodies when they saw Salin appear on the main road.
The soldiers at the city gate belonged to the mayor's office, and had nothing to do with the city guards. However, no one had forgotten the lesson from half a year ago. The Magician had gone on a killing spree, and the mayor acted as if nothing had happened. That terrifying Magician lived outside the city, and the Metatlin kid had become the Magician's student.
The two soldiers had strange looks in their eyes. Envy, jealousy, and fear were all mixed together, and they squeezed out a flattering smile.
"Young Master Metatlin, good morning!"
Salin nodded, not knowing how to answer. The soldiers of the mayor's office were much better than the city guards. In the past, when he entered the city, they had never made things difficult for him. At that time, he was like a cloud of air, and a tasteless one at that. As long as he did not go up to ask for a beating, no one would be able to see him.
Young Master Metatlin? If it had been half a year ago, Salin might have been smug. After the incident at the city guards, Salin had matured a lot. He understood that these people were afraid of his teacher, afraid that a level-five Magician would blow their heads off.
Salin faced the sunlight and walked along the main road to the dock. There was a long street near the dock, filled with all kinds of shops. The only equipment shop in Ceylon City was here. Salin raised his leg to enter, and almost bumped into a youth.
The youth was about the same age as Salin. As if startled by Salin, he tripped and bumped into Salin instead. Although Salin was only a magic apprentice, his mental strength was comparable to a real Magician's. His senses were sharp, and he noticed that the youth's hand was reaching for his money pouch.
This hand was very secretive. Salin was amused. Was this an unlucky year for him to encounter a thief as soon as he went out?
He pushed his hand over lightly, and with a flash of fire, he pressed it against the youth's hand. The youth felt a sharp pain on the back of his hand, as if it had been scalded by a soldering iron. He looked up in shock and suddenly shouted, "Salin, is that you?"
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