Chapter 91: From Mediocrity to Genius

Joan dipped his pen in ink and began a fresh paragraph to record the second, and most fundamental, task: learning and studying spells.

Setting aside the second-circle spells he could not yet learn, one new spell in his spellbook was already within his grasp: the first-circle spell Burning Hands. Beyond learning new magic, Joan also intended to pursue deeper study of the spells he had already mastered along two lines of thought. Both sprang from his Mythic Archmage class features: one was Energy Substitution, the other Mythic Casting.

Spells with fire, cold, electricity, or acid properties could all be experimented on for Energy Substitution. Frost Ray, Shocking Grasp, and Burning Hands were among them. Such research could greatly expand the range in which a spell might be used.

Compared with Energy Substitution, developing Mythic Spells was far more complicated. Joan had no clear idea yet; he did not even know which spells were most worth developing. He could only select a few of the spells he used most often as candidates, and research them simultaneously, analyzing during the process which were most valuable to improve and which were not worth the effort, so that he might make a more targeted selection.

The third item Joan listed in his notebook was an attempt to create magic devices, including, but not limited to, potions, weapons, and wondrous items.

As a mage, one could not be content merely to hide in a study from dawn to dusk researching spells; otherwise, the delight of learning would soon be worn away by day after day of arduous study, leaving only confusion and tedium. For that reason, it was necessary to step out from time to time and put learning into practice. The sense of accomplishment gained by applying knowledge could not only spur one on through drudgery, but also point a mage toward a clear direction of study, preventing him from drifting aimlessly in the sea of knowledge. Crafting magic items was precisely the best way for a mage to put learning into practice.

Joan wrote down three ambitions regarding the making of magic devices.

First, he had to ensure that income and expenditure balanced, and ideally sell his creations to recoup the cost of making them. Crafting magic devices was not simply a matter of knowing how to cast spells; it also consumed many expensive materials. For Joan, whose purse was far from full, that investment was by no means a trivial matter.

On the premise of breaking even, Joan also wanted to make as much money as possible by crafting magic devices, so that he could buy research equipment and spell components. If a mage wished to achieve anything, a clever mind alone was not enough; he also needed ample money to burn. Spell research was an enterprise that consumed cash at every turn. If one were so poor that one could not even afford ink and a spellbook, what hope was there of making a name for oneself?

Lastly, if the goddess of fate smiled upon him and he earned a sum by selling his handmade magic devices, Joan wanted to forge for himself a weapon that suited him.

When people spoke of a mage’s weapon, they often thought of wands, staves, and rods—equipment that could unleash magic with a casual wave. Unfortunately, that was only the imagination of laymen, who had no idea how much effort and money went into making such enchanted objects. At Joan’s current mage level, he could barely attempt to craft the most basic wand; however, his finances were still far below his magical ability, and he could not even afford the material cost required to make the lowest-grade wand. Rather than think about such distant things, it would be more practical to upgrade the dagger he already used so readily into an enchanted weapon.

After writing down these plans, it was already late. Joan closed his notebook and, after washing up, went to bed.

The next morning, Joan first went to visit his grandfather, Jamie, and Gray. After that, he returned to his little cottage, opened his schedule notebook, and began the day’s work.

First, Joan took off the Belt of Movement and used the fourth rune to analyze the spells employed in its creation. He successfully identified three second-circle spells—Bull’s Strength, Cat’s Grace, and Bear’s Endurance—and copied them one by one into his spellbook. Through these two days of practical application, Joan had gained a deeper understanding of the fourth rune, and his efficiency in deciphering spell formulas had improved accordingly. Since it was still early, he took the opportunity to analyze the Magic Hat and the Face Shield as well.

As Joan had expected, the Magic Hat had been made using three zero-circle cantrips: Ghost Sound, Flash, and Prestidigitation.

Ghost Sound could create illusory noises, such as a piece of music or the sound of a crowd conversing.

Flash was similar to Light, except that what it produced was not a steady, gentle glow for illumination, but a far stronger, brief burst of brilliance, capable of dazzling a creature caught off guard.

Prestidigitation was the most complex and versatile of all zero-circle cantrips. It could, for example, create a spark to kindle a campfire; summon a gust of wind to snuff out a candle or torch; soil a garment or instantly clean it; make a basin of water cold or warm at once; leave a special mark on an object’s surface; or make a paper crane flap its wings and dance through the air... Most of the street performers who “did magic” were, in truth, merely making a living by means of this little trick.

Joan copied the three cantrips gained from analyzing the Magic Hat into his spellbook one by one. As for the Face Shield, the spell he deciphered from it was also Prestidigitation, nothing new. Fortunately, the item had come as a bonus with the purchase of the Magic Hat, so it hardly counted as a loss.

Joan spent the entire day analyzing and copying three second-circle spells and three zero-circle cantrips. The second-circle spells could be set aside for now; the zero-circle cantrips would be the focus of his studies from here on.

In the days that followed, aside from visiting his grandfather, Jamie, and Gray on the back hill after dinner each night, Joan devoted almost all of his time to studying magic, to the point of forgetting meals and sleep. Thanks to his Intelligence of 22 and his unparalleled diligence, Joan mastered Prestidigitation, Flash, Ghost Sound, and Burning Hands in just five short days.

In the blink of an eye, a week had passed since Joan returned to Delin Town. One morning, while preparing his spells after waking, Joan discovered that he had one more first-circle spell slot than usual. He had experienced something like this before and quickly realized that he had advanced to a second-level mage. He could hardly contain his delight. To rise two levels in such a short span of three months—such progress could only be called genius!

Three months earlier, when he had taken the entrance examination in Layton Port, Joan had still been regarded by the examiners as merely an apprentice mage of ordinary talent. They had even urged him to abandon the path of the mage and take up sorcery instead. Yet who could have foreseen that within those brief three months, this country boy would undergo such a rebirth, rising from mediocrity to become a genius mage?

Even Joan himself, looking back on it, found it somewhat unreal.