First Spell

Sunlight filtering through the leaves took on a faint, ghostly green, eventually dyeing the trunks and ground a clear green!

Punk watched the fresh sunlight fall across his slender fingers, his snow-white skin faintly tinged green. His translucent nails reflected shifting radiance beneath the sun!

From the knowledge left behind by his "parents," Punk knew that humans in this world looked no different from those on Earth. Most intelligent creatures were humanoid as well, and races like elves differed only in a few features from their appearance alone. Their ears, perhaps?

Although the matter of this world differed completely from that of his home universe on the microscopic level—being founded on energy—most of its macroscopic forms and properties were no different from those of his home universe!

Thinking of that great battle in the void, which had been anything but a chance encounter... the relationship between these two universes was definitely far from ordinary!

Punk decided he had better not dwell on it. Something this vast was not for him to speculate about right now!

"I have to say, this body really is light and nimble."

Punk shifted his attention back to his new body. He effortlessly performed several gymnastic movements, movements that would have left the Punk of Earth with broken bones if he had attempted them!

"And this skin is just too good!" Punk looked at the smooth, lustrous skin of his fingers and tried circulating a thread of magic power into them. A faint blue glow flickered beneath his skin! "Magic power is soul energy. The smoother its circulation, the more compatible my soul and body are! I just wonder what the magic affinity of other mages' bodies is like. This physique is highly suited to the use of Enchantment School spells, but unfortunately, I do not plan to study such magic anytime soon!"

Punk was fairly satisfied with his current body. Moreover, the Primordial Elf race had been extinct for a long time. Its remaining scattered members mostly followed elven traditions, living secluded lives deep in the mountains and avoiding worldly strife. The Primordial Elves had no ancient mortal enemies, either.

Punk then put on the clothes his parents had left beside him. However, only a staff and a robe were magical items, and they were merely Journeyman Level. The rest were just ordinary clothes.

The information left by his "parents" said that they could not leave him anything too valuable, for fear that a child holding treasure without sufficient strength to protect himself would draw the covetous gaze of the powerful.

Punk thought that was rather lousy. Couldn't they have hidden the treasures somewhere and left a treasure map? Their son might not be strong now, but he would become strong later! Then he could inherit their "legacy"!

He vaguely felt that his bargain-bin parents had arranged all this merely as a symbolic gesture. Perhaps they had never truly believed their breakthrough would fail!

"So mysterious confidence really does kill people! Still, having something is better than having nothing. I should not be so greedy!"

Punk consoled himself.

Being naked made Punk deeply uncomfortable, so he quickly put on his shirt and trousers. He discovered that although these clothes were mostly brown and looked unremarkable, they were actually made of silk, smooth and comfortable to wear. The boots were crafted from some unknown beast hide. Their brown leather possessed an elegant sheen, while the fur around the openings trapped warmth effectively and kept his feet warm. What was more unusual was that the entire pair of boots seemed perfectly seamless, without any joins or loose threads, as though they had grown that way naturally. Punk guessed magic had been involved in their creation.

Last came the beautiful mage robe. The teal-blue robe was made of silk. On closer inspection, every thread was nearly identical in size. Mysterious pale-yellow runes shimmered across its outer surface. From the information left by his parents, Punk learned that these runes were the effect of an Apprentice Level Enchantment School spell—Enhanced Toughness. Punk tried pulling hard on the robe, and it indeed remained completely unscathed. System analysis showed that this spell gave the thin, lightweight robe the strength of thick nylon! In addition, the robe possessed a Journeyman Level spell that could be used twice a day—Lesser Deflection Field. It was precisely because of this Journeyman spell that the robe qualified as Journeyman Level magical equipment. Punk tried sensing the robe's core and discovered that although Lesser Deflection Field was said to be usable only twice a day, that was actually because the robe needed twenty-seven hours—one day in this world—to absorb free elements from the air and recharge. If he directly infused it with magic power, he could greatly shorten the charging time, though it would still take two or three hours to pour in the magic power. If he infused it too quickly, the core would not be able to keep up with the absorption rate!

After putting on the robe, Punk picked up the staff, which was made from the branch of some unknown tree. At its tip sat a somewhat irregular ruby, which reduced the magic power consumption of Apprentice Level spells by five percent. Note: magic power consumption could be reduced to no lower than twenty percent of its original cost. The staff also stored a Journeyman Level Evocation School spell that could be used once every twenty-seven hours—Geka's Flying Flame. This spell was named after its inventor, Geka.

"Overall, these can still provide me with considerable help in the early stages. They are strong enough, but not so valuable that they will draw the attention of the powerful."

With his nimble left hand, Punk spun the staff in a flourish. The ruby flashed in the sunlight!

Then Punk almost impatiently tested one of the spells he had theoretically learned—an Apprentice Level Conjuration School spell, Minor Telekinetic Projectile!

The principle of this spell was to use the soul to create a small mass of Aether Energy, transform it into powerful yet controllable kinetic energy in reality, attach that kinetic energy to an object, choose a direction, release the restraint on the kinetic energy, and send the object hurtling out at extreme speed to injure an enemy.

Because its original inventor liked to cast this spell with the gesture used to flick pebbles, it was named the Bouncing Spell!

Minor Telekinetic Projectile was a simplified version of the Bouncing Spell. It lowered the energy requirement without changing the principle. The usual casting material for this spell was a small pinch of marble powder. Although Punk had no idea why marble powder, which seemed unrelated to the spell, was used as a supplementary casting material—and he did not have any marble nearby—he felt that casting an Apprentice Level spell should still be fairly simple!

Punk casually picked up a small stone with his right hand. Minor Telekinetic Projectile was a spell in which the projectile was launched after the casting succeeded, so its casting range was not far, only about fifty centimeters around him. Within his soul, Punk constructed the spell model that the system had simulated and analyzed countless times. Then he recited the supporting incantation composed of Byronian Magical Language while holding the staff in his left hand and tracing mysterious gestures through the air according to Ancient Khalaar casting signs. Although he had ample theoretical grounding as well as the support of incantations and gestures, Punk was still extraordinarily cautious during his first casting.

As his hazy, low chant seemed to drift in from the horizon, he slowly filled the spell model within his soul with magic power. With the aid of the incantation, the process felt somewhat obscure, but he safely passed the crucial points.

He then slowly released the completed spell into reality. His casting gestures traced trails of white flowing light, and the newly transformed violent kinetic energy gradually calmed. At last, a nearly transparent mass of energy began revolving around the small stone.

He aimed his right hand at a small tree and released his control over the pebble.

With the system analyzing its trajectory, even without the metamagic technique of Mental Lock, he could hit a target from a hundred paces away!

A crisp sonic boom suddenly burst through the air, and the pebble shot forth at a speed utterly invisible to the naked eye. Since the kinetic energy had been directly attached, there was no recoil, but the blast wave still scattered the dust around Punk, the air itself, and even the loose soil beneath his feet!

Looking at the poor tree struck by the pebble, Punk could not help narrowing his eyes!