Magic Classification

The giant dragon had already flown over the mountain ridge, chasing the direction of the two rising suns. Yet the shocking sight of it passing overhead remained deeply etched in Du Ke's mind, leaving him unable to calm down for a long time.

When he had seen the Behemoth fighting the Stegosaurus Lizard, he had guessed that this Fantasy World definitely contained incredibly powerful magical beasts. After all, this was only one corner of the Great Blue Forest. Far broader regions surely housed even more enormous magical beasts. On the other hand, the Fantasy World's oxygen levels, far higher than Earth's, also provided the conditions necessary for large creatures to exist. After all, colossal creatures required a great deal of oxygen.

Yet...

That was a giant dragon!

Don't ask why Du Ke had immediately identified it as a giant dragon upon seeing it for the first time. A giant dragon was itself a specific designation; on Earth, giant dragons were synonymous with power. A giant dragon flying through the sky, with that terrifying presence, surely possessed the majesty unique to dragons—Dragon's Might. The ability to intimidate creatures weaker than itself using nothing but its aura left no doubt: it was a giant dragon.

Was he afraid?

Du Ke could say that he was not afraid. The suffocating sensation his body had felt earlier was merely a biological instinct. Neither his reason nor his emotions felt any fear toward the giant dragon that had suddenly flown over his head. On the contrary, he felt more excited than ever.

"There are giant dragons!"

"Dragon Slayer!"

"Dragon Knight!"

"No matter which one I achieved, it would be a great feat I could be proud of for the rest of my life!" Du Ke could not stop his imagination from running wild. Dragons simply had a special allure; they always stood at the top of the food chain in all sorts of legends. "I wonder how large it really was. By visual estimate, its wingspan should have been around fifty meters, and its body length, including the tail, should have been around sixty meters."

That was merely Du Ke's visual estimate. Without any point of reference, he could not make an accurate assessment.

Still, it had felt at least as large as a Boeing 747 passenger plane. If he remembered correctly, a Boeing 747 was normally seventy-six meters long with a wingspan of sixty-eight meters. If that giant dragon really had such a massive body, ordinary missiles probably could not kill it on Earth. Considering that giant dragons should know magic, perhaps it could even withstand a nuclear warhead—though, of course, all of that was merely Du Ke's imagined speculation.

His only firsthand impression of giant dragons was that suffocating Dragon's Might.

After witnessing the charm of a giant dragon, Du Ke was somewhat absentminded throughout the rest of the day's exploration. When he saw the small magical beasts in the forest, he could not even be bothered to take pictures. Still, he diligently carried out some research, exploring the Fantasy World's basic information. By evening, he had returned to the South Lake Sea of Flowers. After materializing his bird's nest dwelling, he took out his laptop and began organizing his documents.

Based on his investigation of magical beasts, he had roughly formed an initial judgment about magic.

Classified by nature, it could roughly be divided into eleven categories: Water Element, Fire Element, Earth Element, Wind Element, Lightning Element, Ice Element, Poison Element, Corrosion Element, Space Element, Nature Element, and Summoning Element.

Water Element, Fire Element, Earth Element, Wind Element, Lightning Element, and Ice Element were all easy to understand, and the boundaries between them were very clear. The remaining five categories had somewhat blurred boundaries and were Du Ke's own conclusions.

For Poison Element, Du Ke had discovered three small magical beasts capable of this kind of magic. One was a snake-like creature with densely packed, fleshy tumor-like "feet" growing from its belly. He called it the Flesh-Footed Snake. After its fangs flashed, two streaks of black light shot out. Once they hit prey, the prey rapidly succumbed to poison and died. Another was a washbasin-sized spider-like magical beast. He named it the Pot-Bottom Spider, because its pitch-black appearance really did resemble the bottom of a pot at first glance.

The third was a beautiful little bird no longer than a finger, yet exceptionally fierce. It could hunt Delicious Rabbits using its Poison Element magic. He named it the Beautiful Poison Bird.

As for Corrosion Element, strictly speaking, this classification might not count as magic, because it included Bomb Caterpillars. The Long-Haired Bombs of Bomb Caterpillars were not only explosive, but could also corrode matter, making them highly destructive. Yet once brought to Earth, they only retained the heat produced by their explosions. Therefore, Du Ke believed that Earth must lack the "Corrosion Element Magic Element" they possessed.

Several insect-like magical beasts could use Corrosion Element magic. The venom they sprayed, the scale powder they shed, and even severed limbs could suddenly explode and then corrode the Nano Armor. However, their explosive power was far inferior to that of Bomb Caterpillars.

He classified Space Element magic based on the Displacer Beast's flash-like Instantaneous Movement. So far, the Displacer Beast was the only creature he had encountered capable of this magic.

Nature Element magic was, naturally, the magic used by the flower fairies: Purification Magic, Nature Growth, Nature Withering, and so on. They were basically all related to nature, so he temporarily classified them as one type.

Summoning Element magic came from Xise Xise's Nature Spirit Summoning and Azo Azo's Nature Summoning. One could awaken Beast Spirits, while the other summoned plant seeds. Both seemed like creating things from nothing. Du Ke had considered whether to classify them as Nature Element magic, but he always felt that they differed from Nature Element magic, so he ultimately decided to classify them separately.

In addition...

In his summary notes, Du Ke also wrote down four more categories: Time Element, Light Element, Dark Element, and Blessing Element. These were not magic categories he had discovered, but categories he had inferred. If Space Element magic existed, perhaps there was corresponding Time Element magic; Light Element and Dark Element also seemed as though they should be common types of magic. Blessing Element magic was actually a category he had initially planned to create, with the flower fairies' Purification Magic as its prototype.

Purification Magic could purify the effects of all kinds of magic. In essence, it seemed to overlap with Nature Element magic, but flower fairies were born from plants and were, in any case, little spirits of nature. Thus, he still classified Purification Magic as Nature Element magic.

However, if Purification Magic existed, why could there not be other buff or debuff-type magic, just like Buffs and DeBuffs in games? Therefore, he planned to establish a Blessing Element magic category.

Finally...

As he was preparing to wrap up, he added another new category—Mind Element magic.

"Do my Mind Armor and Mind Cultivation System count as Mind Element magic?" he wondered. Since magic was so wondrous, and Mind Armor was equally wondrous, perhaps the Fantasy World had magic capable of controlling other people's minds, just as he could communicate with other species through Touch of Mind. Strictly speaking, how was that any different from magic?

That brought the Fantasy World's magic classifications to a full sixteen types.

After saving the document as Fantasy World Magic Classification Deduction and closing his laptop, night had already fallen outside. The blue reed beds had once again bloomed with flowers of every color. The flower fairies awoke from their slumber and began singing and dancing. Shawa Shawa was the first to arrive at Du Ke's window, still holding the Spore Powder Du Ke had given her in her arms. After greeting Du Ke, she began handing it out to her kin.

Thus began a drunken dance of flower fairies in the darkness. In the end, Shawa Shawa also took several deep breaths, then began her own dance in a daze.

Du Ke watched Shawa Shawa with a smile, hoping that she could advance soon.

If a Leader-class flower fairy could grow the missing part of her chest, how perfect would that be?