Spellcasting Prodigy

The caravan mistress's expression softened slightly.

She reached out and beckoned to Vivian. It seemed that helping her this time had made her much closer to the little girl, who obediently walked over.

"You go to the hall first."

The caravan mistress gently stroked Vivian's little head and said softly, "I have something to discuss with your brother."

Vivian looked back at Soren. Seeing him nod, she then left.

"Soren!"

The caravan mistress watched Vivian walk out. After she left, she said seriously, "I want to know about your past, if anything special happened."

"Vivian's talent is extraordinary. She can awaken her spellcasting ability at such a young age."

"Her future achievements are hard to estimate!"

Soren glanced at her, shook his head gently, and said slowly, "I'm sorry. There's nothing special worth telling you. Vivian and I have been orphans since we were very young, and our lives were no different from the poor people you've seen."

Orphans?

The caravan mistress's expression softened slightly, then she continued, "It's impossible that nothing happened."

"A sorcerer's first awakening of magic power is often due to significant emotional fluctuations. Something special must have happened to awaken Vivian's power."

Soren was slightly stunned by her words, then said, "Something special?"

"I once encountered a wizard during a mission. I was severely injured at the time and was bedridden for more than half a month."

"Perhaps it wasn't my time to die, and I slowly recovered."

The caravan mistress looked at him and muttered to herself, "Is that so? She cares about you a lot. If you were truly severely injured and your life was in danger, it's indeed very likely to awaken her potential power."

"Vivian is too young."

"As she grows older, her power will become stronger and stronger. If she doesn't know how to control this power, it's very likely to harm others, and may even cause great destruction. You are not a wizard and cannot appreciate her talent. She is simply a spellcasting prodigy. Even my mother wouldn't be more talented than her."

Spellcasting prodigy?

Soren's body suddenly trembled when he heard these four words. He thought to himself, Could Vivian have the [Spellcasting Prodigy] talent feat?

This is the most amazing talent feat for spellcasters.

If Soren remembered correctly, anyone with the [Spellcasting Prodigy] feat gains a +2 spell strength bonus for any spell they use, and can reduce the casting time of any spell by 1 second. This means that anyone with this talent feat can instantly cast any spell with a casting time of less than one second.

Level 0 spells seem to have a casting time of over a second.

Soren seemed to remember something, and some images flashed through his mind: But Vivian seemed to cast the spell as soon as she finished the incantation. It really seemed like instant casting?

The incantation for a level 0 spell is very short, only one or two syllables, and it doesn't take a second to finish.

Without a special spellcasting feat, one would still need to gather elemental energy. Because Soren didn't know much about spells, he couldn't tell if it was instant casting, but the Northland Witch in front of him could definitely judge. This means that Vivian, the spellcasting prodigy she mentioned, might really have the [Spellcasting Prodigy] talent feat.

This feat is a special ability that cannot be acquired through training!

Spellcasters of any class gain 1 spell strength per class level. Based on a standard attribute of 10, every two points of main attribute increase adds 1 spell strength. This means that a level 5 wizard with 16 Intelligence would gain a bonus of [5 + (16 - 10) / 2 = 8] to the strength of any spell they cast.

Spell strength is essentially a quantitative value, a unit of measurement passed down from the arcane era.

For example, the level 0 spell 'Lightning Jolt' only produces 3 points of electrical energy. However, if the level 5 Wizard mentioned above casts it, the maximum electrical arc energy unleashed can reach 11 points of intensity. If this intensity of electrical arc were to act on an ordinary person, it would be directly fatal, as ordinary people only have about 10 points of health. But if it were to act on a professional, it would inevitably be subject to a Fortitude save based on their physique, and the damage caused might only be around 5-8 points.

Coupled with the professional's inherently strong vitality, it would actually only cause minor electrical shock damage.

It's like an ordinary person touching a high-voltage wire.

Below are Vivian's abilities.

If she truly possesses the [Spellcasting Prodigy] feat, then when she casts the level 0 'Lightning Jolt', the intensity of the lightning energy she condenses can receive a bonus of [1+2+(21-10)/2=8.5]. Its power is slightly stronger than that of a level 5 Wizard, and this is only with her having just 1 level of Sorcerer.

As her professional level increases in the future, this gap will widen, especially after she learns spells like [Finger of Death] which directly rely on the opponent's Fortitude save to determine if they will die instantly. Many Wizard spells do not directly cause damage, such as Web Spell, Charm Person, Control Spell, etc. Whether these spells can be successfully cast depends on the Wizard's spellcasting intensity and the target's own strong will for a Fortitude save.

Under normal circumstances, a legendary Wizard's spell intensity is only around 30 points.

Spell intensity brought by 20 professional levels, spell intensity brought by about 8 points of Intelligence, plus a small amount of spell intensity brought by some special feats.

If they have legendary equipment, it might increase spell intensity by 1-3.

This is why the [Spellcasting Prodigy] feat surprised Soren so much, not to mention if Vivian masters the [Skillful Spellcasting] feat in the future, which can further reduce casting time by 1 second.

At that time, all spells with a casting time of less than two seconds can be instantly cast by her!

A brief silence.

The caravan mistress glanced at Soren and continued, "Before you arrived, I performed a divination ritual for Vivian and saw some things that were not very good."

Divination?

A branch of Divination spells?

It seems to be a core ability of Northland Witches, said to be able to predict vague future phenomena for a certain person.

But it's impossible to be specific about how clear it is, because even a legendary level 'Divination' can only see a fragment of a scene.

A very brief scene, and from the moment the divination is completed, it has already begun to deviate.

The further away the time period, the greater the deviation of what is predicted. The greatest use of Divination spells is to predict recent fortune and misfortune, allowing one to avoid some dangerous things or certain dangerous places in advance. This is the reason why the Northland Witch suddenly left Amber City early, because she felt something dangerous would happen in Amber City during her divination, and this matter was likely something she couldn't change with her strength.

Soren took a deep breath and slowly said, "What did you see?"

"Blood and fire," the caravan mistress said seriously.

She looked deeply at Soren in front of her, her expression solemn, and said, "Divination can only perceive the future from some fragments and scenes. Blood represents slaughter and death, which means that death will always be around Vivian in the future. Fire represents war and destruction, which means she will experience many destructive things in the future."

"I don't know what is so special about her, but the trajectory of fate has already determined that her future will not be ordinary."

"In the divinations of Northland Witches, only a small number of people will have such visions. Some of them became founding monarchs, some became evil tyrants, and some became legendary existences."

"Whether these people are evil or righteous, their life journeys seem to be filled with slaughter and death."

The caravan mistress took a deep breath and slowly said, "Vivian's future path is destined not to be peaceful, and your ability is simply impossible to protect her all the time."

"Please forgive my bluntness, but you seem to be afraid of something all the time!"

"Although I don't know what you are afraid of, I can feel that you are avoiding, avoiding any possible danger."

"Including me."

"Perhaps that's why you can never truly trust me."

Silence.

Soren fell silent.

Fear?

Perhaps it really was fear.

It was precisely because he cared for her so deeply that he was so afraid of losing her.

Escaping?

Was he really escaping?

Soren knew all too well how many terrifying things would happen during the coming Year of Upheaval. Gods and demons would tear apart the sky and the earth, and in this unprecedented catastrophe, even legendary professionals could be wiped out like chickens and dogs! As a mere second-tier Thief, shouldn't he be escaping all of this?

That was a war between gods!

Even legendary-level professionals only had the qualification to enter.

Saints were as common as dogs, and Lich were everywhere.

He didn't even have the qualifications to exchange blows with them, so should he just stand there and wait for the possible destruction to descend?

When death arrived, he wouldn't even know where the enemy was!

If he hadn't left.

Under the 'Meteor Burst' that destroyed Amber City, would they have been instantly wiped out like ants?!

The woman before him had no idea.

She had no idea what was coming, or how terrible the disaster it would cause would be! Because even a legendary-level Northland Witch couldn't foresee the coming turbulent era. In the face of gods, mortals were so powerless. Millions of players had thrown themselves forward back then and still couldn't stop it, so could he, a mere individual, change anything?

Besides staying away from all of this and waiting for the right time to accumulate strength, what else could he do?

"Yes."

Soren slowly raised his head, looked at the caravan mistress in front of him, and said in a deep voice, "I am afraid of and escaping from some things, because some things cannot be changed by human power."

"I also don't trust you."

"Although you seem to like Vivian very much, everything you show is condescending!"

"I may be weak now, but I won't always be this weak."

"I know what you want to say."

"I will absolutely not let Vivian leave my side, because I can protect her with my life, but you cannot. What you care about more is Vivian's talent. If she didn't have such talent, to you she would just be an ordinary little girl. But to me, it's different. Whether Vivian has talent or not, she is my closest person, and my only relative in this world."

"You said I can never truly trust you."

"Yes."

"Because you haven't even told me your name until now. Perhaps in your eyes, I'm not even qualified to know your name. You just want to keep her by your side out of curiosity. I am very grateful that you brought us all the way to White Horse City, and even more grateful that you extended a helping hand today. I will definitely find a way to repay you in the future. You are a kind and benevolent Northland Witch, otherwise with your power, you wouldn't need to say so much to me. A few simple Charm Person spells would solve the problem."

"I am very grateful to you!"

Soren bowed deeply and then walked towards the door.

"Wait a moment."

The caravan mistress stood up. She gazed at Soren before her, and when she saw his unwavering gaze, she sighed softly. She knew that this man would truly defend certain things with his life! This was precisely what had initially attracted her attention and led her to discover Vivian's talent.

A sincere and distant emotion.

She slowly walked up to Soren, looking at the man before her who was weak in strength but firm in his beliefs. For the first time, she felt that he had the right to speak with her as an equal. This right wasn't due to strength; it was simply because he cared so deeply for that little girl.

The caravan mistress sighed faintly, "Spells cannot solve all problems."

"Excessive abuse of power will only make one lose their way!"

"My name is Golia."

"Perhaps you could let her stay with me for a while and learn some useful spell knowledge. This would be very helpful for her future."

A fair hand reached out. For the first time, the caravan mistress spoke to him as an equal.

Her name was Golia.

She was a powerful Northland Witch. The man before her, whom she could easily erase with a wave of her hand, had earned her respect with his firm belief and sincere emotions.