A week after settling the business contract with Madam Irina, Locke was in his makeshift laboratory.
Locke had completed Mana Grafting with Sea Golden Sand and the Flame Pearl Tomato Flower. In his Sea of Consciousness, he had constructed three spells from the Scorching Golden Sand Flow series: [Gold Sand Spray], [Gold Sand Bullets], and [Goldflow Fern Spear].
The three First-Ring Botanical Magic spells had become planets in Locke's Sea of Consciousness, orbiting the core of his consciousness like a sun.
Each of the three Golden Magic Plant spells had its own effective range.
Locke watched with satisfaction. Since becoming a Formal Wizard, his memory and comprehension had improved enormously, making it much faster for him to learn First-Ring Magic.
Of course, that was only learning by the book.
After learning these three Scorching Golden Sand Flow spells, he would still need to keep fine-tuning their Spell Models to suit his Mana, fluctuations in Magic Pressure, and the nature of his soul.
That was the true test of a wizard's abilities.
Learning was not the hardest part. Creating was.
Learning meant mechanically copying something that already existed. Creating meant building something new upon it.
And that was far more difficult.
The Wizard Apprentice stage was mainly about learning. At the First-Ring Stage, wizards had to begin their own research and creation.
By continually fine-tuning a Spell Model, a Formal Wizard could increase its power. An optimized Spell Model could even let a wizard defeat an opponent with higher Magic Pressure.
But that took steady accumulation.
Locke put away the Sea Golden Sand. "Now that I've learned these three First-Ring spells, I should find someone to test them on."
"That's the best way to master them. But the Wizard Apprentices reduced to Debt Slaves and used as punching bags at Chimera