Being treated like a child felt... complicated.
It would be even better if they treated me like a child when it came to drinking, too.
Now that he finally had a chance to move around freely, the first thing Lu Cang thought of was making up for all the common knowledge he lacked.
At the very least, he wanted to stop knowing absolutely nothing about this world.
When he arrived at the library, he was surprised to find it crowded.
He'd expected it to be a quiet place.
Lu Cang approached a magic array.
[Search Technique]
A spell for searching for books—how convenient. He'd heard that it worked by making the array permanent, so it would remain active in one place forever.
After that, all it needed was a little maintenance and a steady supply of magic power.
Lu Cang's mind raced through the Search Technique, and he soon found the book he wanted.
Guide to World Common Sense
Heh...
What a plain, unassuming name. But this was exactly the kind of book he wanted.
Whoosh!
He selected it.
A moment later, a book flew straight off a distant shelf.
It landed in Lu Cang's hands.
Magic sure was convenient.
With the guide in hand, Lu Cang found a place to sit.
He read for the entire afternoon.
He skipped the section on world history and flipped straight to the chapter on professions.
Professions specializing in combat: Warriors, mages, archers, defenders, healers, assassins, engineers...
It was a hefty book, and its coverage was comprehensive.
By the time he closed it, dusk had fallen, but he hadn't read much of it.
Lu Cang had first studied the things he was most concerned about, followed by the most basic common knowledge. There was still plenty left unread.
Things like gods and faith, which he couldn't get involved with yet, were skipped just like world history.
Realizing it was getting late, Lu Cang checked out the book and headed back to the inn.
On the way back to the inn,
quite a few adventurers began greeting him of their own accord. Lu Cang could tell they no longer looked at him as "the kid who tags along with Iz."
Instead, it was more like, "Hey, Little Lu Cang! Thanks for treating us yesterday!"
First of all...
His name wasn't Little Lu Cang. It was Lu Cang.
Second of all... never mind.
At least this meant he had a place of his own in Rhein Town now.
He was no longer just some poor kid Iz and the others had taken in.
He was an adventurer: (Little) Lu Cang.
Not long after he returned to the inn, Iz took him out again.
Iz was still his mentor.
And as his mentor, he naturally had to teach him magic.
After cramming in a day's worth of common knowledge,
Lu Cang finally learned how the world's ranking system worked.
Every profession was divided into levels one through nine.
Level one was the lowest, and level nine was the theoretical maximum.
But in some professions, even the highest-ranked people hadn't reached level nine.
Each level in a profession had its own corresponding title.
A level-one mage was called an apprentice.
A level-two mage was called a Magic Master.
A level-three mage was called a Grand Mage.
At level three, a mage was already considered a powerful figure, with enough influence to hold a position in the local Mage Association.
A level-four mage was called a Magic Expert.
As for a level-five mage—the rank Izpalut had reached—that title was Magic Emperor.
The titles for levels four and five were way too far apart...
Lu Cang couldn't help but grumble.
His estimation of Iz's strength rose even higher.
One of the few level-five mages in the world.
No wonder he said he was strong.
Turns out, he had good reason.
Across the entire world, there were only one or two level-five mages in an entire kingdom.
And they were all Chief Mages of the royal court.
Looked at that way, Iz really was impressive.
He was probably completely unmatched in Rhein Town.
"Today, you'll learn dark magic: Shadow Arrow, and earth magic: Earth Spike."
That was Iz's lesson for the day.
"While you're at it, practice every spell you've learned until you reach the limit of your proficiency."
The limit of proficiency...
He meant LV: 100, right?
Iz, you really knew how to tailor your lessons to your student...
Lu Cang wasn't completely ignorant of common knowledge anymore.
The first thing he had prioritized studying today was the kind of common knowledge he would use often.
Most mages only ever learned to cast one or two spells without chanting.
Casting a spell without chanting took roughly 30,000 uses.
And no mage could possibly use only one kind of spell.
Recovering magic power took time, too.
When Lu Cang had just advanced, he cast Lightning Strike a dozen times and completely drained his magic power.
A typical level-one mage had only five to ten times that amount of magic power after advancing.
Even if they spent all day recovering their magic power and casting spells, they could manage 200 casts in a day.
However... most mages needed to meditate to recover their magic power.
Right, effects like Magic Tide, which operated automatically and restored magic power at all times, were extremely rare.
And even with Magic Tide, it only became fully automatic at LV: 10.
Before LV: 10, Lu Cang still had to control its operation.
If he spent all day casting spells and recovering his magic, he wouldn't have time for anything else.
And the most fundamental reason was that devoting so much energy to low-level spells wasn't worth it.
Everyone could advance from level one to level two.
Most mages chose to save their energy for second-tier spells.
So the vast majority of mages only mastered one or two second-tier spells without chanting in their entire lives.
That was probably the limit of how much energy a mage could devote to it in a lifetime.
But Izpalut's expectations of him were...
He had to learn two new spells tonight.
And, "while he was at it," raise every spell he knew to LV: 100 proficiency.
Heh...
If anyone else heard what Izpalut expected of him, they'd probably think he was crazy.
"If you master these spells tonight, you can advance to a level-two mage tomorrow."
"You should become the fastest mage in the world to reach level two."
Level two?
At Iz's promise, Lu Cang's heart leaped with joy.
Finally, finally, he could level up.
Lu Cang could almost see the next God-Tier Talent beckoning to him.
"Divine Proficiency Evolution" alone was already that incredible.
Wouldn't another one make him invincible?
"All the way to maximum proficiency..."
"Sounds good, Iz!"
"Then just you wait!"
"Darkness, clinging to the bones, gather into a deadly arrow. Pierce!"
"Spell learned—Shadow Arrow (LV: 1)"
"Shadow Arrow Proficiency EXP +10000"
"Shadow Arrow (LV: 5)"
Whoosh!
The Shadow Arrow pierced the straw dummy ahead, leaving a patch of darkness on its body.
Iz watched and gave a slight shake of his head.
"Attacking a dummy is pointless. Come at me instead."
"Give it everything you've got and try to defeat me."
As he spoke, Iz stepped forward.
In an instant, he had taken the dummy's place, standing some distance from Lu Cang.
"Master Iz, watch out."
Boom!
Without the slightest warning, lightning crashed down!
Lu Cang hadn't used Shadow Arrow, which still required a chant.
Instead, he switched straight to the instant-cast spell with the fastest speed: Lightning Strike.
Rumble!
Thunder exploded above Iz's head, electric arcs crackling—
And yet... Iz was completely unharmed.
"Your lightning isn't concentrated enough. It lacks piercing power."
Boom!
The second strike came without a pause!
"Your lightning is too slow. Lightning is the element second only to light in speed. When you call on the lightning element, don't start from your body. Try to draw the lightning directly."
Whoosh!
Slash, slash, slash—
Invisible blades of wind shot out!
But they veered past Iz. It wasn't that Lu Cang didn't want to hit him; Iz had completely changed their direction.
"Release Wind Blade in harmony with the flow of the natural wind. That way, you can conceal it within the breeze."
"Wind Blade's greatest advantage is that it's invisible and hard to detect. If you cast it against the wind, not only will its power be reduced, but the enemy will also have an easier time noticing it."
Clink—
Iz caught the Light Cross with one hand.
"Light's traits are purity and speed. The greatest strength of Light Cross is its purity, so don't mix in any other elements when you gather the light."
"Besides, Light Cross isn't meant to kill. It's used to drive away evil..."
Boom!
A fireball exploded around Iz.
"Fire is the most common means of dealing damage. That damage can come from heat, impact, lingering flames, or an explosion. With Fireball..."
Every time Iz spoke,
Lu Cang gained a new understanding. Every spell he cast also gave him extra proficiency and bonus effects.
And casting spells at Iz,
even normally, granted him extra proficiency.
"Earth Spike Technique Proficiency EXP +50000"
"Fireball Technique Proficiency EXP +50000"
No way...
Was he some kind of experience dummy?
Why did hitting him give five times the usual experience?
Something about it all felt inexplicably strange.
He could cast magic faster. In the time it had taken him to cast a spell once, he could now cast it twice, or even three times...
The elements had also grown unusually dense. Though he was currently restoring his mana from the void,
using the elements already present in the environment made certain spells faster to cast.
Just as Iz had said, when using Lightning Strike Technique, he only needed to call down lightning. There was no need to spend his own mana to conjure it.
Cast that way, the enemy would have almost no time to react.
But the problem was, his opponent was Izpalut.
Perhaps the gap between a level-five mage and a level-one mage was simply too great.
Even though Lu Cang felt he was casting incredibly fast, Izpalut could still defend against him with ease.
Now, thanks to the bonus experience and Izpalut's guidance...
Lu Cang's rate of spell progression had skyrocketed...
With his mana almost inexhaustible, he spent the night hurling spells at Iz from seven in the evening until four in the morning.
At last, a massive Earth Spike burst through the ground, only for Iz to crush it underfoot.
His final Earth Spike Technique had reached LV:100, too.
Lu Cang had spent the entire night on it.
He had finally brought Lightning Strike Technique, Ice Cone Technique, Fireball Technique, Wind Blade Technique, Illumination Technique, Light Cross, Shadow Arrow, and Earth Spike Technique
all up to 100 proficiency.
And with Mana Void, already at max level and constantly in effect,
Lu Cang now had nine level-100 spells.
Each one also had an evolution prompt.
"Ice Cone Technique (Can Evolve)"
"Choose an evolution path—Control, Speed, Freeze, or Power"
Seeing that Lu Cang had finished practicing his final spell, Iz brushed off his clothes, ready to call it a night.
And right at that moment—
Whoosh!
Three crystal-clear shards of ice, trailing long streaks of frost, shot toward Iz in an instant.
A sneak attack.
Before you continue