Legendary Mage

Chapter 14: Legendary Mage

After hearing Antinoa's answer, Zhao Xu nearly failed to hold onto the heavy book in his hands.

His 16 Intelligence suddenly didn't seem so impressive.

Zhao Xu even began to doubt whether players and NPCs really used the same numerical system.

Every living creature had a character sheet.

No NPC's stats were piled together out of thin air; every level they gained could be traced.

That was the consensus among future players.

"Seeing that incredulous look on your face is quite entertaining."

Antinoa suddenly laughed softly, instantly changing from an unfathomably profound high-level Wizard into something like an aristocratic young lady.

"Can Wizards just brag however they want?"

Zhao Xu had not invested in the Diplomacy Skill, but that did not stop him from using a few small tricks now.

Antinoa did not care in the slightest. "Although your provocation is useless against me, I think telling you how it was achieved might motivate you to work harder on your lessons."

The moment Zhao Xu heard that, his breathing quickened.

50 Intelligence.

That meant a full 20 points of Intelligence Modifier. Never mind increasing Save Difficulty by 20 points.

The additional Spell Slots alone amounted to five each from first to fourth level, four each from fifth to eighth level, and three at ninth level.

That number was almost no different from the Spell Slots naturally possessed by a Twentieth Level Wizard.

"First, my Intelligence Headband has a +12 Enhancement Bonus."

"Wasn't the maximum only +6?"

Zhao Xu immediately asked in return.

Yet Antinoa answered as though everything were perfectly normal. "Intelligence Headbands made by Spellcasters below Twentieth Level can indeed only reach +6, but Legendary Wondrous Items can reach the upper limit of +12."

Zhao Xu knew Legendary things were incredible.

He just had not expected them to be incredible to this extent.

The Intelligence an ordinary person accumulated over an entire lifetime might not even exceed the bonus provided by a single Intelligence Headband.

When everyone crossed over a year later, putting this headband on an infant would let them intellectually crush ordinary people outright.

Bonuses with the same name did not stack, so wearing two headbands had no meaning whatsoever.

To continue improving, one could only consider raising the numerical value itself.

A piece of +6 ability-score equipment cost thirty-six thousand gold coins.

A fifth-level Divine Spell scroll cost one thousand gold coins. The Resurrection Spell, due to its material components, rose to six thousand gold coins.

But the price of a human life had already been established: six thousand gold coins, so long as the corpse was intact and the spell was cast within a short period.

If there was no corpse, a higher-level spell was required—the ninth-level Divine Spell Complete Resurrection. Its scroll cost twenty-eight thousand gold coins.

In his Previous Life, Zhao Xu could not scrape together that sum. Or rather, he did not even have a way to purchase it.

If Supplies could circulate between Earth and the Arthurian World, then fifty gold coins would weigh roughly 0.9 jin. Converting that using Earth's gold-bar price of 350 yuan per gram—

One gold coin in the Arthurian World was worth roughly 3,100 yuan.

A fifth-level resurrection spell would cost around twenty million yuan.

A ninth-level Complete Resurrection would cost ninety million, nearly one hundred million.

Of course, prices could not truly be calculated this way. Calculating them like this would make them artificially high due to Earth's gold-price system.

For instance, the gold-to-silver exchange ratio on Earth had already fallen to 1:100, while in Arthur it was still 1:10.

But even when priced in silver, Resurrection Spells costing 2.4 million or 11 million were still beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Thinking of this, a +6 ability-score Magic Item cost thirty-six thousand gold coins, more than enough to exchange for a Complete Resurrection scroll. Even if someone had been reduced to ashes, it could pull them back.

Then wouldn't a +12 ability-score Magic Item cost 144,000 gold coins?

What a luxurious race of Wizards.

Zhao Xu honestly asked, "140,000 GP?"

Antinoa chuckled upon hearing that. "Multiply it by ten."

"1.44 million gold coins??"

If Zhao Xu had suffered any internal injuries right now, he would have spat blood.

"Yes. That's how Legendary Items are priced. Otherwise, why do you think Legendary Items are so rare?"

Zhao Xu stared blankly at Antinoa before him. Wasn't she basically wearing a walking treasury on her head?

Didn't it feel heavy to wear something worth twenty-six tons of gold on one's head?

At gold prices, that was 4.4 billion RMB. At silver prices, 570 million RMB.

The price of the headband made Zhao Xu's teeth ache. He also knew that, in this lifetime, there was no chance his Intelligence would ever reach 50.

"The second point is that the Wish Spell can grant one point of Inherent Ability Bonus. It can be cast five consecutive times, raising an ability score by up to five points." Antinoa continued explaining.

The Wish Spell also required additional material costs.

One casting raised an ability score by one point, so five points would cost around 140,000.

It was less than 1.44 million, but it was still an impossible figure for him to bear.

No, Zhao Xu looked again at the woman before him. Would someone who could afford 1.44 million only raise one ability score?

There were six ability scores. Zhao Xu did not even dare imagine it, but he knew that 28,000 multiplied by thirty came to roughly 840,000.

However, Antinoa had already continued.

"The third point is spells such as Divine Appearance and Attribute Transfer. Those spells can all last longer than twenty-four hours."

"The fourth point is that, as a Legendary Mage, the number of ability increases I've gained certainly exceeds the three times you imagine."

Zhao Xu had silently listened through the third point, but by the fourth, he was utterly stunned and raised his head.

The Antinoa before him was actually a Legendary Mage?

The requirement for a Legendary Mage was to exceed twenty-first Class Level and be capable of casting Legendary Spells.

Ninth-level spells were already capable of destroying heaven and earth. There was Time Stop, which could halt the flow of one's own time.

There was Gate of Another World, which could teleport one to any location on any plane.

There was Shapechange, which could transform one into most creatures and grant their abilities.

There was Mage Disjunction, which could destroy every Magic Barrier.

There was Prismatic Sphere, which could block all attacks and detection.

Basically, Wizards who stood atop the mountain peak of ninth-level spells could already look down upon all others.

Their defensive methods had surpassed conventional numerical defenses and reached the level of conceptual defense.

The kind where you simply could not attack me unless you used a Magic Weapon was merely a relatively crude method.

When you moved, I used a spell to prevent that action. That was the normal approach.

In terms of probability, they could even erase a previous failed result and roll again.

And beyond that, Legendary Mages could independently develop Legendary Spells.

Even Arthur's natives knew very little about Legendary Spells, but everyone guessed that this Floating City had been raised through Legendary Spells.

So the Antinoa before him was actually a powerful mentor capable of casting Legendary Spells?

For the first time, Zhao Xu felt that he might truly be the Goddess of Fortune's illegitimate son.