Scribe Spell

But when Zhao Xu actually began studying that knowledge, he realized he had been thinking too simply.

Among all the Wizard players in the entire game, there was a reason the fastest record after launch had still taken seven days to graduate.

It was like asking a middle school student to teach themselves advanced mathematics. It was not impossible, but it would be difficult.

What high school students learned was not much compared to university material, yet they still studied it repeatedly for three years so that during the college entrance exams, they could instinctively respond to questions presented in all kinds of altered forms.

The exam did not leave enough time for people to think things through carefully, which was why everyone advocated drilling through endless practice problems—trading experience for compressed thinking time.

Spells worked the same way.

Those models, as well as the various incantation gestures, needed to become part of his instincts.

Through these past few days of study, Zhao Xu had already learned that most of the work involved in casting was actually completed during the hour spent determining one's daily spells.

Actual spellcasting was like driving a car. The spell itself—the vehicle—had already been built and was waiting there.

But even for that process, people still needed to expend plenty of effort.

A Wizard could not wait until the last moment to flip through a book and check how to recite an incantation. That would only make their opponent laugh themselves sick.

Still, the incantations with all their different syllables gave Zhao Xu a headache just looking at them.

However, Zhao Xu's progress had not completely slowed down. According to Antinoa's schedule, this material was meant to be reinforced over several rounds anyway.

So by the fifth day, he had more or less finished the two volumes on models and incantations, then began studying Zero-level Spells.

"Our Wizards' spellbooks all use arcane writing. It has common elements, but every Wizard must process it in their own way. Therefore, if someone simply hands you a spellbook, you need to make a Spellcraft check. Only after passing it can you reveal its true form and read it."

What Antinoa meant was that spellbooks were encrypted, and you needed a key to translate them into plain text.

Spellcraft was one of Arthur's character skills. Like scouting and Read Expressions, it required rolls and practice.

Zhao Xu had not yet reached the later Spellcraft courses, so it did not matter for now.

"The reason you can read these spells now is because this Book of Zero-Level Cantrips was specially set up that way. Or rather, when a spellbook's owner allows you to read it, you can do so without making a Spellcraft check."

"And with the Zero-level Spell Read Magic, we Wizards can also read other people's spellbooks without obstruction, provided they have not deliberately set traps."

Zhao Xu nodded as he listened. In short, Read Magic was a universal key.

It seemed that arcane writing was not something Wizards had deliberately encrypted. Rather, its complexity naturally made it unintelligible to outsiders, so Wizards had specifically developed a spell to crack it.

In other words, it kept outsiders out, but not Wizards.

"But remember this: a spellbook is the foundation of every Wizard. Aside from Read Magic, which can be prepared without a spellbook, a Wizard must possess a spellbook containing the spells they have copied in order to Prepare Spell and cast it."

Antinoa spoke those words slowly and solemnly.

Zhao Xu had heard in his Previous Life that Wizards often copied spells until they went bankrupt. He could not help asking, "Mentor, does Scribe Spell come with any cost?"

Antinoa handed Zhao Xu a book.

After receiving it, Zhao Xu opened it and took a look. Though it had the same uniformly heavy hardcover as the others, its pages were completely blank. He estimated that it had around a hundred pages. Since they were all parchment, it looked quite thick.

He looked at Antinoa in confusion, not knowing what she meant.

"After spending an entire day studying a spell, you can copy it into your own spellbook. A spell takes as many pages to copy as its level. Even a Zero-level Spell requires one page."

Zhao Xu immediately frowned at that. It was one thing to spend a whole day studying every spell, but the problem was that a hundred pages could only hold eleven ninth-level spells. These spellbooks really were not very durable. Did Wizards truly have to carry so many spellbooks around?

"Furthermore, each copied page costs 100 GP. However, new Wizards receive special consideration. The association will cover the copying costs for all your Zero-level Spells and three First-level Spells, so you do not need to worry about that."

Zhao Xu had heard that the price was steep, but he had not expected it to be this outrageously expensive.

"Mentor, who receives this money?"

"No one receives it. It is simply the cost of consumed materials. The spellbook used for copying, specialized quills, specially made consumable ink, incense burned to create the proper environment—on average, filling a one-hundred-page spellbook costs about 10,000 GP, so we generally recognize 100 GP per page."

"Without spending that, how could the spells you copy possess the spirituality needed for casting?"

Hearing that, Zhao Xu could only sigh. Wizards were poor. Wizards suffered.

With such special requirements, it was no wonder no one in his Previous Life had considered printing spellbooks.

How could anyone without a substantial fortune endure burning money like this?

"This applies when copying from a spell you remember or from a scroll. If you directly copy someone else's spellbook, however, you can use it as a reference. Both the time and copying cost are halved, costing only 50 GP per page. That figure has also been established through statistics."

At that, Zhao Xu immediately perked up.

But without even needing to guess, he could sense that beneath Antinoa's hood was surely a smiling expression, waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

Even to watch an online drama, he had to pay for a membership.

As for the tools of one's trade, if someone lent you their book, even if the copying time was halved, it also meant they could not prepare the spells in that book during that period.

Copying one's own spellbook still cost 50 GP per page. No one would do something so pointless unless absolutely necessary.

Antinoa did not leave him hanging for long and explained directly, "Currently, spellbook lending fees are calculated at 50 GP per spell level. Some rare spells cost extra, or are not shared at all."

Hearing that, Zhao Xu nodded. The lending fee was exactly equal to the amount saved by copying from a spellbook.

That meant if someone copied a spell by borrowing another person's spellbook, the cost was 100 GP per spell level.

"So now, you must choose between two paths."

"The first path is this book in my hand." As she spoke, Antinoa somehow produced another book. It had an iron cover, silver edges, and a lock. Roughly thirty centimeters long, fifteen centimeters wide, and fifteen centimeters thick, it flew into his hands.

"This is the Goddess's Blessed Book, a Wondrous Item. Because it possesses spirituality when made, you no longer need to pay those copying material costs. Each book has one thousand pages and sells for 12,500 GP, though they are difficult to buy because Wizards all want one."

Looking at its utterly ordinary cover, Zhao Xu had not expected such a divine item to exist—one that could reduce copying costs to nearly a tenth.

With such a Wondrous Item, the average copying material cost per page could fall to 12.5 GP, giving it a major advantage over the original 100 GP or the 50 GP required to copy from another spellbook.

As for it being difficult to buy, that only applied to outsiders. He had finally attached himself to such a major organization, so naturally he would have internal purchasing channels.

This was probably the privilege people always talked about.

But Zhao Xu was not overly excited yet, because he had noticed Antinoa mentioned two paths.

"The other path is to activate the Mindful Caster Feat."

"From then on, all your spells will be copied into your own mind, and you will no longer need a spellbook."

Zhao Xu's heart began pounding uncontrollably. His Path of the Mage had begun, and the organization's powerful Feat was finally reaching out to him.