Awakening Ritual

Chapter 23: Awakening Ritual

Less than ten minutes later, a maid came to knock on the door.

However, before Zhao Xu could stand up, Antinoa opened the door. The maid, without saying much, respectfully lowered her head, hurriedly placed a box of items, and then left.

It was only then that Zhao Xu realized Antinoa's described method of awakening wasn't about reading books, but involved some materials.

"The way to awaken 'Mindful Caster' is simple. After I set up the ritual, you just need to sit in the middle for a while," Antinoa said as she opened the box.

Zhao Xu was a bit confused. "It's that simple?"

It took him so long just for a Mage to chant an incantation. Some players could already cast Cantrips, but they were still stuck on learning the abilities 'Scroll Scribe' and 'Summon Familiar'.

Wouldn't this mean he was skipping two thresholds compared to others? After all, according to her, he just had to sit there for a bit.

He had originally thought he'd need to master those two abilities and then give them up to gain the 'Mindful Caster' ability. Now, it seemed that wasn't the case.

"Mentor, if I awaken the 'Mindful Caster' ability and then choose a different basic profession instead of becoming a Mage, wouldn't I essentially gain an extra ability for free?"

Antinoa's cloak shifted slightly, clearly glancing at him.

"What are you thinking? If you don't become a Level 1 Mage within a certain period, you will lose all the extra abilities you gained. Except for your Dragon Language, which is tied to your Intelligence."

"Only after completing your Level 1 job class will it become the anchor for all your professional abilities, solidifying them. And I advise you not to try and find any simple loopholes."

"In Arthur's thousands of years, any method you can think of, or cannot think of, has already been tried by countless people."

"Including many novice Mages who love to think about earning money by lending spellbooks for others to copy."

Before Zhao Xu knew about the Mindful Caster ability, he had indeed planned to do just that. Since copying spells for others could earn money, why wouldn't he? It wasn't like he was the only one in the world who had this spell.

"Think about it, why don't these spellbooks directly use spell duplication? Or find someone with an incredibly powerful memory, wouldn't they be able to memorize it instantly? Why do they need to study for a day? Can't they just copy it directly?"

"When copying, you need to sufficiently understand how the entire model works, so every stroke you make is your comprehension. But this comprehension cannot last. Only by experiencing the comprehension on the spellbook can you prepare that spell again. This is determined by the Mage's casting method."

"Most Mages realize this when they copy spells."

"However, they don't know that the original owner of the spellbook you are borrowing to copy is on the same path when preparing their own spells, so it's fine. But for outsiders to comprehend it, the inherent model circulation will be damaged. Therefore, every copy carries the risk of the spell in the original spellbook disappearing."

Hearing this, Zhao Xu's heart trembled. So, lending the original to someone to make a copy could potentially damage the original.

In that case, even if the other party finished copying, wouldn't they have to spend another 50 GP or 12.5 GP per page to copy their own spells back from them?

This was too troublesome. It seemed that apart from very good Mage friends, most people wouldn't easily lend out spellbooks. Who knew how much the model itself would be degraded.

While Zhao Xu was thinking, Antinoa had already begun carving on the floor in front of his dormitory using the materials brought by the maid.

Mages in Arthur, when casting, use hand gestures and incantations, and if that's not enough, they use materials.

It was rare for them to draw such large patterns on the ground, so this was likely not casting.

"Ritual," Antinoa said after completing a hexagram and continuing to draw some strange runes with that special chalk-like object.

"Rituals are a system separate from spells. They intersect with spells, such as achieving similar spell effects through long rituals. However, because they take a long time, they are not suitable for actual combat. But they are also one of the ways for ordinary people to display mysterious abilities in the absence of spell scrolls."

"And some rituals, like this one, are used to awaken professional abilities. Generally, this is common for the awakening of various professional abilities."

"Through this ritual, your future abilities 'Scroll Scribe' and 'Summon Familiar' will be preemptively drawn upon, and you will no longer be able to obtain them. Have you thought this through?"

Zhao Xu nodded resolutely.

Once he made a decision, there was no turning back.

More importantly, Antinoa had also chosen this path, so he didn't believe he would actually suffer a loss.

"Then walk to the center of the ritual and sit down."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xu immediately stood up and followed Antinoa's instructions, sitting down directly within the drawn magic circle.

He watched as white candles were lit at each of the six corners of the hexagram, the mysterious powder sprinkled around him by her, and his own shadow that flickered between substance and illusion.

Zhao Xu couldn't help but feel a slight chill. This kind of scene was typically seen in Western horror movies with those foolish teams trying to contact spirits.

"Even if a Demon Lord comes, I can kill it and send it back. What are you worried about?" Antinoa said.

Zhao Xu could only try to comfort himself.

Indeed, with Antinoa's strength as a Legendary Mage, if she truly encountered a clone of a legendary Demon Lord, being able to overpower it might not be an exaggeration.

"Hold this piece of paper, read the incantation on it, and then begin to meditate on your inner self as an endless, profound path."

As Antinoa spoke, a piece of paper floated before Zhao Xu.

It made Zhao Xu wonder how many Level 0 Mage Hand spells his mentor had prepared.

However, as he took it and saw the densely written incantation that was almost too long to fit, Zhao Xu suddenly wondered—

Did his mentor, whose Intelligence had maxed out at 50, also choose some "flaws" like forgetfulness? Why did she only give it to him at the last minute?

Fortunately, the incantation itself wasn't difficult to pronounce. Under the pressure of this mysterious ritual, Zhao Xu memorized it immediately.

He then closed his eyes, imagining himself walking on a profound path.

At this moment, with his eyes closed, Zhao Xu didn't notice Antinoa taking out a holy emblem of the Goddess of Magic and placing it on a rune array within the ritual circle.

She then took out a bottle of holy water and poured it directly onto the holy emblem, chanting unknown incantations simultaneously.

The complex magic circle she had drawn instantly seemed to come alive, glowing red like fire and emitting flickering fluorescence.

With a boom, Zhao Xu's heart felt like it had been struck by a great hammer, shattering his innermost chambers.

He abruptly opened his eyes, gazing forward.

The fluorescent glow of the magic circle on the ground vanished the moment he opened his eyes.

Every stroke, originally drawn, seemed to be wiped away, constantly fading until it converged back onto that holy emblem.

Just as Zhao Xu was about to ask Antinoa if he had succeeded, he noticed something on his character panel.

In the "Ability Traits" section, the words "Mindful Caster" were settled firmly in place.