Spell Selection

The Coral Tavern had private rooms, which were more expensive but offered better service.

However, Gauss was only here to eat, so he didn't fuss over such things.

Finding an empty table, he sat down and placed his carry-on bag and sword beside him.

Before long, a waitress came over with a menu.

Gauss waved his hand generously and ordered several meat dishes and a jug of fruit juice.

For some reason, he was craving meat right now.

This craving for meat had actually started a few days ago.

To be precise, it began after that battle.

He guessed that, just like his growth in height, the increase in appetite was also brought about by his 6 points in Physique.

The body needed plenty of nutrients for development, which sounded reasonable enough.

While waiting for the food to arrive, he focused his mind and opened the Adventurer's Handbook in his head, checking the information displayed there.

Name: Gauss

Strength: 5 (power, load capacity, explosive force, and other kinetic output)

Agility: 5 (body flexibility, dynamic coordination)

Physique: 6 (endurance, stamina, trauma recovery, cardiopulmonary metabolism)

Intelligence: 7 (memory, thinking, mental power)

Perception: 5 (senses, intuition, judgment)

Charisma: 5 (temperament, appearance, physique)

Skills:

0th Ring Cantrip: Mage Hand lv2 (15/20)

1st Circle Spell: Magic Missile lv1 (3/10)

On the Attribute Panel, all his attributes were clearly presented in numerical form, easy to read at a glance.

As for skills, Mage Hand had increased by a full 5 points during that battle.

From 10/20 to 15/20.

This also supported Gauss's earlier speculation that practical application was more conducive to improving skill proficiency.

As for Magic Missile, it remained at lv1 (3/10).

Those three points of proficiency came from that exceptional performance when he used Magic Missile to kill the Large Goblin.

After that, on his way back, he hadn't dared to casually use this 1st Circle Spell.

For now, this 1st Circle Spell seemed to demand too much mana.

He was worried that practicing on the road might accidentally drain his mana, plunging him back into that state of mental exhaustion where he couldn't move, so he hadn't practiced it at all.

Currently, he possessed two spells.

Combined with the knowledge about mages that Shopkeeper Gron had recently shared with him, he found himself in a bit of a dilemma.

To set foot on the path of a professional and formally become a mage, the first step was to practice one spell to an extremely proficient level.

And he now had two spells.

In truth, both Mage Hand and Magic Missile could serve as the foundation for starting his professional path.

What he was torn about was which spell to choose.

In terms of difficulty, Mage Hand was undoubtedly much simpler than Magic Missile.

In fact, according to Gron, the vast majority of mages used a 0th Ring cantrip as their first spell to break through to the professional realm.

The advantage of a 0th Ring cantrip was that the spell itself was relatively easier to access, simpler to learn, and consumed less mana during practice, allowing for more practice sessions within the same time frame and thus a higher probability of advancing to a professional.

However, this "easier" was only in comparison to 1st Circle Spells.

In reality, magic was a skill with a very high threshold, extremely difficult for those without talent to master.

It wasn't like Sword Skills, Combat Skills, or Archery Skills, where as long as you invested time, you could always gain some combat capability, regardless of whether you eventually became a professional.

Magic was different; those without talent often had to return empty-handed.

This was also why mages and similar professions were so popular in many adventurer teams—scarcity itself was a resource.

But after listing all these advantages of 0th Ring cantrips, what benefit was there to using a 1st Circle Spell as the skill to break through to a professional?

There was one, and only one.

That was that the 1st Circle Spell would be solidified into a Core Skill, granting it greater growth potential in the future and lower mana consumption when used.

Yes, the skill each person used to break through their Professional Path would, at the moment they formally condensed their Class Rank, be solidified into the Core Skill within their body.

Professionals could later master many skills. Taking a mage as an example, 0th Ring cantrips, 1st to 9th Circle Spells—as long as your talent and strength were sufficient, you could learn them all gradually.

But Core Skills were different. Core Skills had better growth potential and would accompany the professional as their Class Rank increased, continuously growing in power.

And because it had been completely solidified, this Core Skill would be easier to wield and cost less to use.

So, between a 0th Ring Mage Hand and a 1st Circle Magic Missile as a Core Skill, which had better potential and effect?

Naturally, Magic Missile.

Mage Hand was merely a support spell; even among 0th Ring cantrips, it was an extremely combat-weak type.

Magic Missile, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. A pure magical attack spell like this ranked among the top in destructive power even among 1st Circle spells.

Finally, the Core Skill also affected the type of talent every professional would awaken upon obtaining a Class Rank.

For example, if an Archer chose the Ranger class, formally stepped into the profession, and obtained a Class Rank, the talent she awakened might be [Precision], [Eagle Eye], [Divine Power], or others—some good, some bad.

Different talents granted different bonuses to the professional.

If the Core Skill he chose for his profession was Magic Missile, then by the time he stepped into the profession, the skill's strength would far exceed that of a normal mage.

More crucially, a brutal attack spell like Magic Missile would most likely cause him to awaken an extremely powerful Innate Talent.

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

After thinking it over, he still planned to use Magic Missile to break into the mage profession.

The Core Skill's influence was too great. First, the Core Skill itself was a skill that would accompany the entire career, and the talents it triggered would also continue to take effect.

It was very difficult for ordinary people to master a 1st Circle spell without formally condensing a Class Rank. 1st Circle spells were several times harder than 0th Ring cantrips, and raising them to the point of being able to step into the profession was even harder.

Only a few geniuses and epiphany-gainers would choose a 1st Circle spell as their Core Skill, and there were even cases where someone had an epiphany for a higher-level skill but still ended up choosing a 0th Ring cantrip.

In the end, no matter how strong the potential, if one couldn't step into the profession, it was just a castle in the air.

But Gauss was different. He had a panel that clearly showed his skill proficiency, and the data-based form meant his skills wouldn't decline—as long as he practiced, he could grow stronger.

In summary, 0th Ring cantrips had the highest compatibility, 1st Circle spells were extremely difficult but had high potential, and 2nd Circle or higher couldn't be used as Core Skills at all.

Because without condensing a Class Rank, it was fundamentally impossible to use skills of 2nd Circle and above. Even if one somehow mastered them, the mana in their body would be far from sufficient.

So Gauss didn't reach for the stars, thinking about whether he could obtain a higher-level spell.

"If no more suitable skill appears later, I'll tentatively settle on Magic Missile! At worst, it'll take a bit more time than Mage Hand, in exchange for a stronger Core Skill and talent—that would all be worth it."

Gauss pondered for a moment, then finally made up his mind.

"So my top priority now is to procure a Wand. Even the most basic Wand can reduce the mana consumption of my spellcasting and increase the efficiency of my magic practice."

"Thus speeding up my mastery of Magic Missile and my advancement into the profession."