Mage Hand

The next morning, at dawn.

Before the first bell rang in town, Gauss was already awake, sitting cross-legged on his bed with a solemn expression.

"Mage Hand!"

He was not yet proficient with the 0th Ring cantrip he had just learned.

He had been up for over half an hour, facing nothing but failure after failure.

But perhaps it was the experience gained from repeated attempts, or perhaps his luck suddenly improved.

After failing for a long time, Gauss finally managed to cast it once by chance.

The moment a spell succeeded was wonderfully strange. It was as though his consciousness had entered the correct program command, and the magic within him began to surge and intertwine along a certain path, releasing an unusual magical ripple.

The strange ripple spread beyond his body, rapidly weaving and solidifying before him until his magic reshaped itself into an invisible spectral arm.

It worked!

Sitting on the straw bed, Gauss sensed the invisible spectral hand before him, the corners of his mouth lifting.

He controlled the Mage Hand with his thoughts, making it float around the room.

The invisible arm grabbed the dagger on the table, and the dagger slowly rose into the air, swaying unsteadily.

A wave of excitement and indescribable accomplishment immediately surged through Gauss.

He had actually succeeded in casting a spell!

This was magic! A fantastical power that could only exist in films, novels, and other works of fiction in his previous life.

The shock this brought him was no less profound than the mental impact of first learning that he had transmigrated to another world.

Unfortunately, before he could continue experimenting with the Mage Hand, the invisible arm in the air suddenly collapsed.

"Smack!" The cloth-wrapped dagger fell back onto the table.

Clearly, he was not skilled enough yet. He had to keep practicing!

Mage Hand lv1 (2/10)

Seeing that the skill's proficiency had increased by one point,

Gauss felt the feedback from practice firsthand, and his motivation to train the spell grew even stronger.

For the entire morning, he never stepped outside his room, focusing solely on practicing magic.

The vast majority of his casting attempts failed.

That was only to be expected. If every attempt succeeded, he would not have been able to remain in his room all morning.

After all, the magic he had only just awakened could not sustain actual spellcasting for such a long time, even though 0th Ring cantrips consumed the least magic among all spell levels.

Fortunately, his practice was effective, perhaps aided by his 7 points of Intelligence.

By the time noon approached, before his magic was completely exhausted, he could already cast Mage Hand with relative proficiency.

In half a day, he had gone from knowing nothing to being able to cast a spell. Having never encountered other professionals and lacking any reference points, Gauss had no idea whether this was fast or slow, but regardless, he was already satisfied just to have mastered a spell.

After putting on his boots, a hollow growl sounded from Gauss's stomach at just the right moment.

He was hungry.

"Tap, tap, tap—"

The wooden soles of his boots creaked against the stairs.

Sophia, who was wiping down the wooden counter, heard someone coming downstairs and instinctively looked up. When she saw who it was, clear surprise appeared on her face.

The person coming downstairs was thin, with black hair and green eyes. His emerald irises seemed especially bright today, and he appeared more energetic than before.

It was Gauss, the most diligent and hardworking among the regular guests in her memory.

He seemed somewhat different from before.

Sophia looked up at Gauss, but she could not say exactly what had changed.

And had something happened to him? Sophia wondered.

As far as she could remember, this was the first time she had seen Gauss still at the inn around noon. Usually, he had already gone out before dawn.

However, her principle was not to pry excessively into her guests' privacy. Though she was curious, she did not ask him why.

"Sophia, could I have a serving of lunch? Uh, forget it. Make that two servings."

Though he was not used to the food provided by the inn, Gauss was short on money and could only make do for now.

He really was a little hungry.

His body was probably consuming energy to replenish the magic he had just expended.

"Two servings? Perfect. There is barely any lunch left in the kitchen anyway, so I'll bring it all to you. Consider the extra portion a gift."

"Then thank you very much."

Sophia waved a hand, signaling that he need not be so polite. Before long, she came out of the kitchen carrying a tray.

Today's lunch was oatmeal porridge, stewed beans, and pickled beetroot.

Perhaps the brick-like black bread mixed with wood chips from yesterday had left too deep an impression on him, because he found this lunch unexpectedly agreeable.

The beetroot had been cold-pickled in a sour sauce, giving it a unique fruity aroma and texture.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

Over the past few days, Gauss had trained Mage Hand near the town. Whenever his magic was exhausted, he practiced with his weapons.

The spell's proficiency also rose rapidly through his frequent training.

Mage Hand lv2 (10/20)

Looking at the level on the panel, Gauss nodded.

After several days of practice, Mage Hand's proficiency had reached the middle of Level 2.

In fact, he had raised Mage Hand to Level 2 on the first day. But after reaching Level 2, simply repeating the same exercises mechanically slowed the accumulation of proficiency. He had barely managed to grind his way to 10/20 after several days.

Did he need real combat practice to improve quickly?

Gauss headed toward town.

At Level 2, he could already control Mage Hand very smoothly.

For example, the bundle he carried with him was currently being held by Mage Hand, floating alongside him.

Besides the growth in Mage Hand proficiency during the past few days of training, the magic within his body had also increased rapidly. If he had to describe it, it had once been only a few wisps, but now it had reached the point where it could be twisted into a hemp rope.

Of course, that was not a very appropriate description. Magic was not something tangible like liquid or gas, but an invisible, formless existence.

Besides the magic stored within his own body, the world was also filled with magical energy. Magical energy was everywhere, rooted in every corner of the world like ley lines.

To him, casting a spell felt like a special magical effect: using his own magic and the spell engraved into his will to reshape the omnipresent magical energy permeating the world, then manifesting it in a specific area in a specific manner.

The strength of a spell's effects was closely related to the quality and quantity of his own magic, as well as the type of spell.

As a 0th Ring cantrip, Mage Hand consumed very little of his own magic.

Its casting range was roughly ten meters around him. Beyond that range, the spell effect would naturally dissipate and become difficult to maintain.

Mage Hand was not a spell suited for combat. It was more of an auxiliary tool.

For example, it could pass through a door and unlock it from the inside, or quietly take something away.

As for its use in battle, the only thing he could think of at the moment was using its roughly ten-pound weight to unexpectedly disrupt an enemy's movements, then seizing the opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

Or he could secretly use Mage Hand beforehand to bring a dagger above an enemy, then let gravity accelerate its fall and inflict damage.

Of course, such an attack would most likely have limited effectiveness. It was restricted by distance, and the enemy would have to be completely unaware for it to succeed.

He felt that making good use of Mage Hand to assist himself in battle would already produce excellent results.

Dragging an enemy's ankle, giving them a push or a pull—even if the force was not great, choosing the right moment could be deadly. Combat was not about trading blows and blocking each other's attacks; more often than not, the outcome could be decided in an instant.