Arcane Eye

"System! Transfer the spell model data!"

Borne said in his mind.

"Ding! Beginning transfer..." As the Chip's mechanical voice rang out, more and more information began appearing in Borne's mind.

There was quite a lot of information this time. He could directly sense the spell's model, from its most basic structure to its projection.

Most important of all were the more than two hundred thousand simulated experiments. Those were the most precious research data!

They saved not only a huge amount of money on experiments and many valuable magical materials, but, most importantly—time!

That was the most terrifying thing about the System Chip!

It was as if he had truly carried out countless experiments, with every failure perfectly clear in his mind.

Borne didn't know that, while the Chip was transferring the data, the magic power around him was rapidly boiling, and a wave of mental pressure was slowly spreading from his body.

The sudden change caught his companions off guard. The strongest among them, the president, immediately used Fast Movement to dash to Borne's side.

The surging magic power kept Lisper at a distance. The president was anxious. Borne's presence was essential to the mission; nothing could happen to him!

Besides, Borne's identity was also extremely sensitive...

After hesitating for a long moment, the president was about to force his way in when Hubwick stopped Lisper.

"Wait. I think... he should be fine!"

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Borne's condition looked a lot like 'that' thing he knew about!

The president glanced at the Ranger, who nodded. Lisper struggled for a moment, then slowly gave up.

The others gathered around, too. Although Borne's magic power and mental energy were boiling, he didn't seem to be in any danger.

After watching for a while, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ding! Transfer complete. Time elapsed: 57 minutes and 24 seconds!"

Phew... Almost an hour.

Borne hadn't expected that simply 'transferring' some data would cause such a commotion. He knew exactly what had just happened, but the data was still being transferred. There was no way to 'pause' it midway...

Looks like the System still needs some improvements!

Once his magic power settled down again, Borne opened his eyes. His companions had all gathered around him.

Seeing how worried they looked, Borne quickly explained.

He'd been sorting out a new spell model? Verifying a new spell?

He'd already 'made up' an explanation, anyway. Whether the others believed it or not, he believed it.

Of course, he couldn't mention the Chip System.

Naturally, everyone had their own secrets. They knew that.

But that didn't mean they could treat us like idiots!!!

Borne was getting a headache. This wasn't how the script was supposed to go. Wasn't everyone supposed to believe whatever the protagonist said? Why was everyone around him so sharp?

Could someone else be the 'main character'?!

So I'm the clown after all...

Whatever. He'd show them.

He asked everyone to step back a little. He wanted to test out the new spell.

They were curious to see what kind of nonsense he'd come up with, so they retreated and quietly watched to see how he'd pull it off...

"Hmph, here we go..."

Borne loosened up a little.

System! Record the casting process!

Ding! Scanning subject. Recording begins!

"...μαλλαφρινναν..."

As Borne began chanting, the magic power within dozens of meters started to boil. The commotion was even greater than before.

"Hey, hey, hey... You've got to be kidding..."

"Could this guy actually have been telling the truth?!"

"Did he really pull it off...?"

Borne hadn't expected such a dramatic response just from starting the spell, especially since the new spell wasn't an attack spell.

To ensure the casting went smoothly, he followed the standard procedure to the letter: hand gestures, spell components, the pace of the incantation, and everything else.

As the magic power began to form the spell, the elements quickly resonated with the Weave, and the projection began.

Yes, that's the feeling!

As his mental energy established a 'connection' with the Weave, his thoughts began to 'overclock'. Borne's mental body entered the Weave once again, making him feel as if he could do anything.

Borne knew this was only an illusion created by his thoughts. If the brain was like an old-fashioned computer, then the 'Weave' was like a supercomputer capable of quantum computing.

He'd only borrowed a bit of its computing power, and already he was flying...

Fortunately, he didn't lose himself in the sensation. He quickly began constructing the spell model. With the Weave's support, the conflicting and illogical parts were swiftly corrected and optimized.

The group, who had already retreated to ten meters away, had to move another twenty or thirty meters back.

By then, their expressions had grown numb.

From the moment the Weave began to resonate and project, they knew there was no point in questioning him.

This range, this spectacle, and he'd called it a little experiment.

Heh...

"With a range this wide, could it be a high-tier spell...?"

Cook swallowed.

"No, it's a new Arcane spell!"

The president's amber eyes gleamed. "Whenever a completely new spell is created, the world rewards its caster. The first casting is also several times more powerful. This isn't an attack spell; otherwise, its destructive power would definitely be close to that of a high-tier spell!"

Once the new spell model was complete, magic power began to gather around Borne's eyes. For one fleeting moment, it seemed as though his 'eyes' had broken through some kind of barrier, allowing him to 'see' a corner of the 'origin' and the 'world'!

[Arcane Eye]!

When Borne quietly spoke the name of his new spell,

the Weave, the world's source, rippled faintly. Another new spell had been born!

Borne's new Arcane spell!

[Arcane Eye] had been successfully cast. It seemed as if magic had replaced Borne's pupils, and the world before his eyes had become 'colorful'.

Even at night, the world looked exceptionally vivid to Borne, as though someone had painted it with bright dyes!

Even a stone was covered in different colors.

Borne suddenly understood.

So this is how magic power flows!

Every tree, blade of grass, stone, and even drop of water contained magical elements.

Seeing that Borne's new spell had succeeded, everyone immediately gathered around. Some looked him up and down as if he were a strange creature, while others stared curiously at his eyes...

Their feelings were complicated. They knew that spellcasters traveled in search of inspiration and breakthroughs.

Their academy textbooks said as much, advising students to broaden their horizons and gain more experience.

They'd even imagined that, years later, they might hit a bottleneck themselves, travel in search of an opportunity, and leave behind a 'legend' of their own somewhere.

But now that it was happening right in front of them, all they could think was, What the hell?!

They'd only been out for a few days, and Borne had already made a breakthrough. As for them, they'd learned a little about the habits of various 'weeds' and some wilderness survival tips—and that was about it...

Were they sure they were even following the same route? Or had someone secretly been giving this guy special treatment?

"No way. He broke through just like that? What kind of ridiculous luck does he have?"

"It's over! That freak has advanced again. How are we supposed to beat him now?"

The others had plenty of thoughts running through their heads, but they did their best to force smiles onto their faces.

"That's a fourth-circle Arcane spell, right? Have you advanced to a mid-tier Arcanist?!"

Lisper studied him for a moment and immediately reached her conclusion.

The others were also slightly startled when they heard her.

Mid-tier Arcanist?

Becoming a mid-tier Arcanist before graduating would make him the first in Giles Academy's history, wouldn't it? He'd set another new record.

Everyone was jealous all over again...

"Yeah. I advanced as soon as I successfully cast the new spell. I'll probably have a much bigger appetite over the next few days!"

Borne smiled.

A gift from the world!

The others couldn't help looking envious.

As their moods changed, so did the colors on their bodies.

"So emotions alone can affect the flow of magic power, even without actively channeling it..."

Borne watched closely and had the System record it.

Through [Arcane Eye], everyone's colors looked different. On the contrary, each person seemed like a vat of mixed 'colors'!

And those colors were constantly changing with their moods.

The Ranger was mostly green, while Lisper was mostly red. The others didn't seem to have any particularly obvious 'color'.

The president had a Sorcerer's bloodline with an affinity for the Fire Element, so she was red. The other members of the Arcane Society were ordinary people without any particular affinity, so their colors were more evenly distributed.

But Hubwick was supposed to be an ordinary person, too, and yet he was mostly green.

A Druid?

Borne had known for a while that Hubwick was a Druid—or, more accurately, half a Druid. He'd received 'Enlightenment' but never any further instruction.

That was why he could owe so much money on the Black Market and still be doing just fine.

Was green an occupational affinity?

Borne's thoughts stirred. "System! Analyze the physical data of the people around me."

"Ding! Task established. Beginning data collection!"

Before long, three-dimensional models of the people around Borne appeared before his eyes, their data constantly updating around them!

"Hubwick. Inferred professions: Ranger, Druid. Sex: male. Strength greater than 3, agility greater than 2, constitution greater than 2."

"Dalena. Professions: Mage/Arcanist. Sex: female. Strength greater than 2, agility greater than 3, constitution greater than 2."

"Cook..."

It really works!

Borne was delighted. The data wasn't very precise, but that only proved his idea was sound. The fact that it was inaccurate now didn't mean it would always be inaccurate.

When he saw President Lisper's data, Borne was a little surprised.

Her strength and other attributes were far above the others'. Even the rough estimates weren't much lower than Borne's. As expected of a Sorcerer.

"Lisper. Professions: Sorcerer/Arcanist. Sex: female. Strength greater than 3, agility greater than 4, constitution greater than 5.

"Bloodline: inferred lineage—God-Demon Scion, 61%; demon, 27%; Red Dragon, 10%; other, 2%. Insufficient data. Recommend extracting blood for analysis."

The basic information still depended on the data he already had. Looks like filling in the data was going to be a long-term project...

"Is this new spell called [Arcane Eye]?"

After Borne dismissed the spell, Dalena couldn't help asking. She immediately apologized afterward.

Asking someone about their Arcane spells was very rude, since it involved their safety. If the wrong person learned their capabilities, they could easily be targeted.

"Yeah, the new spell is called [Arcane Eye]."

Borne smiled and waved her concern away. He'd already demonstrated it, so there was no harm in them knowing the name. Besides, he planned to submit the spell model to the academy as soon as he got back.

A fourth-circle spell was worth a huge number of points, not even counting the royalties afterward. It would be enough for him to exchange for the rest of the Nether Scrolls in the academy!

When they learned Borne planned to submit the spell model to the academy after they returned, everyone was surprised, but they were happy, too.

After all, Nether's spells were limited at this point. There were a decent number of low-tier spells, but hardly any mid-tier ones, and not a single high-tier spell...

"This spell was developed from the second-circle 'Darkvision' and the first-circle 'Detect Magic'..."

Borne briefly explained what the spell could do, casually promoting it as he did. There weren't many mid-tier spellcasters at the academy, and the Arcane Society was an important target audience.

As night deepened, everyone gradually returned to rest. Since Borne had just advanced, he needed time to adjust, so he volunteered for the night watch.

The others didn't object. After being shown up so badly, they needed to go back and rest, to soothe their wounded pride.

Who knew that once they returned, they'd toss and turn without being able to sleep, getting angrier the more they thought about it.

Someone more talented than you is also working harder. How could you possibly sleep?!

"Ah, damn it! He must have done it on purpose!"

"I'm going crazy..."

They cursed, but all of them began meditating all the same.

The Ranger set up warning devices around the camp, then sat down by the campfire, too.

Borne didn't meditate. He kept observing with [Arcane Eye] active.

The worlds seen through his eyes, his mental energy, and [Arcane Eye] were all different.

The sensation was truly amazing, a bit like activating a 'Heavenly Eye' in a cultivation novel.

Everyone else was still awake, and Borne could 'see' them clearly, too. Their jumbled thoughts made their 'colors' dart around.

It made sense, since they'd been rattled. But the Ranger was a little strange; his 'colors' were also in disarray.

After thinking it over briefly, Borne understood why.

The System's method of transferring information came from the Druids' [Awaken] spell.

Druid spells belonged to the domain of divine magic. Borne wasn't yet capable of analyzing divine magic, but his family was.

Borne had undergone 'Enlightenment' before entering the academy.

That was also why Hubwick was acting strangely. He'd thought Borne was a Druid, too, but he wasn't sure, because Borne didn't have an aura of 'nature' about him.

Borne couldn't be bothered to explain, so the two of them sat around the campfire and meditated.

Their current meditation method was still rather primitive, without much technical sophistication. Its advantage was that it could be started or stopped at any time, anywhere.

Advanced meditation techniques definitely existed. They were usually closely guarded secrets of each race and suited only to their own kind; members of other races couldn't learn them even if they tried.

The meditation techniques used by Netherese humans were all the same, from the advanced level down to those used by apprentices. Perhaps legendary spellcasters had their own unique methods of meditation. After all, legendary creatures were practically another species.

They definitely needed to be improved, but that was still rather difficult for the Netherese at present. Advanced magic was already scarce, let alone improvements to meditation techniques.

The categories of magic were still very simple. It wasn't like later, when there would be eight schools, each with its own subclasses.

There were only three for now.

Creation, Psychic, and Transmutation!

Creation specialized mainly in making and destroying things. It was the precursor to the School of Evocation.

A representative pure elemental spell was Fireball.

Psychic specialized mainly in influencing minds and consciousness. Later, it would develop into the schools of Enchantment and Illusion.

Transmutation specialized in transforming other things, even magic itself.

For example: Disguise Self and Sonic Blast.

After a fierce inner struggle, the Ranger ultimately decided against asking.

He had once been fortunate enough to study under an Elf Druid for a time. Later, when he received Enlightenment from the Elf Druid, he awakened abilities belonging to a Druid.

He could communicate with beasts and had special abilities such as sensing the forest. These had allowed him to thrive in the woods.

After witnessing Borne create a new "spell" with his own eyes, he was utterly shocked.

Such talent was incredibly rare even among Elves!

This was "primeval" magic!

They called themselves Arcanists; among the Elves, such people were called "High Mages."

Those capable of creating primeval magic were invariably learned scholars with profound knowledge!

He never thought he'd see one in a boy who hadn't even come of age!

Though Borne was more impressive than the average adult in appearance, height, and manner, the Ranger could still tell that Borne was indeed underage!

He hadn't understood what a "genius" was before. Now he did!!!