New Arcane, Numb

The changes in the stone statue had already caught the attention of the lizardmen, and those nearby had even knelt directly on the ground to pray.

More and more lizardmen slowly joined in, and by the time the lizardman chieftain arrived with the tribe's warriors, Borne's new spell was already nearing completion.

1st-level spell: [Fog Cloud].

The spell effect creates a thick mist within a certain area; for a specific visual, one might refer to the Hidden Mist Technique used by Zabuza in Naruto.

[Fog Cloud] is one of the few spells that only requires spell modeling and incantations, needing no material components.

The requirement for casting is simply to be a formal spellcaster; aside from the caster's own strength, the spell's effectiveness is dictated by environmental influence.

It would certainly be less effective in a volcanic region than in a lakeside swamp, and [Fog Cloud] is currently recognized as one of the most useless spells in existence.

Since spellcasters are neither ninjas nor thieves and generally rely on ranged attacks, fewer than a hundred people have even checked out the spell from the academy's spell registry.

According to Chip's analysis, [Fog Cloud] is not actually devoid of a medium, as the primary component for generating mist is water, which is present in both the air and the human body.

During the casting process, it only borrows a portion of moisture, so even in a volcanic zone, drawing from the moisture in one's own body would not affect the human form.

Borne, however, thought otherwise. What if the medium portion of the spell formula were changed to a designated target?

For instance, if one were to target a small lake and amplify the effect, could it directly convert the lake water into cloud vapor, effectively creating a form of artificial rain?

Of course, the modifications required for such a formula would be extensive—one could even say it would be the creation of an entirely new spell.

Spells capable of influencing climate and environment are generally high-level, and for him, the difficulty was still far too great.

But that did not stop him from conducting small-scale experiments first, such as changing the designated target.

Since the Weave considers fresh eggs to be living organisms, Borne prepared a dead egg, replacing a portion of the egg fluid inside with a prepared reagent.

This was also to verify another one of his hypotheses, which Chip had calculated to have a 70% feasibility rate.

The overall plan was within Borne's expectations; the only variable was his current location: the stone statue worshipped by the lizardmen.

To the lizardmen, this statue was the vessel of their faith.

However, through the resonant simulation of Borne's Chip, a pseudo-miracle occurred, stimulating the majority of the lizardmen.

Having endured tribal migration, war, and the death of their companions, the entire lizardman tribe had fallen into an atmosphere of panic and confusion. Their faith in the stone statue was merely a form of psychological solace; one only had to look at the statue's shape to know that most of the lizardmen in this tribe didn't even know what god they were worshipping.

Suddenly seeing their god-stone manifest, many lizardmen believed that an unknown deity from the void had responded to their prayers, and their emotions instantly turned fanatical.

A surge of extremely pure faith converged upon the statue, and Borne, resonating with it through the Chip, was enveloped by this power of faith.

In an instant, he felt the origin of magic once again, though this time it was different from his previous insights.

Azure lines appeared before his eyes, rapidly sketching out a spell model—it was the formula for Fog Cloud.

As the formula manifested in its entirety, Borne's consciousness split in two: one part, carrying all his emotions, watched from the sidelines, while the other was a purely rational mind devoid of emotion.

The rational mind rapidly analyzed and deduced the formula, and under the influence of this rational will, the entire spell structure began to change.

The model's framework began to expand, vast empty areas were automatically filled, and the originally simple structure began to grow complex.

Soon, a brand-new spell model appeared before him, and his split consciousness merged back together, instantly ejecting his consciousness from the Weave.

As his consciousness returned to his body, Borne spoke instinctively.

"[Stinking Cloud]!"

The Weave was triggered once more, and faint ripples spread outward with Borne at the center!

At the same time, the members of the Arcane Society far away at the edge of the swamp felt the fluctuations in the Weave and stared, dumbfounded, toward the direction of the lizardman tribe.

"Again?!"

Cook's eyes were practically popping out of his head.

"Is this his plan?! Using a new arcane spell directly, utilizing the world's amplification to expand its power..."

Belon was incredulous, with only one thought in his mind: is this guy even human?

To be this prolific with arcane spells...

"Is this what a true genius is?"

Jennifer's eyes seemed to sparkle with stars.

Dalena was also shaken by this sudden event, to the point where she felt as if she had been electrocuted, her brain completely frozen.

President Lisper felt her scalp tingle, silently cursing that this guy was simply not human. "How long has it been, and he's already come up with another new arcane spell? Is he trying to drive us to our deaths..."

The ranger, as a half-baked spellcaster, was also exceptionally horrified; even without understanding the details, he knew that 'Primal Magic' wasn't just some pebble on the side of the road that one could pick up at will.

Before long, faint gray mist began to appear across the entire swamp.

Marsh gas?

No!

This was the effect of a spell. What kind of spell had such a wide range? He quickly notified the members of the Arcane Society.

Only then did the group snap out of their shock, watching as the gray mist in the direction of the swamp began to thicken.

Knowing this was Borne's new arcane spell, they understood that he had cast it without prior experimentation precisely to maximize its effect.

Primal magic—that is, the first instance of an arcane spell—is reinforced by the Weave the first time it is released, and its power is compounded based on the perfection of the spell formula.

This is also the reason why high-level Arcanists are so rare; even those learning standard magic suffer plenty of injuries, let alone those researching new spells.

Basic new magic is almost always born from experimentation. Using it directly on the battlefield is simply courting death. In the history of Nether, those who dared to do so either ended up performing a live human self-detonation or suffered mental damage, becoming idiots.

When the vibration of the Weave reached them, they knew Borne's new arcane spell had succeeded, which was why they were so shocked!

"This magic effect looks like [Fog Cloud]."

Lisper was slightly puzzled.

Few people borrowed [Fog Cloud] to begin with, and even fewer practiced it. Unless someone had too many points to spare, they wouldn't even consider learning it.

Only Lisper, as the president, had seen the description of Fog Cloud in the notes of past research lab presidents, and it was rated as one of the most useless spells.

At this moment, she thought of the sentence Borne left behind before he departed.

"There is no useless magic, only useless casters."

As the mist began to thicken, it also turned darker. The entire swamp was shrouded in a mass of fog, and as time passed, it expanded rapidly outward, drawing closer and closer to them.

Just then, a bird flew over the swamp and plummeted before it could even cross through the fog. Only then did everyone remember Borne's warning from earlier.

"Run! We need to get out of here, quickly!"

The Ranger shouted. While he was frantically checking the route, the members of the Arcane Society began chanting incantations in low voices simultaneously.

Before long, to the Ranger's stunned expression, the members of the Arcane Society flew away.

"What the... they can all fly!"

The Ranger felt his entire world collapse. "Wait, hey... wait for me!"

Watching the mist gradually closing in on him, the Ranger descended from the tree with the fastest speed of his life, scrambling and crawling as he fled the area.

Finally, the gray mist stopped expanding five hundred meters into the forest. The group also halted a hundred meters away from the fog, secretly astonished by the massive range of the spell.

Having been stimulated by Borne time and again, they were gradually getting used to it.

"This range is at least equivalent to the effect of a 5th-circle spell."

Belon remarked with emotion.

"Have you ever seen a 5th-circle area spell?"

"No!"

Everyone: "Tch..."

When Borne's arcane spell was successfully cast, his invisibility had already worn off. However, due to the resonance between the system Chip and the stone statue, a layer of holy light also enveloped him.

Radiating the light of faith from his entire body, not to mention anything else, even just based on this appearance, even priests from the temple would believe a deity had descended!

Terrified, the Lizardman chieftain and the other Lizardman warriors prostrated themselves on the ground, praying to the god.

Seeing the Lizardmen intimidated, Borne finally breathed a sigh of relief. According to the Chip's detection, the Lizardman chieftain had combat power at least approaching that of a high-level combatant. Combined with the other Lizardman warriors, they still posed a significant threat to Borne.

And [Fog Cloud] was truly worthy of being the most useless magic; the casting method was simply agonizing. The caster could not move while the spell was being initiated, or the mist would stop generating.

Fortunately, this tribe had no casters like shamans or priests, otherwise, Borne would have had to run for his life immediately.

Not long after, although the Lizardman chieftain felt some suspicion, it dared not question him immediately; after all, its ancestors were the 'Heavens'.

This bought Borne plenty of time. As the gray mist began to shroud the area, many of the surrounding Lizardmen began to collapse one after another.

The Lizardman chieftain finally reacted, but because it was closest to the stone statue, it had inhaled the most mist. Even if a high-level combatant had toxin resistance, it wouldn't be high enough; its vision began to blur, and its legs started to tremble.

It immediately drew the two spears at its sides and threw them consecutively toward Borne.

Under the system's analysis, Borne dodged them with two simple shifts of his body, then watched with a blank expression as the Lizardmen continued to collapse.

After the Lizardman chieftain let out a roar, its limbs stopped obeying it, and it knelt to the ground.

The potion was a neurotoxin meticulously formulated by Borne. Even a high-level combatant couldn't withstand it. As long as they weren't a Legend, they were still within the range of biological entities, and the neurotoxin was a guaranteed hit!

Even with the Lizardman chieftain's strong willpower, it could only lie on the ground and watch helplessly as the neurotoxin spread through its body, eventually losing consciousness...