The War Approaches

Although William and his family had not yet officially moved in, they had spent the last few days following the steward to learn the ropes, running between the manor and the town to begin handling affairs. Because he had been exposed to many matters at the Mage Association, he took to managing the manor quickly, providing Code with a great deal of help.

William's wife, Isabella, was also a diligent woman. Coming from a family of small merchants, she was literate and skilled in arithmetic, and she had the manor's internal affairs running in perfect order as soon as she took over. Furthermore, she possessed a talent for sewing; while not on par with famous tailors, she was excellent at simple needlework such as altering sizes and adding or removing decorative patterns.

With the addition of the William couple to assist, the burden on the steward, Code, was much lighter. With sufficient manpower, Donald, as the master, no longer needed to concern himself with every little thing in the manor; he only needed to receive daily reports and a monthly summary. Consequently, Donald shifted his focus toward improving his own strength.

Through more than a month of study, Donald had proficiently mastered most zero-level spells and several first-level spells. Aside from the essential Magic Missile and Mage Armor, he was most skilled in Mage Hand, Detect Poison, Create Water, Hand of Fire Elemental, Message, and Feather Fall. Unlike most young mages who focused solely on elemental spells with high damage and ease of casting, Donald purposefully selected spells that covered a wide range of applications.

When his teacher, Messer, learned of these choices, he expressed great admiration.

"A mage's energy is limited. No matter how powerful a mage is, they cannot master every spell from every school. Furthermore, the limitations of mental power prevent a mage from casting too many spells in a short time, so mages usually focus on the schools they are suited for, only having a passing knowledge of others. Judging by your choices, little Donald, you are a cautious and wise person!"

"You flatter me, Teacher. I simply considered that a summoner's abilities are not omnipotent. Since I possess talent in other schools, I should not waste the gifts of the heavens. Rather than chasing after low-damage offensive spells, it is better to let summoned creatures act as the main force on the front lines while I provide support from the rear. This makes it easier to defeat the enemy!"

Donald chose these specific spells because they were the most versatile and suitable for him among all the first-level spells.

For instance, Mage Hand was equivalent to the "taking objects from a distance" technique found in the martial arts novels of his past life—a profound skill that only top-tier masters who had opened their meridians could learn. It was extremely useful in both daily life and combat, making it a jack-of-all-trades skill.

Detect Poison could determine if food was toxic, and when combined with Create Water and Hand of Fire Elemental, these three spells significantly enhanced his survival capabilities, even in extreme environments like deserts or rainforests.

As for Message, although it had a distance limit, it could play a significant role at critical moments. Levitate was a spell he valued highly; with this simple first-level spell, even if he fell from a cliff, he could drift down as gently as a soft feather, preventing him from dying due to a rapid descent. Once he advanced in rank, he would certainly learn the third-level Levitate and the fifth-level Fly; the longing for the sky was the same for humans in any world.

As for other first-level spells, they either overlapped in effect or were of little use. Donald only took a brief look and recorded them without focusing on studying them. The offensive power of first-level spells posed little threat to warriors above the mid-Black Iron rank. Therefore, Donald abandoned those that seemed flashy and chose only the practical ones, even if they were mostly utility spells.

After learning about the power of ancient Arcanists from the books in the Mage Association, Donald developed an ambition to follow in their footsteps, or at least to become a powerful and well-rounded mage.

"Since our predecessors could achieve it, then as long as I am given the chance, I can do it too. Teacher, do you know why the strength of modern mages is declining day by day?"

Upon hearing his apprentice's aspirations, Messer was both gratified and provided an explanation:

"I will certainly support you fully in having such a grand goal. The mainstream mages following the Bannai Empire are basically divided into elemental mages skilled in manipulating the four elements, alchemists who study creation, summoners proficient in space and otherworldly summoning knowledge, and witches skilled in souls and curses. Compared to the Arcanist heritage of the Ancient Arcanum Empire, these four branches not only lack four schools but also suffer from the loss of a vast amount of spells and knowledge."

"You must know that ancient Arcanists were divided into eight major schools, plus the Universal school for those who practiced multiple disciplines, totaling nine schools."

"Evocation, Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Illusion, Enchantment, Transmutation, and Necromancy—these eight major schools covered almost every direction of spellcasting in the world. For example, modern elemental mages are a branch of Evocation, alchemists mainly inherit parts of Transmutation and Enchantment, and summoners have inherited part of the Conjuration tradition. The witch faction is the one that has inherited the most ancient Arcanist knowledge among modern mages; they obtained a different part of the Conjuration tradition than the summoners, and they referenced principles from Abjuration, Divination, and Necromancy. Thus, they are most skilled at weakening enemies with curse spells and can manipulate negative energy to cast dark spells. Compared to other mages, they appear more mysterious and sinister, and are usually considered evil existences."

"In short, ancient mages obtained less than half of the heritage of the ancient Arcanists, and it was only through the improvements and creations of generations of genius mages throughout history that the current structure of the mage profession was formed."

After hearing these systematic descriptions from his teacher, Donald became even more certain of his goal: he wanted to become a powerful existence like the ancient Universal Arcanist masters.

Choosing this path might result in lower combat effectiveness in the early stages, and the speed of progress would be slower. However, with the Book of Truth—a powerful high-level artifact—as his backing, combined with the advantage of his youth, Donald was confident in breaking through the high-rank threshold before the age of forty. He had enough power to protect himself before he became strong, and he had the time to wait!

It is worth mentioning that, thanks to his excellent mental talent after being strengthened and the help of the White Crystal Ring gifted by Messer, Donald successfully cast and mastered a second-level spell, Wind Arrow, despite only being a newly promoted Black Iron Mage.

As a second-level offensive spell, Wind Arrow was the most powerful offensive skill Donald currently possessed. By compressing air, it formed an invisible, sharp-tipped arrow that could penetrate a wooden target at least a hundred meters away.

This power was already on par with the small-caliber gunpowder pistols of his past life. If not for the level suppression and the limitations of his mental power—Donald could currently only cast this second-level spell three times—he could have defeated three ordinary high-Black Iron warriors head-on without relying on summoned holy objects.

However, warriors below the Bronze rank were only considered the bottom tier in this world; there were many more true powerhouses. If he relied solely on his own half-baked mage strength, it would be difficult to ensure his safety in the cruel battles where anything could happen.

Fortunately, Donald did not rely only on his own mage strength; he also had the innate spells granted by the Book of Truth and his even more powerful summoning abilities as his trump cards.