Inscribing Spells

With that in mind, Ling Qing spread half the inner bark on the ground, laid the leaves neatly over it, then covered them with the remaining half of the bark, its rough outer side facing up.

He gathered all the branches in his hands, chanted the incantation, circulated the Natural Force within him, and fed it into the spell model for Entangle.

At once, the branches in his hands curled and twisted as if alive before winding around the bark and leaves before him.

As Ling Qing maintained the flow of Natural Force, the writhing branches continued to grow, weaving back and forth between the bark and leaves.

At the same time, emerald light continuously bloomed from the half-finished Spellbook.

After a brilliant flash, a Spellbook resembling the projected Book of Nature floated before Ling Qing, gently bobbing up and down.

"Character successfully crafted Spellbook—Book of Nature. You have gained insight into 'Feat—Craft Wondrous Item' (1/5)."

Book of Nature

Type: Spellbook / Inherited Wondrous Item

Quality: Inherited (Common)

Restriction: Druid Class—Way of Nature Inheritor

Effects:

1. When casting spells related to natural elements, consumed materials, magical implements, and the like may be replaced by the Spellbook.

2. When casting spells related to natural elements, their effects are slightly enhanced (10%), while mana consumption is slightly reduced (10%).

3. When comprehending or developing spells related to natural elements, inspiration receives a slight bonus (10%).

4. Spells may be recorded within the Spellbook and used as spell slots.

"Common quality. It looks like neither the materials nor the crafting technique was any good.

"Once I find better materials later, I should be able to improve its quality, right?"

Ling Qing reached out, caught the floating Spellbook, and weighed it in his hand.

The Spellbook did not feel heavy, yet a sense of weightiness and solidity welled up in his heart.

Its grayish-brown cover looked extremely rough, but it felt warm and smooth to the touch. Tangled, twisting branches formed all sorts of strange patterns across it, carrying an air of mystery that washed over him.

"Is this the power of magic? Even something of common quality is this miraculous."

Ling Qing played with it fondly for a while, unable to suppress his delight.

Setting aside its ability to replace casting materials, strengthen spell effects, and improve comprehension, those were all traits whose benefits would become more apparent with time.

Compared with those, the fourth trait granted by the Book of Nature projection—recording spells and using them as spell slots—would produce immediate results.

Ling Qing opened the cover and looked at the inner pages. They still resembled ginkgo leaves, but each was as large as the cover itself.

Without counting, he naturally knew there were exactly one hundred pages.

Each page could record one level-one spell or two level-zero cantrips.

To record a spell, he needed to inscribe its spell model onto a page and infuse it with the corresponding Natural Force. When he wanted to use it, he only needed to recite the incantation to trigger the spell.

With this, Ling Qing's combat strength had multiplied compared to before he possessed a Spellbook.

Although his casting speed had not improved much, once he filled the Spellbook with level-one spells, it would be equivalent to carrying one hundred rounds of level-one spell ammunition.

Combined with the spells he could cast using the force within his own body, he was practically more of a mage than a mage.

No wonder Spellbooks were of paramount importance, whether as inheritances or items.

The projected Book of Nature from his inheritance had laid the foundation for Ling Qing's path, while the crafted Spellbook served as the safeguard that let him walk it.

This was nature's gift and favor toward Druids.

Ling Qing first recorded several practical level-zero cantrips, then began selecting from the list of level-one spells.

Naturally, for a spell to be inscribed in the Spellbook, Ling Qing had to have already learned it and recorded its spell model.

Since the Spellbook placed no restriction on how many times a single spell could be recorded, Ling Qing could even fill the entire book with the same spell if he wished.

This pleased Ling Qing all the more. He had not possessed the inheritance for long, and his spell pool was still shallow.

First came the Entangle spell he had already grown proficient with, along with Shillelagh, which could increase his attack power.

Next was the Detect Animals or Plants skill.

Although Ling Qing could obtain basic information on most plants from nature when using Natural Perception,

that still required him to calm himself and focus his senses. When unexpected situations arose, magic was more convenient.

After that came spells such as Jump, Longstrider, Pass Without Trace, and Obscuring Mist, which could increase his speed and make escape easier.

Ling Qing thought that since this world possessed supernatural power, there was no reason he alone would have obtained this miraculous Druid class inheritance.

The world was vast. With Hua Nation's population alone, he could not possibly be the luckiest person. Perhaps others had obtained different inheritances as well.

He might never need these skills, but they would only take up a few pages in the Spellbook. He would keep them as a backup plan.

Then there were offensive spells like Ignite. Although they did not receive the Book of Nature's bonuses, that did not mean Ling Qing could not learn them.

After carefully considering it for a while and fully deciding which spells to inscribe and in what quantities, Ling Qing began slowly recording them in the Spellbook.

Once he began the inscription process, Ling Qing discovered that things were not as simple as he had imagined.

Although he had cultivated nonstop every day for nearly a week, accumulating force points and experience,

he currently only had fifteen force points.

The maximum limit of his force points could only be increased the first time he sorted through the plants within his perception range or sensed plants he had newly planted.

Everything else could only restore force points he had already consumed.

Yet when recording spells, a level-zero cantrip that ordinarily required one force point instead required two.

One point was used to inscribe the spell model, while the other was stored in the Spellbook as energy for casting the spell.

A level-one spell required two points to inscribe its model, and he could then choose to store one to five points of force.

Though he could choose to store only one point, the spell's effect would be drastically weakened. Ling Qing could only choose to store the maximum amount of force.

But that meant he would run out of force points after recording only a few spells.

Moreover, whether they were the plants Ling Qing had grown indoors or the plants in the wild, each needed time to recover after providing him with energy.

If he forcibly drained them, the plants would only grow weak or even die, and that was something Ling Qing did not wish to see.

Left with no choice, he could only rely on slow, painstaking work to fill the Spellbook bit by bit.

At the same time, in order to increase his maximum mana, Ling Qing began constantly relocating along the riverbank.

Another week passed. When the weekend arrived, Ling Qing got up early, went to the riverbank to tend to the increasingly lush trees around him, and began slowly practicing the Five Animal Frolics.

After practicing for so long, the Five Animal Frolics had reached 4/5 progress. He only needed one more insight to get started.

By then, not only would he be able to improve his own attributes, but he could also directly use experience points to raise the skill's level.