Fendim's Flaming Centipede-this was Ruger's first encounter with a little darling whose spell model had so many nodes. Three hundred and thirty-nine, just eleven short of the theoretical limit for a second-ring spell model. For a newly advanced Two-Ring Wizard, it was quite a challenge. That slight affinity might well have been its greatest mercy toward Ruger. In theory, after all, a spell this close to the limit was best learned once a wizard's mental power had grown to the late second-ring stage.
But that was only theory. Ordinary wizards rarely followed it, let alone Ruger.
Still, everything had its limits, and mental power was naturally no exception. As the number of nodes in a second-ring spell model increased, the difficulty of constructing it rose sharply compared with the first ring. Even some simple second-ring spells were beyond a One-Ring Wizard's ability to learn. Even a genius without equal would ultimately stumble at the construction stage. Feeble mental power could not support something so complex, and no amount of cleverness could make up for it.
Ruger felt that affinity and followed it toward understanding. He even brought out the purpose behind the spell's creation and considered it all over again. A spell of searching, a spell of regret: capturing traces, deconstructing runes, seeking to reproduce them through magic and find that place.
Learning spells was always a pleasure, and with Zorn and that wizard from the Holy Judgment Wizards present, he felt even more relaxed.
Whatever happened, there was no need for a half-crippled Two-Ring Wizard like him to step forward and show off. Those two esteemed wizards could handle it. The woman from the Holy Judgment Wizards always wore a cold expression, but she was, in fact, a proud person. People like that were difficult to get along with,