Elements

This was a new book of magical sorcery, titled Basic Flame Element Instruction.

Now that he had a large pile of magic stones, and since there had still been no news about the high-powered microscope these past few days, while Green had also yet to make a decision on a symbiotic parasite in such a short time, he was unwilling to waste precious time. Helplessly, Green began researching elemental sorcery.

On the Wizard Continent, any wizard, even one who focused on other subjects, would inevitably study the basic elements.

The reason was simple. During the wizard apprentice period, the first time one used mental strength to solidify an elemental magic array in the soul, it could greatly increase mental strength. This was a temptation no wizard apprentice could refuse.

After Green earnestly read Basic Flame Element Instruction twice, he gently set the book down and began to ponder.

"This so-called elemental magic array is probably the most basic lever force wizards master, isn't it? To think it's been simplified to this extent, already becoming something akin to art."

Elemental magic arrays were divided into two basic fields of knowledge: runes and magic arrays.

As for runes, orthodox wizard books recorded a total of twenty-six characters. Through different combinations of these characters, one could use magic power to communicate with most of the natural elemental forces of the endless world.

Of course, this communication belonged to the most foolish kind of communication; the magic power expended and the elemental energy communicated were far from proportional.

However, aside from the twenty-six regular characters, whether in nature or in certain wizards' laboratories, some special runes would exist.

These runes would communicate rare energy attributes in the natural world, or simply new energy attributes created by wizards themselves. For example, the sorcery once used by the wizard Dila aboard the sea ship: Dead Soul Flame.

As for magic arrays, they used countless runes to combine into a "pattern," or rather a "law," that could be understood and concretized by wizards, and finally used mental strength to solidify it permanently.

Although magic arrays could be combined into endlessly changing and varied states according to each wizard's different understanding, no matter how a wizard altered it, there was inevitably one core that would never change: a six-pointed star pattern nested within a great circle.

This pattern was the evolved crystallization of the wisdom of countless ancient wizards. It was the most powerful and most fundamental force wizards could think of for using the lever of knowledge to pry at the rules of the world.

Countless later wizards, if they wanted to improve a magic array, would inevitably add to this pattern as a foundation in order to change the structure of elemental sorcery. For example, the flame sorcery released in the third experiment by that beautiful female wizard during Green's first basic sorcery education class, which changed an original fireball into the form of a firebird.

Rubbing his brow, Green took out a sheet of white paper and a quill pen.

If one wanted to permanently solidify an elemental magic array in the soul, the first step was to make one's mental strength able to skillfully outline all the characters. This was work like water grinding stone; different people had different affinities for the elements, so the time spent would also differ.

But generally speaking, even a wizard with no affinity at all could complete this step in one year.

Of course, Green did not think he would be that foolish.

As his mental strength followed the quill pen, when Green copied the twenty-six characters, his mental strength began drawing these characters again and again, constantly becoming more practiced.

Three days later, Green looked at his own progress in some astonishment and said in disbelief, "Could it be that I'm a genius at cultivating elemental sorcery? In a mere three days, my mental strength has already become completely familiar with the writing process of every character!"

Ten days later, after a burst of inexplicable pain, although Green looked somewhat dispirited, the depths of his pupils were filled with immense surprise. "In less than half a month, I completed the permanent solidification of the flame elemental magic array in my soul. As expected, I really do have a talent for cultivating elemental sorcery!"

After Green took a deep breath, he silently chanted an incantation. The crystal ball quietly floated before him, and Green began observing his own condition.

"Mental strength: 18. Magic power: 126~137. Sure enough, mental strength increased by five points!"

As for magic power, as long as mental strength increased, magic power would naturally gradually increase through meditation.

Somewhat pleasantly surprised, Green thought for a moment, then chanted an incantation to the crystal ball again. After the crystal ball flashed with a dazzling light, it instantly returned to its dim, unremarkable state.

"Let's try the strength of my fireball spell when cast at full power!"

Mental strength determined the power of sorcery.

However, when a wizard apprentice fought normally, the highest amount of mental strength they could instantly activate would not exceed one quarter. If they wanted to activate greater magic power, they would have to prepare a long incantation.

Of course, this maximum activated mental strength and magic power would instead become lower and lower in proportion as the magic power inside a wizard's body grew higher and higher.

Green activated his magic power into the elemental magic array. In an instant, after a familiar, intimate feeling, with a puff, a fist-sized fireball appeared at Green's fingertip.

Uh...

Sure enough, it was much smaller than that female wizard's back then.

Green lightly flicked his fingertip, and the fireball flew toward the crystal ball in the air with a "whoosh." After rolling flames and heat waves surged, Green beckoned again, and the crystal ball returned to his hand.

"Twenty-one degrees? I consumed nearly forty points of magic power and obtained a fireball spell attack of twenty-one degrees. In other words, after activating one quarter of eighteen points of mental strength, the energy intensity increased by around five times?"

Green was extremely satisfied. From this moment on, Green had finally grasped a power that surpassed ordinary commoners and even knights.

A mere simplest lethal sorcery could let a wizard apprentice possess the ability to kill a legendary knight. This was the reason why wizards were the true rulers of this world.

If nothing else, just speaking of the trial one year later, Green's chances of surviving were now somewhat higher.

His soul had just been solidified with an elemental magic array. Although Green's mental strength had instantly surged by five points, it had also left his spirit somewhat dispirited. Naturally, Green sank into deep sleep.

After an unknown amount of time, ding...

Green's soul stirred, awakened by the soul connection inside the crystal ball. What he then saw was the wizard apprentice named Varo from the seventh floor of Black Isotta Tower calling out, "Hey, Green, come to my place. My teacher just went out. Right, bring some Luoding Fish when you come!"

With a scrape, Green sat up from the bed, all sleepiness gone.

Could he finally use the advanced microscope?

Excitedly, Green went to the experiment table and picked up all the vessels containing the white mice's limbs. After thinking for a moment, Green looked again at the frog parasitized by the Gadfly Snail.

Green had previously cut off one of this frog's hind legs and preserved it. However, during this time, because of the Gadfly Snail's parasitism, this frog had actually "deformedly grown" three hind legs. It looked like a malformed freak, somewhat disgusting.

This was not a kind of evolution. So-called evolution allowed an organism to possess stronger abilities and stand higher in the biological hierarchy and the food chain.

Yet the three newly "deformedly grown" legs of this frog were basically similar to a tumor. They were utterly useless to the frog and would only drag it down.

As for the reason behind it, that was because those Gadfly Snails inside the frog's body wanted to return to the wild crane's body to reproduce the next generation. Naturally, this required the frog to "cooperate" properly and let the wild crane eat it easily.

Without much hesitation, Green also picked up this malformed frog and the hind leg it had once preserved, then left his little hut.

When he reached the first floor of Black Isotta Tower, Green bought some Luoding Fish along the way. Although he did not know what Varo wanted these finger-sized little fish for, he figured it could be no more than one of two possibilities: satisfying a craving or using them as experimental materials. In any case, they were not worth much.

When they reached the seventh floor of the Black Isotta Tower, Varo walked over with a chuckle and said, "You're in luck. The mentor just happened to go out on business these past few days."

Then he led Green toward the higher levels of the Black Isotta Tower.

After an inspection by two enormous mechanical puppets, Green passed through smoothly because Varo was leading him.

This was Green's first time going above the seventh floor of the Black Isotta Tower, and he could not help looking around curiously. To Green's disappointment, however, although the corridor was incomparably spacious, there was not a single person in sight.

"Don't wander around. From the eighth floor upward, it's where official wizards live. You'd better be careful, or some bad-tempered wizard might just throw you straight down from here."

Varo warned Green.

"Oh."

Green nodded somewhat stiffly, then followed Varo as they climbed upward floor by floor.

After climbing a full seventy or eighty floors, Green was drenched in sweat and panting for breath, exhausted, while Varo looked as if nothing had happened at all. He said, "When I go in later, just follow me. Don't meddle in anything else."

"Mm."

Green was so tired he was close to collapsing, and truly had no strength left to say another word.

Varo shook his head. "Honestly, why don't you study a bit of bloodline sorcery? Your body's this weak."

Then Varo opened the door to a floor covered in magical restrictions. Green followed carefully, not daring to say a single word more.

"Yo, Varo, is this kid the patron you mentioned?"

Green looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was actually a black cat, lazily sprawled on a sofa as it looked at Varo and Green.

Varo chuckled, stepped forward, and placed a small bag of Luoding Fish in front of the black cat. "That's him. We agreed on five magic stones each, plus these Luoding Fish."

Black lines seemed to appear on Green's forehead. He had clearly given twenty magic stones.

The black cat slowly stood up, stretched lazily, and wiped its face with its paw. Only then did it unhurriedly pick up the bag filled with Luoding Fish in its mouth and leap onto a large fish tank.

The fish tank was a full three meters tall and seven or eight meters long. Inside, a dozen or so vicious-looking strange fish swam slowly, their sharp, keen teeth occasionally showing in their mouths, making Green's heart chill as he watched from the side.

The black cat, however, did not care at all. Instead, it dumped all the Luoding Fish in the bag into the fish tank in one go. Watching the strange fish in the tank feed frantically, the black cat drooled and said, "Eat up, eat up, hehe, grow a little bigger..."

Seeing this scene, no matter how Green thought about it, he found it strange and awkward.

Only after watching those strange fish eat every last Luoding Fish did the black cat happily say to Varo, "All right, take that kid there. I won't tell the old man. Oh, right, aside from that microscope, don't touch anything else, or the old man will find out."

Varo smiled. "Don't worry. Unless he doesn't want to live."