Order Is Protection, but Also Shackles

[Fireball (0.3-ring) → Fireball (0.6-ring)]

[Rock Wall (0.4-ring) → Rock Wall (0.6-ring)]

[Charge Points: 5521, 13.94% → 5455, 21.37%]

I'll increase Fireball and Rock Wall by this much for now, Lohr thought. I'll release one every half month, then add more after they're released.

After closing the panel, Lohr walked to the small spell testing ground in the laboratory. He raised his right hand and activated the Fireball model within his Sea of Consciousness.

"Whoosh~"

A red Fireball half a meter in diameter appeared before him, radiating scorching heat.

Lohr pushed his palm forward.

"Pfft~"

The Fireball slammed into the sandy ground, scorching a patch of it black.

"If that hit Barber, it would probably burn him so thoroughly that not even ashes would remain." Lohr smiled in satisfaction and glanced into his Sea of Consciousness.

At that moment, one-tenth of the elements in his Elemental Domain had been depleted.

"Not bad. I can cast it ten times in a row. Now let's test Rock Wall."

Lohr raised his palm.

"Crack, crack, crack—"

A black rock wall three meters tall, five meters wide, and roughly twenty centimeters thick rose from the ground eight meters in front of him.

"Hmm, this consumed one-seventh of my elements. As expected, defensive spells consume more."

He looked at the elemental consumption in his Sea of Consciousness and shook his head slightly.

Then he turned around, picked up an Earth Element Orb from a pile of props at the edge of the testing ground, adjusted its elemental impact scale to 0.7, and fired it at the Rock Wall.

"Boom, crack—"

An earthy-yellow streak of light reached the center of the Rock Wall in an instant. After only two seconds of resistance, it completely pierced through it before striking the laboratory wall and vanishing.

"It can block a 0.7-ring attack for a while, but it won't last long. Still, it's acceptable. It is only a 0.6-ring spell, after all."

After testing the Rock Wall's strength, Lohr waved his hand, and the wall turned back into gravel and fell into the sand.

He then walked to the magic array at the deepest part of the laboratory and pointed a finger at its center.

A faint earth element struck the core of the magic array, slowly lighting it up. A light screen with six options gradually appeared.

Once the screen stabilized, Lohr did not hesitate and selected the fifth option, Announcements.

The light screen reorganized.

A large line of bold text appeared at the very top of the screen.

<Announcement of the Wizard Alliance High Council's Expedition Plan to the Abyss>

"So the Supreme Wizard Council was already planning to deal with the Abyss at this point?"

Curious, Lohr tapped into it.

The destruction of the gods was not the end, but a new beginning.

By vote of the members of the Wizard Alliance High Council, the operation to conquer the Abyss will be set for one hundred years from now.

The Bottomless Abyss, unconquered even by the gods, will ultimately submit beneath our feet.

(Announcement of Wizard Calendar Year 1)

"Having a plan is a good thing, but plans can't keep up with change." Lohr sighed.

Wizard Calendar Year 1 was this year.

Ten years later, internal turmoil within the Wizard Alliance would ravage the Murphy Continent, and the Abyss would descend.

By then, the wizard world would enter a prolonged period of chaos. Peaceful development like the present would become utterly impossible.

"It seems the closed beta players descended around that time in my previous life too?" Lohr stroked his chin. "Unfortunately, I don't know whether they'll descend in this life."

He was rather looking forward to the players' arrival. That would mean countless lab rats and countless spell slots.

He only knew the rough outline of the later development of spatial spells, so he desperately needed those lab rats to devote themselves to spell research.

"Forget it. There's no point thinking so much. What's coming will come."

Lohr shook his head, swiped right across the light screen, returned to the main Announcements page, and carefully searched for news about the Divine Kingdom Exploration Tournament.

Unfortunately, even after searching through the announcements more than ten times, he did not find a single relevant word.

"No rush, no rush. The Divine Kingdom Exploration Tournament will definitely open several times over the next few years."

Lohr took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the anxiety in his heart.

Order, to him now, was both protection and shackles.

Time passed like a galloping white horse, gone in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, Lohr had spent six months in the Wizard Tower.

"Kateya, tomorrow, find another Second-Level Apprentice with around 11 points of mental power and two spell slots remaining. Put it on the laboratory's account."

Lohr sat beneath the bookshelf on the right side of the laboratory, rubbing his brow wearily.

"Lord Lohr, why don't you rest for two days?"

Seeing the bloodshot veins in Lohr's eyes, Kateya could not help but urge him to rest.

Ever since Lohr had advanced to a Second-Level Apprentice ten days ago and learned two spells, he had been researching Fusion Spells day and night.

Two days ago, he had already used the laboratory quota to bring in an apprentice with two spell slots to attempt an improved fusion.

After learning the spells Lohr had provided and fusing them, that apprentice had unleashed power terrifying even to her.

By conservative estimates, it would not have been an exaggeration to say that spell had reached the limit of a 0.9-ring spell.

Yet even at that level, Lohr still seemed dissatisfied and wanted to continue improving the spell model.

"No need. I'll definitely finish the improvements tonight." Lohr shook his head. "Go rest first."

"Yes, Lord Lohr." Kateya pressed her lips together. In the end, she did not dare persuade him further and turned to leave the laboratory.

Over the past six months, Lohr had established immense authority in her heart through one spell improvement after another.

"Which step hasn't been adjusted properly?" Lohr sent his mental power into his Sea of Consciousness and used the Microscope Spell to examine the Earthfire Attraction model and the Fireball Spell model in his Elemental Domain, sinking into deep thought.

The two spell rune models he had newly formed were Earthfire Attraction (0.7-ring) and High-Temperature Amplitude (0.7-ring).

In his plan, fusing Earthfire Attraction with Fireball Spell could produce the Small Magma Eruption Spell.

With the nature of a 0.7-ring spell, it could achieve the power of a 1-ring spell. With High-Temperature Amplitude added on top, it might even reach 1.1-ring strength.

Yet the fire and earth elements it consumed would only amount to one-fifth of the current Elemental Domain.

Unfortunately, after testing it, Lohr discovered that the apprentice could at most trigger an earthfire eruption. The fusion with Fireball Spell only slightly increased the earthfire's temperature.

Reaching the limit of 0.9-ring power was not a problem, but there was not even a shadow of hope for a qualitative leap to 1-ring.

Under normal circumstances, Lohr would not have been so anxious that he could not even spare time to rest.

The main reason was that half a month ago, the Announcements section had been updated. The first Wizard Apprentice Divine Kingdom Exploration Tournament would begin in Wizard Calendar Year 2, in January—just half a month from now.

Before then, he had to develop the Small Magma Eruption Spell, this classic apprentice-level spatial spell, for self-preservation.

The Divine Kingdom Exploration Tournament had no supervision. Only at the entrance would they check that the apprentices entering had not brought spell scrolls, Potions, or Magic Items of 1-ring or above.

That also meant there was no order there. Without the strength to protect oneself, entering meant courting death.

Unfortunately, Lohr could still draw upon some experience from his previous life with the Microscope Spell.

But he had absolutely no experience with the Small Magma Eruption Spell. He could only rely on hearsay and his own research.

Compared to the former, it was more than a little harder.