Advancement

There were very few earth-element spells involving vibrations and tremors. So why couldn't Arnold create one himself—a more advanced version of the first-level spell, Earthshaking Art?

After the first-level spell Earthshaking Art was cast, it caused rippling tremors across the ground within its range. But Earthshaking Art was far too weak. Even mages who were not earth-element mages could easily neutralize such vibrations. After all, while Earthshaking Art shook the ground, it did not actually damage it.

The advanced version of Earthshaking Art Arnold wanted to create would amplify those vibrations. If the ground's vibrations could even resonate with the inside of a human body, its destructive power would be no small matter.

Arnold understood resonance more thoroughly than anyone else on the Yulan Continent. In fact, resonance was a technical term from Earth's physics, referring to the phenomenon in which a physical system vibrated with a greater amplitude at a specific frequency than at other frequencies.

If one could grasp an object's resonant frequency, destroying that object would be effortless.

At his usual spot in the back mountain, Arnold began casting Earthshaking Art within the area around him. The effects of Earthshaking Art made Arnold quite uncomfortable, but in order to increase its destructive power, he could only endure it.

Although Earthshaking Art was merely a first-level spell, Arnold was now a Fifth-level Mage. Naturally, the spell was far more powerful in his hands than when cast by a First-level Mage. Yet this was simply common sense: when any fixed-rank spell was cast by a higher-level mage, its power would increase considerably. For example, when a Fifth-level Mage cast the fifth-level spell Gravity Spell, it could double gravity. A Seventh-level Mage could quadruple it, while an Eighth-level Mage could increase it tenfold.

In truth, the incantations used for Gravity Spell by Fifth-level Mages, Seventh-level Mages, and Eighth-level Mages were all identical. However, high-level mages possessed far greater spiritual power, allowing them to draw in more Earth Element through the incantation and achieve stronger effects.

Arnold consciously made slight adjustments to the incantation for Earthshaking Art and experimented on himself. Perhaps because he had gained considerable experience from improving Gravity Spell, he succeeded in improving it in only half a month.

The new Earthshaking Art Arnold cast was a fourth-level spell, but its effects were comparable to those of a fifth-level spell. Once the new Earthshaking Art was unleashed, the ground merely seemed to tremble faintly on the surface. In reality, enemies within its range would not only be distracted by the shaking ground, but their entire bodies would vibrate internally as well. They might even experience the physical symptoms of retching and vomiting. This greatly surprised Arnold, though it did not make him feel any better.

That was because Arnold himself was the target of his spell, and all those nauseating, retching sensations came from his own body.

After developing the improved Earthshaking Art, Arnold had another idea. Among earth-element defensive spells, the fifth-level spell Earth Guardian Sacred Armor was indeed exceptionally powerful. But what if the magical armor itself contained vibrations on top of its formidable defense? Wouldn't its defensive power become even greater?

To destroy Earth Guardian Sacred Armor, mages mainly used spells to strike the armor and destroy its magical elements. Once all of its magical elements had been depleted, the armor would naturally collapse. If the magical elements within the armor themselves carried vibrations, wouldn't the magical elements they could neutralize be greatly reduced?

With that thought in mind, Arnold began improving the fifth-level spell Earth Guardian Sacred Armor.

Another half month passed in Arnold's research, bringing the time to October. Arnold's spiritual power had also broken through to the sixth level, so naturally he paid closer attention to refining his magical power.

Beside the stream in the back mountain, Arnold sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and continuously refined his magical power.

Within the Middle Dantian in Arnold's chest drifted some hazy, earthy-yellow mist. Nearby, there was also some faint cyan mist. The earthy-yellow mist was earth-element magical power refined from Earth Element, while the faint cyan mist was naturally wind-element magical power refined from wind elements.

From First-level Mage to Sixth-level Mage, magical power existed in mist form. As one's level continuously increased, the "quality" of magical power would slowly improve, and its density would rise as well. Upon reaching Seventh-level Mage, magical power would directly condense into liquid form. Thus, advancing from Sixth-level Mage to Seventh-level Mage was a major hurdle!

Earth Element and wind elements from between heaven and earth continuously entered Arnold's body through his limbs and bones. After large quantities of Earth Element and wind elements were purified and refined, they finally gathered within the Middle Dantian at the center of his chest.

At the location of the Middle Dantian within Arnold's chest, the earthy-yellow and cyan mists had already become extremely dense. At last, both masses of mist reached the critical point of fifth-level magical power and expanded once more.

Arnold had entered the ranks of Sixth-level Mage. Whether in spiritual power or magical power, he was now a dual-element Sixth-level Mage of earth and wind.

In fact, there were relatively few sixth-level spells, though not none at all. For Arnold, the greatest advantage of breaking through to Sixth-level Mage was that the amount of magical power he possessed had increased greatly. After a Fifth-level Mage cast two fifth-level spells, only around ten percent of his magical power would remain. A Sixth-level Mage, however, could cast at least six fifth-level spells.

After breaking through to the sixth level, Arnold spent some time refining his magical power before once more beginning to study the vibration pattern of Earth Guardian Sacred Armor.

Another half month passed, and Arnold finally succeeded. He named the new Earth Guardian Sacred Armor Earthquake Sacred Armor. It was likewise a fifth-level spell and consumed the same amount of magical power as the original Earth Guardian Sacred Armor.

Beside the stream, Arnold directly cast Earthquake Sacred Armor on himself. Then, silently reciting an incantation, he cast the fourth-level spell—Wind Blade Chain—on himself.

More than a dozen faint cyan Wind Blades, controlled by Arnold's spiritual power, sliced directly at his abdomen. But a burst of earthy-yellow light flashed over his stomach, directly neutralizing the Wind Blades. Moreover, if one observed closely with spiritual power, one would discover that when the earthy-yellow light neutralized the Wind Blades, the Earth Element within it vibrated in a special manner. The Earth Element continuously vibrated, neutralizing the wind elements of the Wind Blades, while consuming very little of itself.

After repeatedly testing the strength of Earthquake Sacred Armor with different spells, Arnold roughly estimated that after consuming the equivalent of one fifth-level spell, Earthquake Sacred Armor still retained two-thirds of its magical elements. This was enough to show that Arnold's improved Earth Guardian Sacred Armor was almost comparable to a sixth-level defensive spell.