Breaking the Rules

Once Zheng Yichen confirmed that he could bypass the randomness of Magic Weapon creation, he made two attempts before getting down to business. Fine threads of magic power settled onto the temporary magic weapon again. Since he had to copy the Magic Array Patterns from a book, he worked slowly.

But he had no idea just how astonishing what he was doing really was!

Upstairs, Lolise narrowed her eyes as she watched him. Zheng Yichen did not understand what his actions meant, but she understood perfectly!

Setting aside his ability to bypass the randomness of Magic Weapon creation, adding new Magic Array Patterns to a Magic Weapon was not impossible, but it was extremely difficult. That was true even with basic spells, let alone advanced ones.

Every spell was independent. Trying to layer and fuse several together was like pushing a red-hot needle into a balloon inflated to the point of bursting. The needle would never get inside; the instant they touched, the reaction would be violent.

Then there were the threads of magic power he had released using magic power alone. Releasing such threads was possible, but hardly easy. Magic power was like water, normally sealed inside the vessel of the body.

Once released without being put to use, magic power was like a drop of water falling into the sea. Unless it was sufficiently condensed, abundant enough, or carried by something else, it would quickly be assimilated and vanish. Spells existed for releasing threads of magic power, but Zheng Yichen clearly was not using one!

He had simply shaped his magic power and released it. It was nowhere near condensed enough to resist assimilation, and the amount was... tiny!

Yet the threads he released still defied assimilation. Perhaps they had no offensive or binding power, but they were more than enough to draw array patterns!

What Zheng Yichen was doing amounted to drawing a magic scroll in midair. The little ghost maid behind him had noticed too. Her mouth hung slightly open as she watched his every move with bated breath.

Was it that "theft" trait of his again? Lolise pondered this and decided, for now, not to teach Zheng Yichen any more unusual magical knowledge. The way he was developing on his own was already extraordinary. Teaching him too much about this world's magical techniques might constrain his thinking. After all, the way he wielded magic had already broken many of this world's rules.

Ignorance made people fearless; the more they knew, the easier it was to be bound by that knowledge. Better to let him learn, understand, and explore a path of his own. Too much interference might waste the talent he possessed...

"Hmm... Reinforcement, Sharpness... What else? Right, a Magic Weapon needs a continuous supply of magic power to last. I'll add Magic Gathering." Zheng Yichen flipped through the book beside him and found a low-level Magic Gathering spell. It gathered magic power from a certain area into one place.

That raised the concentration of magic power there, speeding up a mage's recovery while also strengthening the spells they cast. It was a spell for holding a position: the gathered magic power would not move when the mage did, and it would stop accumulating once it reached a certain level.

Move elsewhere, and the magic power would have to be gathered again. But gathering it into a vessel solved that problem. This Magic Array Pattern was extremely complex and took Zheng Yichen the longest to draw. His idea was simple: if maintaining the Magic Weapon constantly consumed the magic power inside it, he would use Magic Gathering to replenish what it lost.

As for using the spell to speed up training, Zheng Yichen checked the book's notes. Others had indeed considered it, but fine ideals were one thing, and practice another. No matter how concentrated the ambient magic power became, a person's capacity to absorb it remained unchanged.

Without any increase in that capacity, even if more magic power poured into the body at once, only the same small amount could be absorbed. Using the spell to assist training made no difference.

"Done! Next time, I'll give it a better shape." Zheng Yichen gazed with satisfaction at the finished Magic Weapon floating above his palm. He had not put much effort into the appearance of this first version; it was mainly an experiment. Now that the experiment had succeeded, there was nothing else he needed to do with it for the moment. He had made the thing for another purpose!

He poured in more magic power, and the longsword rapidly swelled until his claws could grip it comfortably. Then he took the wood he had tossed aside and shaved it into fifty-four small rectangular pieces.

He swung the Magic Weapon in his hand. A Magic Weapon was made to suit its user, though its size could be adjusted afterward. The larger it was, however, the more magic power it consumed. He adjusted its size again until it resembled a carving knife suited to his hand.

The wooden pieces were already sturdy because of the material. He could not be bothered to add any enhancement spells and was about to start carving them...

He scratched his head. He could picture a perfect design and draw it with threads of magic power, since that depended on imagination rather than artistic skill. But when it came to drawing by hand, he seemed to be lacking. He glanced at the little ghost maid, who had come down from his back at some point and was staring in astonishment. He flicked the Magic Weapon in his hand. "Can you draw?"

"..." The little ghost maid nodded lightly.

"How well?"

Coming back to her senses, the little ghost maid gestured that she was decent.

"That'll do. Come on, carve these designs onto them. We'll find some red and black paint later." Zheng Yichen wove a complete deck of playing cards out of threads of magic power...

The little ghost maid nodded and raised her index finger. A sharp nail extended from it, making the corner of Zheng Yichen's mouth twitch. He set aside the Magic Weapon he no longer needed. He wanted to test how long it would last anyway, so he did not dismiss it.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but after the Magic Weapon left his palm, it gave a faint tremor before quickly returning to normal.

"I'll take it and have a look." Lolise came downstairs and picked up the Magic Weapon Zheng Yichen had set aside. "Also, starting today, you'll explore magic on your own."

"...Is it because I'm learning too poorly?" Zheng Yichen looked stunned. The threads of magic power he was maintaining nearly fell apart.

"Because you're too talented."

"..." That sounded a little hard to believe.