Not Enough Talent, Make Up For It With Equipment? My Sling Ring Can Epiphany On Its Own!

"Master Carter, did you call me here alone for something?"

Ren held a teacup, feeling a bit guilty inside.

After all, he had done nothing these past two days except sleep.

His skill upgrades relied entirely on them crazily working themselves to the bone.

The old mage wasn't going to figure out he was slacking off and start chewing him out, was he?

Thinking of this, Ren tentatively asked, "Master, are you unsatisfied with my cultivation progress?"

Clack.

The teapot in Carter's hand slammed heavily onto the wooden table, the corners of his mouth twitching wildly.

Just listen to that!

Was this human language that this damn brat was speaking?

He had lived for nearly eighty years, and he had never seen any carbon-based lifeform practice a Magic Shield to this extent in three days!

Still unsatisfied?

If he was any more unsatisfied, The Ancient One would have to come down from the heavens to smack him!

However.

To maintain the dignity of being a teacher, Carter forcefully swallowed back the urge to spit out a retort.

"Cough, don't overthink it. I'm very satisfied with your progress."

Carter put on an indifferent and breezy look. "I can tell you've been working extremely hard behind the scenes."

Even though he had just watched this kid sleep with drool leaking out of his mouth in the Mirror Dimension with his own eyes.

Yet Carter firmly believed.

Ren must have put in unimaginable sweat and effort when others weren't looking!

Otherwise, this terrifying upgrade speed was completely unexplainable.

Hearing this, Ren smiled awkwardly.

"Thank you for the praise, Master. It's all thanks to your guidance."

"But Master, why did you look for me today, really?"

Ren urgently wanted to freeload a new spell and cut straight to the point.

Carter stared at Ren, his gaze complex.

"Tell me honestly, how many times did you secretly practice that Magic Shield you cast just now behind my back?"

Magic Shields had no gradations.

But insiders knew the ropes.

The shield Ren churned out the past two days could only be considered introductory.

The one he cast on the training ground today—whether it was the density of the runes or the stability of the energy—

had already reached the standard of a veteran sorcerer of Kamar-Taj!

When Carter saw it earlier, he almost couldn't keep his composure.

"Ah? This..."

Ren felt even guiltier.

He couldn't possibly say the system thought his sleeping was annoying and upgraded itself through sheer hard work, could he?

He could only bite the bullet and prevaricate, "I just practiced naturally and didn't feel anything special about it... Did something go wrong?"

Looking at Ren's nervous expression, Carter took a deep breath.

"Nothing went wrong. You did very well."

Carter spat out flatly.

"That's good, that's good."

Ren heaved a sigh of relief and smoothly pushed his luck.

"Master, since my foundations are already solid, do you think... you could teach me some new spells?"

Carter's heart skipped a beat.

Here it comes!

The thing he worried about most had happened anyway.

Judging by this kid's terrifying learning speed, his meager stock of assets probably wouldn't last a few days.

Fortunately, he had already coordinated with Grand Mage Wong.

The old mage cleared his throat and put on a serious face.

"Since you've already completely mastered basic magic, you are indeed qualified to touch upon more core power."

"Today, I'm going to teach you the signature spell that every sorcerer in Kamar-Taj must master."

"Portal."

Ren's eyes instantly lit up.

This was a true divine skill!

No incantations needed, no array drawing needed.

Draw a circle and you could go anywhere in the universe you wanted, or even cross the Multiverse.

This was the ability he had been dreaming of!

"First, you need this."

Carter pulled a primitive-looking brass dual-finger ring from his wide sleeve and handed it over.

"This is a Sling Ring."

"High-level sorcerers don't need any medium to open portals, but we aren't The Ancient One, lacking her vast, sea-like spiritual power."

"Therefore, past generations of sorcerers improved and created the Sling Ring to assist us in focusing our minds and locking onto spatial coordinates."

Ren solemnly took the Sling Ring, carefully slipping it onto the index and middle fingers of his left hand.

"Listen well."

Carter began to explain the essentials of spellcasting in detail.

"After putting on the Sling Ring, close your eyes."

"Use your spiritual power to picture the place you want to go, without missing a single detail."

"The clearer you outline it in your mind, the more stable the opened portal will be..."

Ren listened with rapt attention.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and give it a try—

a series of urgent system notification sounds suddenly rang in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Your exclusive equipment 'Sling Ring' listened to the teachings of the senior mentor, as if receiving divine enlightenment, and triggered a rare epiphany!]

[Your exclusive equipment 'Sling Ring's' comprehension of spatial magic has skyrocketed straight up!]

[Congratulations, Host! Your Sling Ring has successfully mastered the spell -- Portal!]

Ren was struck dumb.

His entire mind was filled with giant question marks.

What the hell?

I, the sorcerer, haven't even figured out the ropes yet.

The ring worn on my hand had an epiphany all by itself?!

And even turned around and lit up the skill for me?

For the first time, Ren felt that this cheat system was a bit too damaging to his self-esteem.

Wasn't this blatantly saying that his comprehension wasn't even as good as a lump of brass?

However.

Ren quickly adjusted his mindset.

Care who had the epiphany.

The equipment was his, and the skill was his too.

As long as he could lie back and win, who cared about the process?

Happily wearing the Sling Ring, Ren hadn't even had time to rejoice when another series of notifications popped up in his mind.

[Ding!]

[The Magic Shield sensed the Sling Ring's crazy breakthrough, its competitive drive exploded off the charts, and it started working overtime like mad!]

[Magic Weapon Construction deeply felt its status was threatened, and desperately devoured Cosmic Energy!]

[Basic Rune Arrangement fell into self-doubt, feeling that the Host had a new love, and its cultivation efficiency plummeted...]

Ren had black lines across his forehead.

Good grief, the skills on his body even came with palace intrigue attributes?

All the other skills were grinding themselves to death, so why was it always Basic Rune Arrangement dragging its feet every single time?

Could it be that his affinity wasn't enough?

Regardless, Basic Rune Arrangement was the foundation of all high-level magic, and he absolutely couldn't let it give up on itself.

Ren hurriedly cheered himself up silently in his heart: Little bro, do you understand that the early bird catches the worm? Hard work can't determine your upper limit, but it can raise your lower limit! Get your act together for me!

[Ding!]

[Basic Rune Arrangement received the Host's passionate encouragement, as if pumped full of chicken blood, and its cultivation efficiency skyrocketed straight up!]

Ren was very satisfied.

Skills that knew how to push upward were good skills, and they would definitely come in handy for big things in the future.

Because of interacting with the system, the expression on Ren's face flickered between frowning and secretly gloating, changing very richly.

All of this was seen entirely by Carter opposite him.

The old mage's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Oh no!

Wasn't this child rushing for success and having psychological problems?

If a genius went down a dead end and drove themselves crazy, he wouldn't be able to take responsibility!

Thinking of this, Carter hurriedly spoke up to persuade him.

"Ren, what's wrong with you? Do you feel like you can't grasp the essentials and feel anxious inside?"

"Portals are spatial magic after all, and it's completely normal not to learn them right away. Don't ever doubt yourself!"