"It's calculation."
"What?" Leo suddenly had a bad feeling, even a sense that the fear of being dominated back then was returning.
"Here, I've prepared a hundred sets of calculation problems for you. Let's see what level your calculation skills have reached. Don't worry, these are all the most basic ones."
Although Samatchi wore a serious expression, Leo felt that he was smiling, especially when he placed the thick stack of papers in front of him. The corners of Samatchi's mouth kept twitching.
Looking at the familiar yet terrifying math problems on the papers, Leo felt an urge to turn and run!
Why, after coming to the Wizard World, gaining mighty power, and witnessing witchcraft that could move mountains and fill seas, did he still have to do calculation problems?
"Every wizard's brain is developed to an unimaginable degree. Don't let your old thinking shackle your abilities. Unleash your brain. Your abilities are beyond your imagination."
Samatchi's words as he left the room steadied Leo somewhat. He had indeed noticed that his brain was smarter than before and his memory better. Remembering everything at a glance was nothing unusual; he could remember an entire book after reading it just once.
As Leo understood it, every wizard's brain was a computer, fully capable of handling immense amounts of calculation.
Sure enough, just as Leo had expected, he finished all hundred sets of calculation problems in only two days, though almost no one on Earth could have solved them in such a short time.
After finishing them all, Leo could even grade himself.
Full marks!
That was the advantage of his new brain. He understood everything completely after looking at it just once.
Was this still me?
When did I become so smart?
If I'd had this ability back on Earth, I couldn't possibly have been just an ordinary real estate salesman. A great mathematician whose name would live through the ages-that was my true identity!
"Good, good. Although your calculation methods are still very primitive, your calculation ability is excellent. This means you meet the most basic requirement for an elemental wizard. Not having to teach you from scratch will save us a great deal of time," Samatchi said.
"Next, I'll teach you in many areas, including basic elemental knowledge, the composition of elemental attacks, how to calculate energy nodes, calculations for the optimal arrangement of array curves, independent innovation, attunement to your own elements, and calculations for the circulation of your own magical power."
"Once you've fully mastered this knowledge, you'll be fully capable of independent study. How you proceed from there will be up to you."
"Simply put, this is your first step toward taking control of your own destiny!!!"
Leo had to admit that Samatchi's words fired him up, and the future Samatchi described filled him with excitement. He unconsciously blocked out the word "calculation" that appeared so frequently in Samatchi's speech.
Time began to flow beneath Leo's pen, slipping quietly away amid his repeated mistakes.
The knowledge Samatchi taught was precisely what Leo lacked most, although the vast, tedious body of knowledge and calculations so complex they made him sweat put him through agony.
But the more knowledge he mastered, the more rational Leo became, and the clearer his understanding of himself grew. Many mysteries were unraveling, and many of his doubts crumbled instantly before that immense system of knowledge.
It was like attending classes at university on Earth. His teacher had told him that everything in the world could be described with numbers. Leo had scoffed, believing those words were just meant to fool idiots.
Yet now, he was viewing this world anew through numbers and calculations.
From things as small as how dust drifted in the wind and how leaves grew each day, to things as vast as how space and time changed.
Changes in the world were changes in numbers.
Leo absorbed knowledge ravenously, forgetting everything. He forgot the conflicts outside, forgot Gru, and even forgot Benji.
At first, Benji had still spoken with Leo, because he too wanted to learn wizard knowledge. Especially after experiencing just how absurdly powerful these Official Wizards were, he wanted even more to cultivate through the wizard system. Leo had agreed.
But when countless symbols and numbers filled the entire world, Benji broke down. He gave up before lasting even a day, afraid that continuing would drive him mad.
"What are those terrifying things? Why has my body become strings of numbers? Why isn't the existence of my consciousness an existence, but symbols recorded in space?"
"If I'm not me, then what am I?"
"Fuck, you're saying I'm numbers? You bastard..."
Benji retreated in defeat amid a torrent of curses like a shrew screaming in the street. He had never imagined that one day he would be defeated by a Wizard Apprentice, and with the simplest numbers at that.
From that day onward, Benji seemed to seal himself away. Whenever Leo studied, Benji immediately chose to sleep, unwilling to hear a single word.
Those utterly simple numbers were the most terrifying devils to Benji!
"Kid, remember what I told you. I won't interfere with your personal space, but you must make sure your training as a body-refining wizard doesn't stop. By the time your garrison assignment is complete, your defense must exceed 100 points."
Those were the first words Gru said to Leo upon returning to Tiyama City, after Leo had studied under Samatchi for a year.
Gru did not mind Leo delving into elemental wizard studies. He had studied them himself back then, only to stop before those endless calculations. Not everyone could persevere through that volume of calculation and the enormous system of knowledge they needed to learn.
In response to Gru's demand, Leo simply took off his shirt. Beside the Healing Rune Array on his chest was another tiny rune array, with small electric arcs constantly flickering across it.
Amid the crackling of the electric arcs, Leo's flesh kept twitching awkwardly.
"Is that an Electric Arc Rune Array? You're tempering your body with electric shocks?" Gru asked in surprise.
"Who inscribed that for you? Samatchi? Or someone else?"
Leo's eyes were still somewhat unfocused. Absorbed in calculations for constructing an elemental attack system, he answered instinctively, "Teacher Gru, I set this up myself. Don't worry, I absolutely won't let my body-refining training fall behind."
"In my view, the elemental wizard system can greatly promote body-refining training. The two can absolutely enhance each other. As long as I keep adjusting them to my own condition, my cultivation speed is even faster than before."
"Look, this is the Electric Shock Rune Array I set up myself based on my body's weak points. Every ten breaths, it can release an electric shock with 30 to 50 points of attack power, effectively and continuously improving my physical strength and resistance passively."
"Within five years, I expect to set up a High-Temperature Rune Array, a Frost Rune Array, a Drowning Rune Array... and so on, on my body. I have other ideas for poison resistance, so I haven't included it in the plan..."
Leo went on and on and wanted to keep talking, never noticing the veins already throbbing on Gru's forehead or his face, as dark as if it had been smeared with soot from a pot.
As Leo remained immersed in his own world, he suddenly heard a rush of wind and felt a tremendous force strike his backside. The world instantly spun, and before he knew it, his body was dozens of meters away.
He could still hear Gru cursing. Leo dusted off his backside and hurried toward Samatchi's private library.
When Samatchi first began teaching Leo, lessons filled the entire day. But once he had taught Leo enough to get started and master the basic concepts, Leo entered the self-study stage.
Samatchi only taught him slightly more advanced knowledge in scattered moments of free time, or stepped in to try to help when Leo encountered a difficult problem.
Elemental wizards emphasized developing and experimenting according to their own characteristics, then comprehending new witchcraft.
Just as no two leaves in the world were exactly alike, no two people were exactly alike either.
Every wizard was also unique and different. Even minute differences in their own characteristics affected their control over the elements.
The same witchcraft, for instance, displayed completely different attack power in the hands of different wizards. Even its outward manifestation might differ.
For example, with the same most basic Water Ball Minor Witchcraft, the same expenditure of magical power, and the same conditions, some wizards produced a water ball containing ten liters of water, with attack power reaching 15 points, while others produced only 9.9 liters of water, with attack power of only a little over 14 points.
A difference of 0.1 liters of water and a slight difference in attack power-even with completely identical external conditions, such discrepancies still occurred because of differences in the wizards' own characteristics.
The difference between the two seemed negligible, but once magnified, it became very obvious.
Thus, elemental wizards never followed their predecessors' paths one hundred percent. They adapted, integrated, and innovated according to their own characteristics, ultimately arriving at the approach best suited to themselves.
On a microscopic level, even for the same energy calculation node in the same witchcraft, different wizards used completely different calculation methods and constructed the witchcraft in different positions. This caused energy to flow differently, which in turn produced vastly different manifestations of witchcraft.
By the time they advanced to Advanced Wizards, they would all have developed witchcraft unique to themselves. That was innovation!
Through this constant learning, observation, and mastery, wizards had become beings that terrified countless worlds!
Were wizards highly talented?
One could say not at all. One could even say they had nothing to do with outstanding talent.
Did wizards have a high starting point?
Not at all. They were the most ordinary life forms in the universe.
But wizards had one advantage other races lacked: the ability to learn. Their powerful learning ability allowed them to master the rules and the mysteries of how the universe operated.
That was the true foundation of wizards' power!
It was also precisely what all elemental wizards said every day: knowledge changed everything!
With Samatchi's assistance, Leo had tested his elemental attributes. The result was a slightly stronger lightning attribute, with the other attributes somewhat weaker.
These were no marks of genius. His elemental attributes were thoroughly mediocre.
Of course, that did not include his shadow talent. Leo's shadow talent was absolutely powerful.
Leo was currently at the most basic stage of understanding himself!