Big Shopping Spree (Please Keep Reading)

The Spell Shop was also located on the fiftieth floor of the Central Black Tower, but compared with the Library, it was much smaller.

The moment he entered, Richard found a counter directly in front of him. Behind it stood a Mechanical Puppet similar to those of the Seven Luminaries Merchant Guild, but compared with the Guild's clerks, this one was rather crude. Much of its mechanical structure was exposed, with fine gears constantly turning within.

Behind the Mechanical Puppet were shelves for spell models. Richard counted them; there were only three rows of large bookshelves, similar to those in the Library.

"What spell model would you like to purchase?" the Mechanical Store Clerk asked Richard in a voice like metal grinding together.

"Lesser Fireball and Ice Cone Spell," Richard named the spells he had long since decided on.

The power of Lesser Fireball went without saying. Among low-level apprentices, it was a devastating weapon, and its price was among the highest for First-Circle Spells, costing one hundred Magic Stones. As for buying the Ice Cone Spell, Richard had a vague idea in mind—the spell seemed somewhat wrong.

Though the name Ice Cone Spell was quite descriptive, anyone who had truly used it knew that its power actually came from the speed of the ice cone. Aside from being hard, the ice cone itself had no direct destructive power.

That caught Richard's attention.

If the Ice Cone Spell derived its power from speed, then its spell model had to contain a portion that provided kinetic energy.

And Richard had some interesting ideas for that portion.

"The total is eleven thousand Academy Coins."

Richard handed over a stack of Academy Coins he had exchanged along the way. The Mechanical Store Clerk opened its chest and placed the coins inside. After a brief burst of grinding gears, it confirmed the number of Academy Coins.

"The quantity is correct. Please wait." The clerk turned and pressed the shelves twice.

A burst of mechanical scraping sounded from above the counter, and a metal pipe descended before Richard. There was also a clattering sound from inside it.

Clang!

Two scrolls shot out of the pipe and were caught by the Mechanical Store Clerk.

"Please collect your items: Lesser Fireball spell model and Ice Cone Spell spell model."

"A Pneumatic Tube." Richard recognized the setup. He had not expected to see the same system in another world.

Richard put away the scrolls. Unlike Crystal Balls, these scrolls did not transmit information directly through mental transmission, but instead recorded it in written form. On the one hand, this made it easier to place Curses on the scrolls and prevent students from reselling them after learning the spells. On the other, inheritance Crystal Balls were expensive, and the Academy did not want to waste that money.

After returning to the dormitory, Richard handed the scroll containing the Ice Cone Spell to Ellie. He had not yet opened it, so the Curse on the scroll had not been triggered. At this point, the scroll could still be traded.

"You want me to dismantle the part that releases kinetic energy?" Ellie asked Richard, somewhat puzzled.

It was a perfectly good spell. Everyone else tried to add things to theirs, so why did Richard want to dismantle it instead?

Richard nodded and confirmed once more.

"Yes. Separate that portion and give it to me. I have some ideas I want to test."

He was an Alchemist Wizard. His understanding of the various Rune systems in shaping spells was far inferior to that of Ellie, a Shaping Wizard. This was also one of the drawbacks of being an apprentice. Apprentices had too little time; unless a mentor led them through the door, there was simply no way for them to study two schools at once.

"Fine. Give me three months, and I guarantee I'll get it done for you." Ellie readily accepted the scroll, then casually added, "Oh, right. Master Susanna has already accepted me as an official apprentice."

"Hm? That fast? Congratulations, congratulations." Richard cupped his hands in congratulations. Ellie becoming an official apprentice of a wizard meant that his investment had not gone to waste.

Other wizards were not like Gerald, who needed Magic Stones to buy things. Once an apprentice became an official apprentice, it meant they had inherited part, or even all, of a wizard's legacy.

"That's it?" Ellie was somewhat dissatisfied with Richard's reaction. Puffing out her cheeks angrily, she said, "You don't have anything else to say?"

"Um... what do you want me to do?" Richard scratched his head. Was she asking him to treat her to a meal? But logically, shouldn't Ellie be the one treating him to celebrate?

"You, you, you... aren't you going to praise me?" Ellie was so angry she looked like a pufferfish, but then she immediately deflated.

"Forget it, this is just how you are. Now that I've told you, hurry up and praise me!"

Watching Ellie act like a child, Richard did not know whether to laugh or cry. Only after he casually praised her a few times did Ellie finally let him go in satisfaction.

Back in his room, Richard did not immediately read through the scroll. Instead, he took a handful of iron beans out to the balcony.

"Munin, come eat some iron beans."

The instant Richard finished speaking, a green-eyed crow flew into the room and landed on his other arm, pecking at the iron beans in Richard's hand one bite at a time.

Munin was the name Richard had given this Death Crow. After a year of Richard's care, it had become very close to him.

Before long, he would be able to implant a Soul Seed into its body without any resistance.

After feeding Munin, Richard returned to his room and opened the scroll recording Lesser Fireball.

The number of spell models a wizard's soul could bear was not limitless. The more spell marks one had, the heavier the burden on the soul. However, an increase in mental power also increased the soul's capacity to endure them.

During the apprentice stage, an apprentice could bear at most four spell marks. Although spell marks could be removed, the ritual required to remove them was not cheap.

Thus, every spell mark had to be chosen with the utmost caution.

As one of the strongest direct-damage First-Circle shaping spells, Lesser Fireball possessed considerable power in both physical and elemental damage. It was one of the most cost-effective spells during the apprentice stage.

The scroll recorded an extremely complex two-dimensional diagram, densely packed with Runes. But if one viewed the diagram from a little farther away, one would discover that the outermost ring of Runes connected into something resembling a circle.

That was also the origin of spell grades being called "Circles."

However, the number of Circles represented only a spell's complexity, not its power. A saying had long circulated among wizards: there was no best spell, only the spell that suited one best.

Spells were merely tools, and tools could only produce their best results when used in the right setting.

Memorizing a spell was an extremely time-consuming and arduous process. When engraving a spell mark into one's soul, there was no chance to flip back through the pages; it had to be completed in one go. If interrupted halfway through, not only would all previous effort be wasted, but sometimes the soul would also be damaged, causing a permanent drop in mental power.

Fortunately, Richard had the Truth Furnace. With the expenditure of just five points of mental power, the spell model of Lesser Fireball was firmly committed to his mind.

Once he had memorized the model, the rest would be easy.

Richard sat cross-legged on his bed and entered a meditative state. Within his Soul Space, he used mental power to form one Rune after another, arranging them in the air according to the model's sequence. Once the arrangement was complete, he began continuously filling the Runes with mental power until they fused with his soul.

The process was slow. Richard continued until dawn the next day before completing the fusion. When the spell model was completely branded onto his soul, Richard suddenly felt an inexplicable crushing pressure. That weight did not come from reality, but from his soul.

It meant his soul bore an additional burden, and it also meant he had succeeded.

"Finally done. I just wonder how powerful this original version of Lesser Fireball is."

A glimmer of excitement appeared in Richard's eyes. He had to blow something up now!

Thanks to readers SlytherinwithColdOnlooker and jDuelatZijinPeakd for the Monthly tickets.