Chapter 51: The Three Tenets of Mages

First, the two books placed on the top layer of the wooden box, the ones taken out first.

Their titles were already printed on the covers.

They were precisely the Apprentice Guidance Manual and the Apprentice Meditation Technique.

Gao De picked up the two books, flipped through them, confirmed they matched his memory of the cultivation methods, and put them down.

It seemed Master Seda hadn’t been so sinister as to hide something from his apprentices while teaching them cultivation.

Of course, the more likely reason was that Master Seda had never regarded these beggar children as true apprentices at all.

He certainly never imagined one of them might one day possess power capable of threatening him.

After seeing the title of the thinner book, Gao De’s heart stirred with excitement.

“Apprentice Mage Handbook: Introduction to Spells.”

It was an introductory manual for mage apprentices.

It seemed insignificant, yet it was precisely what Gao De needed most right now.

Master Seda had never treated his apprentices as real students, so he had never properly taught them any mage knowledge.

Despite now knowing five spells, Gao De’s understanding of the mage world was no different from a commoner’s—utterly clueless.

It was like learning English by memorizing pinyin: it looked plausible on the surface, but he had built no real knowledge system, and the harder he studied, the more he’d struggle—eventually falling behind.

Thinking this, Gao De opened the book with keen interest.

A bold line of text on the first page caught his eye.

“The Three Tenets of Mages.”

This term was not unfamiliar to Gao De.

Amy had told him one of the Three Tenets.

“Never let others know your spells.”

Originally, Gao De had only half-understood it; he knew the principle that “know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.”

But he hadn’t understood why spells were considered so vital that they were listed as one of the Three Tenets.

Yet after his duel with Master Seda, Gao De finally grasped its depth.

If he hadn’t known Master Seda possessed the Fire Arrow spell, how would he have thought of the dust explosion tactic? If he hadn’t known beforehand that Master Seda had the Flash spell, he would have died instantly under Master Seda’s spell combo.

Spells are the mage’s lifeline!

That’s why Gao De was intensely curious about the full Three Tenets.

His gaze moved downward: 1. Knowledge is power.

2. Never let others know your spells.

3. Although spells are omnipotent, spells are not omnipotent.

“Hmm?”

The complete Three Tenets left Gao De feeling strangely unsettled.

He could somewhat understand the first: “Knowledge is power.”

Though from his current perspective, it should more accurately be called “Knowledge is money.”

The second: “Never let others know your spells”—Gao De now understood it deeply.

But he believed it should be more precisely phrased: Never let others know all your spells.

Since mages wield supernatural power, they cannot avoid casting spells entirely.

Any casting inevitably reveals something to others.

So hiding all your spells is impossible—but never revealing all of them is absolutely necessary.

To achieve this, two approaches: either be extremely cautious, or possess a vast and diverse spell repertoire.

But the third tenet—“Although spells are omnipotent, spells are not omnipotent”—was hard for Gao De to grasp. It seemed similar to his past life’s classic saying: “Money is not everything.”

Yet upon closer thought, the meaning felt entirely different.

After pondering for a while without clarity, Gao De firmly memorized the three tenets, then stopped overthinking and turned the page.

“What is a spell?”

The title was bold.

“A spell is an independent magical effect.”

“It is the process of reshaping the magical energy permeating the world and manifesting it in a specific manner within a specific area.”

“Spells can serve as convenient tools, necessities for survival, weapons, or protective barriers.”

“They can inflict or heal damage, induce or remove specific states, draw out or grant life force—they can create or destroy anything.”

“Spells are omnipotent!”

This was essentially the book’s overview; Gao De’s spirit stirred, stirred by this rigorous academic yet wildly grandiose introduction.

Can spells truly be omnipotent? Who knows?

Certainly not a mage apprentice.

Gao De had self-awareness; he continued flipping through the pages.

“Spell Circles.”

“Each spell belongs to one of the circles from 0 to 9, though no 9th-circle spell has ever appeared.”

“Spell circle roughly indicates its strength and complexity, yet even low-circle spells remain astonishingly potent—for example, the 1st-circle spell [Magic Missile].”

“Even among 0th-circle spells, which high-level mages often refuse to recognize as true spells, there are classics like [Mage Hand]—ironically, those same high-level mages who deny 0th-circle spells as legitimate spells rely on them daily.”

“.”

The division of spell circles was common knowledge to Gao De, but there were details he hadn’t known.

Since no 9th-circle spell has ever appeared, and given the correspondence between mage rank and spell circle, does that mean no 9th-circle mage exists in this world, and the strongest are merely 8th-circle mages? Gao De’s thoughts drifted, unable to resist wondering.

He could wonder, but he mustn’t dwell on it—beings like 8th-circle or 9th-circle mages, the pinnacle of the world, were not for a First-Class Mage Apprentice to waste time contemplating.

“Spell Rules.”

“Anyone casting a spell must follow the same set of rules: casting time, casting range, and spell duration.”

“Casting time is the duration required for the mage to activate the spell’s model.”

“Generally, the higher the spell circle, the more complex and massive the spell model, and thus the longer the casting time.”

“But this is not absolute—some spells, though low in circle, may require minutes or even hours to cast.”

“Some mages possess special talents that allow them to cast spells in an instant—or even instantaneously.”

“Casting range: the target of a spell must lie within the spell’s casting range. For spells like [Magic Missile], the target is a living being; for spells like [Fireball], the target is a point in space.”

“Some spells affect only the caster themselves—in such cases, the casting range is the caster’s own body.”

“But once cast, the spell’s effect range is no longer limited by the casting range, except for certain specific spells.”

“.”

“Spell duration is the length of time the spell remains active.”

“Spell durations vary greatly, measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, or even years.”

“Some spells last until they are destroyed!”

“Many spells are instantaneous—they inflict, heal, create, or alter a creature or object in a single moment; since their duration is a mere instant, their effects cannot be undone afterward.”

“.”

(End of Chapter)