Chapter 55 : Chapter 55

Chapter 55. Planning

Fulan held the purple short sword she had brought back from the Spirit Realm in one hand while holding a long rod in the other, using it to draw runes onto the blade.

The long rod was a rune pen used to assist with enchantment, priced at ten gold coins.

That price was so high that even Enchanters in the fiercely competitive market could not afford it, leaving it to gather dust in the shop for several years.

Fulan knew that this rod was necessary for drawing certain high-tier runes and that it also improved rune inscription. Being rather wealthy now, she purchased it without hesitation.

The runes she intended to carve onto the purple short sword were Acceleration and Penetration.

These two runes would increase the speed of the sword when she threw it and greatly enhance its penetrating power, strengthening its usefulness as a thrown weapon.

Fulan already possessed a longsword for close combat, so carrying another short sword for melee would be somewhat redundant.

First, the lengths would not match. If someone wanted to wield dual weapons, they would normally choose symmetrical ones.

Even if the weapons were different lengths, they would usually both be relatively long. Who would deliberately carry a dagger as their second weapon?

【You have successfully crafted an enchanted weapon. Runology Proficiency +10】

【Runology (Proficient) (Proficiency: 2341/10000)】

Looking at the Runology proficiency bar, she felt that the progress requirement was far too long.

At this rate, it would likely be close to the end-of-year examinations before her Runology reached Extraordinary proficiency.

There was no helping it. She wanted to raise this skill to Extraordinary as soon as possible to see whether she could upgrade her Mental Power trait as well.

However, she was currently very short on base materials. The enchanted daggers she had crafted had already filled nearly an entire room.

She had already placed an order for two thousand daggers, and the queue had stretched half a year into the future. The Magical Craftsmen simply could not increase their production speed.

There was no way around it. Although magical processing was fast, it still consumed mental power and Mana. Producing three pieces in a day was already considered impressive.

No matter how anxious she felt, it would not help. Their hands were simply that “fast,” so she could only wait patiently.

Fulan softly summoned her panel and began considering what to do next.

【Name: Fulan

Profession: Alchemist (Half-Star), Rune Warrior (Half-Star)

Attributes: Physique 2.8, Spirit 2.7

Skills:

Pharmacology (Extraordinary) (Proficiency: 3675/100000)

Forging (Mastery) (Proficiency: 341/1000): You should be able to forge weapons skillfully.

Elven Swordsmanship (Mastery) (Proficiency: 69/1000): You can wield Elven Swordsmanship like a true elf.

Hard Scale Rock (Mastery) (Proficiency: 341/1000)

Light Prayer (Mastery) (Proficiency: 400/1000)

Wind Blade (Proficient) (Proficiency: 241/10000)

Magic Missile (Beginner) (Proficiency: 42/100): You can now cast a fairly decent Magic Missile. Keep it up, apprentice!

Equipment Augmentation (Not Learned) (Proficiency: 0/10): If you have not forged a sufficiently powerful instrument, you will never learn this spell.

… (omitted)

Traits: Move With the Wind, Mental Power, Miraculous Alchemist, Elven-Style Combat Method

】

Since returning from the Spirit Realm, she had been continuously practicing her skills, gaining a large amount of proficiency.

When her Elven Swordsmanship reached the Mastery level, it increased her Physique by 0.2.

This was quite different from when she had upgraded her Breathing Method. Back then, the improvement had been much greater. Why did swordsmanship grant so little?

She guessed that the higher her own Physique became, the smaller the improvement each upgrade provided.

As for her Spirit attribute, she had no idea which skill had increased it. One day she simply checked the panel and noticed it had risen.

She had been practicing many spells recently, so perhaps the increase had occurred indirectly.

She had also finally begun practicing Magic Missile, a spell that had been sitting unused in her skill list since the very first chapter of her life here.

Previously, she had been too careful with her resources to purchase Magic Stones. Now she could buy them in bulk.

Even so, the effect of Magic Missile was rather weak.

At her current proficiency with Wind Blade, a single Wind Blade dealt roughly the same damage as three Magic Missiles.

Moreover, her Spirit attribute had increased, which should theoretically strengthen her spellcasting. Yet the result was still disappointing.

It could only be said that spells distributed freely by the academy were clearly on a different level compared to purchased spells.

Fulan continued examining the skill list on her panel. She would need to practice more spells in the future and prioritize advancing as a mage first.

Originally, she had wanted to see whether she could advance through melee combat first.

She could sense that she was capable of possessing multiple professions, so she had hoped to develop both melee and magic.

However, after her Elven Swordsmanship reached Mastery, a profession notification appeared that completely shattered that idea.

【A related skill has been detected. When the following conditions are met, a profession may be formed.

Profession: Territorial Knight (One-Star)

Requirements:

Breathing Method (Mastery)

Three Combat Techniques (Mastery)

A riding-related skill

A knightly title

A territory recognized by its people and by other Territorial Knights】

After researching further, she discovered that this was exactly the advancement path relied upon by the Territorial Nobles.

Once she read the conditions, she immediately abandoned the idea. It was simply too difficult.

The final requirement alone could almost only be fulfilled by the heirs of noble families, and even then others had to acknowledge your claim to that land.

No wonder becoming a mage was considered difficult. She had originally wondered how such weak melee paths could possibly advance—but it turned out they required such additional conditions.

For now, she would have to search for other melee professions in the future and focus on seeing whether she could advance as a mage first.

At present, she had not even triggered the real advancement method for becoming a mage.

Those secrets were probably hidden within the various schools and never publicly revealed. She would likely have to join a school before she could advance.

“Let me try that first-tier spell.”

She took out the notes from the lecture.

Of course, she had not written them herself. With so many apprentices in the class, someone had inevitably taken notes. She had bought a copy for three silver coins.

Although the spell’s structure was complicated, it was theoretically something an apprentice could learn, since its structure did not exceed the limits of an apprentice’s capabilities.

However, just as her panel indicated, mastering the spell required forging a sufficiently powerful instrument.

She suspected that the reason Habos had explained such advanced material was because crafting the item he described represented the minimum requirement for learning the spell.

However, crafting a high-tier magic staff was far too difficult.

Although she had money and materials were not an issue, many of the necessary materials were rare in the City of Apprentices.

Even after placing an order, it would take two months for them to arrive—and that did not even include the time she would spend experimenting.

Habos had already considered this.

He knew the problem would require a great deal of time to solve. He had already prepared to finish teaching the course, find a few apprentices with potential, and remain in the City of Apprentices for two years to guide them.

At that moment, Fulan remembered the vision she had seen earlier through Astrology.

She had once created a steam engine.

Is that not easy enough to understand?

She knew the key to casting the spell was creating a powerful instrument.

And a steam engine was certainly a powerful instrument.

Moreover, building a steam engine required a certain level of physical knowledge. Its complexity seemed almost equivalent to crafting a high-tier magic staff.