Chapter 264: A Series of Spells Inherited in One Continuous Line

Although he was quite certain that the Tower of Time would not kill him to silence him, it ultimately concerned his own life, and no one could view it with indifference. At this moment, he felt as if he had returned to those days just after he had transmigrated—anxious, fearful of loss, and terrified that someone might suddenly jump out on the street and hack him to death.

Looking at the 【Blade of Veto】 and the mysterious magic arrow within his personal space, Xia Duo seemed to have gained a bit more confidence, though this confidence derived from the unknown was ultimately not insurance.

Xia Duo only kept two upgraded 3rd Circle 【Mage Armor】 spells in his Magic Net spell storage, replacing all others with 3rd Circle 【Magic Missile】 spells.

A five-shot barrage to the face; even a High Mage could not ignore that.

He was now an Intermediate Mage, and he had some conjectures about the capabilities a High Mage possessed—besides having at least double his total spell circle capacity in Magic Net storage, there were also uncertain magic items.

Compared to the former, Xia Duo was more worried about the latter, especially since the Tower of Time was the legacy of a Great Arcanist; heaven knows how many advanced goods existed there.

However, it was precisely because of this that Xia Duo dared to return; if it were a Mage Tower with insufficient foundations or a lone High Mage, Xia Duo would have run away.

From everything he had observed in Savile Territory and the Tower of Time, Lord Aipusi should be trustworthy; after all, there was no conflict of interest between the two parties, and on the contrary, Xia Duo was bringing benefits to his doorstep.

Sorting through these various thoughts, Xia Duo's state of mind gradually calmed, and he took out his spell notes to continue researching the 【Flying Chair】.

Although the possibility of researching it successfully in a short time was not high, that was no reason to relax.

……

Two days later, Xia Duo stepped onto the land of Savile Port.

In a place as far from human habitation as Daxia Territory, he had blurred the concept of time. He hadn't felt much while there, but upon returning to Savile Town, the bustling atmosphere rushed toward him.

It wasn't just that there were more people; the Midsummer Festival was also approaching. If one ignored the year or so spent in the Projection Plane, Xia Duo had been on the path of the Mage for nearly a year.

It was precisely after last year's Midsummer Festival that he had joined the Tower of Time. Although he was just a servant-like Apprentice then, he had now become an Intermediate Mage wielding powerful strength.

The events of this past year flashed through Xia Duo's mind like fleeting shadows—

Magic Enlightenment Course, questioning the middleman, networking in small circles, his first kill, gaining honors, becoming an Official Mage, the Arcane Competition, pioneering a territory, the journey to the Astral Plane, and up until now.

Although he hadn't participated in any earth-shattering events, he had lived quite brilliantly, and it was not in vain to have transmigrated once.

……

At the port, Xia Duo instructed Lao Ouwen to take Dongzhi to buy dogs and asked him to arrange a meeting with some cooperative merchant guilds, arranging everything as if there were not a hint of crisis.

Before returning this time, he had not contacted Niya first; only after returning to the Tower of Time did he take out his communication magic tool to start contacting her.

"Mentor, are you free? I have a very important matter that I need to report."

The message had been sent, but Niya did not reply immediately. Xia Duo naturally could not let his "love-struck brain" take over and wait desperately while clutching the communication magic tool.

While waiting for Niya's reply, Xia Duo went to the Library. He remembered that there was a spellbook about 【Levitation】 in the library.

0 Ring 【Mage Hand】, 1st Circle 【Feather Fall】, 2nd Circle 【Levitation】, 3rd Circle 【Flight】—these four spells belonged to a series of spells within Transmutation that were inherited in one continuous line, capable of changing the gravitational state of objects.

It was just that Xia Duo had only learned 【Mage Hand】.

Because the time since he became an Official Mage was too short, coupled with the daily limit on spellcasting, Xia Duo's accumulation of spells was very limited; he could only choose the scope of spells to research based on his needs.

The use of 【Feather Fall】 was too narrow; even if he had it now, Xia Duo had no opportunity to use it, so why learn it?

It would be better to learn something more useful.

As for 【Levitation】, Xia Duo had only come into contact with the second layer of the Magic Net during the Arcane Competition. Excluding the time in the Projection Plane, it had only been a little over a month since then.

He basically didn't touch such infrequently used spells.

And during the year or more in the Projection Plane, Xia Duo did not have the Tower of Time by his side, so he could only research on his own based on what he had already learned plus some Elven Magic.

Of course, more importantly, it was to solidify the lack of strength brought about by rapid leveling.

In fact, Xia Duo, this Intermediate Mage, was actually quite "watery"—perhaps he could be called a Primary Mage with a solid theoretical foundation; he still needed many spells to enrich himself.

It could be said that the time in the Projection Plane was truly too important for him; it was equivalent to letting him travel through time back to the past.

Or rather, it allowed the future him, who had become an Intermediate Mage, to overwrite the present.

However, since he could utilize the Projection Plane this way, others certainly could too. The real magic world had too many secrets, which simply could not be covered by the meager game data from Earth.

Perhaps some genius mages were created this way: accumulating experience in the Projection Plane, leveling up in the Main Plane, and accumulating experience in the Projection Plane again—a cycle like this.

Of course, this was just his speculation; perhaps some people were truly born smart, and leveling up was as simple as drinking water for them.

For those people, Xia Duo could only say: envy, jealousy, and hate! ……

"Summary of 【Feather Fall】 Spellcasting Practice", authored by Tower of Time 8th Level Mage Depake, 50 Gold Coins per day.

"【Levitation】 From Beginner to Master", authored by Tower of Time 12th Level Mage Aipusi, 150 Gold Coins per day.

And after borrowing these two books, Xia Duo was told by the duty mage that, with his current Permission Level, he only had a borrowing limit of two books.

That is to say, Xia Duo could only borrow two more books from the library; if he wanted to borrow more later, he would have to perform tasks for the Mage Tower.

Whether it was duty shifts, or selling scrolls, potions, etc., he could take on anything available at the Task Management Office. The only thing to be somewhat comforted by was that Xia Duo belonged to the direct sequence of the Tower of Time and had fewer tasks to complete.

And if it were those affiliated sequences similar to guest mages, the tasks required to increase the number of borrowable books would be at least double his.

"I understand, thank you for the reminder, Mage Weibulun."

Xia Duo took the two spellbooks and left the library with a smile on his face, though he was constantly complaining in his heart, "Damn it, to hell with 'comforted'!"

However, Xia Duo still took Weibulun's reminder to heart. That Primary Mage intended to show goodwill, and Xia Duo was happy to accept it. Since the Arcane Competition, he had encountered many people like Weibulun.

It was just that Xia Duo was also clear that the object of their goodwill was "Pioneer" secondarily; primarily, it was "Niya's Apprentice".

……

Before returning to his residence, Xia Duo went to the Task Management Office on the Public Level. In addition to routine duty shifts, patrols, investigations, and selling Magic Items, there were also pioneering tasks there.

For example, this one: 【Town Hall is recruiting 5 Primary Mages, must be proficient in the following spells... those with certain reconnaissance experience are preferred, task duration is one week, remuneration is 100 Gold Coins per person.】

Of course, there were also those requiring Intermediate Mages, with a remuneration of 500 Gold Coins and a duration of one week, but only two were needed, and the task was to supervise outside mages.

After the last Arcane Competition, Savile Territory had recruited many outside mages in order to pioneer new territory. Xia Duo had a deep impression of this; the Apprentice who previously delivered meals to him had even been teased and injured by an outsider using magic.

Later, after the pioneering began, those outside mages left the Mage Tower, and the Mage Tower finally returned to its former tranquility.

My friend just told me that the protagonist shouldn't be called Xia Duo, he should be called Xia Pu, it matches Dongzhi better...

I simply cannot look at this name straight anymore.

"Dongzhi" actually refers to the withered branches of winter; Dongzhi is very thin and weak, like a withered branch in winter...

(End of chapter)