Chapter 29: The Three Elements of Spellcasting

During this week, Xia Duo finished the Magic Enlightenment Course, organized a simple Netherese Dictionary, and was able to read on his own using this simple dictionary.

Xia Duo did not waste his one question opportunity per day even once; he used it once to exchange for Dien interpreting Netherese words for him after dinner, and the remaining four times were traded with Aideliqi, earning a total of 40 Gold Coins.

But these 40 Gold Coins only passed through Xia Duo's hands before quickly leaving him—

Two brand-new Blank Notebooks (30 Gold Coins) and two small bottles of ink (6 Gold Coins) were purchased from Aideliqi.

One copied Biography of Archmage Dasiruier (4 Gold Coins) was purchased from Dien.

Now, the items Xia Duo must carry on his person every day are these:

4 notebooks, 34 sheets of Parchment, a wooden wine cup, 1 bottle of ink, and a quill.

The weight is not light, but these are Xia Duo's core assets, and he would rather carry them on his person every day. It was not that Xia Duo hadn't thought about installing a lock on his dormitory door, but upon asking Aoderi, he learned that even the most ordinary lock cost 20 Gold Coins.

And this kind of lock could even be opened with a grass stem; of course, there were more advanced ones, but the price was also more advanced.

Xia Duo temporarily dismissed the idea of buying a lock; perhaps it would not be too late to consider the lock issue when his personal belongings exceeded his body's carrying capacity.

……

A week passed, the Magic Enlightenment Course also ended, and it would no longer be repeated; if one wanted to take remedial lessons or listen again, one would need to pay an additional price.

Regarding this course, Xia Duo's level of acceptance exceeded that of the other seven or eight Apprentices; after all, he was an adult with his own logic, cognitive system, and systematic techniques for summarizing and categorizing Knowledge.

In this aspect, an adult from Earth was clearly superior to those Netherese who were called adults but were actually only fifteen or sixteen years old.

For the new week, Xia Duo chose the course level Spell Overview; the instructor was still an Official Apprentice. Up to now, Xia Duo did not know exactly how many Official Mages were in the Mage Tower, and he only chose this course based on the recommendation of the previous Instructor Apprentice Jianaer.

After the Enlightenment Class, Xia Duo already had a relatively intuitive understanding of Netherese Magic. Unlike the game data from before his transmigration, the real Faerûn and Spellcasting were more real.

Any Spellcaster must cast spells through the Magic Net; the difference is that some Spellcasters only need to know the Spell effect to make the Magic Net respond autonomously, while some Spellcasters must personally Control the Magic Net to form the Spell effect.

The Bard Mu Yan, whom Xia Duo met before, was a typical example of the former, while Mages, or rather Arcanists, were the latter.

And the method to Control the Magic Net is the Knowledge among the elements of a Mage's Spellcasting; the other two elements are concentration and the Magic Net.

As long as these three major elements are satisfied, even a Goblin in the wilderness can become a Mage.

As for the level of a Spell, it is related to the difficulty of Controlling the Magic Net.

The higher the difficulty, the higher the Spell level naturally is; the Netherese are just that simple and honest! Even if a certain level Spell could destroy the world once cast, it would still only be a level Spell.

But usually, this situation does not occur, and many Mages are also accustomed to hiding the Spells they discover or create. Truly common Spells have long formed a conventional standard in the nearly thousand years since Netheril was founded.

Even if a Mage claims that they have lowered the casting standard of the rd Circle Spell Fireball so that an Apprentice can cast it, and even finds a few Apprentices to demonstrate it, as long as the vast majority of Apprentices cannot do it, then Fireball can still only be called a rd Circle Spell.

The reason Xia Duo chose this level Spell Overview course, besides the recommendation from Jianaer who taught the Magic Enlightenment Course, was another very important reason: this course looked the most fundamental.

Compared to directly learning a specific Spell, Xia Duo wanted to receive more of the Netherese's overall understanding of Magic; the reason he bought that Biography of Archmage Dasiruier from Dien was not just to learn the language.

This looks like a process of assimilation, but from another perspective, isn't it the best expression of "when in Rome, do as the Romans do"? Moreover, Xia Duo had a faint idea in his heart, which was to spread civilization.

Netheril seems to have been a country for nearly a thousand years, but how much cultural and historical heritage can a country developed from a few small fishing villages have? For hundreds of years, it is unknown how much influence it has received from the Elves. Since it can be influenced by the Elves, why can't it be influenced by Xia Duo?

It is inevitable to feel lonely when one is in another world, so isn't it a joy to personally create a group of clansmen?

It is just that before he can truly gain a foothold, this thought can only be deeply hidden in Xia Duo's brain.

……

A new day.

The level Spell Overview course was taught by the Official Apprentice Kelin, but when it was time for class, Xia Duo discovered that this course had already been running for a week.

That is to say, the vast majority of the Apprentices who joined the Mage Tower a week ago had already taken this course; because Xia Duo chose the Enlightenment Class, he was already seven lessons behind these people.

And those seven or eight new Apprentices who took the Enlightenment Class with Xia Duo were also a bit confused.

But Kelin would not start from the beginning for these few people, but rather continued to teach based on last week's progress.

Xia Duo felt a bit annoyed, but there was nothing he could do. The biggest trouble right now was that he hadn't listened to the previous parts, and he would very likely not be able to keep up with the later parts; it was simply a vicious cycle—one step behind, every step behind.

"The first stage of the Spell Overview has already been taught. Newcomers can borrow notes from others; of course, you can also come to me, 20 Gold Coins per time."

Kelin's words made several newly joined Apprentices very dissatisfied, but Xia Duo was quite happy. Besides being able to pay to catch up, it was also because Kelin's words meant that what was to be taught today actually had no connection to last week's content.

Calculating it this way, Xia Duo only missed the Spell Overview part, but he would not miss the new content.

Sure enough, Kelin went on to introduce this week's course: "This week I will teach Read Magic, as well as level Spell Identification. Everyone, pay attention to taking notes; if you miss it, the old rule applies: 20 Gold Coins per time."

Read Magic?!

Xia Duo was overjoyed. This Ring Magic can be said to be the starting point and cornerstone of the entire path of a Mage. Without Read Magic, one cannot even read or understand a Spell Scroll, let alone more complex Spellbooks.

Or more accurately, the key to distinguishing a Mage (quasi-Mages count too) from an ordinary person lies in this Read Magic.

There are many ordinary people in Savile Town who can cast Ring Magic, but they do not know Read Magic, so they cannot be counted as Mages, not even Apprentices.

Strictly speaking, Xia Duo and other newly joined Apprentices cannot be counted as true Apprentices either.

The watershed lies in this Ring Read Magic.

Moreover, Read Magic is also the beginning of understanding Magic and deconstructing the Magic Net; otherwise, one would be like a Bard, knowing the result but not knowing the reason why.

Obviously, Xia Duo, who likes to get to the bottom of things, would not let this Magic go; it had long been on his must-learn list.

And now Kelin was actually willing to teach Read Magic for free, which made Xia Duo immediately prick up his ears, muster 120 percent of his spirit, and listen attentively.