Chapter 32: Middleman, Focus on the Present

What Xia Duo was thinking about at this moment was how to thoroughly utilize his eligibility to ask questions. The cooperation with Donald here could be considered downstream; if he were to use his questions specifically for them, Xia Duo would suffer a loss.

The upstream should be those ambitious Ordinary Apprentices who are close to becoming Official Apprentices. They want to ask questions of Official Mages or excellent Instructor Apprentices but are troubled by having no eligibility, no channels, or being unable to afford the price. Now that they have Xia Duo, they no longer need to worry.

If they are willing to answer questions and solve problems for Xia Duo, then Xia Duo is naturally willing to ask questions on their behalf to those who have the ability.

The content of the upstream transactions can naturally flow down to the downstream; Xia Duo is the middleman.

This can also be considered Xia Duo's unique resource. Other Official Apprentices either have no use for Ordinary Apprentices at all, or the cost to move them is too high for Ordinary Apprentices to accept.

For the same eligibility to ask questions, the psychological price point that Xia Duo can accept is definitely far lower than that of other Official Apprentices.

Xia Duo's appearance forcibly connected all the strata within the Mage Tower—

New Apprentice, general Ordinary Apprentice, Apprentice on the Verge, Official Apprentice, Official Mage.

Originally, an Apprentice on the Verge was focused on becoming an Official Apprentice and had basically no demand for the lower strata, or the cost was too high; the situation for Official Apprentices was similar, as they were all thinking about moving to the next level.

Xia Duo's demand for New Apprentices is Gold Coins, and his demand for other strata is Knowledge. He might not have much intersection with Official Apprentices, but he can have intersections with all other strata.

Being a middleman means he can earn the price difference.

But upon second thought, Xia Duo also wants to become a true Official Apprentice, or even an Official Mage. Thinking this, the feeling of being somewhat smug originally suddenly calmed down.

Still need to work hard!

……

Xia Duo has already determined the basic process of being a middleman, but to truly implement it, he must both be able to obtain a certain price difference and try his best to fit his own learning progress, so as not to delay himself.

Obtaining knowledge for the upstream will inevitably affect his normal learning progress, which needs to be recovered from them. It is equivalent to the other party exchanging low-level knowledge for the key knowledge Xia Duo asks for; this balance needs to be well-grasped.

In the downstream, he sells the low-level knowledge obtained from the upstream at a low price to gain Gold Coins used to maintain daily consumption.

Xia Duo will not forget his goal; obtaining the power sufficient for self-preservation is the first priority. Making money, or earning price differences, are all just auxiliary; he cannot do things that lose the big for the sake of the small.

For the time being, Dien is still a good partner. The knowledge he needs does not necessarily require Xia Duo to find an Official Mage to ask; he only needs to find an Instructor Apprentice.

As for the future, if Dien can successfully become an Official Apprentice, then Xia Duo must find another Ordinary Apprentice in a bottleneck state; if not, they can continue to cooperate.

After returning to the Dormitory Area, Xia Duo found Dien to pitch his cooperation plan. Dien happened to need Xia Duo's help, and the two hit it off immediately.

After confirming the cooperation plan, Xia Duo immediately asked: "Dien, can you tell me how to practice Spellcasting?"

"I can." Dien did not refuse, but in fact, he was somewhat resistant inside, only because the faster Xia Duo progresses, the less he will need him, and there will be no need to ask for the knowledge he lacks on his behalf.

However, although he was resistant in his heart, Dien had no other choice. He knew that if he were not willing, Xia Duo could completely find someone else; he is not the only apprentice stuck at the threshold.

"Practicing Spellcasting, or just Spellcasting, is actually the same thing, except that one may not be able to successfully trigger a Spell when practicing. Spellcasting is prohibited in the Dormitory Area; let's go to the Spell Practice Room."

"Then I will trouble you."

"It's no trouble; I also happen to have some gains that I want to verify."

Although he said so, Dien still felt a bit of heartache, because the cost of renting the Spell Practice Room would definitely be paid by him.

……

On the way to the Library Layer, Xia Duo was also unwilling to give up this bit of time. During the Enlightenment Class, he had a question, but that question was still very far from Xia Duo, and since questions had to be sold, Xia Duo had never asked it.

If there are no accidents, the cooperation between Xia Duo and Dien will continue until Dien becomes an Official Apprentice. Xia Duo does not care whether Dien suffers a loss by asking one more question; as long as he himself does not suffer a loss, it is fine.

"Dien, do you know about Mental Power?"

"Mental? Power?" Dien was puzzled. "What kind of power is this?"

Xia Duo then explained the concept of Mental Power to Dien, because this term was coined by Xia Duo in the Netheril language; there is no such term as Mental Power in the Netheril language.

Hearing Xia Duo's explanation, Dien also showed a look of interest. "The Soul is definitely real, and the Soul does indeed possess power, but that is not some specific power; it is a description."

"Oh? Then what power does the Soul have?"

"I don't know about that; I only saw it in a book by chance. But I can tell you for sure that I do not have the kind of Mental Power you described, and all the apprentices and Mages I know do not have such power."

Xia Duo pondered. For a world that possesses Magic, it is impossible to say he is not interested, and what he cares about most is naturally the Principles of Magic. Before crossing over, he was a web novel writer, so he was naturally no stranger to the term Mental Power.

Being able to cast Spells, being able to control the Movement of objects, and even invading the brain or producing hallucinations are all attributes of Mental Power in novels, but such Mental Power does not seem to exist in the real Magic world.

Xia Duo certainly cannot think that what Dien said must be correct, but as of now, even Mages do not necessarily possess the kind of Mental Power that Xia Duo thinks of.

"Then what do you think is the principle of Spellcasting?"

"Focus! It should have been taught in the Enlightenment Class." Dien was puzzled.

"I know, the Three Elements of Spellcasting: Knowledge, Magic Net, and Focus. But what I want to know is, why can one cast a Spell through Focus? Why isn't it that one can cast a Spell just by thinking about it casually?"

This is Xia Duo's long-standing question. In Xia Duo's view, Focus is just an adjective used to describe a state. Using Focus to cast a Spell is like using the color red to fill one's stomach; as an Earthling, it is hard to understand.

However, Dien did not seem to find it difficult to understand at all. "Focus is just Focus. If one could cast a Spell just by thinking about it casually, wouldn't Magic be out of control?"

After thinking for a moment, Dien added: "Focus is the foundation for us to contact the Magic Net and Control the Magic Net. Just like throwing a stone will eventually fall down, what is there to be hard to understand?"

Huh—

Xia Duo suddenly looked at Dien. The example Dien gave had such a strong sense of universal gravitation, and thinking of the law of universal gravitation, Xia Duo instantly understood that he was splitting hairs.

The world before crossing over had advanced science and technology, and people always liked to get to the bottom of things, but in the end, it would always return to an inexplicable point. For example, why are the laws of the Universe like this and not like that?

Even the greatest scientists cannot explain such questions. Applied to the Magic world, that Focus can cast Spells is the law of the world. One can summarize deeper laws, but wanting to ask why the laws are like this is indeed a bit of splitting hairs.

Reviewing his own psychology again, Xia Duo knew why he was so entangled in concepts like Principles and laws; this was simply the anxiety of being in an alien world.

Having seen the world before crossing over, he was full of anxiety about the world he could not yet understand. It was precisely because of this that he was so eager to obtain the power of self-preservation.

It was not just because of anxiety about personal safety, but more about the anxiety of not understanding the world in his Subconscious.

Having penetrated this psychology, Xia Duo did not go to ask Dien questions that were too far away, but focused on the present. Let's set a small goal first—

Make the title of Official Apprentice live up to its name!