Chapter 377: Reflections on a Rainy Night: Side Story: Sorting Out the Settings

After returning to Linshui Village, Xia Duo ducked into his small tent, but he could not calm his mind at all. Outside, the sky was suddenly covered in thick clouds, and a gale howled; it seemed as though it would blow away even this small tent that barely served as his shelter.

At this moment, he had no heart left to study any such thing as magic. The sheer might of this natural ecology left him unable to resist. In this moment, he even prayed in his heart to the Lord of Radiance, praying that the supreme sun could disperse the dark clouds and shine upon the earth.

That was what he thought, and that was what he did!

But this alone was still not enough. After praying, he quickly gathered the people of the Territory around the Altar, all hearts beating as one, letting this sacred dwelling fill with the light of Faith.

That light was incomparably firm, almost piercing the sky, penetrating the dark clouds, and drawing down the sunlight. But the power of the ecology was still too great, dense and overwhelming, almost pressing down until one could not breathe.

Yet, facing all this, what else could Xia Duo do? He could only connect all the people of the Territory around him together and call upon the supreme sun to sweep away the haze.

In a world of Magic, prayer has a substantive effect—a substantive existence that connects the high and the low. However, prayer must also find the right sanctuary. Before an Altar is fine, before a Temple is fine, but if one just finds any random place, it is too disrespectful.

A believer is not a blind follower, but a practitioner of the god's will and philosophy. In a sense, it is the believers who hold up the god; coming from the believers, it will surely enter the hearts of the believers.

At night, Xia Duo could not fall asleep for a long time. Listening to the sound of the wind and rain outside, he prayed silently.

Tomorrow, once the weather clears slightly, it will not be too late to study Magic. For now, he must remain with the people of the Territory and endure this storm.

……

Taking this opportunity, I will sort out some of the settings.

This is not to whitewash the Lord of Radiance. In this book alone, the Lord of Radiance has never done anything bad. He merely descended the God-Man Contract; the Priest class may have had deviations when interpreting and executing it.

Believing in the Lord of Radiance is nothing; it is very normal. The vast majority of the Netherese believe in the Lord of Radiance, including Great Arcanists.

A spoiler—or perhaps not a spoiler—the Lord of Radiance is the incarnation of the sun. Similarly, the Goddess of the Magic Net and the Lord of Arcane are the incarnations of the Magic Net.

These gods are all incarnations of a part of the world's essence, and this world is somewhat similar to objective idealism. The advancement of an Arcanist after a certain point is related to the essence of the world, and beyond that, it is to transcend the material plane. At this time, the Arcanist is already near-god.

As for Spells, I saw a comment saying that I write too few Spells and that I should go find more information.

Actually, I have found a lot of information, but if I write too chaotically all at once, I cannot quite manage it. Therefore, regarding Spells, I have roughly divided them into several aspects, which are the combat elements of a Mage—

Protection, Mobility, Spell Breaking, and Damage, these four aspects.

1. Protection: In terms of direct protection, 【Mage Armor】 can be upgraded infinitely, with effects like efficiency boosts, Spell Reversal, Spell absorption, energy protection, and so on. In terms of indirect protection, Detect Detection, Scrying, prophecy, and the like can all be classified here.

2. Mobility: This is also the source of a Mage's deterrent power as I understand it. The core is the two 【Flight, Teleportation】, which make a Mage almost impossible to kill.

Therefore, if one considers a realistic world, battles between Mages should not happen often. And once they do happen, they must have been fully prepared for, or it is the strong crushing the weak. But the weak are not without the ability to resist. With the balance between the strong mentioned above, and Magic Items like Scrolls that distribute the power of the strong downward, the general environment should be peaceful—at least on the surface it should be like that, refer to the Five Permanent Members...

3. Spell Breaking, or resisting Magic: Typical representatives are 【Dispel Magic】, 【Spell Counter】, 【Anti-Magic Field】, etc. If one cannot break the protection, then the attack is meaningless, right?

4. Damage: This is the final item. Assuming a Mage possesses the first three combat elements, then even if they just hold a poisoned Dagger, it will not reduce their deterrent power, because there are too many things that cause damage, not just Magic.

And outside of combat, some functional Spells are also needed, such as Copying, Duplication (this series is a bit complex and easily breaks the worldview; I will talk about it specifically later), Levitation, Sending, Longevity, Projection, etc.

The so-called eight schools are fine in a game, but in a realistic world of Magic, I don't really agree with them. I am more inclined toward the three classifications of Creation, Alteration, and Mind.

The text will describe the relationships and evolution between various Spells.

But as for specific details, I cannot say. Simply saying how many basic elements a certain Spell has, what the laws of the Spell structure are, or what the manifestation is as a figure—these are purely self-indulgent and actually have little value for reflection. I will not write about them in detail; mentioning them occasionally is enough. It is impossible to bring them out to talk about every time one levels up.

##Finally, regarding the opinion that there are too few Spells mentioned by book friends, I have an idea. For example, in the previous text, summoning a water mirror to look at oneself—could I expand on the Principles of the water mirror, when it was studied, how long it was studied, what reference materials were used, and so on?

In fact, anywhere a Spell is used, I could mention what Spell was used.

But I feel that in a world of Magic, as a Mage, Spells are already integrated into daily life, just as we wouldn't specifically mention what model of mobile phone we used to make a call or what the signal frequency was.

However, some important, special, or typical Spells will be mentioned, so everyone need not worry.

————

Regarding the plot—

Actually, I prefer the previous book title "Xia Duo's Journey to Netheril," which tells of Xia Duo's experience in another world.

In terms of plot design, although leveling up is the main thread, I did not use leveling up to push the plot; instead, I let leveling up suit the plot—for example, reaching a certain stage means leveling up to a certain level.

I am more inclined to tell a story rather than just having the protagonist fight monsters and level up all the way. Although I am not yet proficient in storytelling, I have tried my best.

There are several hidden threads. Actually, it doesn't matter if I say them now; I'm worried that if I don't say them, I won't have the chance later. Manual doge face~~

1. The Princess's Ascension to Godhood. Of course, it is related to the expansion movement, and even that wooden carving from before—a heroic female Statue, right~

2. The history of the Elf, as well as the Elf's views and actions toward humans. This aspect has not been expanded much for now, and it is mainly connected to the Princess's Ascension to Godhood.

3. Bloodline. Taken separately, I actually had the idea of letting the protagonist farm, manage the Territory, and nurture civilization from the very beginning. The protagonist's goal certainly cannot just be leveling up. Remodeling the environment into one he likes—this may not yield much profit, but people don't live just for profit; he's not some animal from the South Pole. This can actually be classified as a need for self-actualization. Also, it is impossible to always let the protagonist be pushed by the plot; he can actively push the plot.

The Bloodline is related to the Territory. Recalling the first time Xia Duo awakened his Bloodline, perhaps it was when Mu Yan performed the Ancestral Blessing on him. There is no need to dwell on this; it could be, or it could not be.

The first true awakening of the Bloodline in the text was during the Orc War, but he didn't awaken any abilities; he just had a dream.

The second time, on the night of the Award Ceremony, he gained simple Water Control.

The third time, some time after the Award Ceremony, he became a Level 1 Sorcerer.

The fourth time, after the Arcane Competition.

The fifth time, after the wedding with Niya.

The sixth time, the sixth time hasn't been written yet~~

It was all after receiving the respect, attention, and cheers of the crowd. Belief Power, perhaps? Xia Duo himself guesses it should be like this.

The author says this is only the basic level of Bloodline Awakening; the next level up is the Dragon Spirit~

So the Bloodline is related to the Territory, and they will nourish each other.

That's all for now, see you in twenty-four hours~~